Education Laws

Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA)

The Higher Education Act of 1965 was a groundbreaking increase in the participation of the federal government in higher education. Among other programs, HEA began what would be known as Title IV funding, including Pell grants which students do not need to repay, and Stafford loans, which are guaranteed federal students loans with subsidized interest. HEA has been periodically reauthorized by Congress, with each reauthorization adjusting programs slightly.

Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA)

By 2008 the Higher Education Act of 1965 was widely perceived as being in need of major revision particularly in terms of funding additional opportunities for minorities, but due to political disagreement as to the scope of changes and how they would be funded, from 2003 on the Act was simply renewed without change on an annual basis. In 2008, however, this revision was passed by Congress as the Higher Education Opportunity Act.

The 2008 Act makes a number of changes to programs authorized under the original Act, authorized new programs, and made changes to other laws. The primary changes that were funded by Congress at the time the Act was passed were to promote graduate level opportunities for Americans of Hispanic descent and Master’s degree programs at historically black colleges and universities and other predominantly black institutions. More controversially, it also required institutions to develop "plans to effectively combat the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, including through the use of a variety of technology-based deterrents."

Distance Education Demonstration Program (DEDP)

In 1998, the Distance Education Demonstration Program (DEDP) was created as a test to see if the rules regarding financial aid for distance education needed to be changed. Congress granted a number of distance learning colleges, universities, systems and consortia of institutions waivers from the 50-percent rule and/or 12-hour rule in order to give students greater access to Title IV funding. This program is scheduled to continue through the 2004-05 academic year when Congress is expected to consider comprehensive changes to the Higher Education Act.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known as the Buckley Amendment, are federal guidelines that deal with the privacy of student records. In particular, FERPA addresses the confidentiality of student education records, as well as the release and review of those records. Students have the right to: review their educational records; request amendments to those records to ensure that they are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights; have consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained within their records; and file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures to comply with the requirements of FERPA.

Copyright Act of 1976

This comprehensive overhaul of U.S. copyright law included a number of revisions. The most important of these for distance learners was the codification of what constitutes fair use, which is the acceptable use of copyrighted material without permission of the copyright holder. Fair use applies to use of copyrighted work for criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research purposes, and other areas, and provides four factors to be considered to determine whether a particular use is a fair use:

1. The purpose and character of the use (commercial or educational, transformative or reproductive);
2. The nature of the copyrighted work (fictional or factual, the degree of creativity);
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion of the original work used; and
4. The effect of the use upon the market (or potential market) for the original work

Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act)

Copyright law gives educators a separate set of rights, in addition to fair use, to display and perform the works of other in the classroom. However, before the TEACH Act was signed into law in October 2002, a virtual classroom was held to much different standards. The TEACH Act revises the U.S. Copyright Act and expands the scope of educators' rights to perform and display works and to make the copies integral to such performances and displays for distance learning courses and programs. While the right are closer to that of a traditional, physical classroom, there exists a considerable gap between what the statute authorizes for face-to-face teaching vs. distance education.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

This Act is a 1998 U.S. copyright law that implements two international treaties negotiated through the World Intellectual Property Organisation. The DMCA makes it illegal to produce or distribute technology or services that are designed to overcome so called "digital rights management," which are copy protection measures that automatically control reproduction of copyrighted works. One controversial aspect to the DMCA is that it makes these technologies and services be illegal regardless of whether copyright infringement occurs or not. The DMCA also increases some penalties for copyright infringement, although it also protects Internet service providers from being liable for copyright infringement undertaken by their customers.

Note: There are a few laws and regulations affecting distance learners that have fortunately since been repealed. However, one may still occasionally hear references to them. The most important of them are listed here.

50-Percent Rule

The 50-percent rule was created in 1992 and excluded Title-IV eligible institutions from offering federal financial aid if: it offered more than half its classes through distance education, had half or more of its students enrolled in distance learning courses, or offered correspondence and telecommunications courses that amount to half or more of all courses. The 50-percent provision was repealed in 2006, providing recognition that distance learning had become a mature and worthwhile form of study.

12-Hour Rule

Like the 50-percent rule, the 12-hour rule's original intent was to ward off fraud by diploma mills and correspondence programs. It mandated non-traditional, higher education programs that did not operate on a traditional academic calendar to provide at least 12 hours of "regularly scheduled instruction, examinations, or preparation for examination" per week of instructional time in order for students to be eligible for federal financial aid. Unlike the 50-percent rule, which is written into law, the 12-hour rule was an Education Department regulation. It was repealed in November 2002 under the Internet Equity and Education Act of 2001.

Federal Financial Aid

Higher Education Act of 1965

1998 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act

Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA)

Distance Learning and Privacy

Distance Education Demonstration Program (DEDP)

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Copyright and Fair Use

Copyright Act of 1976

Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act)

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)