Office of Origin: Student Affairs
Responsibility: Vice President of Student Affairs
Original Date Adopted: 9-25-18
Date Reviewed: 9-25-18, 1-10-22        
Last Date Approved: 9-25-18, 4-13-22

Lake Michigan College (LMC) treats students ethically, respectfully and professionally in the marketing, recruiting and admissions process so that students can make an informed enrollment decision without being subjected to high-pressure tactics from LMC or a related contractor. All college employees and/or related contractors participating in admissions, recruitment, and financial aid are subject to this policy.

Recruitment & Admissions

All recruiters and admissions personnel have appropriate education, job titles, and training from the institution for their role and are overseen by LMC; which enforces a formal code of conduct for all employees; LMC also oversees any third-party contractors who provide recruiting and admissions services and assures that any personnel who work with their prospective students have similar education, and experience as personnel employed by LMC and are trained to provide a similar level of service.

Information provided to prospective students in the recruiting and admissions process is accurate, complete and up-to-date and is provided to all prospective students without any requirement that such students provide contact information to receive basic information about LMC. LMC also makes its policies related to consumer protection accessible and transparent.

LMC also promptly honors any request from such student to remove that student’s name from phone, email or other contact lists; student information collected through the admissions, recruiting or lead process will be maintained, as outlined in the FERPA Compliance policy, E-mail Policy, and the Institutional Data Management Policy, which are posted on LMC’s website.

Any job placement, salary information, or other student outcome data publicized as part of the recruiting process are based on all students in a cohort or class who completed the program; completing students are not excluded from the published data because they did not utilize LMC’s career, advising or other services; LMC will maintain back-up documentation related to any such publicized outcome data and will make that back-up data available to HLC, the public or governmental agency upon request. If LMC publicizes for recruiting purposes outcome data based on student survey or other partial information about a cohort or class of students, it will indicate clearly wherever it publicizes the rate the number of students in the cohort or class and the number of students whose outcome data is included; if job placement or other related data are drawn from an external database, economic forecasting or other source, LMC will indicate in conjunction with the publication of the data its source and will direct students to the original source of the information where applicable (e.g., Department of Labor website).

LMC recruiters, admissions officers or appropriate third parties may answer questions about the student application process for admissions and financial aid, but in no case will such personnel complete these applications or apply the signature of the prospective student.

Students will have the right and responsibility to register for each academic term in which they are enrolled, and in no case will LMC automatically register a student in the next term without that student’s affirmative consent to such registration or the opportunity for the student to cancel that registration before the student is assessed tuition or fees for that term.

Prior to enrolling a prospective student in a program or major, LMC will ensure that the student has had sufficient time to review LMC’s policies and procedures, to understand the amount of federal, state and institutional financial aid the student is eligible to receive, and to understand the transferability of credits as outlined in the Transfer Policy. In no case will LMC use high-pressure tactics to get a student to enroll or matriculate before it provides this basic information.

LMC shall not induce or pressure a student to enroll by a specific deadline with the promise of cash or free goods or services outside of the regular process of scholarship monies, institutional discounting, fee waivers, financial aid or other assistance; LMC shall not promise that employment is being directly or indirectly offered or is more likely related to its education or provide any guarantees of employment related to that education.

In addition to a policy related to return of Title IV funds, LMC has a Tuition Refund policy to assure that students receive a refund where appropriate if they withdraw/drop from an academic term or from the college.

Financial Aid

The Financial Aid Office at Lake Michigan College is committed to both a consistent and equitable approach to the awarding of federal, state, institutional and private need-based financial aid sources. All need-based financial aid is awarded based on the Department of Education's Federal Methodology.

Lake Michigan College is also committed to making readily available to students and to the general public clear and complete information on all student costs, including tuition, fees, training and incidentals; its financial aid policies, practices, and requirements; and its policy on refunds. Furthermore, Financial aid advising clearly and comprehensively reviews students’ eligibility for financial assistance and assists students in a full understanding of their debt and its consequences.

The Financial Aid division will administer all student financial assistance awarded and ensure equality and consistency in the delivery of funds to students while complying with Federal, State and Institutional regulations and guidelines.

References:
Adopted HLC Policy Change: Student Consumer Protection. Published: November 2017 – Higher Learning Commission
Lake Michigan College Code of Conduct
FERPA Compliance Policy: Student Information Accessibility and Confidentiality
Transfer Policy
Admission Policy
Tuition Refund Policy
Financial Aid and Title IV Compliance Policy
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
Return of Title IV Financial Aid Policy
Institutional Data Management Policy
E-Mail Policy