Title 17. Education

Chapter 24-a. Proprietary Schools

17:3140.13        Solicitor permits

A. (1) No person shall sell any course of instruction offered by a proprietary school or solicit students in this state unless he first applies for and obtains a permit as a solicitor. 

(2) If the solicitor represents more than one school, he shall obtain a separate permit for each school he represents. 

(3) Each permit shall be valid for one year from the date of issue. 

(4)(a) The fee for each permit and each renewal shall be one hundred dollars. 

(b) All fees collected for the issuance or renewal of permits required by this Section shall be retained by the board solely for administering the provisions of this Chapter and no part thereof shall revert to the state general fund at the end of any fiscal year. 

B. The application for a permit shall be made on forms furnished by the board. 

C. (1) Each application shall be accompanied by a surety bond acceptable to the board in the sum of one thousand dollars. The bond shall be continuous. The bond shall be issued by a solvent surety authorized to do business in this state, shall be filed with the commissioner of higher education, and shall be conditioned to provide indemnification to any student suffering loss as a result of any fraud or misrepresentation used by the solicitor in procuring his enrollment. The bond may be provided by a solicitor for a school or by the school itself as a blanket bond covering each of its agents in the amount of one thousand dollars. 

(2) The liability of the surety on the bond for each solicitor covered shall not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars as an aggregate for all students for all breaches of the conditions of the bond by the solicitors. The bond shall be subject to a ten-year prescriptive period for actions or breach of contract. 

(3) The surety of any bond may cancel the same upon giving thirty days written notice to the commission and the board and, upon giving notice, shall be relieved of liability for any breach of condition occurring after the effective date of the cancellation. 

(4) Each application for renewal of a permit shall be accompanied by a surety bond as provided in this Section. 

D. The board shall take action on all permits applied for in accordance with the provisions of this Section within sixty days after receipt of the application. 

E. Upon approval of a permit application, the board shall issue a permit in the form of an identification card to the solicitor which shall contain his name, address, and permit number, the name and address of his employing school, and certification that the person whose name appears on the card is an authorized solicitor of the school. The identification card shall be carried by and displayed by the solicitor at all times that he is soliciting or seeking to enroll students. 

F. (1) Any permit issued to a solicitor may be revoked by the board if the holder of the permit solicits or enrolls students through fraud, deception, or misrepresentation, or other cause as provided by board rule. 

(2) The board shall notify the permit holder in writing of its decision to revoke his permit. At any time within thirty days prior to revocation, upon request of the solicitor, the commission shall afford the solicitor an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel. Strict rules of evidence shall not apply. On or before thirty days prior to the date of the hearing, the commission shall notify the aggrieved solicitor of the date and purpose of the hearing and the grounds for the contemplated revocation of the permit. The action of the commission shall be determined by a vote of a majority of the members of the commission and ratified by a majority vote of the board. Any final decision of the commission may be appealed to the board. 

Added by Acts 2019, No. 437, § 1.