To provide the Secretary of Education with specific waiver authority to respond to a war or other military operation or national emergency.

Summary: Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to waive or modify any requirement or regulation applicable to the student financial assistance programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 as deemed necessary with respect to an affected individual who: (1) is serving on active duty during a war or other military operation or national emergency; (2) is performing qualifying National Guard duty during a war, operation, or emergency; (3) resides or is employed in an area that is declared a disaster area by any Federal, State, or local official in connection with a national emergency; or (4) suffered direct economic hardship as a direct result of a war or other military operation or national emergency.

Authorizes the Secretary to grant such a waiver to ensure that: (1) affected individuals who have received student financial assistance (affected recipients) are not placed in a worse position financially in relation to that financial assistance because of their status; (2) administrative requirements placed on affected recipients are minimized to ease the burden on them and avoid inadvertent, technical violations or defaults; (3) calculations of income or overpayment amounts required to be returned may be modified in light of the special circumstances; and (4) institutions of higher education, eligible lenders, guaranty agencies, and other participating entities that are located in declared disaster areas in connection with a national emergency, or whose operations are significantly affected by such a disaster, may be granted temporary relief from requirements that are rendered infeasible or unreasonable by the emergency, including due diligence requirements and reporting deadlines. Declares the sense of Congress that: (1) all institutions offering postsecondary education should provide a full refund (or credit) of tuition and related fees to students who are affected individuals for that portion of a period of instruction such a student was unable to complete, or for which such individual did not receive academic credit, because he or she was called up for active duty or active service; and (2) if affected individuals withdraw from a course of study as a result of such active duty or active service, such institutions should make every effort to minimize deferral of enrollment or reapplication requirements and should provide the greatest flexibility possible with administrative deadlines related to those applications.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; REFERENCE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Higher Education 
Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003''.
    (b) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
        (1) There is no more important cause than that of our nation's 
    defense.
        (2) The United States will protect the freedom and secure the 
    safety of its citizens.
        (3) The United States military is the finest in the world and 
    its personnel are determined to lead the world in pursuit of peace.
        (4) Hundreds of thousands of Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, 
    Navy, and Coast Guard reservists and members of the National Guard 
    have been called to active duty or active service.
        (5) The men and women of the United States military put their 
    lives on hold, leave their families, jobs, and postsecondary 
    education in order to serve their country and do so with 
    distinction.
        (6) There is no more important cause for this Congress than to 
    support the members of the United States military and provide 
    assistance with their transition into and out of active duty and 
    active service.
    (c) Reference.--References in this Act to ``the Act'' are 
references to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et 
seq.).

SEC. 2. WAIVER AUTHORITY FOR RESPONSE TO MILITARY CONTINGENCIES AND 
              NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.

    (a) Waivers and Modifications.--
        (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
    unless enacted with specific reference to this section, the 
    Secretary of Education (referred to in this Act as the 
    ``Secretary'') may waive or modify any statutory or regulatory 
    provision applicable to the student financial assistance programs 
    under title IV of the Act as the Secretary deems necessary in 
    connection with a war or other military operation or national 
    emergency to provide the waivers or modifications authorized by 
    paragraph (2).
        (2) Actions authorized.--The Secretary is authorized to waive 
    or modify any provision described in paragraph (1) as may be 
    necessary to ensure that--
            (A) recipients of student financial assistance under title 
        IV of the Act who are affected individuals are not placed in a 
        worse position financially in relation to that financial 
        assistance because of their status as affected individuals;
            (B) administrative requirements placed on affected 
        individuals who are recipients of student financial assistance 
        are minimized, to the extent possible without impairing the 
        integrity of the student financial assistance programs, to ease 
        the burden on such students and avoid inadvertent, technical 
        violations or defaults;
            (C) the calculation of ``annual adjusted family income'' 
        and ``available income'', as used in the determination of need 
        for student financial assistance under title IV of the Act for 
        any such affected individual (and the determination of such 
        need for his or her spouse and dependents, if applicable), may 
        be modified to mean the sums received in the first calendar 
        year of the award year for which such determination is made, in 
        order to reflect more accurately the financial condition of 
        such affected individual and his or her family;
            (D) the calculation under section 484B(b)(2) of the Act (20 
        U.S.C. 1091b(b)(2)) of the amount a student is required to 
        return in the case of an affected individual may be modified so 
        that no overpayment will be required to be returned or repaid 
        if the institution has documented (i) the student's status as 
        an affected individual in the student's file, and (ii) the 
        amount of any overpayment discharged; and
            (E) institutions of higher education, eligible lenders, 
        guaranty agencies, and other entities participating in the 
        student assistance programs under title IV of the Act that are 
        located in areas that are declared disaster areas by any 
        Federal, State or local official in connection with a national 
        emergency, or whose operations are significantly affected by 
        such a disaster, may be granted temporary relief from 
        requirements that are rendered infeasible or unreasonable by a 
        national emergency, including due diligence requirements and 
        reporting deadlines.
    (b) Notice of Waivers or Modifications.--
        (1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 437 of the General 
    Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232) and section 553 of title 
    5, United States Code, the Secretary shall, by notice in the 
    Federal Register, publish the waivers or modifications of statutory 
    and regulatory provisions the Secretary deems necessary to achieve 
    the purposes of this section.
        (2) Terms and conditions.--The notice under paragraph (1) shall 
    include the terms and conditions to be applied in lieu of such 
    statutory and regulatory provisions.
        (3) Case-by-case basis.--The Secretary is not required to 
    exercise the waiver or modification authority under this section on 
    a case-by-case basis.
    (c) Impact Report.--The Secretary shall, not later than 15 months 
after first exercising any authority to issue a waiver or modification 
under subsection (a), report to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate on the impact of any 
waivers or modifications issued pursuant to subsection (a) on affected 
individuals and the programs under title IV of the Act, and the basis 
for such determination, and include in such report the Secretary's 
recommendations for changes to the statutory or regulatory provisions 
that were the subject of such waiver or modification.
    (d) No Delay in Waivers and Modifications.--Sections 482(c) and 492 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089(c), 1098a) shall 
not apply to the waivers and modifications authorized or required by 
this Act.

SEC. 3. TUITION REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
        (1) all institutions offering postsecondary education should 
    provide a full refund to students who are affected individuals for 
    that portion of a period of instruction such student was unable to 
    complete, or for which such individual did not receive academic 
    credit, because he or she was called up for active duty or active 
    service; and
        (2) if affected individuals withdraw from a course of study as 
    a result of such active duty or active service, such institutions 
    should make every effort to minimize deferral of enrollment or 
    reapplication requirements and should provide the greatest 
    flexibility possible with administrative deadlines related to those 
    applications.
    (b) Definition of Full Refund.--For purposes of this section, a 
full refund includes a refund of required tuition and fees, or a credit 
in a comparable amount against future tuition and fees.

SEC. 4. USE OF PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT.

    A financial aid administrator shall be considered to be making a 
necessary adjustment in accordance with section 479A(a) of the Act if 
the administrator makes adjustments with respect to the calculation of 
the expected student or parent contribution (or both) of an affected 
individual, and adequately documents the need for the adjustment.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
        (1) Active duty.--The term ``active duty'' has the meaning 
    given such term in section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States 
    Code, except that such term does not include active duty for 
    training or attendance at a service school.
        (2) Affected individual.--The term ``affected individual'' 
    means an individual who--
            (A) is serving on active duty during a war or other 
        military operation or national emergency;
            (B) is performing qualifying National Guard duty during a 
        war or other military operation or national emergency;
            (C) resides or is employed in an area that is declared a 
        disaster area by any Federal, State, or local official in 
        connection with a national emergency; or
            (D) suffered direct economic hardship as a direct result of 
        a war or other military operation or national emergency, as 
        determined by the Secretary.
        (3) Military operation.--The term ``military operation'' means 
    a contingency operation as such term is defined in section 
    101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code.
        (4) National emergency.--The term ``national emergency'' means 
    a national emergency declared by the President of the United 
    States.
        (5) Serving on active duty.--The term ``serving on active duty 
    during a war or other military operation or national emergency'' 
    shall include service by an individual who is--
            (A) a Reserve of an Armed Force ordered to active duty 
        under section 12301(a), 12301(g), 12302, 12304, or 12306 of 
        title 10, United States Code, or any retired member of an Armed 
        Force ordered to active duty under section 688 of such title, 
        for service in connection with a war or other military 
        operation or national emergency, regardless of the location at 
        which such active duty service is performed; and
            (B) any other member of an Armed Force on active duty in 
        connection with such war, operation, or emergency or subsequent 
        actions or conditions who has been assigned to a duty station 
        at a location other than the location at which such member is 
        normally assigned.
        (6) Qualifying national guard duty.--The term ``qualifying 
    National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or 
    national emergency'' means service as a member of the National 
    Guard on full-time National Guard duty (as defined in section 
    101(d)(5) of title 10, United States Code) under a call to active 
    service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for 
    a period of more than 30 consecutive days under section 502(f) of 
    title 32, United States Code, in connection with a war, another 
    military operation, or a national emergency declared by the 
    President and supported by Federal funds.

SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

    The provisions of this Act shall cease to be effective at the close 
of September 30, 2005.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.