Publication Date: May 2001
DCL ID: GEN-01-07
Summary: Changes have been made to the existing regulations governing deferments and discharges in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Programs
May 2001GEN-01-7
G-01-331
L-01-225
Dear Guaranty Agency Director:
On November 1, 2000, final regulations were published in the Federal Register. These regulations made several changes to the existing regulations governing deferments and discharges in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Programs. These regulatory changes become effective on July 1, 2001.
The regulatory changes affected deferment and discharge forms used in the FFEL and Direct Loan programs. However, because these changes were limited in volume and scope, and resulted from regulations developed under the negotiated rulemaking process, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the revised forms under an administrative process outside the normal clearance process. The FFEL community was provided with an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed changes to the forms as they were developed. Please note that OMB's approval of the revised forms under this administrative process does not advance the expiration date on the forms. This letter serves as approval of the attached versions of the loan discharge and deferment forms.
Implementation and Transition to New Forms
Since the forms have been revised to meet the July 1, 2001 effective date of the regulatory changes, these revised forms should be distributed and used in response to borrower requests as of that date. If a loan holder receives a previously approved form after that date, the loan holder should process that form. The loan holder is responsible for being certain that the previously approved form is processed using the applicable regulatory provisions.
Program participants are reminded that no changes to, deletions from, or additions to the prescribed language in these materials will be permitted. Printing instructions remain the same as when the forms were originally distributed to the community.
Obtaining Copies for Reproduction
We have made arrangements to provide the necessary output for these forms. The revised forms are available in PDF format on the Department's IFAP website at http://ifap.ed.gov as attachments to this letter. The forms are also available on the NCHELP website at www.nchelp.org. Guaranty agencies are responsible for ensuring that the
Dear Guaranty Agency Director - Page 2
forms used by the agency are identical to the forms approved by the Secretary. No changes may be made to the forms except those expressly authorized by the Department.
| Sincerely, Jeff Baker, Director |
Deferment forms-
Cancellation forms-