The Department of Education (the Department) amends the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program regulations issued under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), to implement changes made to the regulations in §685.300. These final regulations are a result of negotiated rulemaking and will add new requirements to the current regulations.
These final regulations in §685.300 will add provisions to schoolsâ Direct Loan program participation agreements that, for claims that may form the basis for borrower defenses that prevent schools from requiring that students first engage in a schoolâs internal complaint process before contacting accrediting and government agencies about the complaint; prohibit the use of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements by schools; prohibit the use of class action lawsuit waivers; to the extent schools and borrowers engage in arbitration in a manner consistent with applicable law and regulation, require schools to disclose to and notify the Secretary of arbitration filings and awards.
This request is for a new information collection. These changes are due to the regulations offered through agency discretion. The increase in burden to this information collection is 179,362 hours. These new regulations are a result of negotiated rulemaking.
$0
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Beth Grebeldinger 202 708-8242
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.