Publication Date: July 31, 2018
Posted Date: July 31, 2018
Subject: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Institutional Accountability Regulations, including Defense to Repayment, under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
FR Type: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 147 (Tuesday, July 31, 2018)] [Proposed Rules] [Pages 37242-37330] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2018-15823] [[Page 37241]] Vol. 83 Tuesday, No. 147 July 31, 2018 Part III Department of Education ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 CFR Parts 668, 674, 682, et al. Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program; Proposed Rule Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 2018 / Proposed Rules [[Page 37242]] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 34 CFR Parts 668, 674, 682, and 685 RIN 1840-AD26 [Docket ID ED-2018-OPE-0027] Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to create Institutional Accountability regulations that would amend the regulations governing the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program to establish a Federal standard for evaluating and a process for adjudicating borrower defenses to repayment for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2019, and provide for actions the Secretary may take to collect from schools financial losses due to successful borrower defense to repayment discharges. The Secretary also proposes to withdraw (i.e. rescind) certain amendments to the regulations already published but not yet effective. DATES: We must receive your comments on or before August 30, 2018. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments. If you are submitting comments electronically, we strongly encourage you to submit any comments or attachments in Microsoft Word format. If you must submit a comment in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), we strongly encourage you to convert the PDF to print-to-PDF format or to use some other commonly used searchable text format. Please do not submit the PDF in a scanned format. Using a print-to-PDF format allows the Department to electronically search and copy certain portions of your submissions.Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under "Help." Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: The Department strongly encourages commenters to submit their comments electronically. However, if you mail or deliver your comments about the proposed regulations, address them to Jean-Didier Gaina, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Mail Stop 294-20, Washington, DC 20202. Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make comments received from members of the public available for public viewing on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly available. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information related to Borrower Defenses to Repayment, Pre-dispute Arbitration Agreements, Internal Dispute Processes, and Guaranty Agency Fees, Barbara Hoblitzell at (202) 453-7583 or by email at: Barbara.Hoblitzell@ed.gov or Annmarie Weisman at (202) 453-6712 or by email at: Annmarie.Weisman@ed.gov. For information related to False Certification Loan Discharge, and Closed School Loan Discharge, Brian Smith at (202) 453-7440 or by email at: Brian.Smith@ed.gov. For information regarding Financial Responsibility and Institutional Accountability, John Kolotos at (202) 453-7646 or by email at: John.Kolotos@ed.gov. For information regarding Recalculation of Subsidized Usage Periods and Interest Accrual, Ian Foss at (202) 377-3681 or by email at: Ian.Foss@ed.gov. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at (800) 877-8339.