Office of Postsecondary Education - U.S. Department of Education

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2010 / Rules and Regulations66833WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES2proprietary institution of highereducation, and a postsecondaryvocational institution to be consideredlegally authorized by the State;• Defining a credit hour andestablishing procedures that certaininstitutional accrediting agencies musthave in place to determine whether aninstitution’s assignment of a credit houris acceptable;• Modifying provisions to clarifywhether and when an institution mustaward student financial assistance basedon clock or credit hours and thestandards for credit-to-clock-hourconversions;• Modifying the provisions related towritten arrangements between two ormore eligible institutions that are ownedor controlled by the same person orentity so that the percentage of theeducational program that may beprovided by the institution that does notgrant the degree or certificate under thearrangement may not exceed 50 percent;• Prohibiting written arrangementsbetween an eligible institution and anineligible institution that has had itscertification to participate in title IV,HEA programs revoked or itsapplication for recertification denied;• Expanding provisions related to theinformation that an institution with awritten arrangement must disclose to astudent enrolled in a program affectedby the arrangement, including, forexample, the portion of the educationalprogram that the institution that grantsthe degree or certificate is not providing;• Revising the definition ofunsubsidized student financial aidprograms to include TEACH Grants,Federal PLUS Loans, and Direct PLUSLoans;• Codifying current policy that aninstitution must complete verificationbefore the institution may exercise itsprofessional judgment authority;• Eliminating the 30 percentverification cap;• Retaining the ability of institutionsto select additional applicants forverification;• Replacing the five verification itemsfor all selected applicants with atargeted selection from items includedin an annual Federal Register noticepublished by the Secretary;• Allowing interim disbursementswhen changes to an applicant’s FAFSAinformation would not change theamount that the student would receiveunder a title IV, HEA program;• Codifying the Department’s IRSData Retrieval System Process, whichallows an applicant to import incomeand other data from the IRS into anonline FAFSA;• Requiring the processing of changesand corrections to an applicant’s FAFSAinformation;• Modifying the provisions related toinstitutional satisfactory academicprogress policies and the impact thesepolicies have on a student’s eligibilityfor title IV, HEA program assistance;• Expanding the definition of fulltimestudent to allow, for a term-basedprogram, repeated coursework taken inthe program to count towards a full-timeworkload;• Clarifying when a student isconsidered to have withdrawn from apayment period or period of enrollmentfor the purpose of calculating a returnof title IV, HEA program funds;• Clarifying the circumstances underwhich an institution is required to takeattendance for the purpose ofcalculating a return of title IV, HEAprogram funds;• Modifying the provisions fordisbursing title IV, HEA program fundsto ensure that certain students canobtain or purchase books and suppliesby the seventh day of a payment period;• Updating the definition of the termrecognized occupation to reflect currentusage;• Establishing requirements forinstitutions to submit information onstudents who attend or completeprograms that prepare students forgainful employment in recognizedoccupations; and• Establishing requirements forinstitutions to disclose on their Web siteand in promotional materials toprospective students, the on-timecompletion rate, placement rate, medianloan debt, program cost, and otherinformation for programs that preparestudents for gainful employment inrecognized occupations.Implementation Date of TheseRegulationsSection 482(c) of the HEA requiresthat regulations affecting programsunder title IV of the HEA be publishedin final form by November 1 prior to thestart of the award year (July 1) to whichthey apply. However, that section alsopermits the Secretary to designate anyregulation as one that an entity subjectto the regulation may choose toimplement earlier and to specify theconditions under which the entity mayimplement the provisions early.The Secretary has not designated anyof the provisions in these finalregulations for early implementation. Asindicated in the DATES section, theregulations contained in subpart E ofpart 668, Verification and Updating ofStudent Aid Application Informationare effective July 1, 2012.VerDate Mar2010 14:10 Oct 28, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\29OCR2.SGM 29OCR2While the Secretary has designatedamended § 600.9(a) and (b) as beingeffective July 1, 2011, we recognize thata State may be unable to provideappropriate State authorizations to itsinstitutions by that date. We areproviding that the institutions unable toobtain State authorization in that Statemay request a one-year extension of theeffective date of these final regulationsto July 1, 2012, and if necessary, anadditional one-year extension of theeffective date to July 1, 2013. To receivean extension of the effective date ofamended § 600.9(a) and (b) forinstitutions in a State, an institutionmust obtain from the State anexplanation of how a one-year extensionwill permit the State to modify itsprocedures to comply with amended§ 600.9.Analysis of Comments and ChangesThe regulations in this documentwere developed through the use ofnegotiated rulemaking. Section 492 ofthe HEA requires that, before publishingany proposed regulations to implementprograms under title IV of the HEA, theSecretary must obtain publicinvolvement in the development of theproposed regulations. After obtainingadvice and recommendations, theSecretary must conduct a negotiatedrulemaking process to develop theproposed regulations. The negotiatedrulemaking committee did not reachconsensus on the proposed regulationsthat were published on June 18, 2010.The Secretary invited comments on theproposed regulations by August 2, 2010.Approximately 1,180 parties submittedcomments, a number of which weresubstantially similar. An analysis of thecomments and of the changes in theregulations since publication of theNPRM follows.We group major issues according tosubject, with appropriate sections of theregulations referenced in parentheses.We discuss other substantive issuesunder the sections of the regulations towhich they pertain. Generally, we donot address minor, nonsubstantivechanges, recommended changes that thelaw does not authorize the Secretary tomake, or comments pertaining tooperational processes. We also do notaddress comments pertaining to issuesthat were not within the scope of theNPRM.General CommentsComment: We received a significantnumber of comments that expressedsupport for the Secretary’s proposedregulations. Many of the commentersnoted that the proposed regulationswould protect taxpayer investments in