[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 228 (Wednesday, November 29, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 83365-83368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26198]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter VI

[Docket ID ED-2023-OPE-0039]


Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Negotiator Nominations and 
Schedule of Committee Meetings

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Intent to establish rulemaking committee.

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SUMMARY: We announce our intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking 
committee to prepare proposed regulations for Federal programs 
authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 
amended (HEA). The committee will include representatives of 
organizations or groups with interests that are significantly affected 
by the subject matter of the proposed regulations. We request 
nominations for individual negotiators who represent key stakeholder 
constituencies for the issues to be negotiated to serve on the 
committee. We also announce the creation of a subcommittee, and request 
nominations for individuals with pertinent expertise to participate on 
the subcommittee. The Department has also set a schedule for committee 
meetings.

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DATES: We must receive your nominations for negotiators to serve on the 
committee on or before December 13, 2023. The dates and times of the 
committee meetings are set out in the Schedule for Negotiations section 
in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. All meetings will be virtual.

ADDRESSES: Please email your nominations for negotiators to 
[email protected]. If you are unable to email your nomination, 
please contact Aaron Washington. Telephone: (202) 987-0911. Email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about negotiated 
rulemaking, see ``The Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title IV 
Regulations--Frequently Asked Questions'' at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html. For 
information on the nomination submission process, email: 
[email protected].
    For information about the content of this document, including 
additional information about the negotiated rulemaking process, please 
contact Aaron Washington. Telephone: (202) 987-0911. Email: 
[email protected].
    If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and 
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 24, 2023, we published in the Federal Register (88 FR 
17777) an announcement of our intent to establish a negotiated 
rulemaking committee. We also announced public hearings at which 
interested parties could comment on the topics for negotiation 
suggested by the Department and suggest additional topics for 
consideration for action by the negotiated rulemaking committee. Those 
hearings took place virtually on April 11-13, 2023.
    You may view written comments submitted in response to the 
aforementioned Federal Register notification through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Instructions for finding 
comments are available on the site under ``FAQ.'' Enter Docket ID ED-
2023-OPE-0039 in the search box to locate the appropriate docket.

Committee Topics

    After considering the information received at the public hearing 
and the written comments, we have decided to establish the Program 
Integrity and Institutional Quality Committee (Committee) to address 
the following topics:
    1. The Secretary's recognition of accrediting agencies under 34 CFR 
part 602 and related parts;
    2. Institutional eligibility under 34 CFR 600.2, including State 
authorization as a component of such eligibility under 34 CFR 600.9;
    3. The requirements for distance education under 34 CFR 600.2 that 
pertain to clock hour programs and reporting for students who enroll 
primarily online;
    4. Return of title IV funds, to address requirements for 
participating institutions to return unearned title IV funds in a 
manner that protects students and taxpayers while easing the 
administrative burden for institutions of higher education under 34 CFR 
668.22;
    5. Cash management, to address timely student access to 
disbursements of title IV, HEA Federal student financial assistance and 
provisions related to credit balances, escheatment, and loss of such 
funds under 34 CFR part 668, subpart K; and
    6. The eligibility requirements for participants in the Federal 
TRIO Programs.
    As a part of the negotiated rulemaking process, we are forming a 
Federal TRIO Programs Subcommittee to expand the range of expertise and 
constituencies represented on this topic. The Committee will consider 
the subcommittee's recommendations in its consideration of proposed 
regulations relating to changes to participant eligibility requirements 
in the Federal TRIO Programs.
    The subcommittee will address TRIO participant eligibility and make 
recommendations to the Committee. The subcommittee is not authorized to 
make decisions for the Committee. The subcommittee may be comprised of 
some members of the Committee (negotiators), as well as individuals who 
are not Committee members but who have expertise that will be helpful 
in developing proposed regulations. Therefore, in addition to asking 
for nominations for individual negotiators who represent key 
stakeholder constituencies for issues to be negotiated to serve on the 
Committee (see Constituencies for Negotiator Nominations), we seek 
nominations for individuals with expertise regarding the Federal TRIO 
Programs, particularly the eligibility requirements, to serve on the 
subcommittee. Before conclusion of the negotiations, the subcommittee 
will present its recommendations for regulatory changes to the 
Committee for its consideration.
    We intend to select negotiators for the Committee who represent the 
interests of those significantly affected by the topics proposed for 
negotiation. In so doing, we will comply with the requirement in 
section 492(b)(1) of the HEA that the individuals selected must have 
demonstrated expertise or experience in the relevant topics proposed 
for negotiations. We will also select negotiators who reflect the 
diversity among program participants, in accordance with section 
492(b)(1) of the HEA. Our goal is to establish a committee that will 
allow significantly affected parties to be represented while keeping 
the size manageable. We encourage negotiators, to the extent they are 
able, to demonstrate support from organizations, entities, or 
individuals beyond themselves.
    We generally select a primary and alternate negotiator for each 
constituency represented on a committee. The primary negotiator 
participates for the purpose of determining consensus. The alternate 
participates for the purpose of determining consensus in the absence of 
the primary negotiator. The Department will provide more detailed 
information to both primary and alternate negotiators selected to 
participate on the Committee about the logistics and protocols of the 
meetings. The subcommittee will only include primary members. We will 
not select alternates for the subcommittee.
    Members of the public may observe the Committee meetings, will have 
access to individuals representing their constituencies, and may be 
able to participate in informal working groups on issues between the 
meetings.
    At the end of each day of the main committee meetings (except for 
the final day of the final session), the Department will reserve 30 
minutes for public comment. We will provide information on how to 
request time to speak on our website at www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html. We will notify speakers of the time 
slot reserved for them and provide information on how to log in to the 
hearing as a speaker. An individual may make only one presentation 
during the public comment periods. If we receive more registrations 
than we can accommodate, we reserve the right to reject the 
registration of an entity or individual affiliated with an entity to 
present comments to ensure that a broad range of entities and 
individuals are able to present.

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Constituencies for Negotiator Nominations

    We have identified the following constituencies as having interests 
that are significantly affected by the topics proposed for negotiation. 
We plan to include negotiators who represent these constituencies. We 
particularly encourage individuals or organizations representing the 
interests of historically underserved or low-income communities to 
nominate themselves. We also encourage institutions of higher education 
that are currently recipients of a Federal TRIO Program grant to submit 
nominations under the appropriate constituency on the main committee.
    Nominations should include evidence of the nominee's specific 
knowledge of the issues listed under the Committee Topics heading 
earlier in this notice. The Department strongly encourages nominees to 
list all constituencies under which they would like to be considered. 
The Department reserves the discretion to have a nominee represent a 
constituency based upon their background and experience even if the 
individual was not nominated for that specific category. Constituencies 
for the Committee are:
    (1) Civil rights organizations and consumer advocates.
    (2) Legal assistance organizations.
    (3) State officials, including State higher education executive 
officers, State authorizing agencies, and State regulators of 
institutions of higher education.
    (4) State attorneys general.
    (5) Students or borrowers, including currently enrolled borrowers, 
or groups representing them.
    (6) U.S. military service members, veterans, or groups representing 
them.
    (7) Public four-year institutions of higher education.
    (8) Public two-year institutions of higher education.
    (9) Private nonprofit institutions of higher education.
    (10) Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges 
and Universities, and Minority-serving institutions (institutions of 
higher education eligible to receive Federal assistance under title 
III, parts A and F, and title V of the HEA).
    (11) Proprietary institutions of higher education.
    (12) Institutional accrediting agencies recognized by the 
Secretary.
    (13) Programmatic accrediting agencies recognized by the Secretary, 
to include State agencies recognized for the approval of nurse 
education.
    (14) Financial aid administrators.
    (15) Business officers from institutions of higher education.
    The goal of the committee is to develop proposed regulations that 
reflect a final consensus of the committee. Consensus means that there 
is no dissent by any member of a negotiating committee, including the 
committee member representing the Department.
    A negotiator is expected to represent the interests of their 
constituency and to participate in the negotiations in a manner 
consistent with the goal of developing proposed regulations on which 
the committee will reach consensus. If consensus is reached, all 
members of the organization or group represented by a negotiator are 
bound by the consensus and are prohibited from commenting negatively on 
the resulting proposed regulations. The Department will not consider 
any such negative comments on the proposed regulations that are 
submitted by a member of such an organization.
    We are also interested in nominations for members of the Federal 
TRIO Programs Subcommittee from individuals who represent the following 
groups:
    (1) Institutions of higher education.
    (2) Public or private agencies or organizations, including 
community-based organizations with experience in serving disadvantaged 
youth.
    (3) Secondary schools, including local educational agencies with 
secondary schools.
    (4) Current or former participants in a Federal TRIO Program.
    (5) State officials, including State higher education executive 
officers, State authorizing agencies, and State regulators of 
institutions of higher education.
    We encourage institutions of higher education, public and private 
agencies and organizations, and secondary schools that are currently 
recipients of a Federal TRIO Program grant to submit nominations.

Nominations

    We request that nominations for both the committee and the 
subcommittee include the information described in this section.
    (1) The name of the nominee;
    (2) The name of the constituency (or constituencies) for which the 
nominee is being nominated (see Constituencies for Negotiator 
Nominations);
    (3) The nominee's place of employment or institution at which they 
are or were enrolled and, if different, the organization the nominee 
represents;
    (4) A resume or evidence of the nominee's expertise and experience 
in the topics proposed for negotiations; and
    (5) The nominee's contact information, including email address, 
telephone number, and mailing address.
    Please see the ADDRESSES section for submission information. We 
will confirm receipt of nominations to the submitter. The Department 
will provide additional information to those we select to serve as 
negotiators. Once complete, a list of negotiators will be posted here: 
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html. 
The Department will also provide information at that site about how any 
committee vacancies can be filled at the beginning of the first 
committee meeting.

Schedule for Negotiations

    The Committee will meet for three sessions on the following dates:
    Session 1: January 8-11, 2024.
    Session 2: February 5-8, 2024.
    Session 3: March 4-7, 2024.
    Session times will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 
with a public comment period from approximately 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., 
Eastern time.
    The subcommittee will meet for two sessions on the following dates:
    Session 1: January 12, 2024.
    Session 2: February 9, 2024.
    Session times will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., 
Eastern time. There will not be a public comment period for the 
subcommittee meetings.
    All sessions will be conducted virtually and available for the 
public to view. Individuals who wish to observe the committee meetings 
will be required to register for each session they would like to 
observe. We will post registration links closer to the start of 
negotiations on our website at www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html. The Department will also post recordings 
and transcripts of the meetings on that site.
    Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 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

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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 the 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.

    Authority: Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1098a.

Nasser H. Paydar,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2023-26198 Filed 11-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P