The grantee is required to contribute at least ten percent of the total cost of a project under this program. However, if the grantee can demonstrate that it has insufficient resources to contribute the entire match but that it can fulfill all other requirements for receiving an award, the Secretary may waive part of the non-Federal share of the cost of the project after negotiations with Department staff.

(a) A grantee must use at least 65 percent of the total cost of a project under this program for scholarships as defined in § 386.4.

(b) The Secretary may waive the requirement in (a) and award grants that use less than 65 percent of the total cost of the project for scholarships based upon the unique nature of the project, such as the establishment of a new training program or long-term training in an emerging field that does not award degrees or certificates.

(c) Before providing a scholarship to a scholar, a grantee must make good faith efforts to determine that the scholar is not concurrently receiving more than one scholarship under this program for the same academic term.

In addition to those allowable costs established in the Education Department General Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR 75.530 through 75.562, the following items are allowable under long-term training projects:

(a) Student stipends.

(b) Tuition and fees.

(c) Books and supplies.

(d) Student travel in conjunction with training assignments.

Before disbursement of scholarship assistance to an individual, a grantee—

(a)(1) Must obtain documentation that the individual is—

(i) A U.S. citizen or national; or

(ii) A permanent resident of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;

(2) Must confirm from documentation issued to the individual by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that he or she—

(i) Is a lawful permanent resident of the United States; or

(ii) Is in the United States for other than a temporary purpose with the intention of becoming a citizen or permanent resident; and

(b) Must confirm that the applicant has expressed interest in a career in clinical practice, administration, supervision, teaching, or research in the vocational rehabilitation, supported employment, or independent living rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities, especially individuals with significant disabilities;

(c) Must obtain documentation, as described in § 386.40(a)(7), that the individual expects to seek and maintain employment in a designated State agency or in a related agency as defined in § 386.4 where

(1) The employment is in the field of study in which the training was received or

(2) Where the job functions are directly relevant to the field of study in which the training was received.

(d) Must ensure that the scholarship, when added to the amount of financial aid the scholar receives for the same academic year under title IV of the Higher Education Act, does not exceed the scholar's cost of attendance;

(e) Must limit scholarship assistance to no more than four academic years, unless the grantee provides an extension consistent with the institution's accommodations under section 504 of the Act; and

(f) Must obtain a Certification of Eligibility for Federal Assistance from each scholar as prescribed in 34 CFR 75.60, 75.61, and 75.62.

A grantee under this part that intends to grant scholarships for any academic year must provide the following assurances before an award is made:

(a) Requirement for agreement. No individual will be provided a scholarship without entering into a written agreement containing the terms and conditions required by this section. An individual will sign and date the agreement prior to the initial disbursement of scholarship funds to the individual for payment of the individual's expenses. An agreement must be executed between the grantee and scholar for each subsequent year that scholarship funds are disbursed and must contain the terms and conditions required by this section.

(b) Disclosure to applicants. The terms and conditions of the agreement between the grantee and a scholar will be fully disclosed in the application for scholarship.

(c) Form and terms of agreement. Prior to granting each year of a scholarship, the grantee will require each scholar to enter into a signed written agreement in which the scholar agrees to the terms and conditions set forth in § 386.40. This agreement must be in the form and contain any additional terms and conditions that the Secretary may require.

(d) Executed agreement. The grantee will provide an original signed executed payback agreement upon request to the Secretary.

(e) Standards for satisfactory progress. The grantee will establish, publish, and apply reasonable standards for measuring whether a scholar is maintaining satisfactory progress in the scholar's course of study. The Secretary considers an institution's standards to be reasonable if the standards—

(1) Conform with the standards of satisfactory progress of the nationally recognized accrediting agency that accredits the institution's program of study, if the institution's program of study is accredited by such an agency, and if the agency has those standards;

(2) For a scholar enrolled in an eligible program who is to receive assistance under the Rehabilitation Act, are the same as or stricter than the institution's standards for a student enrolled in the same academic program who is not receiving assistance under the Rehabilitation Act; and

(3) Include the following elements:

(i) Grades, work projects completed, or comparable factors that are measurable against a norm.

(ii) A maximum timeframe in which the scholar must complete the scholar's educational objective, degree, or certificate.

(iii) Consistent application of standards to all scholars within categories of students; e.g., full-time, part-time, undergraduates, graduate students, and students attending programs established by the institution.

(iv) Specific policies defining the effect of course incompletes, withdrawals, repetitions, and noncredit remedial courses on satisfactory progress.

(v) Specific procedures for appeal of a determination that a scholar is not making satisfactory progress and for reinstatement of aid.

(f) Exit certification. (1) At the time of exit from the program, the grantee will provide the following information to the scholar:

(i) The name of the institution and the number of the Federal grant that provided the scholarship.

(ii) the total amount of scholarship assistance received subject to § 386.40(a)(7).

(iii) The scholar's field of study and the obligation of the scholar to perform the service obligation with employment that meets the requirements in § 386.40(a)(7)(i).

(iv) The number of years the scholar needs to work to satisfy the work requirements in § 386.40(a)(7)(ii).

(v) The time period during which the scholar must satisfy the work requirements in § 386.40(a)(8).

(vi) As applicable, all other obligations of the scholar in § 386.40.

(2) Upon receipt of this information from the grantee, the scholar must provide written and signed certification to the grantee that the information is correct.

(g) Tracking system. The grantee has established policies and procedures to determine compliance of the scholar with the terms of the signed payback agreement. In order to determine whether a scholar has met the terms and conditions set forth in § 386.40, the tracking system must include for each employment position maintained by the scholar—

(1) Documentation of the employer's name, address, dates of the scholar's employment, name of supervisor, position title, a description of the duties the scholar performed, and whether the employment is full- or part-time;

(2) Documentation of how the employment meets the requirements in § 386.40(a)(7); and

(3) In the event a grantee is experiencing difficulty locating a scholar, documentation that the grantee has checked with existing tracking systems operated by alumni organizations.

(h) Reports. The grantee will make annual reports to the Secretary, unless more frequent reporting is required by the Secretary, that are necessary to carry out the Secretary's functions under this part.

(i) Repayment status. The grantee will immediately report to the Secretary whenever a scholar has entered repayment status under § 386.43(e) and provide all necessary documentation in support thereof.

(j) Records. The grantee will maintain accurate and complete records as outlined in paragraphs (g) and (h) of this section for a period of time not less than one year beyond the date that all scholars provided financial assistance under the grant—

(1) Have completed their service obligation or

(2) Have entered into repayment status pursuant to § 386.43(e).

A grantee that is an institution of higher education provided assistance under this part must cooperate with the following requests for information from a designated State agency:

(a) Information required by section 101(a)(7) of the Act which may include, but is not limited to—

(1) The number of students enrolled by the grantee in rehabilitation training programs; and

(2) The number of rehabilitation professionals trained by the grantee who graduated with certification or licensure, or with credentials to qualify for certification or licensure, during the past year.

(b) Information on the availability of rehabilitation courses leading to certification or licensure, or the credentials to qualify for certification or licensure, to assist State agencies in the planning of a program of staff development for all classes of positions that are involved in the administration and operation of the State vocational rehabilitation program.

The Department may recover, in whole or in part, from the grantee the debt amount and any collection costs described in §§ 386.40(d) and 386.43, if the Department:

(a) Is unable to collect, or improperly collected, some or all of these amounts or costs from a scholar and

(b) Determines that the grantee failed to provide to the Department accurate and complete documentation described in § 386.34.