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Program Duties & Responsibilities

Effective Date: July 1, 2023

A Candidate Program’s Application for Consideration must include a completed and signed Compliance Agreement and Standard Terms and Conditions prior to certification or Provisional Certification as a Qualified Education Program (see Program Eligibility Criteria Item #2). The Program Duties and Responsibilities, as amended from time to time, are incorporated herein by reference, and will be available on the Accelerate Indiana website.

A Candidate Program must provide a signed Standard Terms and Conditions prior to full certification or Provisional Certification as a Qualified Education Program. If a Candidate Program receives a recommendation for certification or Provisional Certification from the Certification Advisory Committee but does not provide a duly executed Standard Terms and Conditions, the Candidate Program will neither receive certification or Provisional Certification as a Qualified Education Program nor be added to the Qualified Education Program List.

Program Duties and Responsibilities, as amended from time to time, will include:

General Compliance Matters

  • Upon full certification or Provisional Certification, a Candidate Program—or its sponsoring Eligible Institution on behalf of that program—must provide a duly executed Standard Terms and Conditions agreeing to adhere to Accelerate Indiana’s Program Duties and Responsibilities, incorporated therein by reference.
  • A Qualified Education Program must notify Accelerate Indiana as soon as practicable of any substantive changes in the information submitted in the Qualified Education Program’s Application for Consideration, such as, but not limited to:
    • The Eligible Institution’s state authorization type;
    • Programmatic changes, such as changes to the program’s:
      • Name or title;
      • CHE/DWD ID #;
      • Credential(s) and/or credit(s) offered;
      • Duration;
      • Physical location or delivery format, e.g., in-person versus virtual; and
      • Director name and contact information.
  • If Program Duties and Responsibilities, as incorporated by reference under the Standard Terms and Conditions, are amended, Accelerate Indiana shall notify all Qualified Education Programs as soon as practicable before the revisions become effective. The Standard Terms and Conditions, as may be amended from time to time, will be available on the Accelerate Indiana website.

Enrollment & Cost of Attendance Verification

  • A Qualified Education Program must provide to Accelerate Indiana (or its designated Vendor):
    • The Applicant’s verified enrollment in the program;
    • The Applicant’s highest level of educational attainment; and
    • Verification of the Applicant’s total cost of tuition, fees, and required course materials to certify the maximum allowable individual ICAF award.
  • A Qualified Education Program must demonstrate to Accelerate Indiana (or its designated Vendor) the total cost of tuition, fees, and required course materials for an ICAF Applicant is the same cost available to the general public.
  • A Qualified Education Program must have an established policy to address instances of student emergency absence, such as personal, family, or health emergencies.

NOTE: Awardees may utilize an Indiana Workforce Ready Grant to fund the same course of study. Prior usage of a Workforce Ready Grant does not disqualify an Applicant and/or Awardee from receiving an ICAF financial assistance award.

The total financial assistance award, including tuition, fees, and required course materials is capped at the maximum allowable individual ICAF award amount of $7,500.

Academic Separation & Graduation Notifications

  • A Qualified Education Program must notify Accelerate Indiana (or its designated Vendor) within 60 (sixty) calendar days that an enrolled Awardee separates, including the following information:
    • The grounds for the separation;
    • The effective date of the separation;
    • The time remaining (weeks) if the Awardee were to successfully complete the program; and
    • What Credentials and/or academic credits, if any, were earned by the Awardee.
  • A Qualified Education Program must notify Accelerate Indiana (or its designated Vendor) within 60 (sixty) calendar days that an Awardee is still enrolled after the passage of six (6) months but has not yet successfully completed or Graduated.
  • A Qualified Education Program must notify Accelerate Indiana (or its designated Vendor) within 60 (sixty) calendar days that an enrolled Awardee Graduates from the Qualified Education Program (to become an Awardee-Graduate), including the following information:
    • The date of Graduation;
    • Whether the Graduation was on-time;
    • The Awardee-Graduate’s total duration of study (weeks) minus any interim period between successful course completion and the graduation award date;
    • What Credentials and/or academic credits were earned by the Awardee-Graduate; and
    • Whether the Awardee-Graduate has secured or been offered employment (if known).

Student Outcomes & Performance Metrics Data

  • A Qualified Education Program must collect and retain Student Outcomes and Performance Metrics Data concerning:
    • All student-level data submissions required by DWD’s INTraining System;
    • Program Eligibility Criteria items #4 through #8;
    • Proxy Data for Program Eligibility Criteria (if applicable);
    • Information in relation to Provisional Certification (if applicable); and
    • Program Duties and Responsibilities, specifically:
      • Enrollment & Cost of Attendance Verification data; and
      • Academic Separation & Graduation Notifications data.
  • A Qualified Education Program must semiannually submit Student Outcomes and Performance Metrics Data to Accelerate Indiana (or its designated Vendor) in a form prescribed by Accelerate Indiana.
  • A Qualified Education Program must adhere to all applicable laws and regulations concerning student privacy and data security.

Initial & Outcome-Based Disbursements

  • Disbursements are financial assistance award payments on behalf of the Awardee or Awardee-Graduate from Accelerate Indiana to the Qualified Education Program or its sponsoring Eligible Institution.
  • A Qualified Education Program shall be eligible to receive two Disbursements from the ICAF on behalf of an Awardee, always subject to the individual, lifetime maximum award amount of $7,500. Those Disbursements and their conditions are:
    • First Disbursement and conditions:
      • Upon the Awardee beginning the program, seventy percent (70%) of the amount awarded to Awardee, which generally shall equal the total cost of tuition, fees, and required course materials verified by the program for the Awardee (subject to Award limits).
    • Second Disbursement and conditions:
      • Upon Graduation of the Awardee, thirty percent (30%) of the amount awarded to the Awardee.
      • If an Awardee graduates after an enrollment of twelve (12) months, there is no second Disbursement on behalf of the Awardee-Graduate, unless:
        • The prolonged enrollment was allowed under or involved the Qualified Education Program’s established policy to address instances of student emergency absence, such as personal, family, or health emergencies, subject to verification by Accelerate Indiana (or its designated Vendor).

NOTE: Awardees utilize an Indiana Workforce Ready Grant to fund the same course of study.

Disbursement of funds will not be made to an Awardee, Disbursements are only made to the Qualified Education Program or its sponsoring Eligible Institution.

The Certification Advisory Committee will provide ongoing input and such other information necessary for Accelerate Indiana to develop and revise as necessary Accelerate Indiana Program Duties and Responsibilities with the express intent of protecting ICAF Applicants and Awardees, providing for programmatic accountability and transparency, upholding instructional rigor and Credential value, pursuing the workforce development goals and objectives of the State of Indiana, and complying with all applicable laws and regulations.

Accelerate Indiana shall regularly inform the Certification Advisory Committee of this information in respect to all and individual Qualified Education Programs.