Department of Education August 3, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 552a, the Acting Chief Operating Officer for Federal Student Aid (FSA) of the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) publishes this notice proposing to revise the system of records for the Federal Student Financial Aid Application File (18-11-01), 64 Federal Register (FR) 30159-30161 (June 4, 1999), as corrected by 64 FR 72384, 72407 (December 27, 1999), as corrected by 65 FR 11294-11295 (March 2, 2000), as corrected by 66 FR 18758 (April 11, 2001), as altered by 74 FR 68802-68808 (December 29, 2009). This system of records contains information provided by applicants for Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, (HEA) program assistance, which is collected from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Among other purposes described in this notice, the information collected is maintained in order to determine an applicant's eligibility for the Federal student financial assistance programs authorized by Title IV of the HEA; make a loan, grant, or scholarship; and verify the identity of the applicant. This altered system of records includes records on individuals who are applying for Title IV, HEA program assistance. The records contain individually identifying information about an applicant, including, but not limited to: An applicant's name, address, Social Security number (SSN), date of birth, citizenship status, status as a veteran, driver's license number, marital status, and income and asset information. This altered system also contains information provided by the parent(s) of a dependent applicant, including, but not limited to: Name, date of birth, marital status, SSN, highest level of schooling completed, e- mail address, and income and asset information. This altered system of records also contains information about spousal income and asset information of a married applicant. This notice proposes to expand the categories of individuals on whom records are maintained, to add two new purposes to the system of records, to expand a programmatic routine use disclosure, and to add a new programmatic routine use disclosure that was inadvertently deleted when the system of records was last altered. The notice would expand the individuals covered by the system to include secondary school students about whom requesting entities, such as schools, local educational agencies, and other local and State agencies, submit information (e.g., name, date of birth, and zip code) to the Department in order for the Department to provide these entities with the student's FAFSA completion filing status to promote and encourage the student to apply for Title IV, HEA program assistance, State assistance, and aid awarded by institutions of higher education. The notice also would add two new purposes to this system of records, which would specify that the purposes of the system are (1) to determine the eligibility of applicants for the award of State postsecondary education assistance and for the award of aid by eligible institutions of higher education or other entities designated by the Secretary and to administer those awards, and (2) to promote and encourage application for Title IV, HEA program assistance, State assistance, and aid awarded by institutions of higher education or other entities designated by the Secretary. In addition, the notice proposes to expand a current programmatic routine use disclosure to permit the Department's disclosure of FAFSA completion information to a local educational agency (LEA) or secondary school where the student is or was enrolled, or other State, local, and private entities designated by the Secretary in order to facilitate and promote FAFSA completion. Specifically, a current programmatic routine use disclosure permits the Department to disclose a student's FAFSA filing status only to the student's LEA and secondary school in order to permit these entities to counsel the student about applying for financial aid and to offer the student assistance with the completion of the FAFSA. The Department proposes to expand this current programmatic routine use disclosure so that the Department may make disclosures for this same purpose to other local agencies, State agencies, and other entities designated by the Secretary in an effort to increase FAFSA completion rates within a State. Finally, the Department proposes to add a new, programmatic routine use disclosure to the system that was inadvertently deleted when the system of records was last altered. This new routine use disclosure would permit the Department to disclose records from this system of records to State agencies, eligible institutions of higher education, and other entities designated by the Secretary in order to permit them to determine an applicant's eligibility for the award of State postsecondary education assistance or for the award of aid by eligible institutions of higher education or other entities designated by the Secretary and to administer those awards.