On May 5, 2011, the Department of Education announced that it will soon be holding a new round of negotiated rulemaking sessions. The Department also announced three public hearings for interested parties to discuss the rulemaking agenda. The public hearings will be held on:
–May 16, 2011, at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington
–May 19, 2011, at Loyola University-Lakeshore Campus in Chicago, Illinois, and
–May 26, 2011, at College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.
( The public hearings will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., local time. )
This is an opportunity for student loan borrowers and their advocates to testify about ways to improve student loan regulations. Individuals desiring to present comments at the public hearings must register by sending an e-mail to negreg.2011@ed.gov. The e-mail should include the name of the presenter along with a general timeframe during which the individual would like to speak. NCLC will be submitting written comments that we will post on-line soon.
The Department provided only general information about the issues likely to be on the agenda. These include:
1. Changes made to the Higher Education Act by the Student Aid Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), (Pub. L. 111-
152), which ended the origination of loans under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program as of July 1, 2010. The Department intends to streamline the loan program regulations by repealing unnecessary FFEL Program regulations and incorporating and modifying necessary requirements within the Direct Loan Program regulations.
2. Possible changes in the regulations governing the income-contingent and income-based repayment plans and the process for making total and permanent disability determinations.
3. Proposed regulations to streamline institutional reporting requirements, and proposed regulations regarding better State identification of low-performing teacher preparation programs.
