[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 142 (Monday, July 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44521-44524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16963]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 
(Privacy Act), the Department of Education (Department) publishes this 
notice of a new system of records for the Return of Title IV Funds on 
the Web (R2T4OTW). R2T4OTW is a web-based product the Department 
provides for institutions to calculate the earned and unearned portions 
of student aid distributed under Title IV of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965, as amended (HEA), when a student withdraws from a 
postsecondary institution without completing the period for which funds 
were awarded.

DATES: The Department seeks comments on the new system of records 
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the 
Privacy Act. We must receive your comments on or before August 25, 
2004.
    The Department filed a report describing the new system of records 
covered by this notice with the Chair of the Senate Committee on 
Governmental Affairs, the Chair of the House Committee on Government 
Reform, and the Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on July 21, 
2004. This new system of records will become effective on the later of 
the two following dates--(1) The expiration of the 40-day period for 
OMB review on August 30, 2004, or the expiration of a 30-day OMB review 
period on August 23, 2004 if OMB grants the Department's request for a 
10-day waiver of the review period; or (2) August 25, 2004, unless the 
system of records requires changes as a result of public comment or OMB 
review. The Department will publish any changes resulting from public 
comment or OMB review.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this new system of records to 
Marya Dennis, Management and Program Analyst, Application Processing 
Division, Students Channel, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of 
Education, 830 First Street, NE., UCP room 31I1, Washington, DC 20202-
5454. If you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the 
following address: [email protected].
    You must include the term ``Return of Title IV Funds on the Web'' 
in the subject line of your electronic message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this notice in room 31F2, Union Center Plaza, 830 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC, 20202-5454 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 
4:30 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday of each week except 
Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marya Dennis. Telephone: (202) 377-
3385. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) 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 the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires the Department to publish 
in the Federal Register this notice of a new system of records. The 
Department's regulations implementing the Privacy Act are contained in 
part 5b of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
    The Privacy Act applies to information about an individual that is 
maintained in a system of records from which information is retrieved 
by a unique identifier associated with the individual, such as a name 
or social security number (SSN). The information about the individual 
is called a ``record'' and the system, whether manual or computer-
based, is called a ``system of records.'' The Privacy Act requires 
agencies to publish a notice of a new system of records in the Federal 
Register and to prepare a report to OMB whenever the agency publishes a 
new system of records or makes a significant change to an established 
system of records. Each agency is also required to send copies to the 
Chair of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Chair of 
the House Committee on Government Reform. These reports are intended to 
permit an evaluation of the probable or potential effect of the 
proposal on the privacy rights of individuals.
    The records for the system described in this notice are created by 
a web-based product the Department provides for institutions to 
calculate the earned and unearned portions of student aid distributed 
under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), 
when a student withdraws from a postsecondary institution before 
completing the period for which the funds were awarded. The institution 
collects and enters the required data into the web-based product, and 
the product calculates the earned and unearned amounts of Title IV aid, 
and the amounts that must be returned to the Title IV programs by the 
student and the school. When applicable, the product also determines 
the amount of additional funds the student must be offered as a post-
withdrawal disbursement. The institution may also use this information 
to provide required notifications to the Title IV recipient and to 
track the recipient's responses as provided under section 484B of the 
HEA (20 U.S.C. 1091b) and the implementing regulations in 34 CFR 
668.22. In addition to the calculation, the institution may choose to 
generate a variety of useful reports. These reports include a listing 
of all students who have withdrawn from the institution; a report of 
students to be notified by the institution on the results of the Return 
of Title IV Funds (R2T4) calculation; a report of the students who owe 
a Title IV grant overpayment and whether the student has taken positive 
action to establish repayment; a report of the students for which the 
institution has responsibility to repay Title IV funds to the programs; 
a report on post-withdrawal disbursements that the institution must 
offer to the Title IV recipient; and a report on students who owe a 
Title IV grant overpayment that the institution must refer to the 
Department. These reports are only available to the institutional users 
that input the data and that access the reports using their unique log-
in codes and passwords. The information described in this system of 
records is not linked to any other Department, Federal, State, lender 
or guarantee agency systems.
    This system includes records on students for whom Title IV funds 
were

[[Page 44522]]

disbursed or were eligible to be disbursed for the period of time the 
student was in attendance during a payment period or period of 
enrollment. The records contain personally identifiable information 
about each withdrawn student. These records may include, but are not 
limited to, student name, permanent and local addresses, social 
security number, and date of birth. This system may also contain 
information about the institution, and the educational program in which 
the student had been enrolled before withdrawing, including but not 
limited to: The school's Federal school code, the award year, the total 
institutional charges, the program calendar type (credit hour or clock 
hour), the starting and ending dates of the payment period or period of 
enrollment, the withdrawal date, the withdrawal reason, the date the 
institution provided notice to the student of the overpayment, the date 
on which the recipient responded to the required notification, and the 
types and amounts of Title IV funds that must be returned by the 
student or institution, or a post-withdrawal disbursement (a 
disbursement for which the student is eligible after his or her 
withdrawal), as applicable, as well as the recipient's response, the 
amount that the recipient and the institution may retain, as well as 
any contemporaneous notes regarding the R2T4 process for each student's 
record.
    This new system of records, R2T4OTW, can maintain information 
provided by the institution to track required institutional 
notifications to Title IV recipients and their responses to those 
notifications, as well as to provide reports to the institution that 
indicate the number of days remaining to take statutorily required 
actions.

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 the following site: 
http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. 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.

    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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html/.


    Dated: July 21, 2004.
Theresa S. Shaw,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Chief Operating 
Officer of Federal Student Aid of the U.S. Department of Education 
publishes a notice of a new system of records to read as follows:
18-11-15

SYSTEM NAME:
    Return of Title IV Funds on the Web.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    None.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Application Processing Division, Students Channel, Federal Student 
Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830 First St. NE., Washington, DC 
20202-5454.
    Virtual Data Center (VDC), Meriden Data Center, 71 Deerfield Lane, 
Meriden, Connecticut 06450.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The system includes records on individuals who were enrolled at a 
postsecondary institution, have received or are eligible to receive 
assistance under a Title IV, HEA program for a payment period or period 
of enrollment, and have withdrawn prior to the planned completion date 
of school during that period.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    This system of records contains personally identifiable information 
provided by the school from which a student has withdrawn that may 
include, but is not limited to, a student's name, permanent and local 
addresses, social security number, date of birth, driver's license 
number and state, permanent and local phone numbers, and student 
identification (ID). This system also contains information provided by 
the institution from which the student has withdrawn that is necessary 
to compute the earned and unearned amounts of Title IV funds. This 
information may include, but is not limited to, the student's: Federal 
school code, award year, grade level, program type (i.e. credit hour or 
clock hour), school calendar (that maintains the term start and end 
dates and institutionally scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive 
days), a description and amount of each institutional charge (a charge 
for tuition and fees, a charge for room, a charge for board, and 
charges for other educationally-related costs), and the total 
institutional charges for a program, program title, or program type, 
whether the R2T4 calculation is based upon a payment period or period 
of enrollment, the total clock hours or number of days in the payment 
period or period of enrollment, the withdrawal date, the net number of 
days in the payment period or period of enrollment, the date the 
institution determined the student withdrew (as reported by the 
institution), a description of the type of withdrawal, the number of 
days of an approved leave of absence, whether an outside entity 
requires the school to take attendance, the clock hours scheduled, the 
clock hours completed, the date the student provided the institution 
with written authorization to credit Title IV aid to the student's 
account, the date the institution notified the student of the amounts 
and types of Title IV funds that must be returned, the date and 
response of the student, the types and amounts of Title IV aid 
disbursed and that could have been disbursed, the types and amounts of 
Title IV aid that must be returned to each program by the student and 
the institution, the types and amounts of aid that the student and the 
institution may retain, post-withdrawal disbursement information (i.e., 
the amount of outstanding charges, the dates notices were sent 
informing the student that a credit was applied and/or that a 
disbursement was available and the dates and responses of the student, 
the amount and the date the student accepted a post-withdrawal 
disbursement, and the date the post-withdrawal disbursement was 
completed), the date the R2T4 procedure was completed, the user defined 
field data provided by the institution such as grade point average, 
major in college, overpayment status, withdrawal reason, leave of 
absence reason, and contemporaneous notes regarding the student's 
return process.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    The information maintained in the R2T4OTW system is authorized 
under section 484B of the HEA. Under section 484B of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 
1091b), if a recipient of Title IV grant or loan assistance withdraws 
from an institution during a payment period or period of enrollment in 
which the student began attendance, a participating institution must 
determine the amount of grant and loan assistance to be returned to the 
Title IV programs.

PURPOSE(S):
    Information contained in this system is maintained for the purposes 
of: (1) Allowing postsecondary institutions to calculate the treatment 
of Title IV funds when a student withdraws from a postsecondary 
institution, (2) allowing institutions to track students' statuses

[[Page 44523]]

and responses to institutional notifications, and (3) generating 
listings and reports, allowing institutions to establish compliance 
with the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements in the HEA 
for the treatment of Title IV funds when a student ceases his or her 
enrollment before the planned end date. (Note: The use of this software 
is not required.)

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and Purposes of Such Users:
    The Department may disclose information contained in a record in 
this system of records under the routine uses listed in this system of 
records without the consent of the individual if the disclosure is 
compatible with the purposes for which the record was collected. These 
disclosures may be made on a case-by-case basis or, if the Department 
has complied with the computer matching requirements of the Act, under 
a computer matching agreement.
    (1) Program Disclosures. The Department may disclose records to the 
postsecondary institution that input the information into the R2T4OTW 
system, in order to simplify the current process, provide institutions 
and their agents with consolidated information about the Federal loans 
and grants they administer for students, and enable them to provide 
students with accurate required information when a student withdraws.
    (2) Disclosure for Use by Other Law Enforcement Agencies. The 
Department may disclose information to any Federal, State, or local 
agency responsible for enforcing, investigating, or prosecuting 
violations of administrative, civil, or criminal law if that 
information is relevant to any authorized enforcement, investigative, 
or prosecutorial effort.
    (3) Enforcement Disclosure. If information in the system of records 
either alone or in connection with other information indicates a 
violation or potential violation of any applicable statutory, 
regulatory, or legally binding requirement, the Department may disclose 
records to an entity charged with investigating or prosecuting those 
violations or potential violations.
    (4) Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 
Disclosures.
    (a) Introduction. In the event that one of the following parties is 
involved in litigation or ADR, or has an interest in litigation or ADR, 
the Department may disclose certain records to the parties described in 
paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this routine use under the conditions 
specified in those paragraphs:
    (i) The Department, or any of its components; or
    (ii) Any Department employee in his or her official capacity; or
    (iii) Any Department employee in his or her individual capacity 
where the Department of Justice (DOJ) agrees to or has been requested 
to provide or arrange for representation of the employee; or
    (iv) Any Department employee in his or her individual capacity 
where the Department has agreed to represent the employee; or
    (v) The United States where the Department determines that the 
litigation is likely to affect the Department or any of its components.
    (b) Disclosure to DOJ. If the Department determines that disclosure 
of certain records to the DOJ is relevant and necessary to litigation 
or ADR, and is compatible with the purpose for which the records were 
collected, the Department may disclose those records as a routine use 
to the DOJ.
    (b) Adjudicative disclosures. If the Department determines that 
disclosure of certain records to an adjudicative body before which the 
Department is authorized to appear or to an individual or entity 
designated by the Department or otherwise empowered to resolve or 
mediate disputes, is relevant and necessary to the litigation or ADR, 
the Department may disclose those records as a routine use to the 
adjudicative body, individual, or entity.
    (c) Parties, counsel, representatives and witnesses. If the 
Department determines that disclosure of certain records to a party, 
counsel, representative or witness is relevant and necessary to the 
litigation or ADR, the Department may disclose those records as a 
routine use to the party, counsel, representative or witness.
    (5) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advice Disclosure. The 
Department may disclose records to the DOJ or the OMB if the Department 
determines that disclosure would help in determining whether records 
are required to be disclosed under the FOIA or the Act.
    (6) Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity 
to perform any function that requires disclosing records to the 
contractor's employees, the Department may disclose the records to 
those employees. Before entering into such a contract, the Department 
shall require the contractor to establish and maintain the safeguards 
required under the Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(m)) with respect to the records.
    (7) Congressional Member Disclosure. The Department may disclose 
records to a Member of Congress in response to an inquiry from the 
Member made at the written request of the individual whose records are 
being disclosed. The Member's right to the information is no greater 
than the right of the individual who requested it.
    (8) Employment, Benefit, and Contracting Disclosure.
    (a) For Decisions by the Department. The Department may disclose a 
record to a Federal, State, or local agency maintaining civil, 
criminal, or other relevant enforcement or other pertinent records, or 
to another public authority or professional organization, if necessary 
to obtain information relevant to a Department decision concerning the 
hiring or retention of an employee or other personnel action, the 
issuance of a security clearance, the letting of a contract, or the 
issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit.
    (b) For Decisions by Other Public Agencies and Professional 
Organizations. The Department may disclose a record to a Federal, 
State, local, or other public authority or professional organization, 
in connection with the hiring or retention of an employee or other 
personnel action, the issuance of a security clearance, the reporting 
of an investigation of an employee, the letting of a contract, or the 
issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit, to the extent that the 
record is relevant and necessary to the receiving entity's decision on 
the matter.
    (9) Employee Grievance, Complaint or Conduct Disclosure. The 
Department may disclose a record in this system of records to another 
agency of the Federal government if the record is relevant to one of 
the following proceedings regarding a present or former employee of the 
Department: a complaint, grievance, discipline or competence 
determination proceeding. The disclosure may only be made during the 
course of the proceeding.
    (10) Labor Organization Disclosure. The Department may disclose 
records from this system of records to an arbitrator to resolve 
disputes under a negotiated grievance procedure or to officials of 
labor organizations recognized under 5 U.S.C. chapter 71 when relevant 
and necessary to their duties of exclusive representation.
    (11) Disclosure to DOJ. The Department may disclose records to the 
DOJ to the extent necessary for obtaining DOJ advice on any matter 
relevant to an audit, inspection, or other inquiry related to any 
program covered by this system.
    (12) Research Disclosure. The Department may disclose records to a 
researcher if the Department determines that the individual or 
organization to which the disclosure would be made is

[[Page 44524]]

qualified to carry out specific research related to functions or 
purposes of this system of records. Further, the Department may 
disclose records from this system of records to that researcher solely 
for the purpose of carrying out that research related to the functions 
or purposes of this system of records. The researcher shall be required 
to maintain safeguards with respect to the disclosed records as 
required by the Act.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    Disclosures pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12): The Department may 
disclose the following information to a consumer reporting agency 
regarding a valid overdue claim of the Department: (1) The name, 
address, taxpayer identification number and other information necessary 
to establish the identity of the individual responsible for the claim; 
(2) the amount, status, and history of the claim; and (3) the program 
under which the claim arose. The Department may disclose the 
information specified in this paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(12) and 
the procedures contained in 31 U.S.C. 3711(e). A consumer reporting 
agency to which these disclosures may be made is defined in 31 U.S.C. 
3701(a)(3).

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: STORAGE:
    R2T4OTW records are backed up and maintained on magnetic tape at 
the Department's Virtual Data Center (VDC), located at 71 Deerfield 
Lane, Meriden, CT 06450, and locked storage rooms within the VDC.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records for R2T4OTW are indexed and can be retrieved by only the 
institution that created the record at the VDC and the Department. The 
institution accesses its own student R2T4OTW records through a secure 
log-in process and subsequently entering the institution's unique 
Federal school code and the student's Social Security Number.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Physical access to the data systems housed within the VDC facility 
is controlled by a computerized badge reading system, and the entire 
complex is patrolled by security personnel during non-business hours. 
This computer system offers a high degree of resistance to tampering 
and circumvention. Multiple levels of security are maintained within 
the computer system control program. This security system limits data 
access to Department staff, participating institutions, and contract 
staff on a ``need-to-know'' basis, and controls individual users' 
ability to access and alter records within the system. All users of 
this system of records are given a unique user ID with personal 
identifiers. Users are only able to access and alter records created 
with their unique identifiers. All interactions by individual users 
with the system are recorded. The systems manager annually updates and 
sends the Department the Central Processing System Security Plan, 
documenting the VDC's detailed security systems, including the physical 
location of the data stored at the VDC. This system does not use 
persistent cookies (data that a web server causes to be placed on a 
user's hard drive) to implement personalization. It is the policy of 
the Department to prohibit the use of persistent cookies on U.S. 
Department of Education web sites except where: there is a compelling 
need; there are appropriate safeguards in place; the use is personally 
approved by the Secretary of Education; and there is clear and 
conspicuous notice to the public.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    The Department will retain all identifiable records received from 
schools with identifying information for a period not to exceed three 
years after the repayment or cancellation of the loan in accordance 
with the Education Comprehensive Schedule, ED-RDS--Part 10, Item 16(d) 
for applicants with federally insured loans. For applicants without 
federal insured loans, the Department will retain all identifiable 
records received with identifying information for a period not to 
exceed fifteen years after the final Pell Grant payment or audit, 
whichever is first in accordance with the Education Comprehensive 
Schedule, ED-RDS--Part 10, Item 17(a) and (b). At the conclusion of the 
mandatory retention period, these records will be destroyed. This 
procedure is consistent with legal retention requirements established 
by the Department in conjunction with the National Archives and Records 
Administration.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    Deputy Director, Application Processing Division, Students Channel, 
Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830 First St., NE., 
UCP room 32E2, Washington, DC 20202-5454.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in 
this system of records, contact the system manager and provide the name 
of the system (R2T4OTW), your name, date of birth, and Social Security 
Number or call 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) and provide the 
identifiers indicated above when requesting information contained in 
this system of records. Requests for notification about whether this 
system of records contains information about an individual must meet 
the requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of 
identity.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to gain access to a record in this system, contact the 
system manager and provide the information described in the 
Notification Procedure. Requests by an individual for access to a 
record must meet the requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, 
including proof of identity.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to change the content of a record in the system of 
records for the current processing year R2T4OTW, contact the system 
manager with the information described in the Notification Procedure, 
identify the specific items to be changed, the institution and period 
of time the student was enrolled, and provide a justification for the 
change. The Department will contact the institution, which will make 
the change to the student's record, as applicable. Requests to amend a 
record must meet the requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.7.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The institution from which a student receiving Title IV aid for the 
payment period or period of enrollment has withdrawn provides the 
information used in this system by manually entering it in the web 
product on the Department's web site. For institutions that have access 
to the Internet, R2T4OTW is available on the Department of Education 
web site located at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/faa/faa.jsp.

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:
    None.

[FR Doc. 04-16963 Filed 7-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P