Education Law Section 5004(1)(a) states, in part,
No party may, for a consideration or remuneration procure, solicit or enroll any student for instruction in or given by any school within or without the state of New York, unless
(i) the party is a salaried employee of the school and
(ii) the party shall have secured a private school agent's certificate from the department pursuant to regulations of the commissioner.
Section 126.7(a) of the Commissioner's Regulations states, in part,
All conditions for enrollment in or completion of a curriculum or course shall be set forth in an enrollment agreement which shall be fully completed, dated and signed by both an authorized agent of the school and the student prior to the time instruction begins [...]
Continuing, Sections 126.7(b), and 126.7(b)(13) and (14) of the Commissioner's Regulations, states in part,
126.7(b) The enrollment agreement shall be printed in no less than 10-point type, shall contain no advertising or extraneous material and shall set forth briefly and clearly the following:
[...]
126.7(b)(13) the names and certificate numbers of the agents responsible for procuring, soliciting or enrolling the student or enrollee. The enrollment agreement shall contain an appropriate place in which the student shall by signature, confirm the names of such agents;
126.7(b)(14) a separately signed acknowledgment by the student that he or she has received the disclosure material, as required by section 5005 of the Education Law [...]
To fully clarify the above requirements, all enrollment agreements must have:
- a line identifying the agent who enrolled the student which includes the agent identification number;
- below that identification, a line for the student to sign, formally indicating that the agent identification is correct;
- a separate signature line for the student to indicate that he/she has received the disclosure material;
- a signature and date line for the student to agree to the terms of the enrollment agreement contract, and that he/she has received a copy of the enrollment agreement and school catalog;
- a school signature and date line where an authorized official of the school signs binding the school to the terms of the contract. Although this individual is not required to be the enrolling agent (e.g., for smaller schools where the director may wish to sign all enrollment agreements, etc.), schools are encouraged to authorize the enrolling agent to sign the enrollment agreement binding the school to the terms of the contract. Doing so would emphasize the procuring, soliciting and enrolling function performed by the agent in the interaction with the student.
The above signature requirements preclude the use of rubber stamps or any other device that does not provide for the hand-written signature of the appropriate listed signatory.
Any school whose enrollment agreements do not appear to meet the above requirements are operating in non-compliance. The directors of those schools are encouraged to contact their appropriate Education Field Liaison within the Bureau as soon as possible in order to have a correct enrollment agreement approved.