Notice2026-07801
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 22, 2026
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Amendments of 1990, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance on the conduct of matching programs, notice is hereby given of the re-establishment of the matching program between the U.S. Department of Education (Department), as the recipient agency, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as the source agency. This matching program will assist the Department 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 (20 U.S.C. 1087aa et seq.), the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.), the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.), or the Federal Insured Student Loan (FISL) Program (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.) or with Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant service obligations (referred to collectively herein as "title IV loans") are more efficiently and effectively able to obtain Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharges of their title IV loans.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 77 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 77 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21488-21489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07801]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket ID ED-2026-FSA-0925]
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, the Computer
Matching and Privacy Protection Amendments of 1990, and Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) guidance on the conduct of matching
programs, notice is hereby given of the re-establishment of the
matching program between the U.S. Department of Education (Department),
as the recipient agency, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA), as the source agency. This matching program will assist the
Department 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 (20 U.S.C. 1087aa et
seq.), the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (20 U.S.C. 1087a
et seq.), the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program (20 U.S.C.
1071 et seq.), or the Federal Insured Student Loan (FISL) Program (20
U.S.C. 1071 et seq.) or with Teacher Education Assistance for College
and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant service obligations (referred to
collectively herein as ``title IV loans'') are more efficiently and
effectively 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 May 22, 2026.
The matching program will become effective on the later of the
following two dates: (1) June 1, 2026, or (2) 30 days after the
publication of this notice, on April 22, 2026, 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
the Department and the 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 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
[[Page 21489]]
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: Corinne Sauri, Management and Program
Analyst, Office of Operations and Governance, Federal Student Aid, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 245-5612.
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: 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.C. 5106.
Purpose(s)
This matching program will assist the Department in its obligation
to ensure that borrowers of title IV loans are more efficiently and
effectively 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 or TEACH Grant service obligations discharged earlier or
chooses to opt out of the TPD discharge within 60 days from the date
that ED sends the notification to the borrower. The notices also inform
these borrowers that the Department has accepted VA data matched
information in lieu of the borrower's submission of a VA Statement with
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 percent
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 September 15, 2025 (90 FR 44464). VA has determined that
routine use 34 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 November 7, 2024 (89 FR 88240).
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 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 Lucas,
Acting Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2026-07801 Filed 4-21-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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