[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 222 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59969-59970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27841]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; Computer Matching Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice--New computer matching agreement between the Department 
of Education and the Department of Defense.

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SUMMARY: Section 473(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended 
(HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1087mm(b)) requires the Secretary of Defense to 
provide the Secretary of Education with information to identify 
children whose parent or guardian was a member of the Armed Forces of 
the United States and died as a result of performing military service 
in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. Beginning with the 
2009-2010 Award Year, a qualifying student may be eligible for a higher 
amount of Title IV, HEA program assistance. The qualifying student must 
have been age 24 or less at the time of the parent or guardian's death 
or, if older than 24, enrolled in an institution of higher education on 
a part-time or full-time basis at the time of the parent or guardian's 
death. Beginning July 1, 2010, students who are otherwise qualified 
children of deceased U.S. military who meet the requirements of section 
420R of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1070h) (effective July 1, 2010) may also be 
eligible for higher amounts of Title IV, HEA program assistance.
    In order to ensure that students whose parent or guardian died as a 
result of performing United States military service in Iraq or 
Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 receive the maximum allowable 
amount of Title IV, HEA program assistance, the Department of Defense 
and the Department of Education are implementing a new computer 
matching program to commence in the fall of 2009.
    The purpose of this notice is to announce the new computer matching 
program and to provide certain required information concerning the 
computer matching program.
    In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as 
amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 
(Pub. L. 100-503) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs (54 FR 25818, June 19, 
1989), and OMB Circular A-130, the following information is provided:
    1. Names of Participating Agencies.
    The Department of Education (ED) (recipient agency) and the 
Department of Defense (DoD)(source agency).
    2. Purpose of the Match.
    The purpose of this matching program is to ensure that the 
requirements of sections 420R and 473(b) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1070h and 20 U.S.C. 1087mm(b)) are 
fulfilled.
    DoD is the lead contact agency for information related to benefits 
for military service dependents and, as such, provides these data to 
ED. ED (recipient agency) seeks access to the information contained in 
the DoD (source agency) Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) system and 
the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) that 
contains information ED requires.
    3. Authority for Conducting the Matching Program.
    Under sections 420R and 473(b) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1070h and 20 
U.S.C. 1087mm(b)) ED must identify the children of military personnel 
who have died as a result of their military service in Iraq or 
Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 to determine if the child is 
eligible for increased amounts of Title IV, HEA program assistance.
    DoD and ED have determined that using DoD data provided to ED for 
matching against ED's Federal Student Aid Application File (18-11-01) 
is the only practical method that the agencies can use to meet the 
statutory requirements of the HEA.
    4. Categories of Records and Individuals Covered by the Match.
    DoD will submit, for verification, records from its DMDC and DEERS 
data bases to ED's Central Processing System files (Federal Student Aid 
Application File (18-11-01)), the Social Security number (SSN) and 
other identifying information for each DoD selected qualifying 
dependent record. ED will use the SSN, date of birth, and the first two 
letters of an applicant's last name to match with the Federal Student 
Aid Application File.
    The DoD DMDC and DEERS systems contains the names, SSNs, dates of 
birth, and other identifying information regarding dependents of 
service personnel who died as a result of performing their military 
service in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. This system of 
records also contains the date the servicemember died.
    5. Effective Dates of the Matching Program.
    The matching program will be effective on the last of the following 
dates: (1) Thirty (30) days after notice of the matching program has 
been published in the Federal Register; or (2) forty (40) days after a 
report concerning the matching program has been transmitted to OMB and 
transmitted to the Congress along with a copy of this agreement, unless 
OMB waives 10 days of this 40-day period for compelling reasons, in 
which case, 30 days after transmission of the report to OMB and 
Congress.

[[Page 59970]]

    The matching program will continue for 18 months after the 
effective date of the computer matching agreement and may be extended 
for an additional 12 months thereafter, if the conditions specified in 
5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.
    6. Address for Receipt of Public Comments or Inquiries.
    Marya Dennis, Management and Program Analyst, U.S. Department of 
Education, Federal Student Aid, Union Center Plaza, 830 First Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20202-5454. Telephone: (202) 377-3385. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal 
Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
accessible 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 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 PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat 
Reader, which is available free at this site.

    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.


    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a; 21 U.S.C. 862(a)(1).

    Dated: November 13, 2009.
William J. Taggart,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. E9-27841 Filed 11-18-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P