Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE)

Student Tuition Recovery Fund Disclosures (STRF)

"The State of California created the Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) to relieve or mitigate economic losses suffered by California residents who were students attending certain schools regulated by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. You may be eligible for STRF if you are a California resident, prepaid tuition, paid the STRF assessment, and suffered an economic loss as a result of any of the following:

1. The school closed before the course of instruction was completed.

2. The school¡¯s failure to pay refunds or charges on behalf of a student to a third party for license fees or any other purpose, or to provide equipment or materials for which a charge was collected within 180 days before the closure of the school.

3. The school¡¯s failure to pay or reimburse loan proceeds under a federally guaranteed student loan program as required by law or to pay or reimburse proceeds received by the school prior to closure in excess of tuition and other cost.

4. There was a decline in the quality of the course of instruction within 30 days before the school closed or, if the decline began earlier than 30 days prior to closure, the period of decline determined by the Bureau.

5. An inability to collect on a judgment against the institution for a violation of the Act."

"You must pay the state-imposed assessment for the Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) if all of the following applies to you:

1. You are a student, who is a California resident and prepays all or part of your tuition either by cash, guaranteed student loans, or personal loans, and

2. Your total charges are not paid by any third-party payer such as an employer, government program or other payer unless you have a separate agreement to repay the third party.

You are not eligible for protection from the STRF and you are not required to pay the STRF assessment, if either of the following applies:

1. You are not a California resident.

2. Your total charges are paid by a third party, such as an employer, government program or other payer, and you have no separate agreement to repay the third party."

Complaint Procedure

If a complaint cannot be resolved after exhausting the institution¡¯s procedure, "A student or any member of the public may file a complaint about this institution with the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education by calling (toll-free telephone number) or by completing a complaint form, which can be obtained on the bureau¡¯s Internet Web site, www.bppe.ca.gov."