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(96-L-186) (96-L-186) Clarification and interpretative guidance on certain provisions in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program regulations published on December 18, 1992.

DCLPublicationDate: 3/1/96
DCLID: 96-L-186
AwardYear:
Summary: Clarification and interpretative guidance on certain provisions in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program regulations published on December 18, 1992.


March 1996

96-L-186
96-G-287

SUBJECT: Clarification and interpretative guidance on certain
provisions in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program
regulations published on December 18, 1992.

REFERENCE: December 18, 1992 Federal Family Education Loan
Program regulations and May 17, 1994 technical corrections to those
regulations.

Dear Colleague:

On July 23, 1992, the Higher Education Amendments of 1992
(Amendments) to the Higher Education Act were enacted. Later that
year, on December 18, 1992, the U.S. Department of Education (ED)
published final regulations for the Federal Family Education Loan
(FFEL) Program that incorporated changes made by the following
statutes:

- The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
- The Higher Education Amendments of 1986
- The Higher Education Technical Amendments Act of 1987
- Public Law 100-297
- Public Law 100-369
- The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989
- The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990
- The National and Community Service Act of 1990
- The Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1991
- The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991
- Selected self-implementing provisions of the Higher Education
Amendments of 1992

Because of the statutory requirement that the majority of the FFEL
provisions of the 1992 Amendments be regulated under negotiated
rulemaking and the timing involved in publishing the December 18,
1992 regulations, not all the provisions of the 1992 Amendments
could be incorporated into the regulatory package. In cases where
provisions of the Amendments conflicted with the December 18,
1992 regulations, the Amendments superseded the regulations.

The regulations published on December 18, 1992 generally were to
take effect on February 1, 1993. However, in response to inquires
from the student aid community, on January 29, 1993, Secretary
Richard W. Riley issued a letter advising FFEL Program participants
that he had decided to delay full enforcement of certain provisions of
the December 18, 1992 regulations. Doing so, the Secretary
explained, would allow ED to issue guidance identifying sections of
the December 18, 1992 regulations that had been superseded by the
Amendments and clarifying provisions of the regulations that
reflected policy changes. Secretary Riley also stated that FFEL
Program participants were expected to make a good-faith effort to
begin implementing the December 18, 1992 regulations when they
went into effect on February 1, 1993, including implementing the
provisions on which he was delaying enforcement. The Secretary's
enforcement delay did not apply to the self-implementing statutory
requirements contained in the regulations or to regulatory provisions
that were unchanged from earlier FFEL regulations.

Since Secretary Riley's letter in January 1993, ED has undertaken a
number of initiatives to address issues FFEL Program participants
raised about the regulations. In March and April 1993, ED met with
community representatives to identify and discuss the outstanding
issues that the representatives believed should be clarified.

Also since the January 1993 letter, the Secretary, following several
negotiated rulemaking sessions, has published a series of regulatory
amendments. These incorporate Amendments previously not
reflected in the December 18, 1992 regulations, as well as changes
enacted by later legislation. These FFEL Program amendatory
regulations were published in the Federal Register on:

- April 29, 1994
- June 28, 1994
- June 29, 1994
- November 25, 1994
- November 29, 1994
- November 30, 1994
- December 1, 1995

The Secretary's delay of enforcement of certain parts of the
December 18, 1992 regulations did not change the effective date of
these regulations or other regulations that affect the FFEL program.
On May 17, 1994, the Department also published technical
corrections to the December 18, 1992 regulations.

The purpose of this" Dear Colleague" letter is to provide guidance
only on those regulatory provisions of the December 18, 1992 final
regulations that still require clarification and that have not been
superseded by later statutory or regulatory changes currently in
effect. It does not address issues pertaining to regulations published
after the December 18, 1992 regulations. The letter is divided into
two sections:

- Section I includes a series of questions and answers intended to
clarify policy changes within the December 18, 1992 final
regulations.

- Section II addresses the time frames for fully implementing and
enforcing those provisions of the December 18, 1992 regulations
that required guidance.

ED would like to recognize the support and cooperation of the FFEL
program participants who assisted in the development of this
guidance.

If you have questions about this letter, please contact Ms. Pamela
Moran (Loan Branch Chief), Ms. Patricia Newcombe (FFEL
Program Loans Branch Section Chief), or Ms. Patsy Beavan (Senior
Program Specialist) at (202) 708-8242 or by fax at (202) 708-7196.


Sincerely,

Elizabeth M. Hicks
Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Student Financial Assistance

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