[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 247 (Friday, December 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80841-80844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-32705]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan, 
Federal Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, 
Federal Family Education Loan, William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan, 
Federal Pell Grant, and Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership 
Programs

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of deadline date.

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SUMMARY: We give notice that institutions participating in the student 
financial assistance programs authorized by title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, as amended (Title IV, HEA programs), must meet 
the updated minimum technical hardware and software specifications 
described in this notice in order to participate in the designated 
electronic processes that the Department uses in the administration of 
those programs.

DATES: The provisions in this notice are effective January 1, 2002.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Student Assistance General Provisions 
regulations in 34 CFR 668.16(o) provide that the Secretary considers an 
institution to have administrative capability if it participates in 
electronic processes that the Secretary identifies in a notice 
published in the Federal Register and provides at no substantial charge 
to the institution. On September 19, 1997 (62 FR 49414), we published a 
notice in the Federal Register that provided the minimum hardware and 
software technical specifications that an institution had to have in 
order to participate in those electronic processes. Because of advances 
in technology it is necessary to update those minimum technical 
specifications. Beginning January 1, 2002, for the 2002-2003 processing 
year, institutions must meet the updated minimum hardware and software 
requirements that appear in the technical specifications table provided 
under the next heading in order to continue to participate in those 
electronic processes. Most institutions already have hardware and 
software that satisfy the updated specifications. We believe that those 
institutions that have to upgrade hardware or software to meet these 
standards will be making an investment that will improve their 
institutional processes at minimal cost.

Technical Specifications

    The technical specifications table that follows provides the 
current and future minimum hardware and software requirements. The 
table includes two

[[Page 80842]]

columns of specifications; the left column provides the current 
specifications, the right column provides the specifications that must 
be satisfied beginning January 1, 2002. We recommend that participating 
institutions prepare now to upgrade their equipment and software in 
time to meet the January 1, 2002, requirements. When reviewing these 
specifications, institutions should be aware that capacity requirements 
(processor speed, available memory, hard drive storage, etc.) are 
greatly affected by specific factors at each institution, including 
which EDExpress and other Departmental functions the institution uses, 
the number of records processed, and institutional database interfaces.
    We plan to continue to upgrade and enhance our Title IV, HEA 
program delivery system. Therefore, we recommend that institutions 
include in their automated data processing budgets, on a regular basis, 
plans for appropriate hardware and software upgrades and enhancements.

[[Page 80843]]

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Applicable Regulations

    The regulations applicable to this notice are the Student 
Assistance General Provisions, 34 CFR part 668.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions relating to these 
requirements, contact the Customer Service Call Center at 1-800-433-
7327. For questions relating to EDExpress software, contact the Central 
Processing System (CPS) Customer Service at 1-800-330-5947.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to Katie Mincey, Director of Alternate Format 
Center, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
(Switzer Bldg., Room 1000), Washington, DC 20202-4560. Telephone: (202) 
260-9895.

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 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 PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at either of the previous sites. If you have questions about using 
PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-
888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-1530.
    You may also view this document in text or PDF at the following 
site: http://ifap.ed.gov/csb_html/fedlregnew.htm

    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: 20 U.S.C. 1070a, 1070b-1070b-4, 1070c-1070c-
4, 1071-1087-2, 1087a-1087j, 1087aa-1087ii, 1094, and 1099c; 42 
U.S.C. 2751-2756b.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers: 84.007 Federal 
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program; 84.032 
Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Programs; 84.033 Federal Work-
Study (FWS) Program; 84.038 Federal Perkins (Perkins) Loans; 84.063) 
Federal Pell Grant (Pell) Program; 84.069 Leveraging Educational 
Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Programs; and 84.268 William D. Ford 
Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Programs)

    Dated: December 19, 2000.
Greg Woods,
Chief Operating Officer, Student Financial Assistance.
[FR Doc. 00-32705 Filed 12-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P