[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70175-70176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19432]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2024-FSA-0084]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 and the Computer 
Matching and Privacy Protection Amendments of 1990 (Privacy Act) and 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance, notice is hereby given 
of the re-establishment of a matching program between the U.S. 
Department of Education (Department), as the recipient agency, and the 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services (DHS-USCIS), as the source agency, to verify the immigration 
status of noncitizen applicants for, or recipients of, financial 
assistance under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 
amended (HEA).

DATES: Submit your comments on the proposed re-establishment of the 
matching program on or before September 30, 2024.
    The matching program will go into effect on the later of the 
following three dates: (1) October 21, 2024; (2) at the expiration of 
the 60-day period following the Department's transmittal of a report 
concerning the matching program to OMB and to the appropriate 
Congressional Committees, along with a copy of the Computer Matching 
Agreement, unless OMB waives any of this 60-day review period for 
compelling reasons, in which case, 60 days minus the number of days 
waived by OMB from the date of the Department's transmittal of the 
report of the matching program; or (3) at the expiration of the 30-day 
public comment period following the Department's publication of notice 
of this matching program in the Federal Register, assuming that the 
Department receives no public comments or receives public comments but 
makes no changes to the Matching Notice as a result of the public 
comments, or 30 days from the date on which the Department publishes a 
Revised Matching Notice in the Federal Register, assuming that the 
Department receives public comments and revises the Matching Notice as 
a result of public comments. If the latest date occurs on a non-
business day, then that date will be counted for purposes of this 
paragraph as occurring on the next business day.
    The matching program will continue for 18 months after the 
effective date of the matching program and may be extended for an 
additional 12 months thereafter, if the respective Data Integrity 
Boards (DIBs) of the Department and DHS-USCIS determine that the 
conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at regulations.gov. However, if you require an accommodation or 
cannot otherwise submit your comments via regulations.gov, please 
contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT. The Department will not accept comments submitted by fax or by 
email, or comments 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 ``FAQ''.
    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: Patrick Fox, Senior Advisor, U.S. 
Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 61 Forsyth Street SW, 
Atlanta, GA 30303. Telephone: (202) 718-6885. 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: In accordance with the Privacy Act; OMB

[[Page 70176]]

``Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988,'' published in 
the Federal Register on June 19, 1989 (54 FR 25818); and OMB Circular 
No. A-108, notice is hereby given of the re-establishment of the 
matching program between the Department and DHS-USCIS, to verify the 
immigration status of noncitizen applicants for, or recipients of, 
financial assistance under title IV, HEA, in order to determine such 
individuals' eligibility for title IV, HEA Federal student aid.

Participating Agencies

    The Department and DHS-USCIS.

Authority for Conducting the Matching Program

    The Department seeks access to the information accessed by SAVE 
through the DHS-USCIS Verification Information System (VIS) for the 
purpose of verifying the immigration status of applicants for 
assistance, as authorized by section 484(g) of the HEA, 20 U.S.C. 
1091(g), consistent with the requirements of section 484(a)(5) of the 
HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1091(a)(5). The Department is authorized to participate 
in the matching program, which is the subject of this CMA, under the 
authority of section 484(g)(3) of the HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1091(g)(3), and 20 
U.S.C. 3475. DHS-USCIS is authorized to participate in this matching 
program under section 103 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 
Public Law 82-414, as amended, 8 U.S.C. 1103, Section 121(c)(1), Part 
C, of the Immigration Reform and the Control Act of 1986, Public Law 
99-603, 42 U.S.C. 1320b-7 note, and section 642 of the Illegal 
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Public Law 
104-208, as amended, 8 U.S.C. 1373(c).

Purpose(s)

    The purpose of this matching program is to permit the Department to 
confirm the immigration status of noncitizen applicants for, or 
recipients of, financial assistance under title IV of the HEA, as 
authorized by section 484(g) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1091(g)). The title 
IV, HEA programs that are covered by the matching program include: the 
Federal Pell Grant Program, the Teacher Education Assistance for 
College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program, the Iraq and 
Afghanistan Service Grant Program, the Federal Perkins Loan Program, 
the Federal Work-Study Program, the Federal Supplemental Educational 
Opportunity Grant Program, and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan 
Program.

Categories of Individuals

    The individuals included in this matching program are applicants 
for, or recipients of, title IV, HEA program assistance who provide an 
Alien Registration Number (ARN) (also referred to as A-number or USCIS 
number) when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid 
(FAFSA) and have indicated that they are an ``eligible noncitizen'' to 
determine their eligibility for title IV, HEA program assistance.

Categories of Records

    The Department will disclose to DHS-USCIS the ARN, first and last 
name, and date of birth of each applicant for, or recipient of, 
financial assistance under title IV of the HEA who indicates that they 
are an ``eligible noncitizen'' and have provided their ARN in their 
application for financial assistance under title IV of the HEA. DHS-
USCIS will disclose to the Department the eligible noncitizen 
applicant's first and last name, date of birth, A-number (or ARN or 
USCIS number), Verification Case Number, and Eligibility Statement 
Codes, if any.

System(s) of Records

    The Department will disclose records to DHS-USCIS from its systems 
of records identified as ``Aid Awareness and Application Processing'' 
(AAAP) (18-11-21), which was last published in the Federal Register on 
May 30, 2024 (89 FR 46870). In addition, the Department will maintain 
the information it receives from DHS-USCIS in the ``Common Origination 
and Disbursement (COD) System'' (18-11-02), which was last published in 
the Federal Register on June 28, 2023 (88 FR 41942).
    DHS-USCIS will disclose records back to the Department from its 
systems of records identified as the ``Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS)/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)-0004 Systematic 
Alien Verification for Entitlements Program System of Records'', which 
was last published in the Federal Register on May 27, 2020 (85 FR 
31798).
    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 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.

Denise Carter,
Acting Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2024-19432 Filed 8-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P