[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 96 (Wednesday, May 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27243-27244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12604]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.033]


Office of Postsecondary Education; Federal Work-Study Programs

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of the closing date for institutions to submit a request 
for a waiver of the requirement that an institution must use at least 
five percent of the total amount of its Federal Work-Study (FWS) 
Federal funds granted for the 1999-2000 award year to compensate 
students employed in community service jobs.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary gives notice to institutions of higher education 
of the deadline for an institution to submit a written request for a 
waiver of the statutory requirement that an institution must use at 
least five percent of its total FWS Federal funds granted for the 1999-
2000 award year (July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000) to compensate 
students employed in community service jobs.

DATES: Closing Date for submitting a Waiver Request and any Supporting 
Information or Documents. To request a waiver, you must mail or hand-
deliver your waiver request and any supporting information or documents 
to the Department on or before June 18, 1999. The Department will also 
accept a waiver request submitted by facsimile transmission to Ms. 
Sandra Donelson at (202) 401-0387 or (202) 260-0522 by 4:30 p.m. 
(Eastern time) on June 18, 1999. If you mail or hand-deliver your 
waiver request, you must submit the waiver request to the Institutional 
Financial Management Division at one of the addresses indicated below.

ADDRESSES: Waiver Request and any Supporting Information or Documents 
Delivered by Mail. You must address the waiver request and any 
supporting information or documents that you send by mail to Ms. Sandra 
Donelson, Institutional Financial Management Division, U.S. Department 
of Education, P.O. Box 23781, Washington, DC 20026-0781.

    You must show proof of mailing your waiver request. Proof of 
mailing consists of one of the following: (1) A legible mail receipt 
with the date of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal Service, (2) a 
legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark, (3) a dated shipping label, 
invoice, or receipt from a commercial carrier, or (4) any other proof 
of mailing acceptable to the U.S. Secretary of Education.

    If you send a waiver request through the U.S. Postal Service, the 
Secretary

[[Page 27244]]

does not accept either of the following as proof of mailing: (1) A 
private metered postmark, or (2) a mail receipt that is not dated by 
the U.S. Postal Service. Please note that the U.S. Postal Service does 
not uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before relying on this method, 
you should check with your local post office. We encourage you to use 
certified or at least first-class mail. If you submit a waiver request 
after the closing date you will not receive a waiver.

    Waiver Requests and any Supporting Information or Documents 
Delivered by Hand. You must take a waiver request and any supporting 
information or documents that you deliver by hand to Ms. Sandra 
Donelson, Campus-Based Financial Operations Branch, Institutional 
Financial Management Division, Accounting and Financial Management 
Service, Student Financial Assistance Programs, U.S. Department of 
Education, Room 4714, Regional Office Building 3, 7th and D Streets, 
SW, Washington, DC.

    We will accept hand-delivered waiver requests between 8:00 a.m. and 
4:30 p.m. daily (Eastern time), except Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal 
holidays. If you hand-deliver a waiver request for the 1999-2000 award 
year, you must submit your request by 4:30 p.m. on June 18, 1999.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Under section 443(b)(2)(A) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), an institution must use at 
least five percent of the total amount of its FWS Federal funds granted 
for an award year to compensate students employed in community service. 
However, the Secretary may waive this requirement if the Secretary 
determines that enforcing it would cause hardship for students at the 
institution.

    An appropriate institutional official must sign the waiver request 
and include, above the signature, the following statement: ``I certify 
that the information the institution provided in this waiver request is 
true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I understand that the 
information is subject to audit and program review by representatives 
of the Secretary of Education.''

    To receive a waiver, you must demonstrate that complying with the 
five percent requirement would cause hardship for students at your 
institution. To allow flexibility to consider factors that may be valid 
reasons for a waiver, the Secretary is not specifying the particular 
circumstances that would support granting a waiver. However, the 
Secretary does not foresee many instances in which a waiver will be 
granted. The fact that it may be difficult for an institution to comply 
with this provision of the HEA is not a basis for granting a waiver.

Applicable Regulations

    The following regulations apply to the Federal Work-Study program:

    (1) Student Assistance General Provisions, 34 CFR part 668.

    (2) General Provisions for the Federal Perkins Loan Program, 
Federal Work-Study Program, and Federal Supplemental Educational 
Opportunity Grant Program, 34 CFR part 673.

    (3) Federal Work-Study Programs, 34 CFR part 675.

    (4) Institutional Eligibility Under the Higher Education Act of 
1965, as amended, 34 CFR part 600.

    (5) New Restrictions on Lobbying, 34 CFR part 82.

    (6) Government Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) and 
Government Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants), 34 CFR part 
85.

    (7) Drug-Free Schools and Campuses, 34 CFR part 86.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To receive information, contact Ms. 
Sandra Donelson, Institutional Financial Management Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, P.O. Box 23781, Washington, DC 20026-0781. 
Telephone (202) 708-9751. Individuals who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in the text or 
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you 
have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing 
Office (GPO) at (202) 521-1530 or, toll free at 1-888-293-6498.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

    Program Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2753.

    Dated: May 14, 1999.
Greg Woods,
Chief Operating Officer, Office of Student Financial Assistance.
[FR Doc. 99-12604 Filed 5-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P