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HURRICANE KATRINA INFORMATION - ELECTRONIC ANNOUNCEMENT #6
(09-30-05)
From: Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education
Subject: Length of Academic Year for Institutions Affected by Hurricane Katrina
Higher education
officials in States affected by Hurricane Katrina have asked the Secretary
to allow institutions to reduce the minimum academic year for 2005-2006
from 30 weeks of instructional time to 26 weeks of instructional time.
The Secretary considers these requests to have been made on behalf of
all affected institutions in these States.
The Secretary will
allow affected institutions in the Hurricane Katrina federally declared
disaster areas of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, that offer a two-year
program leading to an associate degree or a four-year program leading
to a baccalaureate degree, to reduce their 2005-2006 academic year from
30 weeks of instructional time to a minimum of 26 weeks of instructional
time.
Affected institutions
must still obtain approval from the appropriate state licensing and accrediting
agency before implementing the reduced academic year.
An affected institution
that reduces its 2005-2006 academic year must use the reduced timeframe
to determine the minimum length of eligible programs it offers. In addition,
an affected institution should document the reduced academic year definition
in its written policies and procedures.
Determining disbursement amounts and annual loan limits will not change
as a result of these reduced academic year or term lengths. Institutions
that are approved to use a reduced timeframe should use that timeframe
as the definition of its academic year in these determinations.
The statute currently does not permit the Secretary to approve a reduction
in an academic year to fewer than 26 weeks of instructional time, or any
reduction of academic year for institutions that do not offer a two-year
program leading to an associate degree or a four-year program leading
to a baccalaureate degree.
Institutions may
contact the following individuals for additional information:
- Alabama and Mississippi
institutions should contact Charles Engstrom in the U.S. Department
of Education's Atlanta Regional Office at (404) 562-6309 or by e-mail
at charles.engstrom@ed.gov;
and
- Louisiana institutions
should contact Jackie Shipman in the US Department of Education's Dallas
Regional Office at (214) 661-9490, or by e-mail at jackie.shipman@ed.gov.
Posted October 3, 2005 on www.NASFAA.org, the Web Site of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).
Please submit Web Site questions or comments to web@NASFAA.org
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