Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision Room 974 EBA Albany, NY 12234 www.highered.nysed.gov/bpss

June 29, 2004 (Updated July 9, 2004)

Dear Drake Student:

The Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (BPSS) wishes to thank you for your patience. We are working hard to offer you as many possibilities as we can to make this transition in your education as smooth as possible during this difficult time. Toward this end, we want to remind you of the options we presented to you on June 2^nd as well as present to you the additional option of attending one of the colleges listed on this letter. Please read the 3 options carefully before making your decision as well as the important bullet points noted at the end of the letter (under the Additional Information section). 

 Option 1: Participate in a Teach-out at another Proprietary School:

Since NYSED became aware of Drake’s intention to close on Thursday, May 27, 2004, BPSS has worked very hard to get as many schools as possible to participate in this teach-out. We have appealed to other schools and asked them to help out during this difficult time. Fortunately, many schools have graciously come forward and offered their assistance. Below you will find a table containing a list of schools. NYSED is currently working with these schools to negotiate a teach-out on your behalf. Also, included is the school’s address, telephone number, name of a contact person and the program they can teach-out. Please keep the following points in mind in considering attending a teach-out school. 

1. There is no extra cost to you as the student. Even if the teach-out school has a higher tuition than Drake, you may continue your education at their school at no additional cost to you. You are only responsible for the balance of the tuition you would have paid to Drake or would have been paid on your behalf.
    

2. Additionally, the teach-out school will make an assessment of where you are in the program and what you have learned at Drake and place you into a comparable program, if not the same program, at the school.
    

3. Should you decide to take the teach-out you can give the new school a try for one week of instruction. If you decide at the end of the week you are not happy or do not wish to continue, you can still apply for Option 3.
    

As NYSED will continue to work with these and other schools to offer you as many options as possible, this list will be updated and finalized. We encourage you to visit our website at www.highered.nysed.gov/bpss for an updated listing. We hope you will seriously consider this option and continue your education.

*Curricula Code:
CBC = Computerized Business Certificate – 900 hours;
CBD = Computerized Business Diploma – 900 hours;
COS = Computerized Office Specialist – 1500 hours;
EOS = Executive Office Specialist – 1500 hours;
IOS = Integrated Office Systems – 660 hours;
MA = Medical Assistant – 900 hours;
MOA = Medical Office Assistant – 1500 hours;
SBD = Specialized Business Diploma – 625 hours
Stand Alone Courses = Office Technology using MS Outlook (20 hours), Advanced Spreadsheet Applications (20 hours), MS Outlook (25 hours), and Advanced Excel Applications (25 hours). 
Internship Module - While the internship module at Drake was 250 hours, Global Business School is willing to take students who did not complete this last module and incorporate them into Global's 375 hour internship.

Option 2: Acceptance into a College Program:

The closure of the four Drake Business Schools has presented many challenges to NYSED and the educational community. To help meet the needs of students, NYSED has asked colleges to assist, where appropriate, to help students complete their educational programs. To date, we have not been able to establish formal teach-out agreements with the colleges since there is no assurance that a student’s academic preparation will match the admission standards for a specific college. Also specific colleges and students have had many questions.  We have established some guidelines for the colleges and the students who wish to attend them. These guidelines are listed below.

·        You may contact a college from the list below. A member of the college’s staff will act as a contact person for the purposes of the Drake teach-out to arrange for an interview and tour. 

·        The college may exercise the option of competency testing for the coursework already completed at Drake. 

·        Appropriate faculty will review the tests. 

·        Faculty will determine if remedial, non-credit courses will be needed prior to acceptance into the program. 

·        You will be counseled individually as to the appropriate program placement, whether it is in an existing certificate, diploma, or associate’s degree program.  

·        The program offered by the college may not be a “comparable program,” but in fact will be a program that best captures your career interest and goals, while maximizing the integration of courses you took at Drake. 

·        The institution will match the individual courses taken at Drake and treat them as if you were a transfer student and may award non-degree advanced standing or college credit, as appropriate.  It is at the discretion of the college to grant you credit for the clock hours at Drake. Be sure to discuss this with the college and find out the policy on this issue.  

·        You will be required to take any additional courses as required by the college to complete the graduation requirements for the certificate, diploma, or associate’s degree program.  

·        Upon completion of the program, you will receive a certificate, diploma, or associate’s degree from the accepting institution. Depending on the institution and the program, a certificate could either be a non-credit certificate, similar to what you would have received from Drake, or a credit-bearing college certificate. 

·        You are responsible for setting up a meeting with the financial aid department at the college to complete any paperwork needed for Pell and TAP grants or other Title IV funding. The financial aid department will treat you in the same manner as any other incoming students would be treated and thus, if possible, offer you any institutional aid, scholarships, or other grants available. 

Student Tuition Liability 

·        You are responsible for paying the college’s tuition, in part or in whole, as long as you will not incur any additional tuition liability beyond  that which you may have incurred at Drake.

 ·        Should the college’s tuition be more than that of Drake, you will be required to pay only that portion of the tuition up to the cost of attendance at Drake. 

·        Should the college’s tuition be less than that of Drake, you will be required to pay up to that tuition cost, not to exceed the tuition liability for Drake. 

·        The College may choose at its own discretion to allow you up to one week of instruction to decide if the teach-out program is appropriate for you, before committing you to any financial liability.  Please check with the college staff about this point. If the college does not allow this option and you enroll at the college, then option 3 will not be available to you.  

* Note 1: Monroe College admits students to its associate and bachelor’s degree programs who meet its admission requirements. The College has responded to the request from the State Education Department to help meet the needs of former Drake students to complete their educational programs through the teach-out. Monroe also provides proficiency exams for students interested in obtaining college credit for the courses taken at Drake. We will evaluate and consider each student individually for the program. Monroe College awarded degree to more than 1900 graduates in June 2000, and we hope that you will become one of our students and then one of our graduates. We look forward to working with you to achieve your educational objective. 

**Note 2: TCI agrees to accept Drake Business School students under the conditions set forth above only for its certificate programs. These conditions are not binding for any Drake Students who wish to enroll in an associate degree program at TCI.

Option 3: A Refund of all pre-paid tuition:

Drake is a licensed proprietary school and thus the money you paid or was paid out on your behalf (in the form of a private loan) is protected. If you choose not to participate in the teach-out, you are entitled to receive a refund of any pre-paid tuition. If you paid out the money, than the refund will be sent to you. If the money was paid out on your behalf from a lending institution (in the form of a private loan), then the lending institution will receive a refund. Please keep in mind that Federal and State grants such as PELL and TAP do not have to be reimbursed or repaid. Also, any Title IV loans are forgiven. Thus, what is reimbursed is any money you paid Drake or if you took out a private loan. In order to receive the refund, you must fill out a complaint form which was made available to you from the BPSS representatives that visited your school or through the BPSS website.

Additional Information:

• Transcript Information: Any student wishing to receive a transcript must fill out a transcript request form. This form can be downloaded from the BPSS website, picked up at the BPSS New York City office or mailed to the student (see the BPSS contact information below).  Any students participating in a teach-out at any of the schools listed in this letter are asked to have the schools send for the transcripts. Please note that only one copy of the transcript is available. Once requested BPSS cannot under any circumstances replace or duplicate the transcript. The majority of students who attended the Bronx and Staten Island locations of Drake Schools received their transcripts on June 2, 2004 as did some of the students attending the Queens (Astoria) Drake location. 
   
• New York State Education Department (NYSED), Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (BPSS) contact information: website address: www.highered.nysed.gov/bpss; office address: 116 West 32^nd Street, 5^th Floor, New York, New York 10001; and telephone number: (212) 643-4760. BPSS urges you to visit our website over the next few weeks for any updates.
   
• New York State Education Department (NYSED), Office of College & University Evaluation (OCUE) contact information: Sandra Martin (518) 474-3871.
   
• Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) for information on TAP – (518) 473-1600 or 1-(800) 642-6234.  Any TAP money paid out on your behalf to Drake will be counted toward the total TAP money you as a student are allowed (Please keep this in mind and seriously consider the teach-out options). BPSS has been informed by HESC that current Drake students who were awarded TAP for the Spring 2003-2004 semester and were unable to complete the semester due to closure of the school will not use TAP eligibility for that semester. In short, because the school closed prior to the end of the spring semester, the TAP award for that semester was not paid to Drake.
   
• United States Department of Education (USDOE): If you have questions about your Federal financial aid, you can get information at the US Department of Education's Closed School Website at http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/closedschool.jsp?tab=attending or you can call Nautochia Webb at (212) 637-6420.
   
• The deadline for you to make a decision to attend a teach-out school (Options 1 & 2) or to get a refund (Option 3) is Friday July 16, 2004.

 Sincerely, 

The Representatives of the New York State Education Department, Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision.

1-17-07 Update: Records for students that were not attending due to having graduated, withdrawn, or other reason should fill-out the Student Records Request form BPSS-153 and mail to the address indicated. This procedure also applies to entities wishing to verify if an individual indeed graduated from Drake.
Be advised the records were being digitized and the task had not been completed as of the date of this posting. However, this should not discourage the submission of the request so that it can be acted on once the scanning of the records is complete.