Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
(1) The term
"unfair business practice" under RCW 28C.10.110(11) is further defined to mean
those practices described as prohibited under RCW 28C.10.090.
(2) In addition to the actions described in
RCW 28C.10.110 it is an unfair business practice for a private vocational
school or its agent to:
(a) Advertise, offer,
sell, or award any educational credential without requiring the consumer to
enroll in and successfully complete a prescribed program of study, as outlined
in the school's catalog or brochure;
(b) Represent, directly or by implication,
that there is a substantial demand for persons completing any programs offered
by the school unless the school has reasonable basis for the representation,
documented by objective and statistically valid data;
(c) Make, or perpetuate any false or
deceptive statements in regard to any other postsecondary school, whether
private or public;
(d) Fail to
follow the Private Vocational School Act or its supporting
regulations;
(e) Sell, discount, or
transfer contracts or promissory notes for tuition to third parties without the
signed consent of the student or the student's financial sponsors, and a
statement notifying all parties that the cancellation and refund policy
continues to apply;
(f) Use the
availability of financial aid as an inducement to recruitment or
enrollment;
(g) Misrepresent to
students the potential amount of federal financial aid available;
(h) Employ the term "accredited" in
advertising unless:
(i) The school holds a
current grant of accreditation; and
(ii) The term "accredited" is accompanied
with equal prominence by the full name and/or seal of the agency from whom the
school holds a current grant of accreditation.
(iii) If the accrediting agency is not
recognized by the United States Secretary of Education under the provisions of
the Higher Education Act (Chapter 34 C.F.R.), as amended, the school must
provide the agency with documentation of its grant of accreditation and other
related information required by the agency to establish the nature and scope of
the accrediting agency. The agency will approve or disapprove its use in
advertising after reviewing submitted documentation. Upon approval, the agency
may ask for additional language in the catalog to notify the students that the
school does not qualify for federal financial aid.
(i) Discriminate against students or
potential students on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex,
veteran or military status, sexual orientation, or the presence of any sensory,
mental or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service
animal by a person with a disability.
(3) Schools are prohibited under RCW 28C.10.110(3) from advertising educational programs under the "help wanted"
section of publications. Schools may, however, advertise under a help wanted
classification for the purposes of:
(a)
Recruiting for bona fide job openings; or
(b) Soliciting job opportunities for
available graduates.
(4)
To establish consistency in the implementation of this section, the following
definitions will apply:
(a) "Advertise" means
the publishing by a school of information that establishes its identity,
location, and nature of its training programs. It may or may not contain an
offer of training.
(b) "Help
wanted" section means any classified advertising section in a publication that
contains job listings. The particular wording the publication uses to identify
such a section is not material.
(c)
"Newspaper" means a printed publication containing news, editorials,
advertisements, etc. The definition extends to tabloids such as "nickel-savers"
that contain primarily or exclusively advertising. It is not material whether
the publication is sold or given away.
(d) For purposes of this section, it is not
considered "advertising" if a school inserts a notice in a "help wanted"
section referring the reader to a different classified heading in the same
issue of the same publication, as long as:
(i) An offer of training is being made by the
school under an appropriate other section in the same issue of the same
publication; and
(ii) The referral
notice contains only the name of the school and not its address, telephone
number, or description of program(s); and
(iii) The overall size and general appearance
of what appears as a notice is consistent with its purpose only to refer
readers elsewhere.
(e) A
school shall not advertise as an employment agency or its equivalent.
(f) A school shall not deceptively advertise
in conjunction with any other business or establishment.
(5) Schools are prohibited from advertising
and making offers of training without including the full name under which the
school is licensed by the agency. Permutations of the name and/or d/b/a such as
initials or nicknames can be used only with prior written permission of the
agency.
(6) The agency is
authorized to deny, revoke, or suspend the license of any school found to have
engaged in a "substantial number" of unfair business practices or "significant"
unfair business practices. Those two quoted terms are further defined as
follows:
(a) The agency may conclude that a
substantial number of unfair business practices have occurred when a pattern of
persistent violations exists and there are multiple complaints alleging various
unfair business practices.
(b) The
agency may conclude that unfair business practices are significant when it
determines that their egregious nature threaten the operation of the school
and/or jeopardize the ability of students to secure contracted services. An
abrupt school closure which fails to comply with WAC 490-105-210 provisions may
also be considered as significant.
Statutory Authority: RCW 28.10.040 [28C.10.040]. 01-23-078, §
490-105-170, filed 11/21/01, effective 12/22/01. Statutory Authority: RCW 28C.10.040(2). 98-22-033, §
490-105-170, filed 10/29/98, effective 11/29/98.
