| DCLPublicationDate: 10/1/95 DCLID: CB-95-24 AwardYear: Summary: Cover letter for Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits for the Federal Perkins Loan and National Direct Student Loan Programs. OCTOBER 1995 CB-95-24 SUMMARY: Cover letter for Directory of Designated Low- Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits for the Federal Perkins Loan and National Direct Student Loan Programs. PUBLICATION REFERENCE: This letter supplements information found in Chapter Six, Section Five of the 1995-96 Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook. Dear Financial Aid Administrator: Enclosed is a copy of the official 1995-96 Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits (Directory). The Directory contains a list of public and other nonprofit private elementary and secondary schools designated by the Secretary of Education as having a high concentration of students from low- income families (more than 30 percent of the school's enrollment was counted in the Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended, funding formula). The Directory lists those schools in which a borrower may have a portion of his or her loan payments postponed and cancelled if the borrower teaches full- time for a complete academic year in a selected elementary or secondary school during the 1995-96 school year. Please note that the listing pertains to Federal Perkins Loan Program (Federal Perkins) borrowers and to National Direct Student Loan Program (Direct) borrowers. Definitions for the two loan programs are contained in the governing regulations, 34 CFR, Section 668.2. The statutory provisions governing the programs specify that the school must be a public or other nonprofit private elementary or secondary school that is located in a school district of a local educational agency that is eligible for assistance under Title I of the Elementary For Federal Perkins and Direct loans, the Secretary selects schools with more than a 30-percent enrollment of children counted in the Title I funding formula. Federal Perkins and Direct loan borrowers who are full-time teachers in the schools in this listing during the cancellation of their loans. Federal Perkins and Direct loan borrowers qualify for 15-percent cancellation if they are completing their first or second year of teaching in one of the listed eligible schools, 20-percent cancellation if they are completing their third or fourth year of teaching in one of the listed eligible schools, and 30- percent if they are completing their fifth year. Please note that the Secretary considers all elementary and secondary schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to qualify as schools serving low-income students for both Federal Perkins and Direct loan cancellations. Therefore, these schools are not included on the list. The Secretary also considers elementary and secondary schools operated on reservations by Indian tribal groups under contract with the BIA to qualify; therefore, these schools are also not listed. Additionally, if a borrower is teaching in an eligible low-income institution that does not qualify in a subsequent year as a low-income institution, the borrower may continue to teach in that institution and remain eligible to receive a cancellation for service in that institution. In addition to the Federal Perkins and Direct loan provisions for cancellation for teaching service performed in low-income schools, the Federal Perkins and Direct loan programs provide for cancellation for borrowers who are: (a) full-time special education teachers in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school system; (b) full-time qualified professional providers of early intervention services in a public or other nonprofit program under public supervision; (c) full-time teachers of mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or any other subject-matter field of expertise that is determined by the State Department of Education to have a shortage of teachers; (d) full-time staff member in a Head Start program; (e) serving in the Armed Forces of the United States in an area of hostilities that qualifies for special pay under section 310 of Title 37 of the United States Code; (f) full-time volunteers under the Peace Corps Act or the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (ACTION programs); (g) full-time law enforcement officers in an eligible local, State, or Federal law enforcement agency; (h) full-time corrections officers in an eligible local, State, or Federal corrections agency; (I) full-time nurses providing health care services; (j) full-time medical technicians providing health care services; and (k) full-time employees of an eligible public or private nonprofit child or family service agency who are providing, or supervising the provision of, services to high-risk children who are from low-income communities and the families of such children. Questions pertaining to the Directory should be directed to Pat W. Reese of the Campus-Based Programs Systems Division, telephone number (202) 708-5182. Questions pertaining to the eligibility for cancellation benefits should be directed to Susan M. Morgan of the Policy Development Division telephone number (202) 708-8242. Questions pertaining to the eligibility of an elementary or secondary school to be listed in the Directory should be directed to the appropriate State agency contact person (list enclosed). Sincerely, Leo Kornfeld Senior Advisor to the Secretary Enclosures |