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Certification of institutions - 24 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6503

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     § 6503.  Certification of institutions.
        (a)  General rule.--No person shall apply to itself, either
     as part of its name or in any other manner, the designation of
     "college," "university" or "seminary" in such a way as to give
     the impression that it is an educational institution conforming
     to the standards and qualifications prescribed by the State
     board unless it shall have received from the department a
     certificate of authority authorizing the institution to use such
     designation, and, if the institution is authorized to confer
     degrees, specifying the degrees which the institution is
     authorized to confer.
        (b)  Exemptions.--Subsection (a) does not apply to:
            (1)  Any:
                (i)  Nonprofit corporation incorporated with the
            approval of the department or the former Department of
            Public Instruction under the former provisions of
            sections 211 and 312 of the Nonprofit Corporation Law of
            1933, or otherwise incorporated with the power to confer
            degrees under corresponding provisions of prior law.
                (ii)  Foreign nonprofit corporation that received a
            certificate of authority as a qualified foreign
            corporation from the Department of State with the
            approval of the department or the former Department of
            Public Instruction under the former provisions of section
            902(4) of the Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1933, or
            otherwise admitted to do business with the power to
            confer degrees under corresponding provisions of prior
            law.
        For the purposes of this chapter, such a corporation shall be
        deemed to be a holder of a certificate of authority issued
        under this section authorizing the conferring of those
        degrees that the institution was authorized by law to confer
        immediately prior to the effective date of this chapter.
            (2)  Any corporation incorporated prior to September 1,
        1937, the corporate name of which, or any unincorporated
        person then conducting any educational institution, the trade
        or fictitious name of which, included the designation
        "college" or "university."
        (c)  Form of application.--Every application for a
     certificate of authority under this section shall be made to the
     department in writing and shall be in such form and contain such
     information as the regulations of the department may require.
        (d)  Standards for issuance of certificate.--A certificate of
     authority shall be issued by order of the department only if and
     when the department finds and determines that:
            (1)  The application complies with the provisions of this
        chapter, the regulations of the department thereunder and the
        standards and qualifications for institutions prescribed by
        the State board thereunder.
            (2)  The courses of instruction, the standards of
        admission to the institution and the composition of the
        faculty appear to be sufficient and to conform to the
        requirements of this chapter.
            (3)  The educational needs of the particular locality in
        which the institution is to be situated and of the
        Commonwealth at large are likely to be furthered by the
        granting of the application.
        (e)  Procedure.--For the purpose of enabling the department
     to make the finding or determination required by subsection (d),
     the department shall, by publication of notice in the
     Pennsylvania Bulletin, afford reasonable opportunity for
     hearing, which shall be public, and, before or after any such
     hearing, it may make such inquiries, audits and investigations,
     and may require the submission of such supplemental studies and
     information, as it may deem necessary or proper to enable it to
     reach a finding or determination. The department, in issuing a
     certificate of authority, may impose such conditions as it may
     deem to be just and reasonable. In every case, the department
     shall make a finding or determination in writing stating whether
     or not the application has been approved and, if it has been
     approved in part only, specifying the part which has been
     approved and the part which has been denied. Any holder of a
     certificate of authority exercising the authority conferred
     thereby shall be deemed to have waived any and all objections to
     the terms and conditions of such certificate.
        (f)  Judicial review.--Orders of the department upon an
     application for a certificate of authority under this section
     shall be subject to judicial review in the manner and within the
     time provided or prescribed by law.

        Cross References.  Section 6503 is referred to in section
     6504 of this title.

Last modified: November 27, 2007