The Secretary gives notice to institutions of higher education of the deadline for an institution to submit a written request for a waiver of the statutory requirement that an institution must use at least five percent of its total FWS Federal funds gran

[Federal Register: May 19, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 96)]

[Notices]               

[Page 27243-27244]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr19my99-32]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


[CFDA No.: 84.033]



Office of Postsecondary Education; Federal Work-Study Programs


AGENCY: Department of Education.


ACTION: Notice of the closing date for institutions to submit a request 

for a waiver of the requirement that an institution must use at least 

five percent of the total amount of its Federal Work-Study (FWS) 

Federal funds granted for the 1999-2000 award year to compensate 

students employed in community service jobs.


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SUMMARY: The Secretary gives notice to institutions of higher education 

of the deadline for an institution to submit a written request for a 

waiver of the statutory requirement that an institution must use at 

least five percent of its total FWS Federal funds granted for the 1999-

2000 award year (July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000) to compensate 

students employed in community service jobs.


DATES: Closing Date for submitting a Waiver Request and any Supporting 

Information or Documents. To request a waiver, you must mail or hand-

deliver your waiver request and any supporting information or documents 

to the Department on or before June 18, 1999. The Department will also 

accept a waiver request submitted by facsimile transmission to Ms. 

Sandra Donelson at (202) 401-0387 or (202) 260-0522 by 4:30 p.m. 

(Eastern time) on June 18, 1999. If you mail or hand-deliver your 

waiver request, you must submit the waiver request to the Institutional 

Financial Management Division at one of the addresses indicated below.


ADDRESSES: Waiver Request and any Supporting Information or Documents 

Delivered by Mail. You must address the waiver request and any 

supporting information or documents that you send by mail to Ms. Sandra 

Donelson, Institutional Financial Management Division, U.S. Department 

of Education, P.O. Box 23781, Washington, DC 20026-0781.


    You must show proof of mailing your waiver request. Proof of 

mailing consists of one of the following: (1) A legible mail receipt 

with the date of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal Service, (2) a 

legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark, (3) a dated shipping label, 

invoice, or receipt from a commercial carrier, or (4) any other proof 

of mailing acceptable to the U.S. Secretary of Education.


    If you send a waiver request through the U.S. Postal Service, the 

Secretary


[[Page 27244]]


does not accept either of the following as proof of mailing: (1) A 

private metered postmark, or (2) a mail receipt that is not dated by 

the U.S. Postal Service. Please note that the U.S. Postal Service does 

not uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before relying on this method, 

you should check with your local post office. We encourage you to use 

certified or at least first-class mail. If you submit a waiver request 

after the closing date you will not receive a waiver.


    Waiver Requests and any Supporting Information or Documents 

Delivered by Hand. You must take a waiver request and any supporting 

information or documents that you deliver by hand to Ms. Sandra 

Donelson, Campus-Based Financial Operations Branch, Institutional 

Financial Management Division, Accounting and Financial Management 

Service, Student Financial Assistance Programs, U.S. Department of 

Education, Room 4714, Regional Office Building 3, 7th and D Streets, 

SW, Washington, DC.


    We will accept hand-delivered waiver requests between 8:00 a.m. and 

4:30 p.m. daily (Eastern time), except Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal 

holidays. If you hand-deliver a waiver request for the 1999-2000 award 

year, you must submit your request by 4:30 p.m. on June 18, 1999.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Under section 443(b)(2)(A) of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), an institution must use at 

least five percent of the total amount of its FWS Federal funds granted 

for an award year to compensate students employed in community service. 

However, the Secretary may waive this requirement if the Secretary 

determines that enforcing it would cause hardship for students at the 

institution.


    An appropriate institutional official must sign the waiver request 

and include, above the signature, the following statement: ``I certify 

that the information the institution provided in this waiver request is 

true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I understand that the 

information is subject to audit and program review by representatives 

of the Secretary of Education.''


    To receive a waiver, you must demonstrate that complying with the 

five percent requirement would cause hardship for students at your 

institution. To allow flexibility to consider factors that may be valid 

reasons for a waiver, the Secretary is not specifying the particular 

circumstances that would support granting a waiver. However, the 

Secretary does not foresee many instances in which a waiver will be 

granted. The fact that it may be difficult for an institution to comply 

with this provision of the HEA is not a basis for granting a waiver.


Applicable Regulations


    The following regulations apply to the Federal Work-Study program:


    (1) Student Assistance General Provisions, 34 CFR part 668.


    (2) General Provisions for the Federal Perkins Loan Program, 

    Federal Work-Study Program, and Federal Supplemental Educational 

    Opportunity Grant Program, 34 CFR part 673.


    (3) Federal Work-Study Programs, 34 CFR part 675.


    (4) Institutional Eligibility Under the Higher Education Act of 

1965, as amended, 34 CFR part 600.


    (5) New Restrictions on Lobbying, 34 CFR part 82.


    (6) Government Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) and 

Government Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants), 34 CFR part 

85.


    (7) Drug-Free Schools and Campuses, 34 CFR part 86.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To receive information, contact Ms. 

Sandra Donelson, Institutional Financial Management Division, U.S. 

Department of Education, P.O. Box 23781, Washington, DC 20026-0781. 

Telephone (202) 708-9751. Individuals who use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 

Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.


    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 

alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape or computer 

diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding 

paragraph.


Electronic Access to This Document


    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 

Education documents published in the Federal Register, in the text or 

Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the 

following sites:


http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html


To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 

Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you 

have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing 

Office (GPO) at (202) 521-1530 or, toll free at 1-888-293-6498.


    Note: The official version of this document is the document 

published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 

official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 

Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://

www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html


    Program Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2753.


    Dated: May 14, 1999.

Greg Woods,

Chief Operating Officer, Office of Student Financial Assistance.

[FR Doc. 99-12604 Filed 5-18-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-P