AGO 2002-03.
Case Date | July 02, 2002 |
Court | Indiana |
Indiana Attorney General Opinions
2002.
AGO 2002-03.
July 2, 2002Advisory Opinion 2002-3Mr. Phillip H. Roush
CommissionerProprietary Education
Committee302 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN
46204-2767 RE: Jurisdiction of
the Committee over computer software/hardware training programs. Dear Mr. Roush:
This letter responds to your request for an answer to the
following question:
Are organizations that offer instructional services for a fee in
a variety of the popular software and mainframe operation programs exempt from
the jurisdiction of the Proprietary Education Committee by virtue of offering
instruction that may be used for self-motivational or avocational purposes?
BRIEF ANSWER
The types of computer software/hardware training programs your
office presented to our office for review meet the statutory definition of a
post-secondary proprietary educational institution. The governing statute
provides that no person shall do business as a post-secondary proprietary
educational i.nstitution in the state of Indiana without accreditation. In
order to gain accreditation, a person must file an application and be approved
by the Proprietary Education Committee. The only exceptions to the requirement
for accreditation for individuals doing business in Indiana by offering to the
public instructional or educational services or training in any of the
technical, professional, mechanical, business, or industrial occupations for a
fee are found at Indiana Code section(s) 20-1-19-1(1)(A) through (E). The
programs presented to our office for review did not fall under any of the
listed exceptions.
Your office additionally, specifically asked whether any of the
programs presented to our office would be exempt from jurisdiction under
Indiana Code section 20-1-19-1(1)(D)(iii). This subsection provides that any
organization that offers exclusively instruction that is self-improvement,
motivational, or avocational in intent is not deemed a post-secondary
proprietary educational institution for purposes of the chapter. It is our
opinion that the programs presented to our office for review did not offer
exclusively instruction that was clearly self-improvement, motivational, or
avocational in intent. Therefore, the software/hardware computer training
programs presented to our office for review should fall under the jurisdiction
of the Proprietary Education Committee.
ANALYSIS
Ind. Code § 20-1-19-1 provides in pertinent part:
Post-secondary proprietary educational institution means any
person doing business in Indiana by offering to the public for a tuition, fee
or charge, instructional or educational services or training in any technical,
professional, mechanical, business, or industrial occupation, either in the
recipients home, at a designated location, or by mail.
Ind. Code § 20-1-19-5 provides...
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