Session 39 Uncover the Mysteries of How a

Session 39 Uncover the Mysteries of How a Law Becomes Operational Angela Smith Kevin Campbell Bill

What’s Important? • How Does a Bill Become a Law? • Laws VS. Regulations • What's the Federal Register? • What's the Blue Book? • What is meant by “Guidance"? • Finding Answers Using the Federal Student Aid Handbook and Dear Colleague Letters 2

Title IV Federal Student Aid Programs • Pell Grants • Campus Based Programs – FSEOG, FWS, Federal Perkins Loans • FFELP/FDLP • ACG/SMART • Other 3

Who’s Responsible? • Congress – Executive Branch – Creation and modification of programs – Cash management – Need analysis formula – FAFSA design – Maximum grant and loan amounts – Reporting requirements – Audit criteria – Enforcement (L, S & T) – Amount of funding 4

Legislation VS. Regulation • Legislation – Congress Adopts with presidential signature or after overriding a veto – Amends the U. S. Code -- the statute (e. g. , Higher Education Act) – Public Laws (108 -XX) Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R, IL) Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R, TN) 5

Leadership in the New Congress Senator Harry Reid, D. Nevada Representative Nancy Pelosi, D. California Senate Majority Leader Speaker of the House of Representatives 6

How the Law is Numbered • P. L. 105 -244 (10/7/98) reauthorized the HEA • Title IV, Part G - General Provisions • Subpart (Arabic numerals when used) • Section 484 - Student Eligibility • Subsection (c) - Satisfactory Progress – Paragraph (1) – Subparagraph (A) – Division - lower case Roman - (i), (iii) – Clause - upper case Roman - (I), (III) • Example: Sec. 484(c)(1)(A) 7

Legislative Process • Authorization Legislation: – Introduced by a Representative or Senator to amend or create a Federal statute • Appropriations Legislation: – Sets annual funding levels for Federal programs 8

Legislative Process Applied to HEA • Authorizing Legislation – Established HEA of 1965 as amended – Reauthorization changes/renews authorizing legislation approximately every 5 years • Appropriating Legislation – Annually funds programs – Budget bills 9

What is Reauthorization? • Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as Amended – Originally enacted as part of President Johnson’s “Great Society” programs – Authorizations “sunset” and must be renewed – Authorizes virtually all Federal Higher Education Programs 10

Why Reauthorization? • Reauthorization Provides the Opportunity for Thoughtful Congressional Review – Public hearings – More time to consider ideas – Ability to review fundamental issues • Access • Choice • Eligibility • Subsidies • Accountability 11

Current Reauthorization • Process Underway Since Late 2002 • Many Issues Incorporated into Higher Education Reconciliation Act (HERA) – Loan program extended – Loan limits increased – Origination fees reduced – Graduate students may borrow under the PLUS program • Other Issues Still Unresolved 12

Hand-off to the Executive Branch • Presidential Signature Required on All Changes to Statute – Date of enactment is date President signs a bill into law – President becomes an active player in shaping final bill 13

Hand-off to the Executive Branch • Executive Branch Must Execute and Enforce Laws – Statutory language may be vague – Congress may direct that regulations be written or may prohibit regulation Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings – Regulations are the primary vehicles that executive branch agencies use to interpret and enforce statutes – Sub-Regulatory guidance includes Dear Partner Letters, forms, Audit Guides 14

Legislation VS. Regulation • Regulations – Promulgated by appropriate Federal agency • U. S. Department of Education for Higher Education Programs • Reviewed by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – Interprets and adds detail to statute – Amends Code of Federal Regulations (C. F. R. ) 15

Regulatory Process • Negotiated Rulemaking (Neg-Reg) – Mandated by the Higher Education Act (HEA) – All rules implementing changes to the Higher Education Act, and revisions to regulations, are subject to this process – Secretary consults with the “community” 16

Regulatory Process • New/amended regulations initially published in the Federal Register – Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) • Comment periods 30, 45, 60, or 120 days – Final Rules • Effective date 45 -days following publication or • Later date published in Federal Register – Notices • Regulations compiled once a year 17

Regulatory Process: Master Calendar • Rules must be published by the preceding November 1 to be effective for an academic year – Example: rules published by November 1, 2006 will be effective on July 1, 2007 for 2007 -2008 academic year – Secretary may permit, but not require, earlier implementation 18

Title IV Regulations: Federal Register • The official daily compilation of federal regulations and notices • prepared by the NARA; published by GPO • Available on online or in hardcopy 19

Title IV Regulations: Code of Federal Regulations • Codification of the regulations • Divided into 50 titles; Title 34 governs federal financial aid • Updated once each calendar year • Available online or in hardcopy 20

How Regulations Are Numbered • Title - 34 • Part –numbers 600 thru 694 • Subpart – numbers following the decimal point • Section – small letter, e. g. (a) • Explanatory Subsections – (1)(i)(A) • Example: the Standards of Administrative Capability Regulatory Cite is 34 CFR 668. 16 21

Guidance vs. Laws and/or Regulations • Guidance is information that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action • Guidance, as related to the Title IV programs, is – Issued by ED – Helps financial aid administrators interpret laws/regs – Administered in several different forms 22

Title IV Guidance: Federal Student Aid Handbook • Primary resource financial aid administrators • Provides “plain language” guidance of laws and regulations • Published annually • Available online or in hardcopy 23

Title IV Guidance: The Blue Book • Provides guidance to those responsible for managing Title IV FSA program funds (e. g. Business Office, Comptroller’s Office, Treasurer, etc. ) • Available online or in hardcopy 24

Title IV Guidance: Dear Colleague/Partner Letters • Issued by ED to provide additional policy/guidance – Q&A’s – Technical information – Introduce new rules – Explain rules in existence – Explain policies 25

Title IV Guidance: Dear Colleague/Partner Letters, con’t. • ANN: Training Announcements • CB: Campus-based Programs Letters • GEN: General Distribution Letters • P: Pell Grant Program • DLB: Direct Loan Bulletins 26

Title IV Guidance: Dear Colleague/Partner Letters, con’t. • How DCLs/DPLs are numbered example: – CB-06 -11: Eleventh Campus-Based DCL issued in 2006 • Recent DCLs/DPLs – CB-06 -13: 06/07 Supplemental Campus-Based Awards – ANN-06 -10: HERA Workshops – GEN-06 -15: National SMART Grant - Revised List of Eligible Majors 27

Title IV Guidance: Electronic Announcements • Less formal bulletins, memos and letters from Senior FSA staff to assist schools • Provide updates, guidance, reminders, notices • Delivered electronically – Sent to SAIG mailbox – Listed on IFAP by date 28

Where can I find this information? • IFAP – ifap. ed. gov • • FAP Portal – fsa 4 schools. ed. gov 29

Federal Student Aid (FSA) Handbook 30

Order hardcopies of Handbooks, Blue Books, CFRs and other items 31

What’s Involved? - Review • The Law – Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended – Created by Congress • Regulations – implement the Law – Created by Department of Education (ED) and others • Dear Partner/Colleague Letters – Issued by ED to provide additional policy/guidance • Electronic Announcements – Less formal information from ED to assist schools 32

Legislation and Regulation Now You’re An Expert!!! 33

We appreciate your feedback and comments. We can be reached at: • Name: Kevin Campbell • Name: Angela Smith • Phone: 214 -661 -9488 • Phone: 312 -886 -8341 • Fax: 214 -661 -9662 • Fax: 312 -886 -6737 • Email: kevin. campbell@ed. gov • Email: angela. smith@ed. gov 34