Chapter 06. Jack F. Tolbert Memorial Student Grant Program

Definitions.

To be eligible to participate in the Tolbert Grant Program, a private career school:

Be enrolled in a private career school;

Be enrolled full-time (a minimum of 18 clock hours of instruction per week) in an approved program which is at least 100 clock hours in length;

Be a resident of the State of Maryland;

Demonstrate financial need and meet any other financial requirement of this program.

A Tolbert Grant award shall be $500 per student per fiscal year.

A Tolbert Grant award shall be used for tuition only.

A recipient of a Tolbert Grant shall also be eligible to receive a Senatorial or Delegate Scholarship.

At the beginning of each fiscal year, each eligible school shall be notified of the number of grant awards that may be awarded to students attending the school during the fiscal year.

Each eligible school shall be allocated a minimum of six grant awards for the fiscal year, subject to the availability of funding.

Any remaining grant awards shall be allocated proportionately based on student enrollment as follows:

An application on a form provided by the Commission; and

A Student Aid Report from a processed Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

A private career school shall rank all applicants according to the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from the applicant’s Student Aid Report (SAR).

Each eligible applicant shall be ranked from lowest to highest based on the applicant’s reported EFC.

Awards shall be given to applicants beginning with the applicant with the lowest EFC (e.g., $0) and proceeding through the rankings until all awards have been made.

To be eligible for the grant program, a student shall demonstrate financial need. The EFC shall be at least $500 less than the cost of tuition annually.

During the fiscal year, a school shall select candidates for awards up to the total number of awards which the school has been allocated.

A school shall submit candidates to the Office of Student Financial Aid in accordance with the following:

The Commission shall accept award candidates from each eligible school three times per year by the assigned deadline date provided by the Commission for each semester during summer, fall, and spring.

The Commission shall transmit funds to a school in the amount of the grant awards following verification by the Commission that the candidates have been reviewed and selected by the school on the basis of the requirements of these regulations.

A school shall credit an award to the student’s account within 5 business days of receiving the funds from the Commission.

If a school fails to use 66 percent or more of its allocated awards by March 15 the remaining unused awards shall be redistributed to schools meeting the 66 percent requirement, on a pro-rata basis, unless the school losing the awards can show that it has eligible candidates to whom it will make the remaining awards.

The Commission shall notify schools of any reallocation of awards made after March 15.

Continues to meet all requirements for eligibility identified in Regulation .03 of this chapter; and

Is making satisfactory progress towards a certificate of completion according to the approved academic and attendance standards of the private career school.

All financial books, records, and documents pertaining to this program shall be opened to inspection, review, and audit at all reasonable times by the Commission, the State auditor, or their authorized representatives.

A private career school shall retain all financial books, records, and documents relating to an award for 5 years after the close of the fiscal year in which the award was made.

A private career school shall include this program in any independent audit conducted for the school on financial aid programs.