borrower must send subsequent payments or direct any communications concerning the loans, then

(i) the transferor and the transferee will be required, not later than 45 days from the date the transferee acquires a legally enforceable right to receive payment from the borrower on such loan, either jointly or separately to provide a notice to the borrower of (I) the sale or other transfer;

(II) the identity of the transferee;

(III) the name and address of the party to whom subsequent payments or communications must be sent; and

(IV) the telephone numbers of both the transferor and the transferee; and

(ii) the transferee will be required to notify the guaranty agency, and, upon the request of an institution of higher education, the guaranty agency shall notify the last such institution the student attended prior to the beginning of the repayment period of any loan made under this part, of

(I) any sale or other transfer of the loan; and (II) the address and telephone number by which contact may be made with the new holder concerning repayment of the loan,

except that this subparagraph (F) shall only apply if the borrower is in the grace period described in section 427(a)(2)(B) or 428(b)(7) or is in repayment status.

(3) RESTRICTIONS ON INDUCEMENTS, MAILINGS, AND ADVERTISING. A guaranty agency shall not

(A) offer, directly or indirectly, premiums, payments, or other inducements to any educational institution or its employees in order to secure applicants for loans under this part;

(B) offer, directly or indirectly, any premium, incentive payment, or other inducement to any lender, or any agent, employee, or independent contractor of any lender or guaranty agency, in order to administer or market loans made under this part (other than a loan made under section 428H or a loan made as part of a guaranty agency's lender-of-last-resort program) for the purpose of securing the designation of that guaranty agency as the insurer of such loans;

(C) conduct unsolicited mailings of student loan application forms to students enrolled in secondary school or a postsecondary institution, or to parents of such students, except that applications may be mailed to borrowers who have previously received loans guaranteed under this part by the guaranty agency; or

(D) conduct fraudulent or misleading advertising concerning loan availability.

It shall not be a violation of this paragraph for a guaranty agency to provide assistance to institutions of higher education comparable to the kinds of assistance provided to institutions of higher education by the Department of Education.

(4) SPECIAL RULE. For the purpose of paragraph (1)(M)(i)(III) of this subsection, the Secretary shall approve any course of study at a foreign university that is accepted for the completion of a recognized international fellowship program by the administrator of such a program. Requests for deferment of repayment of loans under this part by students engaged in graduate or postgraduate fellowship-supported study (such as pursuant to a Fulbright grant) outside the United States shall be approved until completion of the period of the fellowship.

(5) GUARANTY AGENCY INFORMATION TRANSFERS.—(A) Until such time as the Secretary has implemented section 485B and is able to provide to guaranty agencies the information required by such section, any guaranty agency may request information regarding loans made after January 1, 1987, to students who are residents of the State for which the agency is the designated guarantor, from any other guaranty agency insuring loans to such students.

(B) Upon a request pursuant to subparagraph (A), a guaranty agency shall provide

(i) the name and the social security number of the borrower; and

(ii) the amount borrowed and the cumulative amount borrowed.

(C) Any costs associated with fulfilling the request of a guaranty agency for information on students shall be paid by the guaranty agency requesting the information.

(6) STATE GUARANTY AGENCY INFORMATION REQUEST OF STATE LICENSING BOARDS.—Each guaranty agency is authorized to enter into agreements with each appropriate State licensing board under which the State licensing board, upon request, will furnish the guaranty agency with the address of a student borrower in any case in which the location of the student borrower is unknown or unavailable to the guaranty agency.

(7) REPAYMENT PERIOD.-(A) In the case of a loan made under section 427 or 428, the repayment period shall exclude any period of authorized deferment or forbearance and shall begin(i) the day after 6 months after the date the student ceases to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload (as determined by the institution); or

(ii) on an earlier date if the borrower requests and is granted a repayment schedule that provides for repayment to commence at an earlier date.

(B) In the case of a loan made under section 428H, the repayment period shall exclude any period of authorized deferment or forbearance, and shall begin as described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A), but interest shall begin to accrue or be paid by the borrower on the day the loan is disbursed.

(C) In the case of a loan made under section 428A, 428B, or 428C, the repayment period shall begin on the day the loan is disbursed, or, if the loan is disbursed in multiple installments, on the day of the last such disbursement, and shall exclude any period of authorized deferment or forbearance.

(D) There shall be excluded from the 6-month period that begins on the date on which a student ceases to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload as described in subparagraph (A)(i) any period not to exceed 3 years during which a borrower who is a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces named in section 10101 of title 10, United States Code, is called or ordered to active duty for a period of more than 30 days (as defined in section 101(d)(2) of such title). Such period of exclusion shall include the period necessary to resume enrollment at the borrower's next available regular enrollment period.

(8) MEANS OF DISBURSEMENT OF LOAN PROCEEDS.-Nothing in this title shall be interpreted to prohibit the disbursement of loan proceeds by means other than by check or to allow the Secretary to require checks to be made co-payable to the institution and the borrower.

(9) REPAYMENT PLANS.—

(A) DESIGN AND SELECTION.—In accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary, the lender shall offer a borrower of a loan made under this part the plans described in this subparagraph for repayment of such loan, including principal and interest thereon. No plan may require a borrower to repay a loan in less than 5 years unless the borrower, during the 6 months immediately preceding the start of the repayment period, specifically requests that repayment be made over of a shorter period. The borrower may choose from—

(i) a standard repayment plan, with a fixed annual repayment amount paid over a fixed period of time, not to exceed 10 years;

(ii) a graduated repayment plan paid over a fixed period of time, not to exceed 10 years;

(iii) an income-sensitive repayment plan, with income-sensitive repayment amounts paid over a fixed period of time, not to exceed 10 years, except that the borrower's scheduled payments shall not be less than the amount of interest due; and

(iv) for new borrowers on or after the date of enactment of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 who accumulate (after such date) outstanding loans under this part totaling more than $30,000, an extended repayment plan, with a fixed annual or graduated repayment amount paid over an extended period of time, not to exceed 25 years, except that the borrower shall repay annually a minimum amount determined in accordance with paragraph (1)(L)(i).

(B) LENDER SELECTION OF OPTION IF BORROWER DOES NOT SELECT.—If a borrower of a loan made under this part does not select a repayment plan described in subparagraph (A), the lender shall provide the borrower with a repayment plan described in subparagraph (A)(i).

(c) GUARANTY AGREEMENTS FOR REIMBURSING LOSSES.—

(1) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS. (A) The Secretary may enter into a guaranty agreement with any guar

anty agency, whereby the Secretary shall undertake to reimburse it, under such terms and conditions as the Secretary may establish, with respect to losses (resulting from the default of the student borrower) on the unpaid balance of the principal and accrued interest of any insured loan. The guaranty agency shall, be deemed to have a contractual right against the United States, during the life of such loan, to receive reimbursement according to the provisions of this subsection. Upon receipt of an accurate and complete request by a guaranty agency for reimbursement with respect to such losses, the Secretary shall pay promptly and without administrative delay. Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph and in paragraph (7), the amount to be paid a guaranty agency as reimbursement under this subsection shall be equal to 95 percent of the amount expended by it in discharge of its insurance obligation incurred under its loan insurance program. A guaranty agency shall file a claim for reimbursement with respect to losses under this subsection within 45 days after the guaranty agency discharges its insurance obligation on the loan.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A)—

(i) if, for any fiscal year, the amount of such reimbursement payments by the Secretary under this subsection exceeds 5 percent of the loans which are insured by such guaranty agency under such program and which were in repayment at the end of the preceding fiscal year, the amount to be paid as reimbursement under this subsection for such excess shall be equal to 851 percent of the amount of such excess; and

(ii) if, for any fiscal year, the amount of such reimbursement payments exceeds 9 percent of such loans, the amount to be paid as reimbursement under this subsection for such excess shall be equal to 75 1 percent of the amount of such excess.

(C) For the purpose of this subsection, the amount of loans of a guaranty agency which are in repayment shall be the original principal amount of loans made by a lender which are insured by such a guaranty agency reduced by

(i) the amount the insurer has been required to pay to discharge its insurance obligations under this part;

(ii) the original principal amount of loans insured by it which have been fully repaid; and

(iii) the original principal amount insured on those loans for which payment of the first installment of principal has not become due pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(E) of this section or such first installment need not be paid pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(M) of this section.

(D) Reimbursements of losses made by the Secretary on loans submitted for claim by an eligible lender, servicer, or guaranty agency designated for exceptional performance under section 4281 shall not be subject to additional review by the

1 The amendments made by section 417(c)(1) of P.L. 105–244, changing the reimbursement percentages, apply to loans for which the first disbursement is made on or after October 1, 1998.

Secretary or repurchase by the guaranty agency for any reason other than a determination by the Secretary that the eligible lender, servicer, or guaranty agency engaged in fraud or other purposeful misconduct in obtaining designation for exceptional performance.

(E) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, in the case of a loan made pursuant to a lender-of-last-resort program, the Secretary shall apply the provisions of

(i) the fourth sentence of subparagraph (A) by substituting "100 percent" for "95 percent";

(ii) subparagraph (B)(i) by substituting "100 percent" for "85 percent"; and

(iii) subparagraph (B)(ii) by substituting "100 percent" for "75 percent".

(F)1 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, in the case of an outstanding loan transferred to a guaranty agency from another guaranty agency pursuant to a plan approved by the Secretary in response to the insolvency of the latter such guarantee agency, the Secretary shall apply the provision of

(i) the fourth sentence of subparagraph (A) by substituting "100 percent” for “95 percent";

(ii) subparagraph (B)(i) by substituting "90 percent" for "85 percent”; and

(iii) subparagraph (B)(ii) by substituting "80 percent" for "75 percent".

(G)2 Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Secretary shall exclude a loan made pursuant to a lender-of-last-resort program when making reimbursement payment calculations under subparagraphs (B) and (C). (2) CONTENTS OF GUARANTY AGREEMENTS.-The guaranty agreement

(A) shall set forth such administrative and fiscal procedures as may be necessary to protect the United States from the risk of unreasonable loss thereunder, to ensure proper and efficient administration of the loan insurance program, and to assure that due diligence will be exercised in the collection of loans insured under the program, including a requirement that each beneficiary of insurance on the loan submit proof that the institution was contacted and other reasonable attempts were made to locate the borrower (when the location of the borrower is unknown) and proof that contact was made with the borrower (when the location is known);

(B) shall provide for making such reports, in such form and containing such information, as the Secretary may reasonably require to carry out the Secretary's functions under this subsection, and for keeping such records and for affording such access thereto as the Secretary may find

1 See footnote on previous page.

2 Margin so in law.