1/8/2009
ED Releases HEOA DCL
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-08-12/FP-08-10, a 219-page summary of the substantive provisions of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), on December 31, 2008. Provisions of the HEOA, which was signed into law August 14, 2008, were effective upon enactment unless otherwise noted. ED has included a chart that groups HEOA provisions by effective date.
With the exception of provisions regarding foreign schools, HEOA provision summaries are grouped by the Higher Education Act (HEA) title amended. The foreign school provisions are listed under Title I, and summaries for two additional groups of provisions, "Amendments to Other Laws" and "Non-Institutional Studies, Reports, and Summits", are arranged by topic. The summary for each provision includes the HEOA statutory citation, the HEA citation that is amended, and the effective date.
The HEOA authorizes a number of new programs; however, only three are funded and therefore, can be implemented:
- Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans
- Master's Degree Program for Historically Black Colleges
- Master's Degree Programs at Predominantly Black Institutions
As required by the HEA, ED will issue regulations for some of the programs affected by the HEOA through the negotiated rulemaking process. Also, some of the necessary regulatory changes to expand on the changes made to the HEA will be made through notice and comment rulemaking, and some may be made without notice and opportunity to comment. ED may also issue additional DCLs.
Official Notice of Intent to Establish HEOA Negotiated Rulemaking Committees Posted
ED posted its intent to establish five negotiated rulemaking committees to consider proposed HEOA regulations in the Federal Register on December 31, 2008. The five committees are:
- Team I - Loans - Lender/General Loan Issues
- Team II - Loans - School-based Loan Issues
- Team III - Accreditation
- Team IV - Discretionary Grants
- Team V - General and Non-Loan Programmatic Issues
The negotiated rulemaking process brings together representatives from various interest groups and a federal agency to negotiate and reach consensus on the text of a proposed rule. The deadline to nominate individual negotiators for these committees is January 23, 2009. More information about ED's implementation of the HEOA can be found on their HEOA - 2008 Web site.
OGSLP will continue to keep you informed about the HEOA negotiated rulemaking process and provide more detailed information about the HEOA DCL when the analysis is complete. 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.