Postsecondary training

If an individual receives postsecondary training, the following conditions apply: 1. The division may not provide postsecondary training unless maximum efforts have been made to secure grant assistance in whole, or in part, from other sources; 2. The division's participation shall not be calculated until the institution's financial aid office needs analysis has been received. The financial needs analysis award letter must identify all available aid; 3. An individual must accept all offered grant assistance; 4. An individual may choose to participate in the cost of attendance through the use of college work study and student loans; 5. The division may not participate in payment for postsecondary training if the individual is in default status, or is ineligible for financial aid due to a drug conviction or drug convictions as determined by free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) regulations; 6. Comparable benefits must be used for the following services: a. Interpreter services and note-taking services for an individual who is deaf, including tactile interpreting for an individual who is deaf and blind; b. Reader services, rehabilitation teaching services, note-taking services, and orientation and mobility services; and c. Telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices; 7. If the individual attends an in-state public institution, vocational rehabilitation funding for tuition, room and board, books, supplies, transportation, and incidentals for a full-time student will be based on the following: a. The estimated financial need as stated on the award letter from the financial aid office; b. The unmet need as calculated by the division; c. The results of the budget assessment conducted by the division; and d. Total aid from all sources may not exceed the school's budget as determined by the financial aid office; 8. If the individual chooses to attend a private in-state or an out-of-state institution when the coursework is available in state, the division will not fund more than it would at an in-state public institution; 9. If, because of the individual's vocational impediment or vocational goal, the only available postsecondary training is at an in-state private or out-of-state institution, the division may fund more than it would at an in-state public institution; 10. Funding for tuition and books for a part-time student may not exceed the financial aid office estimated financial need. For an individual not taking sufficient credit hours to apply for financial aid, the limit is the North Dakota university system rate per credit hour; 11. An individual shall maintain a grade point average that meets the school's requirement for graduation and shall otherwise demonstrate progress toward meeting the goal of the individualized plan for employment. If the individual is placed on academic probation, continued funding is dependent on the approval of the regional vocational rehabilitation administrator; 12. Participation in the cost of graduate study is determined on a case-by-case basis if a suitable vocational goal is otherwise unachievable; and 13. Expenditure policies in subsections 1 through 9 do not apply to vocational technical training programs not participating in a federal financial aid program. If comparable training is available through a program that does participate in a federal financial aid program, vocational rehabilitation costs shall not exceed the costs for attendance in that program.