Student Complaint Process

Hostos Community College participates in Federal student aid programs that are authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. A participating institution must be legally authorized to operate with the State in which it is located. Title 34 CFR §600.9 requires States to have a “process to review and appropriately act on complaints concerning the institution including enforcing applicable State laws.”

Title 34 CFR §668.43(b) requires that institutions:  “make available for review to any enrolled or prospective student upon request, a copy of the documents describing the institution’s accreditation and its State, Federal, or tribal approval or licensing. The institution must also provide its students or prospective students with contact information for filing complaints with its accreditor and with its State approval or licensing entity and any other relevant State official or agency that would appropriately handle a student’s complaint.”

To comply with this regulation, Hostos Community College provides the following information to our prospective and current students. Hostos Community College makes every effort to resolve student complaints internally, using policies and procedures outlined in the current College Catalog or Student Handbook. The institutional complaint process for distance learning students is the same for all students regardless of physical location. It is expected that students will fully utilize any and all such administrative procedures to address concerns and/or complaints in as timely a manner as possible. For procedures regarding:

In the unlikely event that an issue cannot be resolved by the University, students may file a complaint with their respective State Licensing Authority. For residential students taking courses on-campus, the New York Department of Education would be the applicable agency. The agency should be contacted only after the student has registered a complaint with the University and has not received a response to the request for resolution. Complaints that are not resolved after exhausting all internal processes and procedures at Hostos Community College can be sent to:

City University of New York 
Office of the General Counsel
205 East 42nd Street, 11th floor
New York, NY  10017

Unresolved complaints may also be filed with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the University's regional accrediting agency, once all other avenues have been exhausted. The link below provides information on its complaint policies and procedures.

To submit a complaint, please use the Complaint form. All documentation must be submitted in English and in PDF format. 
For further information, consult the Commission’s Complaints Involving Applicant and Member Institutions Policy and Procedures.

Middle States Commission on Higher Education
1007 North Orange Street
4th Floor, MB #166
Wilmington, DE 19801
Telephone: (267) 284–5000
E-mail: info@msche.org  Spanish: españolinfo@msche.org
General Link: www.msche.org

NEW YORK Office of College and University Evaluation
New York State Education Department,
89 Washington Avenue, Room 960 EBA
Albany, NY 12234
Telephone: (518) 474-1551