[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 155 (Monday, August 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45237-45238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15806]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Federal Family Education Loan Program--Cohort Default Rates

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of implementation of electronic delivery of institution 
cohort default rate data for institutions located outside of the United 
States.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary gives notice of the implementation of electronic 
cohort default rate (eCDR) delivery notification packages to 
institutions located outside of the United States (foreign 
institutions) that participate in the Federal Family Education Loan 
(FFEL) Program, authorized under Part B of Title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, as amended. This notice is effective for each 
foreign institution as of the date the U.S. Department of Education 
(the Department) advises the institution that the Department has 
completed the process of enabling the institution to enroll in the 
Department's Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frances Robinson, Default Prevention 
and Management, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 
Union Center Plaza, Room 084C2, 830 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 
20002. Telephone: (202) 377-3192, FAX (202) 275-4537. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you can call the Federal 
Relay Service (FRS), toll free, 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 program contact person listed in this section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Traditionally the Department has transmitted 
draft and official cohort default rate packages to foreign institutions 
participating in the FFEL Program by delivery of hardcopy documents or 
an encrypted password protected CD-ROM. The Department is replacing 
those processes with electronic transmission of draft and official 
cohort default rate notification

[[Page 45238]]

packages via SAIG, as described below. Foreign institutions for which 
the Department has not yet established SAIG access will continue to 
receive their cohort default rate notification documents in hardcopy 
and will also receive an encrypted password protected CD-ROM. In these 
cases, the regulatory time periods for the institution to submit 
challenges, adjustments, and appeals will begin on the date of receipt 
by the institution of the encrypted password protected CD-ROM and the 
letter with the password for decrypting the CD-ROM.
    The eCDR delivery process that the Department already uses for 
domestic institutions and that will be used for foreign institutions is 
as follows: For each electronic distribution of default rate 
notifications (draft and official) to institutions, the Department will 
announce on its Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web 
site (http://www.ifap.ed.gov) the date of the electronic transmission 
of cohort default rate information to the Destination Point 
Administrator (DPA) designated by each institution. Except as described 
in the following paragraph, the time periods for submitting challenges, 
adjustments, and appeals under 34 CFR part 668, subpart M, begins with 
the sixth business day after the date the default rate notification 
packages were transmitted to the SAIG destination points, as noted in 
the IFAP announcement.
    If an institution believes that a technical problem caused by the 
Department resulted in the institution not being able to access its 
eCDR information, it must notify the Department no later than five 
business days after the transmission date announced on IFAP. By doing 
so, and if we agree that the Department caused the problem, we will 
extend the challenge, adjustment, and appeal timeframes to allow for a 
re-transmission of the information after the technical problem is 
resolved. Reports of technical problems must be made via e-mail and 
addressed to our Default Prevention and Management share post at: 
[email protected]. Each institution is responsible 
for updating its SAIG enrollment whenever a change is needed to its 
DPA. Failure of an institution to enroll in or update SAIG for the eCDR 
process is not a valid, timely technical problem.
    To implement the eCDR process, every foreign institution must, upon 
the Department's notification that its access to SAIG has been 
established, complete the enrollment package provided by the Department 
and return the package within the timeframe specified by the 
Department. Once the SAIG enrollment process is completed, the 
institution's DPA will receive the institution's next notification 
package under the eCDR process.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You can view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department 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 the PDF you must have the 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.
    You may also view this document in PDF at the following site: 
http://www.ifap.ed.gov.

    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 through GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1082, 1085, 1094, and 1099c.

    Dated: August 8, 2007.
Lawrence A. Warder,
Acting Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. E7-15806 Filed 8-10-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P