- Skip to main content
- About Us
- Contact Us
- FAQs
-  Language Assistance ****   - English
  - español
  - 中文: 繁體版
  - Việt-ngữ
  - 한국어
  - Tagalog
  - Русский

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education

            - Student Loans
            - Grants
            - Laws
            - Data

Laws & GuidanceGENERAL

The FOIA authorizes agencies to recover from requesters  certain costs associated with processing requests made under the Act. 5 U.S.C.  § 552 (a)(4)(A)(i) and (ii). The statute further provides for such fees to be  waived in whole or in part where “disclosure of the information [requested] is  in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to  public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is  not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.”   5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii)(2000); 34 C.F.R. § 5.64. 

To qualify for a fee waiver, requesters must meet two  statutory requirements. First, the requester must support the request with  evidence that establishes that disclosure of the information sought is in the  public interest. In order to determine this, the Department must consider the  following four factors in order: 
                - The  subject matter of the requested records themselves must specifically concern  identifiable “operations or activities of the government”; 
                - In  order for the disclosure to “likely contribute” to an understanding of specific  government operations or activities, the disclosable portions of the requested  information must be meaningfully informative in relation to the subject matter  of the request; 
                - The  disclosure must contribute to the “understanding of the public at large,” as  opposed to that of the individual requester or a narrow segment of interested  persons. With regard to this element, requesters should address with  particularity and in detail the requester’s subject matter expertise and  intentions, ability, and methods of disseminating information to the public;  and
                - The disclosure must “contribute  significantly” to public understanding of government operations or activities. 

Requesters must meet all four elements of the public interest  test outlined above to satisfy this first statutory requirement for a fee  waiver. See Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Department of Justice, No. 03-5093, 2004 WL  980826 (D.C. Cir. May 7, 2004). 

If the first statutory requirement is met, the Department will  then also determine whether the “disclosure of the information...is not primarily  in the commercial interest of the requester.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). To  determine whether this second requirement has been satisfied, the Department  must consider the following two factors in order: 
                - Does  the request involve any “commercial interest of the requester” (if not, the  requester satisfies the second prong of the statutory fee waiver test); and 
                -  If so, the agency must balance the  requester’s commercial interest against the identified public interest in  disclosure for the purpose of ascertaining which is the “primary interest;” a  fee waiver or reduction may granted only where the public interest in  disclosure is greater in magnitude than the requester’s commercial interest.

|        |
|--------|
|   | Printable view |
|        |

## How Do I Find...

          - Student loans, forgiveness
          - College accreditation
          - Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
          - FERPA
          - FAFSA
          - 1098, tax forms

More >

## Information About...

          - Transforming Teaching
          - Family and Community Engagement
          - Early Learning

 

|  |
|--|
|  |
|  | No Related Topics Found |  |
|  |

----

*Our mission*

Student Loans
Repaying LoansDefaulted LoansLoan ForgivenessLoan Servicers

Grants & Programs
Apply for Pell GrantsGrants ForecastApply for a GrantEligibility for Grants

Laws & Guidance
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)FERPACivil RightsNew IDEA Website

Data & Research
Education StatisticsPostsecondary Education DataED Data ExpressNation's Report CardWhat Works Clearinghouse

About Us
Contact UsED OfficesJobsPress ReleasesFAQsRecursos en españolBudget, PerformancePrivacy ProgramSubscribe to E-Mail Updates

----

          - Notices
          - FOIA
          - Privacy Policy
          - Accessibility
          - Security
          - Information quality
          - Inspector General
          - Whitehouse.gov
          - USA.gov
          - Benefits.gov
          - Regulations.gov