Page images
PDF
EPUB

(I) an emergency action against a third party servicer that has contracted with an institution to administer any aspect of the institution's student assistance program under this title, under which the Secretary shall, effective on the date on which a notice and statement of the basis of the action is mailed to such individual or organization (by registered mail, return receipt requested), withhold funds from the individual or organization and withdraw the individual or organization's authority to act on behalf of an institution under any program under this title, if the Secretary

(i) receives information, determined by the Secretary to be reliable, that the individual or organization, acting on behalf of an institution, is violating any provision of this title, any regulation prescribed under this title, or any applicable special arrangement, agreement, or limitation,

(ii) determines that immediate action is necessary to prevent misuse of Federal funds, and

(iii) determines that the likelihood of loss outweighs the importance of the procedures prescribed under subparagraph (F), for limitation, suspension, or termination, except that an emergency action shall not exceed 30 days unless the limitation, suspension, or termination proceedings are initiated by the Secretary against the individual or organization within that period of time, and except that the Secretary shall provide the individual or organization an opportunity to show cause, if it so requests, that the emergency action is unwarranted.

(2) If an individual who, or entity that, exercises substantial control, as determined by the Secretary in accordance with the definition of substantial control in subpart 3 of part H, over one or more institutions participating in any program under this title, or, for purposes of paragraphs (1) (H) and (I), over one or more organizations that contract with an institution to administer any aspect of the institution's student assistance program under this title, is determined to have committed one or more violations of the requirements of any program under this title, or has been suspended or debarred in accordance with the regulations of the Secretary, the Secretary may use such determination, suspension, or debarment as the basis for imposing an emergency action on, or limiting, suspending, or terminating, in a single proceeding, the participation of any or all institutions under the substantial control of that individual or entity.

(3)(A) Upon determination, after reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing, that an eligible institution has engaged in substantial misrepresentation of the nature of its educational program, its financial charges, or the employability of its graduates, the Secretary may suspend or terminate the eligibility status for any or all programs under this title of any otherwise eligible institution, in accordance with procedures specified in paragraph (1)(D) of this subsection, until the Secretary finds that such practices have been corrected.

(BXi) Upon determination, after reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing, that an eligible institution—

SU

(I) has violated or failed to carry out any provision of this title or any regulation prescribed under this title; or

(II) has engaged in substantial misrepresentation of the nature of its educational program, its financial charges, and the employability of its graduates,

the Secretary may impose a civil penalty upon such institution of not to exceed $25,000 for each violation or misrepresentation.

(ii) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the Secretary. In determining the amount of such penalty, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the institution of higher education subject to the determination, and the gravity of the violation, failure, or misrepresentation shall be considered. The amount of such penalty, when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, may be deducted from any sums owing by the United States to the institution charged.

(4) The Secretary shall publish a list of State agencies which the Secretary determines to be reliable authority as to the quality of public postsecondary vocational education in their respective States for the purpose of determining eligibility for all Federal student assistance programs.

(5) The Secretary shall make readily available to appropriate guaranty agencies, eligible lenders, State agencies notifying the Secretary under subpart 1 of part H, and accrediting agencies or associations the results of the audits of eligible institutions conducted pursuant to paragraph (1)(A).

(6) The Secretary is authorized to provide any information collected as a result of audits conducted under this section, together with audit information collected by guaranty agencies, to any Federal or State agency having responsibilities with respect to student financial assistance, including those referred to in subsection (a)(15) of this section.

(7) Effective with respect to any audit conducted under this subsection after December 31, 1988, if, in the course of conducting any such audit, the personnel of the Department of Education discover, or are informed of, grants or other assistance provided by an institution in accordance with this title for which the institution has not received funds appropriated under this title (in the amount necessary to provide such assistance), including funds for which reimbursement was not requested prior to such discovery or information, such institution shall be permitted to offset that amount against any sums determined to be owed by the institution pursuant to such audit, or to receive reimbursement for that amount (if the institution does not owe any such sums).

(d) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.-For the purpose of this section, the term "eligible institution" means any such institution described in section 102 of this Act.

(e) CONSTRUCTION.-Nothing in the amendments made by the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 shall be construed to prohibit an institution from recording, at the cost of the institution, a hearing referred to in subsection (b)(2), subsection (c)(1)(D), or subparagraph (A) or (B)(i) of subsection (c)(2), of this section to create a record of the hearing, except the unavailability of a recording shall not serve to delay the completion of the proceeding. The Sec

retary shall allow the institution to use any reasonable means, including stenographers, of recording the hearing.

SEC. 487A. [20 U.S.C. 1094a] REGULATORY RELIEF AND IMPROVEMENT. (a) QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM.

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary is authorized to select institutions for voluntary participation in a Quality Assurance Program that provides participating institutions with an alternative management approach through which individual schools develop and implement their own comprehensive systems, related to processing and disbursement of student financial aid, verification of student financial aid application data, and entrance and exit interviews, thereby enhancing program integrity within the student aid delivery system.

(2) CRITERIA AND CONSIDERATION.-The Quality Assurance Program authorized by this section shall be based on criteria that include demonstrated institutional performance, as determined by the Secretary, and shall take into consideration current quality assurance goals, as determined by the Secretary. The selection criteria shall ensure the participation of a diverse group of institutions of higher education with respect to size, mission, and geographical distribution.

(3) WAIVER.-The Secretary is authorized to waive for any institution participating in the Quality Assurance Program any regulations dealing with reporting or verification requirements in this title that are addressed by the institution's alternative management system, and may substitute such quality assurance reporting as the Secretary determines necessary to ensure accountability and compliance with the purposes of the programs under this title. The Secretary shall not modify or waive any statutory requirements pursuant to this paragraph.

(4) DETERMINATION.-The Secretary is authorized to determine

(A) when an institution that is unable to administer the Quality Assurance Program shall be removed from such program; and

(B) when institutions desiring to cease participation in such program will be required to complete the current award year under the requirements of the Quality Assurance Program.

(5) REVIEW AND EVALUATION.-The Secretary shall review and evaluate the Quality Assurance Program conducted by each participating institution and, on the basis of that evaluation, make recommendations regarding amendments to this Act that will streamline the administration and enhance the integrity of Federal student assistance programs. Such recommendations shall be submitted to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives. (b) REGULATORY IMPROVEMENT AND STREAMLINING EXPERIMENTS.

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary may continue any experimental sites in existence on the date of enactment of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. Any activities approved by

the Secretary prior to such date that are inconsistent with this section shall be discontinued not later than June 30, 1999.

(2) REPORT.-The Secretary shall review and evaluate the experience of institutions participating as experimental sites during the period of 1993 through 1998 under this section (as such section was in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998), and shall submit a report based on this review and evaluation to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives not later than 6 months after the enactment of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. Such report shall include

(A) a list of participating institutions and the specific statutory or regulatory waivers granted to each institution; (B) the findings and conclusions reached regarding each of the experiments conducted; and

(C) recommendations for amendments to improve and streamline this Act, based on the results of the experiment.

(3) SELECTION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.-Upon the submission of the report required by paragraph (2), the Secretary is authorized to select a limited number of additional institutions for voluntary participation as experimental sites to provide recommendations to the Secretary on the impact and effectiveness of proposed regulations or new management initiatives.

(B) CONSULTATION.-Prior to approving any additional experimental sites, the Secretary shall consult with the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and shall provide to such Committees

(i) a list of institutions proposed for participation in the experiment and the specific statutory or regulatory waivers proposed to be granted to each institution;

(ii) a statement of the objectives to be achieved through the experiment; and

(iii) an identification of the period of time over which the experiment is to be conducted.

(C) WAIVERS.-The Secretary is authorized to waive, for any institution participating as an experimental site under subparagraph (A), any requirements in this title, or regulations prescribed under this title, that will bias the results of the experiment, except that the Secretary shall not waive any provisions with respect to award rules, grant and loan maximum award amounts, and need analysis requirements.

(c) DEFINITIONS.-For purposes of this section, the term "current award year" means the award year during which the participating institution indicates the institution's intention to cease participation.

SEC. 487B. [20 U.S.C. 1094b] ASSIGNMENT OF IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS.

The Secretary shall assign to each participant in title IV programs, including institutions, lenders, and guaranty agencies, a single Department of Education identification number to be used to identify its participation in each of the title IV programs.

SEC. 488. [20 U.S.C. 1095] TRANSFER OF ALLOTMENTS.

In order to offer an arrangement of types of aid, including institutional and State aid which best fits the needs of each individual student, an institution may (1) transfer a total of 25 percent of the institutions allotment under section 462 to the institution's allotment under section 413D or 442 (or both); and (2) transfer 25 percent of the institution's allotment under section 442 to the institution's allotment under section 413D. Funds transferred to an institution's allotment under another section may be used as a part of and for the same purposes as funds allotted under that section. The Secretary shall have no control over such transfer, except as specifically authorized, except for the collection and dissemination of information.

SEC. 488A. [20 U.S.C. 1095a] WAGE GARNISHMENT REQUIREMENT.

(a) GARNISHMENT REQUIREMENTS.-Notwithstanding any provision of State law, a guaranty agency, or the Secretary in the case of loans made, insured or guaranteed under this title that are held by the Secretary, may garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed by the individual, if he or she is not currently making required repayment under a repayment agreement with the Secretary, or, in the case of a loan guaranteed under part B on which the guaranty agency received reimbursement from the Secretary under section 428(c), with the guaranty agency holding the loan, as appropriate, provided that

(1) the amount deducted for any pay period may not exceed 10 percent of disposable pay, except that a greater percentage may be deducted with the written consent of the individual involved;

(2) the individual shall be provided written notice, sent by mail to the individual's last known address, a minimum of 30 days prior to the initiation of proceedings, from the guaranty agency or the Secretary, as appropriate, informing such individual of the nature and amount of the loan obligation to be collected, the intention of the guaranty agency or the Secretary, as appropriate, to initiate proceedings to collect the debt through deductions from pay, and an explanation of the rights of the individual under this section;

(3) the individual shall be provided an opportunity to inspect and copy records relating to the debt;

(4) the individual shall be provided an opportunity to enter into a written agreement with the guaranty agency or the Secretary, under terms agreeable to the Secretary, or the head of the guaranty agency or his designee, as appropriate, to establish a schedule for the repayment of the debt;

(5) the individual shall be provided an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with subsection (b) on the determination of the Secretary or the guaranty agency, as appropriate, con

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »