Current through November 30, 2024
Section 600.57 - Additional criteria for determining whether a foreign nursing school is eligible to apply to participate in the Direct Loan Program(a) Effective July 1, 2012 for a foreign nursing school that was participating in any title IV, HEA program on August 13, 2008, and effective July 1, 2011 for all other foreign nursing schools, the Secretary considers the foreign nursing school to be eligible to apply to participate in the Direct Loan Program if, in addition to satisfying the criteria in this part (except the criterion in § 600.54 that the institution be public or private nonprofit), the nursing school satisfies all of the following criteria: (1) The nursing school is an associate degree school of nursing, a collegiate school of nursing, or a diploma school of nursing.(2) The nursing school has an agreement with a hospital located in the United States or an accredited school of nursing located in the United States that requires students of the nursing school to complete the student's clinical training at the hospital or accredited school of nursing.(3) The nursing school has an agreement with an accredited school of nursing located in the United States providing that students graduating from the nursing school located outside of the United States also receive a degree from the accredited school of nursing located in the United States.(4) The nursing school certifies only Federal Stafford Loan program loans or Federal PLUS program loans, as those terms are defined in § 668.2 , for students attending the nursing school.(5) The nursing school reimburses the Secretary for the cost of any loan defaults for current and former students included in the calculation of the institution's cohort default rate during the previous fiscal year.(6)(i) The nursing school determines the consent requirements for and requires the necessary consents of all students accepted for admission who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or eligible permanent residents to enable the school to comply with the collection and submission requirements of paragraph (a)(6)(ii) of this section.(ii) The nursing school annually either- (A) Obtains, at its own expense, all results achieved by students and graduates who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or eligible permanent residents on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), together with the dates the student has taken the examination, including any failed examinations, and provides such results to the Secretary; or(B) Obtains a report or reports from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSB), or an NCSB affiliate or NCSB contractor, reflecting the percentage of the school's students and graduates taking the NCLEX-RN in the preceding year who passed the examination, or the data from which the percentage could be derived, and provides the report to the Secretary.(7) Not less than 75 percent of the school's students and graduates who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or eligible permanent residents who took the NCLEX-RN in the year preceding the year for which the institution is certifying a Federal Stafford Loan or a Federal Plus Loan, passed the examination.(8) The school provides, including under the agreements described in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section, and in the normal course requires its students to complete, a program of clinical and classroom nursing instruction that is supervised closely by members of the school's faculty that is provided in facilities adequately equipped and staffed to afford students comprehensive clinical and classroom nursing instruction, through a training program for foreign nursing students that has been approved by all nurse licensing boards and evaluating bodies whose views are considered relevant by the Secretary.(9) The school has graduated classes during each of the two twelve-month periods immediately preceding the date the Secretary receives the school's request for an eligibility determination.(10) The school employs only those faculty members whose academic credentials are the equivalent of credentials required of faculty members teaching the same or similar courses at nursing schools in the United States.(b) For purposes of paragraph (a)(5) of this section, the cost of a loan default is the estimated future cost of collections on the defaulted loan.(c) The Department continues to collect on the Direct Loan after a school reimburses the Secretary for the amount specified in paragraph (b) of this section until the loan is paid in full or otherwise satisfied, or the loan account is closed out.(d) No portion of the foreign nursing program offered to U.S. students may be located outside of the country in which the main campus of the foreign nursing school is located, except for clinical sites located in the United States. 75 FR 67197 , Nov. 1, 2010