MEMORANDUM

Date: November 18, 2021

To: U.S. Department of Education

From: Persis Yu and Joshua Rovenger, Negotiators for Legal Assistance Organizations that Represent 

Students and/or Borrowers

Re: False Certification Proposals: Disqualifying Status and Group Process

We propose the following changes to the false certification proposal at § 685.215:

Proposal 1: Disqualifying Status: At session two, we urged the Department to revert to its earlier 

position and expand the scope of disqualifying status. To do so, we propose the following changes. 

This proposed language is largely modeled on Colo. Rev. Stat. 23-64-123(1)(i).

The Department should modify (a)(1)(iv) to say:

Certified the eligibility of the student who, because of a physical or mental condition, 

age, criminal record, or other reason accepted by the Secretary, would not meet 

requirements for employment (in the student’s State of residence when the loan was 

originated) in the occupation for which the training program supported by the loan 

was intended, or certified the eligibility of the student where the institution knew or 

reasonably should have known that the student was unlikely to qualify for employment 

in the field for which the education was designed.

The Department should make a corresponding change at (c)(2) as follows:

In the case of a borrower requesting a discharge based on a condition that would 

disqualify the borrower from employment in the occupation that the training program 

for which the borrower received the loan was intended, the borrower must state in the 

application that the borrower (or student for whom a parent received a PLUS loan) –

(i) Did not meet requirements for employment (in the student's State of 

residence) in the occupation that the training program for which the borrower 

received the loan was intended because of a physical or mental condition, age, 

criminal record, or other reason accepted by the Secretary, or 

(ii) Did not meet requirements for employment (in the student’s State of 

residence) where the institution knew or reasonably should have known that 

the student was unlikely to qualify for employment in the field for which the 

education was designed. 

Proposal 2: Group Process: As discussed in our prior memoranda, we believe that the Department 

should provide a path for borrowers to submit a group discharge application. The Department can 

effectuate this by adding section (c)(10) as follows:
Group application: A state Attorney General or non-profit legal services representative may

submit to the Secretary an application for a group discharge under this section. The Secretary 

determines whether the available evidence supports the claim for discharge by considering all 

available evidence, including the evidence enumerated in (d)(3) of this section. The Secretary 

then issues a decision that explains the reasons for any adverse determination on the 

application, describes the evidence on which the decision was made, and provides the 

applicant, upon request, copies of the evidence. The Secretary’s denial of a group application 

shall have no preclusive effect or bearing on an individual’s application under this section.