Just before 11:30 a.m. on Friday, federal and nonfederal negotiators joined in a round of applause as the facilitator announced, "We have consensus!" The final round of negotiations on Title IV general provisions had begun on Wednesday, April 18. Stakes were high as negotiators examined 19 issues, only five of which had tentative agreement prior to last week's meeting. Failure to reach consensus on just one issue would have made the entire the entire package subject to the Department's discretion.
The Department is now required to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with a comment period of at least 30 days to allow the financial aid community at-large and the general public to suggest any further changes. It should be noted however, that under the agreed upon negotiated protocols, committee members are to refrain from commenting negatively on the consensus-based regulatory language that will be released.
The Department will then publish a Notice of Final Rules, which will also include a preamble discussing any further changes made by the Department in response to public comment. The Notice of Final Rules will also contain an implementation date for the regulations and must be published by November 1, in order to be implemented the following July 1.
Not all of the agreed-upon language has been provided by the Department and NASFAA is finishing its analysis of the final round of negotiations today. A summary and the latest versions of accompanying regulatory language of each item will be available soon.
After combining two issues, negotiators reached consensus on the following 17 items:
- Consistent Enrollment Status Definitions for All Title IV Programs
Consistent Definitions for Undergraduate Student, Graduate or Professional Student and First-Professional Degree for All Title IV Programs
Define Independent Study
Nonterm Credit Hour Programs - Use of Completion of Half the Weeks of Instructional Time for Timing of Loan Disbursements & Require Institutions to Use Consistent Disbursement Periods for Title IV Programs, Where Allowed Under the Law
Determining Loan Eligibility for Nonstandard Term Programs
Recovery of Funds Not Claimed by Student or Parent
Single Disbursement Provision for Perkins and FSEOG
Electronic Disbursements, Use of Stored-Value Cards, and Issuing a Check
Late, Late Disbursements
Affirmative Confirmation of a Loan
Definition of Excess Cash and Excess Cash Allowances
Treatment of FFEL and Direct Loan Funds When a Student Withdraws Before Beginning Class - Make Consistent with other Programs
Post-withdrawal Disbursement
Calculate Pell grant Payments for Programs with Standard Terms, but Monthly Starts
Proration for Pell Grant Payments for Programs Using Clock Hours or Credit Hours Without Terms
Minimum Period for Certifying a Loan
Minor Prior-Year Expenses
Other Media Coverage
By Justin Draeger
NASFAA Assistant Director for Communications
Posted 04/23/07 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
