940 CMR 31.04 - False or Misleading Statements or Representations
(1)
False
Advertising. It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a
school to make or publish, or cause or permit to be made or published, any
false, untrue, or deceptive statement or representation or any statement or
representation which has the tendency or capacity to mislead or deceive
students, prospective students or any other person, by way of advertising or
otherwise, concerning the school, its activities in attempting to enroll
students, the character, nature, quality, value, or scope of any course or
program offered, the school's influence in obtaining employment for its
students, graduation rates, graduation time, program cost, loan amount,
repayment amount, transferability of credits, or in any other material
respect.
(2)
Deceptive
Language in General. It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice
for a school to use language or make a claim or representation in any form,
including but not limited to spoken, electronic, or printed form, which has the
tendency or capacity to mislead or deceive students, prospective students, or
any other person.
(3)
False Representation as to Probable Earnings. It is an
unfair or deceptive act or practice for a school to make any false, untrue,
unsubstantiated, or deceptive statement or representation or any statement or
representation which has the tendency or capacity to mislead or deceive
students, prospective students, or any other person regarding actual or
probable earnings in any job or occupation of the school's graduates.
(4)
False Advertising as to
Expected Salaries. It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice
for a school to represent or imply in advertising or otherwise that persons
employed in a particular position will earn a stated salary or income or that
persons completing the training course will earn the stated salary or income or
"up to" the stated salary or income unless:
(a) the salary or income is equal to or less
than the entry level salary of persons employed in the occupation in the
Commonwealth; and
(b) the
advertisement or representation states clearly and conspicuously any
limitations, conditions, or other requirements such as union membership or
service of an apprenticeship, which must be met before the stated salary or
income can be earned; and
(c) the
advertisement or representation states clearly and conspicuously that no
guarantee is made that a person who purchases the advertised services will
obtain a job or will earn the stated salary or income, unless the guarantee is
actually offered by the school.
The words "EARN $...." or "EARN UP TO $...." or words of similar import or meaning constitute a representation that a person who attends the program will earn the stated salary or income within the meaning of 940 CMR 31.00.
(5)
False
Representation as to Placement Rates or Services. It is an unfair
or deceptive act or practice for a school to make any false, untrue,
unsubstantiated, or deceptive statement or representation or any statement or
representation which has the tendency or capacity to mislead or deceive
students, prospective students, or any other person as to placement, graduate
placement rates, total placement rates, or placement services.
(6)
Failure to Provide Placement
Statistics. It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a
school to fail to provide, upon request by a student or prospective student,
accurate employment data substantiating its graduate and total placement rates.
Such data may be deidentified only as necessary for compliance with state or
federal law.
(7)
False
or Misleading Statements Regarding Employment Opportunity. It is
an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a school to make any false, untrue,
or deceptive statement or representation or any statement or representation
which has the tendency or capacity to mislead or deceive students, prospective
students, or any other person regarding:
(a)
any opportunity in any job or occupation, or the likelihood of employment in
any job or occupation;
(b) the
necessity, requirement, or usefulness of any program in obtaining professional
licensure, employment in the field of study, admission to a labor union or
similar organization;
(c) the
necessity of or qualification(s) for certification or licensure in any job or
occupation, including but not limited to:
1.any cost to obtain or maintain such
certification or licensure, if such cost is not included in the school's
tuition or fees; and
2.any
continuing education requirement to obtain or maintain such certification or
licensure; and
d.any
opportunity to qualify for membership in a society or association or union, or
to obtain a license, or any opportunity to enroll in a future program or field
of study, as a result of the completion of any program, without further
education, study, externship, internship, or clinical experience.
(8)
Government
Approval and Accreditation. It is an unfair or deceptive act or
practice for a school to advertise or represent that the school or a program
has been:
(a) approved by any government
agency without clearly and conspicuously indicating the scope, nature, and
terms of that approval, and unless true; or
(b) accredited by an accrediting body, unless
true.
(9)
Time to Complete Program. It is an unfair or deceptive
act or practice for school to misrepresent the amount of time it takes to
finish a program, including a representation that a program can be completed
"in weeks" or similar language suggesting that the length of time to complete
the program is shorter than the actual median completion time to obtain a
certificate, diploma, or degree.
(10)
Limited Time
Offers. It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a school
to represent an offer to be limited as to time or otherwise when such is not
the fact, or to represent to students, prospective students, or any other
person that enrollment in a particular program is only open or available for a
particular period of time or until a date certain when enrollment in the
program occurs on a rolling, ongoing, or regular basis (including monthly and
seasonally).
(11)
Money-back Guarantee. It is an unfair or deceptive act
or practice for a school to use directly or indirectly any so-called "money
back" guarantee, refund agreement, or other similar guarantee, agreement, or
contract between school and student which involves deception,
misrepresentation, bad faith, or the deceptive concealment of pertinent
facts.
(12)
Misuse of
the Word "Free". It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for
a school to represent any component or service related to a program as "free"
when in fact such component or service is regularly included as part of the
program.
(13)
Faculty
Qualifications. It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a
school to make a statement or representation through advertising or otherwise
that a certain individual or individuals have particular teaching or
instructional or professional qualifications, certifications, or degrees, when
they do not.
(14)
Classroom Instruction. It is an unfair or deceptive
act or practice for a school to make a statement or representation through
advertising or otherwise concerning the nature or character of classroom
instruction provided by the school that is false, untrue, deceptive, or which
has the tendency or capacity to mislead students or prospective students.
Without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, it is an unfair or
deceptive act or practice to represent that classroom instruction is in-person
if instruction is in fact provided by non in-person methods, including
instruction via video or computer terminals, and/or through self-guided
study.
(15)
Unapproved
or Unlicensed Programs. It is an unfair or deceptive act or
practice for a school to:
(a) represent that
the school offers an occupational program the school is not approved or
licensed to offer (unless the program is exempted from licensure or approval by
the appropriate Massachusetts authorizing agency);
(b) represent that a program is approved or
licensed when it is not; or
(c)
represent that a program teaches a subject, skill, or materials that are not
part of the curriculum of a program.
Notes
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No prior version found.