Department of Education September 23, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Education (Department or We) establishes new Institutional Accountability regulations governing the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program to revise a Federal standard and a process for adjudicating borrower defenses to repayment claims for Federal student loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2020, and provide for actions the Secretary may take to collect from schools the amount of financial loss due to successful borrower defense to repayment loan discharges. The Department also amends regulations regarding pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class action waivers as a condition of enrollment, and requires institutions to include information regarding the school's internal dispute resolution and arbitration processes as part of in the borrower's entrance counseling. We amend the Student Assistance General Provisions regulations to establish the conditions or events that have or may have an adverse, material effect on an institution's financial condition and which warrant financial protection for the Department, update the definitions of terms used to calculate an institution's composite score to conform with changes in certain accounting standards, and account for leases and long-term debt. Finally, we amend the loan discharge provisions in the Direct Loan Program.