Federal Register 2006

Monday,
June 5, 2006

Part IV

Department of
Education

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34 CFR Part 304
Service Obligations Under Special
Education; Preparation of Leadership
Personnel; Combined Priority for
Personnel Preparation; Interdisciplinary
Training in Analysis of Large-Scale
Databases; Final Rule and Notices

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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 107 / Monday, June 5, 2006 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Part 304
RIN 1820–AB58

Service Obligations Under Special
Education—Personnel Development to
Improve Services and Results for
Children With Disabilities
Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Final regulations.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: The Secretary issues final
regulations governing specific
provisions of the Personnel
Development to Improve Services and
Results for Children with Disabilities
program authorized under part D of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act, as amended (IDEA or Act). The
regulations are needed to implement
changes made to IDEA, as amended by
the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act of 2004.
DATES: These regulations are effective
July 5, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Louis C. Danielson, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Potomac Center Plaza, room 4160,
Washington, DC 20202–2641.
Telephone: (202) 245–7371.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), you may call
the Federal Relay System (FRS) at 1–
800–877–8339.
Individuals with disabilities may
obtain this document in an alternative
format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request to the contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.

These
regulations implement specific
provisions of part D of the IDEA. On
June 21, 2005, we published a notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the
Federal Register (70 FR 35782) (NPRM)
to amend the regulations governing the
Assistance to States for the Education of
Children with Disabilities Program;
Preschool Grants for Children with
Disabilities Program; and Service
Obligations under Special Education—
Personnel Development to Improve
Services and Results for Children with
Disabilities. The proposed regulations
for Service Obligations under Special
Education—Personnel Development to
Improve Services and Results for
Children with Disabilities in 34 CFR
part 304 are described on pages 35817
through 35818 of the preamble to the
NPRM. The text of the proposed

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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regulations can be found on pages 35890
through 35892 of the NPRM.
In the preamble to the NPRM, the
Secretary discussed the major changes
proposed in that document to
implement the provisions of the Service
Obligations under Special Education—
Personnel Development to Improve
Services and Results for Children with
Disabilities program, as specified in
section 662(h) of the Act. These
included the following:
• Clarifying in §§ 304.21 and 304.22
that stipends are not included in the
cost of attendance and are not limited
by the cap in § 304.22(b).
• Clarifying in § 304.30 that the
Secretary is responsible for ensuring
that scholars comply with the service
obligation requirements.
• Describing in one section—
§ 304.30—all of the requirements a
scholar must meet.
As more fully explained in the
Analysis of Comments and Changes
section of this notice, these final
regulations for part 304 contain several
changes from the regulations proposed
in the NPRM.
Major Changes in the Regulations
The following is a summary of the
major substantive changes in these final
regulations from the regulations
proposed in the NPRM:
1. Eligible employment options for
scholars have been expanded
(§ 304.30(e)(3)).
2. The number of additional years
allowed to fulfill a scholar’s service
obligation has been increased from three
to five years (§ 304.30(f)(1)).
Analysis of Comments and Changes
In response to the Secretary’s
invitation in the NPRM, five parties
submitted comments on the proposed
regulations for the Service Obligations
Under Special Education—Personnel
Development to Improve Services and
Results for Children with Disabilities
(Personnel Development Program). An
analysis of the comments and of the
changes in the regulations since
publication of the NPRM follows. We
discuss substantive issues under the
section to which they pertain.
References to sections in this analysis
are to those contained in the final
regulations. The analysis generally does
not address minor changes, including
technical changes made to the language
published in the NPRM, suggested
changes the Secretary is not legally
authorized to make under applicable
statutory authority, or comments that
express concerns of a general nature
about the Department or other matters

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that are not directly relevant to these
regulations.
Assurances that Must be Provided by
Grantee (§ 304.23)
Comment: None.
Discussion: Upon further review, the
Department has determined that, at the
time of exit from the program, the
grantee should provide the scholar with
a list containing all of the scholar’s
obligations under § 304.30, and the
scholar should certify that this list of
obligations is correct. We believe that
this requirement should be added
because it clarifies that the grantees,
which have the best access to this
information, are responsible for sharing
this information with the scholars.
Change: We have deleted the
requirement contained in § 304.23(c)
that the grantee must ‘‘establish policies
and procedures for receiving and
maintaining records of written
certification from scholars.’’ We have
modified § 304.23(c) by adding new
§§ 304.23(c)(1) and (2), which require
the grantee to provide information to the
scholar and specify that, upon receipt of
this information, the scholar must
provide written certification to the
grantee that this information is correct.
Requirements for Scholar (§ 304.30(e))
Comment: A few commenters stated
that the ‘‘majority of children’’ and the
‘‘majority of time’’ requirements in
§ 304.30(e)(1) and (2) cause hardship for
some scholars. The commenters stated
that scholars who provide direct
services in early intervention and
adaptive physical education are most
impacted by these requirements because
early intervention and adaptive physical
education positions involve working
primarily, or exclusively, in settings in
which scholars provide educational
services, but not necessarily special
education services, to students with the
full range of abilities and disabilities in
a general education setting. The
commenters recommended eliminating
the current ‘‘majority of children’’ and
the ‘‘majority of time’’ requirements in
§ 304.30(e)(1) and (2) and instead
requiring only that scholars ‘‘provide
special education and related services to
children with disabilities * * *’’
consistent with section 662(h)(1) of the
Act.
Discussion: The Department supports
the provision of special education and
related services and early intervention
services in settings with nondisabled
children. However, the Department
believes that the limited funds available
for the Personnel Development Program
should be targeted to support and train
scholars who, following completion of

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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 107 / Monday, June 5, 2006 / Rules and Regulations
training, will be employed in positions
(other than supervisory, postsecondary
faculty, research, policy, technical
assistance, program development, or
administration) that meet the ‘‘majority
of time’’ or the ‘‘majority of children’’
requirements in § 304.30(e)(1) and (2) to
ensure that the need for qualified
special education personnel can be met.
The Department believes that these
majority requirements are necessary to
ensure that there are sufficient numbers
of qualified personnel to provide the
most effective special education, related
services, and early intervention services
to infants, toddlers, and children with
disabilities.
Changes: None.
Comment: None.
Discussion: Upon internal review, the
Department has determined that it
would be helpful to define more
precisely the term ‘‘majority,’’ as it is
used in § 304.30(e).
Changes: We have modified the
language in § 304.30(e) to substitute the
term ‘‘51 percent’’ for the term
‘‘majority’’ throughout this section.
Comment: A few commenters stated
that the range of employment options to
satisfy the service obligation
requirements in § 304.30(e)(3) through
(5) is too restrictive and should be
expanded. The commenters stated that
scholars should be allowed to satisfy
their service obligation through work in
other areas, such as policy,
administration, professional
development, technical assistance, and
program development related to special
education, related services, and early
intervention services.
Discussion: The Department agrees
that there may be situations in which an
individual can fulfill his or her service
obligation in a position that is not
described in § 304.30(e), including
positions involving policy, technical
assistance, program development, or
administration, when the individual
spends at least 51 percent of his or her
time performing work related to the
training for which a scholarship was
received.
Changes: We have deleted
§ 304.30(e)(4) and (5), and modified the
language in § 304.30(e)(3) to clarify that,
in addition to positions involving
supervision, teaching at the
postsecondary level, and research, a
scholar may fulfill the scholar’s service
obligation in a position involving
policy, technical assistance, program
development, or administration when
the scholar spends at least 51 percent of
his or her time performing work related
to the training for which a scholarship
was received under section 662 of the
Act.

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Comment: A few commenters stated
that recent Federal education policy, as
articulated in the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 and the 2004
reauthorization of IDEA, focuses on
addressing the needs and performance
of children with disabilities within
programs, policies, and procedures of
the general education system. The
commenters recommended that the
Department expand the eligible
employment options to include, under
limited circumstances, employment that
addresses the needs of children with
disabilities within the broader context
of prevention and intervention
initiatives in the general education
system that are designed to
accommodate the needs of a wide range
of children.
Discussion: The purpose of providing
scholarships under the Personnel
Development Program is to ensure that
there are sufficient numbers of qualified
personnel to provide special education,
related services, and early intervention
services to infants, toddlers, and
children with disabilities. While
scholarships under this program may be
used to provide support for training and
professional development on topics
leading to the identification of children
with disabilities (e.g., progress
monitoring and response to
intervention), we do not believe
scholars should be permitted to satisfy
their service obligation in positions that
focus primarily on nondisabled students
or nondisabled students who may be at
risk of having a disability.
Changes: None.
Time Period (§ 304.30(f))
Comment: A few commenters
suggested changing the length of the
service obligation in § 304.30(f)(1) so
that scholars who are unable to satisfy
the ‘‘majority of children’’ or the
‘‘majority of time’’ requirement in any
single year would either automatically
be subject to one extra year of service,
or, upon request, receive a deferral of up
to two years.
Discussion: Section 304.30(f)(1)
requires scholars to complete at least
two years of service obligation for every
academic year for which assistance was
received and to complete their service
obligation in not more than the sum of
the number of years required plus three
additional years. The Department
recognizes that some employment
circumstances may make it difficult for
scholars to fulfill their service
obligation, as defined in § 304.30(e),
within this time period. While
implementing the commenters’
recommendations would be too
complex and burdensome to administer

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32397

and monitor, we believe it would be
appropriate to expand the number of
years that scholars will have to fulfill
their service obligation.
Changes: We have revised
§ 304.30(f)(1) to allow all scholars five,
instead of three, additional years to
fulfill their service obligation.
Comment: A few commenters
expressed concern that, when scholars
who are qualified service providers
before they enter an academic program
(e.g., teachers returning to school for a
masters degree) do not complete one
academic year of study because of
personal or professional reasons, they
must repay their scholarship. The
commenters stated that these scholars,
who are already qualified to provide
special education, related services, or
early intervention services to children
with disabilities, should be permitted to
satisfy their obligation through service,
rather than repaying the cost of the
scholarship, even though they have not
accumulated one year of academic
credit, as required in § 304.30(f)(2).
Discussion: The Department believes
that scholars are unlikely to make
substantial gains in their knowledge and
skills in less than one year such that
they would be able to provide improved
special education, related services, or
early intervention services to infants,
toddlers, and children with disabilities.
Changes: None.
Executive Order 12866
These final regulations have been
reviewed by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) as a significant
regulatory action in accordance with
Executive Order 12866. Under the terms
of the order we have assessed the
potential costs and benefits of this
regulatory action.
The potential costs associated with
the final regulations are those resulting
from statutory requirements and those
we have determined to be necessary for
administering this program effectively
and efficiently.
In assessing the potential costs and
benefits of these final regulations, we
have determined that the benefits of the
regulations justify the costs.
Summary of Potential Costs and
Benefits
Service Obligation Tracking Burden
The statutory change incorporated in
these final regulations, which shifts the
burden for ensuring that scholars
comply with their service obligation
from grantees to the Secretary, was not
specifically addressed in the Summary
of potential costs and benefits section
contained in the NPRM because this

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change does not impose any additional
burden on grantees, and will not result
in any significant additional costs or
benefits.
We include additional discussion of
potential costs and benefits in the
section of this preamble titled Analysis
of Comment and Changes.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
does not require you to respond to a
collection of information unless it
displays a valid OMB control number.
The collection of information in these
final regulations has been approved by
OMB under OMB control number 1820–
0622. We also display this OMB control
number in these final regulations at the
end of the affected sections of the
regulations.
The clarification of the written
certification requirement from the
scholar in § 304.23(c)(2) was not
discussed in the NPRM but has been
added to the final regulations. This
imposes a new information collection
requirement, however, it does not fall
under the Paperwork Reduction Act’s
definition of ‘‘information’’ as explained
in 5 CFR 1320.3(h).

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Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to the
requirements of Executive Order 12372
and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79.
The objective of the Executive order is
to foster an intergovernmental
partnership and a strengthened
federalism by relying on processes
developed by State and local
governments for coordination and
review of proposed Federal Financial
assistance.
In accordance with the order, we
intend this document to provide early
notification of the Department’s specific
plans and actions for this program.
Assessment of Educational Impact
In the NPRM we requested comments
on whether the proposed regulations
would require transmission of
information that any other agency or
authority of the United States gathers or
makes available.
Based on the response to the NPRM
and on our review, we have determined
that these final regulations do not
require transmission of information that
any other agency or authority of the
United States gathers or makes
available.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well
as all other Department of Education
documents published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable

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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. If you have questions about
using PDF, call the U.S. Government
Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1–
888–293–6498; or in the Washington,
DC area at (202) 512–1530.
Note: The official version of the 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.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Number 84.325 Personnel Development to
Improve Services and Results for Children
with Disabilities).

List of Subjects in 34 CFR Part 304
Service obligations under special
education—personnel development to
improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
Dated: May 26, 2006.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services.

For the reasons set forth above, the
Department revises 34 CFR part 304 to
read as follows:

■

PART 304—SERVICE OBLIGATIONS
UNDER SPECIAL EDUCATION—
PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT TO
IMPROVE SERVICES AND RESULTS
FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
Subpart A—General
Sec.
304.1 Purpose.
304.3 Definitions.
Subpart B—Conditions That Must Be Met by
Grantee
304.21 Allowable costs.
304.22 Requirements for grantees in
disbursing scholarships.
304.23 Assurances that must be provided
by grantee.
Subpart C—Conditions That Must Be Met by
Scholar
304.30 Requirements for scholar.
304.31 Requirements for obtaining an
exception or deferral to performance or
repayment under an agreement.
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h), unless
otherwise noted.

Subpart A—General
§ 304.1

Purpose.

Individuals who receive scholarship
assistance from projects funded under
the Special Education—Personnel
Development to Improve Services and

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Results for Children with Disabilities
program are required to complete a
service obligation, or repay all or part of
the costs of such assistance, in
accordance with section 662(h) of the
Act and the regulations of this part.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h))
§ 304.3

Definitions.

The following definitions apply to
this program:
(a) Academic year means—
(1) A full-time course of study—
(i) Taken for a period totaling at least
nine months; or
(ii) Taken for the equivalent of at least
two semesters, two trimesters, or three
quarters; or
(2) For a part-time scholar, the
accumulation of periods of part-time
courses of study that is equivalent to an
‘‘academic year’’ under paragraph (a)(1)
of this definition.
(b) Act means the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, as amended,
20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.
(c) Early intervention services means
early intervention services as defined in
section 632(4) of the Act and includes
early intervention services to infants
and toddlers with disabilities, and as
applicable, to infants and toddlers at
risk for disabilities under sections
632(1) and 632(5)(b) of the Act.
(d) Full-time, for purposes of
determining whether an individual is
employed full-time in accordance with
§ 304.30 means a full-time position as
defined by the individual’s employer or
by the agencies served by the
individual.
(e) Related services means related
services as defined in section 602(26) of
the Act.
(f) Repayment means monetary
reimbursement of scholarship assistance
in lieu of completion of a service
obligation.
(g) Scholar means an individual who
is pursuing a degree, license,
endorsement, or certification related to
special education, related services, or
early intervention services and who
receives scholarship assistance under
section 662 of the Act.
(h) Scholarship means financial
assistance to a scholar for training under
the program and includes all
disbursements or credits for tuition,
fees, stipends, books, and travel in
conjunction with training assignments.
(i) Service obligation means a
scholar’s employment obligation, as
described in section 662(h) of the Act
and § 304.30.
(j) Special education means special
education as defined in section 602(29)
of the Act.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h))

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Subpart B—Conditions That Must be
Met by Grantee
§ 304.21

Allowable costs.

In addition to the allowable costs
established in the Education
Department General Administrative
Regulations in 34 CFR 75.530 through
75.562, the following items are
allowable expenditures by projects
funded under the program:
(a) Cost of attendance, as defined in
Title IV of the Higher Education Act of
1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1087ll
(HEA), including the following:
(1) Tuition and fees.
(2) An allowance for books, supplies,
transportation, and miscellaneous
personal expenses.
(3) An allowance for room and board.
(b) Stipends.
(c) Travel in conjunction with training
assignments.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h))

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§ 304.22 Requirements for grantees in
disbursing scholarships.

Before disbursement of scholarship
assistance to an individual, a grantee
must—
(a) Ensure that the scholar—
(1) Is a citizen or national of the
United States;
(2) Is a permanent resident of—
(i) Puerto Rico, the United States
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa,
or the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands; or
(ii) The Republic of the Marshall
Islands, the Federated States of
Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau
during the period in which these
entities are eligible to receive an award
under the Personnel Development to
Improve Services and Results for
Children with Disabilities program; or
(3) Provides evidence from the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security that
the individual is—
(i) A lawful permanent resident of the
United States; or
(ii) In the United States for other than
a temporary purpose with the intention
of becoming a citizen or permanent
resident;
(b) Limit the cost of attendance
portion of the scholarship assistance (as
discussed in § 304.21(a)) to the amount
by which the individual’s cost of
attendance at the institution exceeds the
amount of grant assistance the scholar is
to receive for the same academic year
under title IV of the HEA; and
(c) Obtain a Certification of Eligibility
for Federal Assistance from each
scholar, as prescribed in 34 CFR 75.60,
75.61, and 75.62.

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Before receiving an award, a grantee
that intends to grant scholarships under
the program must include in its
application an assurance that the
following requirements will be satisfied:
(a) Requirement for agreement. Prior
to granting a scholarship, the grantee
will require each scholar to enter into a
written agreement in which the scholar
agrees to the terms and conditions set
forth in § 304.30. This agreement must
explain the Secretary’s authority to
grant deferrals and exceptions to the
service obligation pursuant to § 304.31
and include the current Department
address for purposes of the scholar’s
compliance with § 304.30(i), or any
other purpose under this part.
(b) Standards for satisfactory
progress. The grantee must establish,
notify scholars of, and apply reasonable
standards for measuring whether a
scholar is maintaining satisfactory
progress in the scholar’s course of study.
(c) Exit certification.
(1) At the time of exit from the
program, the grantee must provide the
following information to the scholar:
(i) The number of years the scholar
needs to work to satisfy the work
requirements in § 304.30(d);
(ii) The total amount of scholarship
assistance received subject to § 304.30;
(iii) The time period, consistent with
§ 304.30(f)(1), during which the scholar
must satisfy the work requirements; and
(iv) As applicable, all other
obligations of the scholar under
§ 304.30.
(2) Upon receipt of this information
from the grantee, the scholar must
provide written certification to the
grantee that the information is correct.
(d) Information. The grantee must
forward the information and written
certification required in paragraph (c) of
this section to the Secretary, as well as
any other information that is necessary
to carry out the Secretary’s functions
under section 662 of the Act and this
part.
(e) Notification to the Secretary. If the
grantee is aware that the scholar has
chosen not to fulfill or will be unable to
fulfill the obligation under § 304.30(d),
the grantee must notify the Secretary
when the scholar exits the program.
(Approved by the Office of Management and
Budget under control number 1820–0622)
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h))

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h))

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§ 304.23 Assurances that must be
provided by grantee.

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Subpart C—Conditions That Must Be
Met by Scholar
§ 304.30

Requirements for scholar.

Individuals who receive scholarship
assistance from grantees funded under
section 662 of the Act must—
(a) Training. Receive the training at
the educational institution or agency
designated in the scholarship;
(b) Educational allowances. Not
accept payment of educational
allowances from any other entity if that
allowance conflicts with the scholar’s
obligation under section 662 of the Act
and this part;
(c) Satisfactory progress. Maintain
satisfactory progress toward the degree,
certificate, endorsement, or license as
determined by the grantee;
(d) Service obligation. Upon exiting
the training program under paragraph
(a) of this section, subsequently
maintain employment—
(1) On a full-time or full-time
equivalent basis; and
(2) For a period of at least two years
for every academic year for which
assistance was received;
(e) Eligible employment. In order to
meet the requirements of paragraph (d)
of this section for any project funded
under section 662 of the Act, be
employed in a position in which—
(1) At least 51 percent of the infants,
toddlers, and children to whom the
individual provides services are
receiving special education, related
services, or early intervention services
from the individual;
(2) The individual spends at least 51
percent of his or her time providing
special education, related services, or
early intervention services to infants,
toddlers, and children with disabilities;
or
(3) If the position involves
supervision (including in the capacity of
a principal), teaching at the
postsecondary level, research, policy,
technical assistance, program
development, or administration, the
individual spends at least 51 percent of
his or her time performing work related
to the training for which a scholarship
was received under section 662 of the
Act.
(f) Time period. Meet the service
obligation under paragraph (d) of this
section as follows:
(1) A scholar must complete the
service obligation within the period
ending not more than the sum of the
number of years required in paragraph
(d)(2) of this section, as appropriate,
plus five additional years, from the date
the scholar completes the training for
which the scholarship assistance was
awarded.

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(2) A scholar may begin eligible
employment subsequent to the
completion of one academic year of the
training for which the scholarship
assistance was received that otherwise
meets the requirements of paragraph (1);
(g) Part-time scholars. If the scholar is
pursuing coursework on a part-time
basis, meet the service obligation in this
section based on the accumulated
academic years of training for which the
scholarship is received;
(h) Information upon exit. Provide the
grantee all requested information
necessary for the grantee to meet the
exit certification requirements under
§ 304.23(c);
(i) Information after exit. Within 60
days after exiting the program, and as
necessary thereafter for any changes,
provide the Department, via U.S. mail,
all information that the Secretary needs
to monitor the scholar’s service
obligation under this section, including
social security number, address,
employment setting, and employment
status;
(j) Repayment. If not fulfilling the
requirements in this section, subject to
the provisions in § 304.31 regarding an
exception or deferral, repay any
scholarship received, plus interest, in an
amount proportional to the service
obligation not completed as follows:
(1) The Secretary charges the scholar
interest on the unpaid balance owed in
accordance with the Debt Collection Act
of 1982, as amended, 31 U.S.C. 3717.
(2)(i) Interest on the unpaid balance
accrues from the date the scholar is

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determined to have entered repayment
status under paragraph (4) of this
section.
(ii) Any accrued interest is capitalized
at the time the scholar’s repayment
schedule is established.
(iii) No interest is charged for the
period of time during which repayment
has been deferred under § 304.31.
(3) Under the authority of the Debt
Collection Act of 1982, as amended, the
Secretary may impose reasonable
collection costs.
(4) A scholar enters repayment status
on the first day of the first calendar
month after the earliest of the following
dates, as applicable:
(i) The date the scholar informs the
grantee or the Secretary that the scholar
does not plan to fulfill the service
obligation under the agreement.
(ii) Any date when the scholar’s
failure to begin or maintain employment
makes it impossible for that individual
to complete the service obligation
within the number of years required in
§ 304.30(f).
(iii) Any date on which the scholar
discontinues enrollment in the course of
study under § 304.30(a).
(5) The scholar must make payments
to the Secretary that cover principal,
interest, and collection costs according
to a schedule established by the
Secretary.
(6) Any amount of the scholarship
that has not been repaid pursuant to
paragraphs (j)(1) through (j)(5) of this
section will constitute a debt owed to
the United States that may be collected

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by the Secretary in accordance with 34
CFR part 30.
(Approved by the Office of Management and
Budget under control number 1820–0622)
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h))
§ 304.31 Requirements for obtaining an
exception or deferral to performance or
repayment under an agreement.

(a) Based upon sufficient evidence to
substantiate the grounds, the Secretary
may grant an exception to the
repayment requirement in § 304.30(j), in
whole or part, if the scholar—
(1) Is unable to continue the course of
study in § 304.30 or perform the service
obligation because of a permanent
disability; or
(2) Has died.
(b) Based upon sufficient evidence to
substantiate the grounds, the Secretary
may grant a deferral of the repayment
requirement in § 304.30(j) during the
time the scholar—
(1) Is engaging in a full-time course of
study at an institution of higher
education;
(2) Is serving on active duty as a
member of the armed services of the
United States;
(3) Is serving as a volunteer under the
Peace Corps Act; or
(4) Is serving as a full-time volunteer
under title I of the Domestic Volunteer
Service Act of 1973.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462(h))
[FR Doc. 06–5111 Filed 6–2–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

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