BPPE reports progress stabilizing Connect rollout, steady licensing activity and increased inspections

The Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education on Nov. 12 told its advisory committee that the agency is continuing efforts to stabilize Connect — the bureau’s new online system of record — while processing steady licensing activity and ramping up inspections and enforcement.

Manila Vongmeni, deputy bureau chief for licensing and administration, said the bureau has been resolving functionality and data conversion issues following Connect’s July go‑live and has temporarily reassigned analysts to support developers and system stabilization. She said institutional representatives’ accounts are expected to be created in early 2026, after which institutions will be able to submit assessments, pay fees, and eventually file applications online.

“We anticipate creating accounts for our approved and registered institutional representatives in early 2026,” Vongmeni said during the committee meeting.

Nicole Dragoo, who began serving as licensing chief Oct. 31, said the licensing team remained focused on thorough reviews even as some analysts were redirected temporarily to Connect work. Bureau data shared with the committee showed 31 full renewals approved in the quarter, 102 exemption verifications and 65 change requests processed, and a statewide oversight population of 1,484 institutional locations (855 main campuses, 305 branch campuses and 324 satellite campuses).

“The licensing team hasn’t lost focus,” Vongmeni said, adding staff remain committed to institutional integrity and protecting students.

Compliance and enforcement units also reported elevated activity. Eric Casita, compliance chief, said the unit completed 115 inspections in the first quarter and projected about 460 inspections for fiscal year 2025–26 if current pace continues, a roughly 7% increase year over year. Casita noted unannounced inspections continue to identify more instances of noncompliance than announced inspections.

Renee Walters, discipline unit manager, said the bureau took three enforcement actions in the first quarter — including a default revocation and a revocation adopted after an administrative hearing — and issued 62 citations to 61 institutions. Walters said 31 cases are awaiting action at the Attorney General’s Office, with 18 cases formally filed and publicly available.

On complaints and investigations, Daniel Rangel reported a higher intake in Q1 (348 complaints compared with a fiscal‑year average of about 260 per quarter) and strong investigative throughput: 337 investigations completed in the quarter, placing the bureau on pace to exceed last year’s totals. Rangel said the bureau will provide a follow‑up analysis on cases closed for insufficient evidence at a future meeting.

The bureau’s student‑facing offices also described outreach and assistance efforts. Yan Keo, chief of the Office of Student Assistance and Relief, described rapid response outreach when schools closed suddenly and work to help affected students apply for Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) relief and obtain transcripts. STRF chief Yvette Johnson said one vacancy was filled and three analysts are now on the STRF team; she reported six claims approved in the quarter for $86,565 total and 73 approved claims totaling $1,000,278.91 processed to date.

Committee members asked for additional metrics and longer time‑series comparisons, including clarifying the bureau’s “days to approve” low/high figures and a possible year‑over‑year presentation to contextualize turnaround times.

The advisory committee accepted the reports and moved on to regulatory items on the agenda.