8/26/2009

Veterans' Education Benefits

On August 13, 2009, the Department of Education (ED) posted an electronic announcement stating that on July 1, 2009, H.R. 1777 became law and made technical corrections to the Higher Education Act (HEA). H.R. 1777 updates the list of programs that meet the definition of “veterans’ education benefits” in HEA 480(c) by including new programs and revising statutory citations.

H.R. 1777 changes the effective date for the exclusion of federal veterans’ education benefits, as defined in HEA 480(c), as estimated financial assistance (EFA) to July 1, 2009 to coincide with the beginning of the 2009-2010 award year. Included in the electronic announcement is a Q&A section, which provides additional information about the treatment of federal veterans’ education benefits for purposes of the Title IV student assistance programs.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Higher Education Opportunity Act

The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for changes to general and non-programmatic loan issues enacted by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) was published in the August 21, 2009 Federal Register.  This NPRM provides for a 30-day comment period, which means the deadline for sending comments to the Department of Education (ED) is September 21, 2009.  Negotiators did not reach consensus on the proposed regulations package.  Accordingly, ED is not obligated to consider input received from the negotiators. The summary of proposed changes begins on page 42382 of the Federal Register.

OGSLP will continue to keep you informed about legislative activity. We encourage you to visit our Legislation Page often to view important updates and access more detailed information. If you have questions, please contact our Policy, Compliance and Training department at 405.234.4432 or pct@ogslp.org. We're here to help! 

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