[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 81 (Thursday, April 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22640-22642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08991]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2021-FSA-0011]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: This matching program will assist the Department of Education 
(ED) in its obligation to ensure that borrowers of a loan made under 
title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) for the 
Federal Perkins Loan Program (20 U.S.C. 1087aa et seq.), the William D. 
Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.), the Federal 
Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.), or the 
Federal Insured Student Loan (FISL) Program (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.) 
(referred to collectively herein as ``title IV loans'') or with Teacher 
Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant 
service obligations more efficiently and effectively apply for Total 
and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharges of their title IV loans or 
TEACH Grant service obligations.

DATES: Submit your comments on the proposed re-establishment of the

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matching program on or before June 1, 2021.
    The matching program will go into effect 30 days after the 
publication of this notice, on April 29, 2021, unless comments have 
been received from interested members of the public requiring 
modification and republication of the notice. The matching program will 
continue for 18 months after the effective date and may be renewed for 
up to an additional 12 months if, within 3 months prior to the 
expiration of the 18 months, the respective Data Integrity Boards of ED 
and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) determine that the 
conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under the ``help'' tab.
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about the matching program, address them 
to Brenda Vigna, Division Chief, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department 
of Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320.

    Privacy Note:  The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to 
include in their comments only information that they wish to make 
publicly available.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron Bennett, Director, Program 
Technical & Business Support Group, Federal Student Aid, U.S. 
Department of Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-
5320.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll 
free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We provide this notice in accordance with 
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a); Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) Final Guidance Interpreting the 
Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the Computer Matching and Privacy 
Protection Act of 1988, 54 FR 25818 (June 19, 1989); and OMB Circular 
No. A-108.
    Participating Agencies: The U.S. Department of Education and the 
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
    Authority for Conducting the Matching Program: ED's legal authority 
to enter into the matching program and to disclose information 
thereunder is sections 420N(c), 437(a)(1), 455(a)(1), and 
464(c)(1)(F)(ii & iii) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2(c), 1087(a)(1), 
1087e(a)(1), and 1087dd(c)(1)(F)(ii & iii)); the regulations 
promulgated pursuant to those HEA sections (34 CFR 674.61(b), 
682.402(c), 685.213, and 686.42(b)); and subsections (a)(8) and (b)(1) 
of the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(8) and (b)(1)). VA's legal 
authority to enter into this matching program and to disclose 
information thereunder is subsections (a)(8) and (b)(3) of the Privacy 
Act (5 U.S.C 552a(a)(8) and (b)(3)).
    Purpose(s): This matching program will assist ED in its obligation 
to ensure that borrowers of title IV loans or TEACH Grant service 
obligations more efficiently and effectively apply for TPD discharge of 
their title IV loans or TEACH Grant service obligations. ED will 
proactively send notices to borrowers who VA has designated as (1) 
having a service-connected disability rating that is 100 percent 
disabling, or (2) being totally disabled based on an individual 
unemployability rating, informing them that ED will discharge the 
borrower's title IV loans or TEACH Grant service obligations no earlier 
than 61 days from the date that ED sends the notification to the 
borrower, unless the borrower chooses to have their title IV loans or 
TEACH Grant service obligations discharged earlier or chooses to opt 
out of the TPD discharge within 60 days from the date that ED sends the 
notification to the borrower. ED's notices also will inform these 
borrowers that ED has accepted information obtained from the VA in lieu 
of the borrower's submission of a VA Statement with the borrower's TPD 
loan discharge application, thereby simplifying the TPD discharge 
process for borrowers.
    Categories of Individuals: The individuals whose records are used 
in the matching program are described as follows:
    VA will disclose to ED records on Veterans who are in receipt of VA 
disability compensation benefits with a VA determination that they have 
a 100 percent disabling service-connected disability rating or that 
they are totally disabled based on an individual unemployability 
rating, along with the VA disability determination date for each such 
individual. ED will then match the file received from VA with ED's 
records on borrowers of title IV loans, as contained in ED's system of 
records entitled ``National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-
06) who owe a balance on a title IV Loan, have had any loans under 
title IV of the HEA written off due to default, or are responsible for 
completing a service obligation in exchange for having received a TEACH 
Grant under the TEACH Grant Program.
    Categories of Records: The records used in the matching program are 
described as follows:
    VA will disclose to ED, on a quarterly basis, the name (first, 
middle, and last), date of birth (DOB), and Social Security number 
(SSN) of all individuals who are in receipt of VA disability 
compensation benefits with a VA determination that they have a 100 
percent disabling service-connected disability rating or that they are 
totally disabled based on an individual unemployability rating, along 
with the VA disability determination date for each such individual. ED 
will match the VA records to the ED system of records entitled 
``National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06).
    System(s) of Records: VA will use the VA system of records entitled 
``Compensation, Pension, Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation and 
Employment Records--VA'' (58VA21/22/28), last published in the Federal 
Register in full on February 14, 2019 (84 FR 4138). VA has determined 
that routine use 39 in the foregoing system of records is compatible 
with the purpose for which the information is collected and contains 
appropriate Privacy Act disclosure authority.
    ED will match information obtained from VA with ED records 
maintained in ED's system of records entitled ``National Student Loan 
Data System (NSLDS)'' (18-11-06). The NSLDS system of records notice 
was last published in the Federal Register in full on September 9, 2019 
(84 FR 47265).
    ED will also maintain matched information obtained from VA in the 
system of records identified as ``Common Services for Borrowers (CSB) 
(18-11-16),'' as last published in the Federal Register in full on 
September 2, 2016 (81 FR 60683).
    Accessible Format: On request to Lisa Tessitore, Program Operations 
Specialist, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830 
First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320,

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telephone: (202) 377-3249. Individuals with disabilities can obtain 
this document in an accessible format. The Department will provide the 
requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format 
(RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large 
print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible format.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published 
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

Mark A. Brown,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2021-08991 Filed 4-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P