Proposed Rule2024-30605
Student Debt Relief Based on Hardship for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans), the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins) Program, and the Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program; Withdrawal
Primary source
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Published
December 26, 2024
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is withdrawing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that, under the Secretary's authority to waive repayment of a loan provided by the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), proposed to specify the Secretary's authority to waive all or part of any student loan debts owed to the Department based on the Secretary's determination that a borrower has experienced or is experiencing hardship related to such a loan.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 104934-104935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30605]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Part 30
[Docket ID ED-2023-OPE-0123]
RIN 1840-AD95
Student Debt Relief Based on Hardship for the William D. Ford
Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans), the Federal Family
Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins)
Program, and the Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program;
Withdrawal
AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of proposed rulemaking and termination of
rulemaking proceeding.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is withdrawing a
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that, under the Secretary's
authority to waive repayment of a loan provided by the Higher Education
Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), proposed to specify the Secretary's
authority to waive all or part of any student loan debts owed to the
Department based on the Secretary's determination that a borrower has
experienced or is experiencing hardship related to such a loan.
DATES: The notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal
Register at 89 FR 87130 on October 31, 2024, is withdrawn as of
December 20, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamy Abernathy, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW,
5th floor, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 245-4595. Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9ed0fbf9ccfbf9d0ceccd3d6fbf2eedefbfab0f9f1e8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3b755e5c695e5c756b6976735e574b7b5e5f155c544d">[email protected]</span></a>.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background
On October 31, 2024, the Department published an NPRM in the
Federal Register that, in accordance with the Secretary's authority to
waive repayment of a loan provided by sections 432(a)(6) and 468(2) of
the HEA, would specify the Secretary's discretion to provide debt
relief to borrowers who are experiencing or have experienced hardship
related to their loans. See 89 FR 87130. The proposed regulations would
modify the Department's existing debt collection regulations to provide
greater specificity regarding the Secretary's discretion to waive
Federal student loan debt. The proposed rule outlines two pathways for
discretionary relief: (i) a predictive assessment offering
individualized, automatic waivers based on the borrower's likelihood of
default to provide immediate relief as soon as practicable; and (ii) a
holistic assessment of the borrower's circumstances based on an
application or information within the Department's possession to
address persistent hardships not sufficiently addressed by other
Department programs.
The Department accepted public comments on the NPRM from October
31, 2024 through December 2, 2024. In response to the NPRM, the
Department received 14,735 written comments, and the Department
reviewed such comments.
Withdrawal of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Termination of
the Rulemaking Proceeding
In accordance with the Secretary's authority under sections
432(a)(6) and 468(2) of the HEA to waive repayment of a loan, the
Department issued the NPRM to specify the Secretary's discretion to
provide targeted debt relief to borrowers who have experienced or are
experiencing hardship repaying their student loans based on the
criteria specified in the NPRM.\1\
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\1\ As the Department noted in the NPRM, these proposed
regulations related to hardship are separate from the proposals for
student debt relief specified in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
issued on April 17, 2024 (April 2024 NPRM) (89 FR 27564), which is
the subject of a separate Notice of Withdrawal. These proposed
regulations differ from the waivers in the April 2024 NPRM along
various dimensions, including that the provisions in this NPRM
applied distinct and different eligibility criteria and addressed
different challenges with student loan repayment faced by borrowers.
See, e.g., 89 FR at 87131 n. 2.
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[[Page 104935]]
The Department believed clarifying the circumstances in which the
Secretary may use the existing and longstanding waiver authority under
sections 432(a)(6) and 468(2) of the HEA would better inform the public
about how the Secretary may exercise this waiver authority in a
consistent and equitable manner. Current regulations do not describe
how the Secretary uses this waiver authority. We also believed that
providing such specificity would allow the Department to highlight
circumstances where we are particularly concerned about borrowers'
inability to successfully repay their debts in full and where the
Department anticipated that the costs of collection would exceed the
expected benefits.
However, upon further consideration of the operational challenges
in implementing the proposals in the NPRM, the Secretary withdraws the
NPRM and terminates the rulemaking proceeding.
In making this decision, we reconsidered the Department's ability
to implement the proposed rules if they were finalized in a form
identical or largely similar to what was included in the NPRM. With the
time remaining in this Administration, the Department is focused on
several priorities including court-ordered settlements and helping
borrowers manage the final elements of the return to repayment
following the Fall 2024 end of the 12-month on-ramp period designed to
assist borrowers who were unable to make their payments or who needed
more time to access information to determine the right repayment plan
for their circumstances. With the end of the on-ramp period, some
borrowers may start becoming delinquent and start down the path to
default. Given that many newer borrowers are at risk of default, and
the Department expects that many of these newer borrowers would not
have been otherwise eligible for immediate relief under the proposed
rules in the NPRM, along with the uncertainty around the implementation
of the NPRM proposals, the Department at this time intends to commit
its limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return
to repayment successfully. For all of these independently sufficient
reasons, the Department is withdrawing this NPRM.
Importantly, the Department is not withdrawing this NPRM and
terminating this rulemaking proceeding based upon a changed view of the
Secretary's authority under section 432(a) and 468(2) of the HEA, or
based upon any preliminary determination about the limitations of such
authority. See Missouri v. Biden, No. 24-cv-1316, ECF No. 57 (granting
preliminary injunction in challenge focused on separate April 2024 NPRM
relying on waiver authority). Rather, the Department continues to
believe that the NPRM is authorized by the Secretary's longstanding and
existing authority under the HEA, as explained in the NPRM. See, e.g.,
89 FR 87133-34.
We do not intend for a final rule to be issued on this NPRM. Were
the Department to issue a regulation in this area in the future, it
would be bound by the requirements of section 492(a) and (b) of the
HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1098a(a) and (b).
Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 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, 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 Department documents published in the
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PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the
site.
You may also access Department documents 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.
Miguel Cardona,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-30605 Filed 12-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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