Federal Updates

Details about Neg Reg released

In Shoptalk Online Edition 369, TG announced that ED had recently published a Federal Register notice stating that it would be conducting negotiated rulemaking (a.k.a. Neg Reg) beginning this December. ED subsequently held four regional hearings — at one of which TG provided testimony — to gather public input regarding federal regulatory issues, which would be considered for inclusion in negotiated rulemaking.

ED has now chosen the members of the community who will participate on the Student Loan Issues team of Neg Reg and has set the actual date for the first Neg Reg session.

Teams
Neg Reg agenda topics are assigned to various "teams." For this particular Neg Reg, the Federal Register described four possible teams:

• The first team will focus on issues related to the ACG and National SMART Grant programs.
• The second team will address issues related to the federal student loan programs.
• The third team will address other programmatic, institutional eligibility and general provisions issues.
• The fourth team will address accreditation issues.

The Student Loan Issues team will include a federal negotiator (ED's Dan Madzelan) and 14 non-federal negotiators representing various constituencies. The constituencies include:

• Students
• Legal assistance organizations
• Institutions of higher education (including public two-year, public four-year, private four-year, proprietary, and HBCU schools) representing FFELP, Direct, and Perkins loan schools
• Guaranty agencies
• Lenders
• Secondary markets
• Loan servicers
• Guaranty agency servicers

For a complete list of the negotiators, visit the ED link provided under More information below.

Although TG will not be serving as a negotiator in this Neg Reg, TG will attend the sessions and provide active support to the negotiators representing the FFELP.

Agenda
The proposed issues on the 2006-07 Neg Reg agenda for the Student Loan Issues team are as follows:

• School Issues:
  • Entrance Counseling for Grad/Prof PLUS Loan Borrowers
  • Lender and Guaranty Agency Issues:
  • Identity Theft
  • Use of Preferred Lenders
  • Prohibited Inducements
• Title IV Loan Issues:
  • Economic Hardship, including the Income-Contingent Repayment Formula and Family Size, and Other Actions Appropriate under the Higher Education Act
  • Retention of Disbursement Records Supporting Master Promissory Notes (MPNs)
  • Certification of E-Signatures on MPNs Assigned to ED
  • Use of True and Exact Copy of Death Certificates for Death Discharge
  • Retroactive Discharge for Permanently and Totally Disabled Borrowers
  • Lender NSLDS Reporting Timeframes
• Perkins Loan Issues:
  • Assignment of Defaulted Loans
  • Eligibility Requirements for Child and Family Service Cancellation
  • Definition of "Reasonable and Affordable" Collection Costs
• Technical Corrections

TG is pleased that several of the issues selected for Neg Reg are those that TG featured in its testimony provided at the October 5, 2006 ED regional hearing conducted in Chicago at Loyola University.

First session
ED has set December 12 as the date that the first Neg Reg session will begin — there will likely be three sessions total. Shoptalk Online will provide updates after each session to keep you informed about the progress of Neg Reg.

More information
ED has established a 2006-07 Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher Education Web site at www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2007/nr.html. The site contains the agenda and the list of negotiators.

If you have questions about the Neg Reg process, the issues to be negotiated, or TG's involvement in Neg Reg, contact Nina Hold, assistance vice president of TG's policy and regulatory affairs at (800) 252-9743, ext. 4548, or send an e-mail message to nina.hold@tgslc.org.

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