Department of Education Requests Comments on Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program Notice

On July 13, 2022, the Department of Education published the Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) covers student loans and affordability issues. This rulemaking specifically discusses issues involving loans under the William D. Ford Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins) Program, and the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations governing seven topics related to student loans administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Department proposes to amend the regulations governing the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program to establish a new Federal standard and process for determining whether a borrower has a defense to repayment on a loan. The Department also proposes to prohibit the use of certain contractual provisions regarding dispute resolution processes by participating institutions, and to require certain notifications and disclosures by institutions regarding their use of arbitration. The Department further proposes to amend the closed school discharge provisions in the Perkins Loan, Direct Loan, and FFEL programs to expand borrower eligibility for automatic discharges and eliminate provisions pertaining to reenrollment in a comparable program. The Department proposes to amend the Direct Loan and FFEL regulations to streamline the regulations governing false certification discharges.

Read the proposed rule and submit comments.

Comments are due on August 12, 2022.

Advocacy contact: Rosalyn Steward at 202-205-7013 or email at rosalyn.steward@sba.gov.