37 Tex. Admin. Code § 427.409 - Advertising

(a) General Information for Advertising.

(1) A school shall not make deceptive statements in attempting to enroll students.

(2) The commission may require a school to furnish proof of any of its advertising claims.

(b) Advertisement Method.

(1) A school may advertise for prospective students under "instruction," "education," "training," or a similarly titled classification.

(2) No school advertisements shall use the word "wanted," "help wanted," or "trainee," either in the headline or the body of the advertisement, nor shall any advertisement indicate, in any manner, that the school has or knows of employment of any nature available to prospective students; only "placement assistance," if offered, may be advertised.

(3) A school shall not use terms to describe the significance of the approval that specify or connote greater approval. Terms that schools may not use to connote greater approval by the commission include, but are not limited to, "accredited," "supervised," "endorsed," and "recommended." A school shall not use the words "guarantee," "guaranteed," or "free" unless approved in writing by the commission.

(4) Any advertisement that includes a reference to awarding of credit hours shall include the statement, "limited transferability." Where a school has an arrangement with a college or university to accept transfer hours, such information may be advertised, but any limitations shall be included in the advertisement.

(c) Advertisement Content.

(1) Advertisement content shall include, and clearly indicate, the full and correct name of the school and its address, including city, as they appear on the certificate of approval.

(2) Advertisements shall not include:

(A) statements that the school or its programs are accredited unless the accreditation is that of an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education;

(B) statements that the school or its courses of instruction have been approved unless the approval can be substantiated by an appropriate certificate of approval issued by an agency of the state or federal government;

(C) statements that represent the school as an employment agency under the same name, or a confusingly similar name, or at the same location of the school; or

(D) statements as being commission approved or IFSAC approved in order to solicit students prior to receiving actual commission approval. Any such activity by the school, prior to the commission's approval of the training course, shall constitute misrepresentation by the training facility and shall entitle each student in the course to a full refund of all monies paid and a release from all obligations to the student.

(3) A school holding a franchise to offer specialized programs or subjects not available to other schools shall not advertise such programs in such a manner as to diminish the value and scope of programs offered by other schools not holding such a franchise. Advertising of special subjects or programs offered under a franchise shall be limited to the subject or programs offered.

(4) a school shall not use endorsements, commendations, or recommendations by students in favor of a school except with the consent of the student and without any offer of financial or other material compensation. Endorsements shall bear the legal or professional name of the student.

(5) a school shall not use a photograph, cut, engraving, illustration or graphic in advertising in such a manner as to:

(A) convey a false impression of size, importance, or location of the school, equipment, or facilities associated with the school, or

(B) circumvent any of the requirements of this subchapter regarding written or oral statements.

(6) Every advertisement must clearly indicate that training is being offered, and shall not, either by actual statement, omission, or intimation, imply that prospective employees are being sought.

(d) Financial Incentives. Advertisements shall not:

(1) state that students shall be guaranteed employment while enrolled in the school;

(2) state that employment shall be guaranteed for students after graduation; or

(3) misrepresent opportunities for employment upon completion of any program; or

(4) contain dollar amounts as representative or indicative of the earning potential of graduates unless those dollar amounts have been published by the United States Department of Labor. This provision shall not be construed as prohibiting the school from providing earning potential to the student individually on the student's receipt of enrollment policies or other such commission approved document.

(e) Advertisements for student tuition loans shall:

(1) contain the language "financial aid available, if qualified";

(2) appear in type no larger than the font used for the name of the school and in similar color and style; and

(3) does not preclude disclosure of the school's eligibility under the various state and federal loan programs.

(f) Advertisement Monitoring.

(1) The commission may order corrective action to counteract the effect of advertising in violation of the Act or rules, including:

(A) retraction by the school of such advertising claims published in the same manner as the claims themselves; and

(B) cancellation of telephone numbers without an automatic forwarding message.

(2) As corrective action for violations of the Act or rules, the commission may require schools to submit all advertisements to the commission for pre-approval at least 30 days before proposed submission of the advertisements to the advertising medium.

(3) Nothing in these guidelines shall prohibit release of information to students as required by a state or federal agency.

Notes

37 Tex. Admin. Code § 427.409

The provisions of this §427.409 adopted to be effective May 9, 2007, 32 TexReg 2476; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 43, Number 19, May 11, 2018, TexReg 3104, eff. 5/20/2018