Rhode Island § 16-50-5 - Correspondence Schools, Home Study, and Related Courses

§ 16-50-5. Solicitation — Issuance and revocation of permits.

(a) No person representing any school or other individual or organization offering courses in this state, or from a place of business in this state, shall sell any course or solicit students for a course in this state for a consideration or remuneration unless he or she first secures a permit from the department of elementary and secondary education. If the agent represents more than one school, a separate permit shall be obtained for each school represented by the agent. Upon approval for a permit the department of elementary and secondary education shall issue a pocket card to the person whose name appears on it, giving that person’s name and address, the name and address of his or her employing school, and certifying that the person whose name appears on the card is an authorized agent of the school. The application for a permit shall be made on forms to be furnished by the department of elementary and secondary education and shall be accompanied by a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and a surety bond acceptable to the department of elementary and secondary education in the penal sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000). The bond may be continuous and shall be conditioned to provide indemnification to any student suffering loss as a result of any fraud or misrepresentation used in procuring his or her enrollment, and may be supplied by the agent of a privately owned school and by the school itself as a blanket bond covering each of its agents and the school in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000). A permit shall be valid for one year from the date on which it was issued. The liability of the surety on the bond for each representative covered by it shall in no event exceed the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) as an aggregate for any and all students for all breaches of the conditions of the bond by the representatives. The surety of any bond may cancel the bond upon giving thirty (30) days’ notice in writing to the department of elementary and secondary education and after this shall be relieved of liability for any breach of condition occurring after the effective date of the cancellation. An application for renewal shall be accompanied by a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and a surety bond, as provided in this subsection, if a continuous bond has not been furnished. All fees collected for the issuance or renewal of the permits shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the general fund.

(b) No person representing a school or other organization offering courses, which school or other organization is located outside this state, shall sell any course or solicit students for the course in this state for a consideration or remuneration unless that person first secures a permit from the department of elementary and secondary education in the manner and on the terms provided in subsection (a) of this section.

(c) Any permit applied for pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be granted or denied within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the application for it by the department of elementary and secondary education. If the department of elementary and secondary education has not completed its determination with respect to the issuance of a permit pursuant to this section within this period, it shall issue a temporary permit to the applicant, which permit shall be sufficient to meet the requirements of this chapter until any time as the determination is made.

(d) Any permit issued may, upon ten (10) days’ notice and after a hearing, be revoked by the department of elementary and secondary education if the holder of the permit solicits or enrolls students through fraud, deception, or misrepresentation.

(e) The fact that a bond is in force pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall not limit or impair any right of recovery available pursuant to law, nor shall the amount of damages or other relief to which any plaintiff may be entitled.

(f) No recovery shall be had on any contract for or in connection with a course by any person selling or administering the course if the representative of the person was not the holder of a permit as required by this section and the representative did not display the permit at the time that the representative negotiated the contract for or sold the course.

(g) The issuance of a permit pursuant to this section shall not be deemed to constitute approval of any course or the person or institution offering, conducting, or administering the course. Any representation contrary to this subsection or tending to imply that a permit issued pursuant to this section constitutes approval shall be misrepresentation within the meaning of this chapter.