2026 Minnesota Statutes

136A.822 LICENSURE.

Subdivision 1.Required.

A private career school must not maintain a physical presence for any program in Minnesota without first obtaining a license from the office.

Subd. 2.Contract unenforceable.

A contract entered into with a person for a program by or on behalf of a person operating a private career school with a physical presence in Minnesota to which a license has not been issued under sections 136A.821 to 136A.833, is unenforceable in any action.

Subd. 3.Refunds.

If a contract is determined by the office to be unenforceable under subdivision 2, a private career school must refund tuition, fees, and other charges received from a student or on behalf of a student within 30 days of receiving written notification and demand for refund from the office.

Subd. 4.Application.

Application for a license shall be on forms prepared and furnished by the office, and shall include the following and other information as the office may require:

(1) the title or name of the private career school, ownership and controlling officers, members, managing employees, and director;

(2) the specific programs which will be offered;

(3) the place or places where the instruction will be given;

(4) a listing of the equipment available for instruction in each program;

(5) the maximum enrollment to be accommodated with equipment available in each specified program;

(6) the qualifications of instructors and supervisors in each specified program;

(7) financial documents related to the entity's and higher-level entity's most recently completed fiscal year, including a federal income tax return and, in accordance with the table below, one or more of the following: a financial statements audit report, compliance audit report, or compilation report. An applicant with financial statements that are consolidated into a higher-level entity's financial statements must include the consolidated financials of the higher-level entity with the documents listed in each row of the table except for the final row. If not stated in the financial statements audit report, compliance audit report, or compilation report, the entity must include a statement providing the total gross tuition and fee revenues associated with the programs and the total amount of institutional discounts and aid provided to students in the programs.

An entity or higher-level entity subject to fluctuating levels of total gross revenues must continue to submit the required financial documents according to the requirements under items (i) to (vi) even if the most current fiscal year's total gross revenues move the entity or higher-level entity into a different category. If an entity or higher-level entity continues to experience a change in total gross revenues for two consecutive fiscal years, the office must notify the entity that the entity will be subject to the documentation requirements under items (i) to (vi) for the next annual licensing application cycle. If, for the most recently completed fiscal year, the applicant or renewal applicant:

(i) is required by federal or other external entities to have both a financial statements audit and a compliance audit, the applicant must submit the financial statements audit report and the compliance audit report, which may be combined in one document;

(ii) is required by federal or other external entities to have a financial statements audit, but not a compliance audit, the applicant must submit the financial statements audit report;

(iii) is not required to have a financial statements audit, but elects to have one, the applicant must submit the financial statements audit report;

(iv) does not fall into a prior category but had gross annual revenues from all sources in the most recently completed fiscal year of $5,000,000 or more and the office requires the applicant to have a financial statements audit, the applicant must submit the financial statement audit report. If the applicant is a nonprofit entity, the applicant must also include the completed Federal Form 990 tax return for the most recently completed fiscal year;

(v) does not fall into a prior category but had gross annual revenues from all sources in the most recently completed fiscal year of $250,000 or more but less than $5,000,000 and the office requires the applicant to have a compilation engagement, the applicant must submit the compilation report, including footnotes for a debt repayment schedule and other material items. If the applicant is a nonprofit entity, the applicant must also include the completed Federal Form 990 tax return for the most recently completed fiscal year; or

(vi) does not fall into a prior category but had gross annual revenues from all sources in the most recently completed fiscal year of less than $250,000, the applicant must submit (A) depending on the ownership or corporate organization, the applicant's federal income tax return; and (B) if the net income flows through to the owners' personal federal tax returns, a copy of each owner's personal federal tax return. In addition to the tax return information, an applicant must provide a balance sheet dated as of the last day of the most recently ended fiscal year;

(8) copies of all media advertising and promotional literature and brochures or electronic display currently used or reasonably expected to be used by the private career school; and

(9) copies of all Minnesota enrollment agreement forms and contract forms and all enrollment agreement forms and contract forms used in Minnesota.

Subd. 5.Certification.

Each application shall be signed and certified to under oath by the proprietor if the applicant is a proprietorship, by the managing partner if the applicant is a partnership, or by the authorized officers of the applicant if the applicant is a corporation, association, company, firm, society or trust.

Subd. 6.Bond.

(a) No license shall be issued to any private career school with a physical presence within the state of Minnesota for any program, unless the applicant files with the office a continuous corporate surety bond written by a company authorized to do business in Minnesota conditioned upon the faithful performance of all contracts and agreements with students made by the applicant.

(b) The amount of the surety bond shall be ten percent of the preceding year's net revenue from student tuition, fees, and other required institutional charges collected, except that a private career school must deposit a greater amount at the office's discretion. A private career school in each annual application for licensure must compute the amount of the surety bond and verify that the amount of the surety bond complies with this subdivision. A private career school that operates at two or more locations may combine net revenue from student tuition, fees, and other required institutional charges collected for all locations for the purpose of determining the annual surety bond requirement. The net revenue from tuition and fees used to determine the amount of the surety bond required for a private career school having a license for the sole purpose of recruiting students in Minnesota shall be only that paid to the private career school by the students recruited from Minnesota. In the case of an entity applying for an initial license where the entity has no history of revenues from student tuition, fees, or other required institutional charges, the amount of the bond must be ten percent of the total amount of tuition, fees, and other required institutional charges anticipated in the entity's first year of operation, based on a calculation of total student tuition, fees, and other required institutional charges multiplied by the maximum student enrollment in one academic year.

(c) The bond shall run to the state of Minnesota and to any person who may have a cause of action against the applicant arising at any time after the bond is filed and before it is canceled for breach of any contract or agreement made by the applicant with any student. The aggregate liability of the surety for all breaches of the conditions of the bond shall not exceed the principal sum deposited by the private career school under paragraph (b). The surety of any bond may cancel it upon giving 60 days' notice in writing to the office and shall be relieved of liability for any breach of condition occurring after the effective date of cancellation.

(d) In lieu of bond, the applicant may deposit with the commissioner of management and budget a sum equal to the amount of the required surety bond in cash, an irrevocable letter of credit issued by a financial institution equal to the amount of the required surety bond, or securities as may be legally purchased by savings banks or for trust funds in an aggregate market value equal to the amount of the required surety bond.

(e) Failure of a private career school to post and maintain the required surety bond or deposit under paragraph (d) may result in denial, suspension, or revocation of the school's license.

Subd. 7.Resident agent.

Private career schools located outside the state of Minnesota that have a physical presence within the state of Minnesota shall first file with the secretary of state a sworn statement designating a resident agent authorized to receive service of process. The statement shall designate the secretary of state as resident agent for service of process in the absence of a designated agent. If a private career school fails to file the statement, the secretary of state is designated as the resident agent authorized to receive service of process. The authorization shall be irrevocable as to causes of action arising out of transactions occurring prior to the filing of written notice of withdrawal from the state of Minnesota filed with the secretary of state.

Subd. 8.Minimum standards.

A license shall be issued if the office first determines:

(1) that the applicant has a sound financial condition with sufficient resources available to:

(i) meet the private career school's financial obligations;

(ii) refund all tuition and other charges, within 60 days, in the event of dissolution of the private career school or in the event of any justifiable claims for refund against the private career school by the student body;

(iii) provide adequate service to its students and prospective students; and

(iv) maintain and support the private career school;

(2) that the applicant has satisfactory facilities with sufficient tools and equipment and the necessary number of work stations to prepare adequately the students currently enrolled, and those proposed to be enrolled;

(3) that the applicant employs a sufficient number of qualified teaching personnel to provide the educational programs contemplated;

(4) that the private career school has an organizational framework with administrative and instructional personnel to provide the programs and services it intends to offer;

(5) that the quality of each occupational course or program of study provides education and adequate preparation to enrolled students for entry level positions in the occupation for which prepared, based on minimum standards for employment in the field, learning outcomes, assessment mechanisms, and clear structure of the curriculum;

(6) that the premises and conditions where the students work and study and the student living quarters which are owned, maintained, recommended, or approved by the applicant are sanitary, healthful, and safe;

(7) that the contract or enrollment agreement used by the private career school complies with the provisions in section 136A.826;

(8) that contracts and agreements do not contain a wage assignment provision or a confession of judgment clause;

(9) that there has been no adjudication of fraud or misrepresentation in any criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding in any jurisdiction against the private career school or its owner, officers, agents, or sponsoring organization;

(10) that the private career school or its owners, officers, agents, or sponsoring organization has not had a license revoked under section 136A.829 or its equivalent in other states or has closed the institution prior to all students, enrolled at the time of the closure, completing their program within two years of the effective date of the revocation; and

(11) that the school includes a joint and several liability provision for torts and compliance with the requirements of sections 136A.82 to 136A.834 in any contract effective after July 1, 2026, with any individual, entity, or postsecondary school located in another state for the purpose of providing educational or training programs or awarding postsecondary credits to Minnesota residents that may be applied to a program.

Subd. 9.Fees and terms of license.

An application for an initial license under sections 136A.821 to 136A.833 shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee as provided in section 136A.824 that is sufficient to recover, but not exceed, the administrative costs of the office.

All licenses shall expire one year from the date issued by the office, except as provided in section 136A.823.

Subd. 10.Catalog, brochure, or electronic display.

Before a license is issued to a private career school, the private career school shall furnish to the office a catalog, brochure, or electronic display including all required information to students under section 136A.826.

Subd. 11.Placement records.

(a) Before a license is reissued to a private career school that offers, advertises or implies a placement service, the private career school shall file with the office for the past year and thereafter at reasonable intervals determined by the office, a certified copy of the private career school's placement record, containing a list of graduates, a description of their jobs, names of their employers, and other information as the office may prescribe.

(b) Each private career school that offers a placement service shall furnish to each prospective student, upon request, prior to enrollment, written information concerning the percentage of the previous year's graduates who were placed in the occupation for which prepared or in related employment.

Subd. 12.Permanent student records.

(a) A private career school or a distance education private career school licensed under sections 136A.82 to 136A.834 and located in Minnesota shall maintain a student record for each student for 50 years from the last date of the student's attendance. The private career school or distance education private career school may choose to reduce the amount of time the school maintains a student record to no less than 20 years if the entity sends the permanent student record to the office to hold for the remainder of the duration the student records are required to be maintained. Records include school transcripts, documents, and files containing student data about academic credits earned, courses completed, grades awarded, degrees awarded, and periods of attendance.

(b) A private career school or distance education private career school licensed under sections 136A.82 to 136A.834 and located in Minnesota shall maintain a permanent student record required for professional licensure in Minnesota for each student for ten years from the last date of the student's attendance or the number of years required by an institutional or programmatic accreditor, whichever is greater.

(c) To preserve permanent student records, a private career school shall submit a plan that meets the following requirements:

(1) an appropriate official must be designated to provide a student with copies of records or a transcript upon request; and

(2) a continuous surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit issued by a financial institution must be filed with the office in an amount not to exceed $20,000 if the private career school has no binding agreement approved by the office, for preserving student records. The bond or irrevocable letter of credit shall run to the state of Minnesota. In the event of a school closure, the surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit must be used by the office to retrieve, recover, maintain, digitize, and destroy academic records.

Subd. 13.Limited license.

(a) Unless otherwise exempt under sections 136A.82 to 136A.834:

(1) a private career school licensed by another state agency or board must be required to obtain a limited license to participate in state financial aid; and

(2) a private career school exclusively seeking to be listed on the eligible training provider list, access WIOA funding, or receive the dual training grant shall be required to obtain a limited license.

(b) A private career school seeking a limited license under this subdivision shall be required to satisfy the requirements of subdivisions 4, clauses (1), (2), and (3); 5; 8, clauses (1), (9), and (10); and 12. If requested by the office, a private career school seeking a limited license under this subdivision must satisfy the requirements of subdivisions 4, clauses (7), (8), (9), and (10); 8, clauses (4), (7), and (8); 9; 10; and 11. If a private career school is licensed to participate in state financial aid under this chapter, the private career school must follow the refund policy in section 136A.827, even if that section conflicts with the refund policy of the licensing agency or board. A distance education private career school located in another state, or a distance education private career school licensed to recruit Minnesota residents for attendance at a distance education private career school outside of this state, or a distance education private career school licensed by another state agency as its primary licensing body, may continue to use the distance education private career school's name as permitted by its home state or its primary licensing body.

Subd. 14.Data privacy.

(a) Financial records submitted by private career schools are nonpublic data, as defined in section 13.02, subdivision 9.

(b) Accreditation records and reports submitted by private career schools are nonpublic data, as defined in section 13.02, subdivision 9.

(c) The office may disclose data that is classified as not public data under this subdivision for the purpose of defending the office's decision to approve or not approve a program or institution, or take any other action under sections 136A.82 to 136A.833, in connection with a legal or administrative proceeding, or pursuant to a subpoena or judicial warrant.

History:

1969 c 866 s 5; 1971 c 781 s 1,2; 1973 c 714 s 3-9; 1980 c 559 s 1; 1Sp1985 c 11 s 67-70; 1986 c 444; 1989 c 329 art 12 s 4; 1990 c 562 art 3 s 9,10; 1991 c 265 art 8 s 10; 1992 c 513 art 1 s 27; 1Sp1993 c 2 art 2 s 21; 1995 c 212 art 3 s 43,59; 1996 c 366 s 2; 1999 c 214 art 3 s 9-18; 2003 c 112 art 2 s 50; 2005 c 107 art 2 s 60; art 3 s 2-6; 2007 c 144 art 3 s 18-23; 2008 c 298 s 21,22; 2009 c 101 art 2 s 109; 2010 c 364 s 19-21; 2015 c 69 art 2 s 23,46; 2017 c 89 art 3 s 19-22; 2019 c 64 art 2 s 30-32; 1Sp2021 c 2 art 2 s 30; 2024 c 124 art 2 s 34-38; 2024 c 127 art 35 s 34-38; 1Sp2025 c 5 art 2 s 42-45; 2026 c 116 s 37-43