Notice2023-23855
Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program
Primary source
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Published
October 30, 2023
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
This matching program will assist the U.S. Department of Education (Department or ED) in its obligation to ensure that borrowers who either owe balances on or who have had any of loans made under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) written off due to default for the Federal Perkins Loan Program, the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, or the Federal Insured Student Loan (FISL) Program or with Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant service obligations (referred to collectively herein as "title IV loans") more efficiently and effectively are able to obtain Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharges of their title IV loans.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 208 (Monday, October 30, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 208 (Monday, October 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74162-74163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23855]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket ID ED-2023-FSA-0135]
Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program
AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.
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SUMMARY: This matching program will assist the U.S. Department of
Education (Department or ED) in its obligation to ensure that borrowers
who either owe balances on or who have had any of loans made under
title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) written
off due to default for the Federal Perkins Loan Program, the William D.
Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan
(FFEL) Program, or the Federal Insured Student Loan (FISL) Program or
with Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education
(TEACH) Grant service obligations (referred to collectively herein as
``title IV loans'') more efficiently and effectively are able to obtain
Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharges of their title IV
loans.
DATES: Submit your comments on the proposed re-establishment of the
matching program on or before November 29, 2023.
The matching program will become effective on the later of the
following two dates: (1) December 1, 2023, or (2) 30 days after the
publication of this notice, on October 30, 2023, unless comments have
been received from interested members of the public requiring
modification and republication of the notice. The matching program will
continue for 18 months after the effective date and may be renewed for
up to an additional 12 months if, within 3 months prior to the
expiration of the 18 months, the respective Data Integrity Boards of ED
and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) determine that the
conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>. However, if you require an accommodation or
cannot otherwise submit your
[[Page 74163]]
comments via <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>, please contact the program contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. The Department will not
accept comments submitted by fax or by email, or comments submitted
after the comment period. To ensure that the Department does not
receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. In
addition, please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> to submit
your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov,
including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting
comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under the
``FAQ'' tab.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments
received from members of the public available for public viewing in
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly
available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brenda Vigna, Division Chief, Program
Contract Management Group, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of
Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320. Telephone:
(202) 567-1931.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll-
free, at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974,
as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a); Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of Public Law
100-503, the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988,
published in the Federal Register on June 19, 1989 (54 FR 25818); and
OMB Circular No. A-108, notice is hereby provided of the re-
establishment of the matching program between the Department and VA.
Participating Agencies
The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs.
Authority for Conducting the Matching Program
The Department's legal authority to enter into the matching program
and to disclose information thereunder is sections 420N(c), 437(a)(1),
455(a)(1), and 464(c)(1)(F)(ii & iii) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2(c),
1087(a)(1), 1087e(a)(1), and 1087dd(c)(1)(F)(ii & iii)). VA's legal
authority to enter into this matching program is 38 U.S. Code Sec.
5106.
Purpose(s)
This matching program will assist the Department in its obligation
to ensure that borrowers of title IV loans more efficiently and
effectively are able to obtain TPD discharge of their title IV loans.
The Department will proactively send notices to borrowers with title IV
loans who VA has designated as (1) having a service-connected
disability rating that is 100 percent disabling, or (2) being totally
disabled based on an individual unemployability rating, informing them
that the Department will discharge the borrower's title IV loans no
earlier than 61 days after the date that the Department sends the
notification to the borrower, unless the borrower chooses to have their
title IV loans discharged earlier by contacting ED or chooses to opt
out of the TPD discharge within 60 days from the date that the
Department sends the notification to the borrower. The Department's
notices also will inform these borrowers that the Department has
accepted information obtained from the VA in lieu of the borrower's
submission of a VA Statement and the borrower's TPD loan discharge
application, thereby simplifying the TPD discharge process for
borrowers.
Categories of Individuals
This matching program covers veterans whom VA has designated as
having a service-connected disability rating that is 100 percent
disabling or being totally disabled based on an individual
unemployability rating, as described in 38 CFR 3.4(b) and 3.340, and
who have title IV loans (as defined above).
Categories of Records
This matching program covers the following records on the
aforementioned individuals: the name (first, middle, and last), date of
birth (DOB), and Social Security number (SSN), the 100% disabling
service-connected disability rating or the individuals unemployability
rating, and the disability determination date.
System(s) of Records
VA will use the VA system of records entitled ``Compensation,
Pension, Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
Records--VA'' (58VA21/22/28), last published in full in the Federal
Register on November 8, 2021 (86 FR 61858). VA has determined that
routine use 39 in the foregoing system of records is compatible with
the purpose for which the information is collected and contains
appropriate Privacy Act disclosure authority.
The Department will match information obtained from the VA with
Department records maintained in the Department's system of records
entitled ``National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06). The
NSLDS system of records notice was last published in full in the
Federal Register on June 28, 2023 (88 FR 41934).
The Department will also maintain matched information obtained from
VA in the Department's system of records entitled ``Common Services for
Borrowers (CSB) (18-11-16).'' The CSB system of records notice was last
published in full in the Federal Register on July 27, 2023 (88 FR
48449).
Accessible Format: By request to Lisa Tessitore, Program Operations
Specialist, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830
First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320, telephone: (202) 377-3249,
individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible
format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible
format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a
thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, compact
disc, or other accessible format.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at <a href="http://www.govinfo.gov">www.govinfo.gov</a>. At this site you can view this
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at
the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at
<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">www.federalregister.gov</a>. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Richard Cordray,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2023-23855 Filed 10-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 30, 2023.
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