Principles of Excellence

Compliance

Executive Order 13607, signed April 27, 2012 by the President of the United States, established Principles of Excellence (POE) for educational institutions serving service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members. Eight Principles of Excellence are described in the Order.

Compliance with the POE is intended to ensure an institution provides meaningful information to prospective and current military associated students about the financial cost and quality of the institution; to assist those students in making choices about how to use their Federal educational benefits; prevent abusive and deceptive recruiting practices that target the recipients of Federal military and veteran educational benefits; and ensure that the institution provides high-quality academic and student support services to the respective group of students.

Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology complies with the Principles of Excellence. Demonstration of compliance is provided as follows:

Principle of Excellence	How We Comply
1	Financial Aid/Shopping Sheet Prior to enrollment, provide prospective students who are eligible to receive military tuition assistance and veterans education benefits a personalized standard form (to be developed by ED in consultation with DoD and VA) that discloses total cost of the student’s education program, including tuition and fees; the extent to which federal education benefits will cover that cost; type and amount of financial aid for which the student may qualify; the student’s estimated student loan debt upon graduation; student outcomes; and other information to facilitate comparison of different institutions’ financial aid packages.	OSUIT provides a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, which is based on the Department of Education July 2013 template, which is provided to the institution via our integrated Ellucian Banner database software. The Shopping Sheet is created by the ERP system at the time the student is budgeted and is available to be viewed through the student’s Banner portal. It is located under the financial aid area along with the student’s award information.
2	Financial Aid Information Inform students who are eligible to receive military tuition assistance and veteran education benefits of the availability of federal student financial aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (“Title IV”) and have in place policies to alert those students of their potential Title IV eligibility before the institution packages or arranges private student loans or alternative financing.	OSUIT emails all identified prospective students information regarding the availability of federal and state financial aid and VA benefits. Upon receipt of admission application, additional information is provided detailing the steps to apply for financial aid and VA benefits at the University to those applicants who declare their intent to utilize those benefits. Similar information is posted on OSUIT's military and veteran services webpage.
3	Recruitment End fraudulent and unduly aggressive recruiting techniques on and off military installations, misrepresentation, payment of incentive compensation, and failure to meet state authorization requirements, consistent with the regulations issued by the Department of Education (34 C.F.R. 668.71-668.75, 668.14, and 600.9).	The University does not, and has never, conducted fraudulent or aggressive recruiting on or off military installations or in any other venue, nor do we misrepresent ourselves, our programs, or our mission. We do not pay incentive compensation to anyone for recruiting actions. We meet all state authorization requirements and perform yearly program auditing conducted by the Oklahoma State Approving Agency.
4	Accreditation Obtain the approval of the institution's accrediting agency for new course or program offerings before enrolling students in such courses or programs, provided that such approval is appropriate under the substantive change requirements of the accrediting agency.	OSUIT's is approved by several agencies and boards: the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) since 1975, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Board of Regents of Oklahoma State University and the Agricultural & Mechanical Colleges, and the Oklahoma State Approving Agency. New degree programs are approved, in order, by the OSUIT Curriculum Committee, Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Substantive changes to existing degree programs are approved, in order, by the OSUIT Curriculum Committee, Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
5	Re-admission Allow service members and reservists to be readmitted to a program if they are temporarily unable to attend class or have to suspend their studies due to service requirements, and take additional steps to accommodate short absences due to service obligations, provided that satisfactory academic progress is being made by the service members and reservists prior to suspending their studies.	OSUIT shall grant a leave of absence, which shall not exceed a cumulative five (5) years, to a student who is a member of the active uniformed military services of the US and called to active duty. More information can be found in the University Catalog.
6	Return of Funds Agree to an institutional refund policy that is aligned with the refund of unearned student aid rules applicable to Federal student aid provided through the Department of Education under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as required under section 484B of that Act when students withdraw prior to course completion.	Current tuition refund/return processes for withdrawal due to service obligations of service members utilizing Tuition Assistance follow the guidelines set forth by the Department of Defense by following the university’s “Third Party Billing Agreement” found on the university’s website here.
7	Education Plans Provide educational plans for all individuals using Federal military and veterans educational benefits that detail how they will fulfill all the requirements necessary to graduate and the expected timeline of completion.	Each student who applies and is accepted for admission as a degree-seeking student is provided an official evaluation of transfer credit normally within 30 business days of their admission and is applied to their transcript at OSUIT. The evaluation is continuously upgraded as the student progresses in their program and can be viewed on Ellucian Degree Works software. The evaluation includes all course requirements for their chosen degree, credits transferred in, how those credits are applied to the degree plan, and the expected timeline to complete their degree.
8	Point of Contact Designate a point of contact for academic and financial advising (including access to disability counseling) to assist service member and veteran students and their families with the successful completion of their studies and with their job searches.	OSUIT’s Office of Military and Veterans Services is the designated Point of Contact for matters associated with the Principles of Excellence. Students will be referred to other College offices as needed for specific issues.

Principle of Excellence

How We Comply

Financial Aid/Shopping Sheet

Prior to enrollment, provide prospective students who are eligible to receive military tuition assistance and veterans education benefits a personalized standard form (to be developed by ED in consultation with DoD and VA) that discloses total cost of the student’s education program, including tuition and fees; the extent to which federal education benefits will cover that cost; type and amount of financial aid for which the student may qualify; the student’s estimated student loan debt upon graduation; student outcomes; and other information to facilitate comparison of different institutions’ financial aid packages.

OSUIT provides a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, which is based on the Department of Education July 2013 template, which is provided to the institution via our integrated Ellucian Banner database software. The Shopping Sheet is created by the ERP system at the time the student is budgeted and is available to be viewed through the student’s Banner portal. It is located under the financial aid area along with the student’s award information.

Financial Aid Information

Inform students who are eligible to receive military tuition assistance and veteran education benefits of the availability of federal student financial aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (“Title IV”) and have in place policies to alert those students of their potential Title IV eligibility before the institution packages or arranges private student loans or alternative financing.

OSUIT emails all identified prospective students information regarding the availability of federal and state financial aid and VA benefits. Upon receipt of admission application, additional information is provided detailing the steps to apply for financial aid and VA benefits at the University to those applicants who declare their intent to utilize those benefits. Similar information is posted on OSUIT's military and veteran services webpage.

Recruitment

End fraudulent and unduly aggressive recruiting techniques on and off military installations, misrepresentation, payment of incentive compensation, and failure to meet state authorization requirements, consistent with the regulations issued by the Department of Education (34 C.F.R. 668.71-668.75, 668.14, and 600.9).

The University does not, and has never, conducted fraudulent or aggressive recruiting on or off military installations or in any other venue, nor do we misrepresent ourselves, our programs, or our mission. We do not pay incentive compensation to anyone for recruiting actions. We meet all state authorization requirements and perform yearly program auditing conducted by the Oklahoma State Approving Agency.

Accreditation

Obtain the approval of the institution's accrediting agency for new course or program offerings before enrolling students in such courses or programs, provided that such approval is appropriate under the substantive change requirements of the accrediting agency.

OSUIT's is approved by several agencies and boards: the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) since 1975, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Board of Regents of Oklahoma State University and the Agricultural & Mechanical Colleges, and the Oklahoma State Approving Agency. New degree programs are approved, in order, by the OSUIT Curriculum Committee, Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Substantive changes to existing degree programs are approved, in order, by the OSUIT Curriculum Committee, Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

Re-admission

Allow service members and reservists to be readmitted to a program if they are temporarily unable to attend class or have to suspend their studies due to service requirements, and take additional steps to accommodate short absences due to service obligations, provided that satisfactory academic progress is being made by the service members and reservists prior to suspending their studies.

OSUIT shall grant a leave of absence, which shall not exceed a cumulative five (5) years, to a student who is a member of the active uniformed military services of the US and called to active duty. More information can be found in the University Catalog.

Return of Funds

Agree to an institutional refund policy that is aligned with the refund of unearned student aid rules applicable to Federal student aid provided through the Department of Education under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as required under section 484B of that Act when students withdraw prior to course completion.

Current tuition refund/return processes for withdrawal due to service obligations of service members utilizing Tuition Assistance follow the guidelines set forth by the Department of Defense by following the university’s “Third Party Billing Agreement” found on the university’s website here.

Education Plans

Provide educational plans for all individuals using Federal military and veterans educational benefits that detail how they will fulfill all the requirements necessary to graduate and the expected timeline of completion.

Each student who applies and is accepted for admission as a degree-seeking student is provided an official evaluation of transfer credit normally within 30 business days of their admission and is applied to their transcript at OSUIT. The evaluation is continuously upgraded as the student progresses in their program and can be viewed on Ellucian Degree Works software. The evaluation includes all course requirements for their chosen degree, credits transferred in, how those credits are applied to the degree plan, and the expected timeline to complete their degree.

Point of Contact

Designate a point of contact for academic and financial advising (including access to disability counseling) to assist service member and veteran students and their families with the successful completion of their studies and with their job searches.

OSUIT’s Office of Military and Veterans Services is the designated Point of Contact for matters associated with the Principles of Excellence. Students will be referred to other College offices as needed for specific issues.