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S04741 Summary:

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S04741 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         4741--B
 
                               2015-2016 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                     April 15, 2015
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by Sens. GOLDEN, SQUADRON -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher  Education
          -- recommitted to the Committee on Higher Education in accordance with
          Senate  Rule  6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  committee  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to private school agent's
          certificates
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Paragraphs a and b of subdivision 1 of section 5001 of  the
     2  education  law,  as  amended  by  chapter  381  of the laws of 2012, are
     3  amended and a new paragraph c is added to read as follows:
     4    a. "licensed private career school" or "licensed private school" shall
     5  mean any entity offering to instruct or teach any subject by any plan or
     6  method including written, visual  or  audio-visual  methods,  and  shall
     7  include  any institution licensed or registered as a registered business
     8  school or computer training facility on  the  effective  date  of  [the]
     9  chapter  three  hundred  eighty-one  of  the laws of two thousand twelve
    10  [which amended this subdivision]. Following such effective  date,  there
    11  shall  be  no  distinction  between  institutions  previously defined as
    12  "registered business schools"  or  "computer  training  facilities"  and
    13  other licensed private schools, and any reference in law to a registered
    14  business  school  or computer training facility shall be deemed a refer-
    15  ence to a licensed private career school. Institutions holding  a  valid
    16  business  school  registration  on such effective date, including compu-
    17  ter-training facilities, shall have such registrations replaced  by  the
    18  commissioner,  at no cost, with licenses valid until the expiration date
    19  listed on such previous registration; [and]

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10154-09-6
        S. 4741--B                          2
 
     1    b. "certified English as a second language school" or  "certified  ESL
     2  school" shall mean a language school conducted for-profit which provides
     3  instruction  in English as a second language and which accepts no public
     4  funds and is certified pursuant to paragraph f of  subdivision  four  of
     5  this section[.]; and
     6    c. "online education marketplace" shall mean a website or other inter-
     7  net-based  online  technology  tool with which a licensed private career
     8  school or certified ESL school contracts for  marketing  or  advertising
     9  services,  or  services  in  connection  with  the collection of tuition
    10  and/or fees, to the extent authorized in subdivision  three  of  section
    11  five thousand four of this article.
    12    § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 5004 of the education law, as amended by
    13  chapter 19 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
    14    3.  a.  Exempted  from  the  requirements  of this section are persons
    15  acting solely for schools which are not required to be licensed  or  are
    16  specifically exempted from the licensing requirements of this article.
    17    b.  (i)  Also  exempted  from  the  requirements of this section is an
    18  online education marketplace as defined in paragraph  c  of  subdivision
    19  one  of  section  five  thousand  one of this article, provided that the
    20  online education marketplace complies with each of the following:
    21    (1) An online education marketplace shall  not  solicit,  procure,  or
    22  enroll  any  student for instruction in a licensed private career school
    23  or certified ESL school, as defined by the commissioner in regulations.
    24    (2) Upon receipt of  any  monies  collected  by  an  online  education
    25  marketplace  from  a  prospective  student for payment of tuition and/or
    26  fees, the prospective student and the licensed private career school  or
    27  certified ESL school shall execute an enrollment agreement in accordance
    28  with  regulations of the commissioner. If an enrollment agreement is not
    29  executed, the monies shall  be  promptly  returned  to  the  prospective
    30  student  in  a  timeframe  and  manner prescribed by the commissioner in
    31  regulations.
    32    (3) If an enrollment  agreement  is  executed,  the  online  education
    33  marketplace  shall  forward  the  monies  received  from the prospective
    34  student to the licensed private career school or certified ESL school in
    35  a timeframe and manner prescribed by the commissioner in regulations.
    36    (4) An online education marketplace shall not receive from  a  student
    37  an amount greater than the tuition or fees to be charged by the licensed
    38  private  career school or certified ESL school to the student, and shall
    39  separately account for monies received from the prospective  student  to
    40  be  thereafter transferred to a licensed private career school or certi-
    41  fied ESL school in payment of tuition  or  fees,  and  any  remuneration
    42  and/or  compensation received by the online education marketplace from a
    43  licensed private career school or certified ESL school  in  payment  for
    44  services  rendered  to  such school by the online education marketplace.
    45  The licensed private career school or certified ESL  school  shall  also
    46  separately  account  for tuition or fees transferred to the school by an
    47  online education marketplace on  behalf  of  a  student  in  payment  of
    48  tuition  or fees, and payments made by the school to an online education
    49  marketplace for services rendered to the school by the online  education
    50  marketplace.
    51    (5)  The  commissioner  may take disciplinary action against an online
    52  education marketplace pursuant to section five thousand  three  of  this
    53  article,  to  the  extent  such  provisions are deemed applicable by the
    54  commissioner in regulations.
        S. 4741--B                          3
 
     1    (6) An  online  education  marketplace  is  prohibited  from  offering
     2  advertising/marketing services to an unlicensed private career school or
     3  uncertified ESL school.
     4    (ii)  Any  licensed private career school or certified ESL school that
     5  contracts with an online education marketplace  shall  comply  with  the
     6  provisions  of  this subdivision and the regulations of the commissioner
     7  or they may be subject to disciplinary action pursuant to  section  five
     8  thousand three of this article.
     9    c.  Persons who are paid to procure, solicit or enroll students on the
    10  premises of schools required to be licensed shall not be exempt from the
    11  provisions of this section.
    12    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.