Publication Date: April 2006

DCL ID: GEN-06-05

Subject: Changes made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) to Student and Institutional Eligibility, and Student Assistance General Provisions, under the Federal Student Aid Programs.

Posted on 04-27-2006

Dear Colleague:

On February 8, 2006, President Bush signed the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA), Pub. L. 109-171. The enclosure to this Dear Colleague Letter discusses the changes made by the HERA to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) that affect the general provisions for the federal student financial aid programs authorized by Title IV of the HEA, as well as provisions on student and institutional eligibility. Two other Dear Colleague Letters have been issued addressing additional changes made by the HERA. Dear Colleague Letter GEN-06-02 discusses changes to the provisions of the Title IV loan programs specifically, and Dear Colleague Letter GEN-06-04 discusses the two new grant programs, Academic Competitiveness Grants and National SMART Grants.

Topics discussed in this letter are arranged alphabetically under six general categories:

(1) Academic Year,
(2) Distance Education,
(3) Need Analysis and Cost of Attendance,
(4) Program Eligibility,
(5) Return of Title IV Funds, and
(6) Student Eligibility.

All section citations in the enclosure are references to the sections of the HEA modified by the HERA. Unless otherwise noted, the changes to the provisions discussed in this letter are effective for the 2006-2007 award year for the Title IV, HEA grant and campus-based programs, and for loan periods beginning on or after July 1, 2006 for the Federal Family Education Loan and Federal Direct Loan programs.

We appreciate your assistance and cooperation as we work to implement these statutory changes. In the coming weeks, we will provide further guidance on implementing the changes made by the HERA, including operational guidance and the promulgation of regulations. If you have any questions on the matters discussed in this letter please contact Anthony Jones at (202) 502-7652.

Sincerely,

Attachments/Enclosures:

GEN-06-05: Changes made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) to Student and Institutional Eligibility, and Student Assistance General Provisions, under the Federal Student Aid Programs and the Attachment in PDF Format, 1.77MB, 11 pages

Changes Made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) that Affect the General Provisions for the Federal Student Financial Aid Programs Authorized by Title IV of the HEA in Microsoft Word Format, 72KB, 9 pages