[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 225 (Friday, November 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82342-82343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25999]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2023-FSA-0094]


Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid (FSA), Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new matching program.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended by the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 and the Computer 
Matching and Privacy Protection Amendments of 1990 (Privacy Act), and 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance on the conduct of 
matching programs, notice is hereby given of the re-establishment of 
the matching program between the U.S. Department of Education 
(Department or ED) (recipient agency) and the U.S. Department of 
Veterans Affairs (VA) (source agency). The current 18-month Computer 
Matching Agreement (CMA) between ED and VA was recertified for an 
additional 12 months on January 3, 2023, and will automatically expire 
on January 2, 2024.

DATES: This CMA will supersede the current matching program between the 
parties. The period of this matching program is estimated to cover the 
18-month period from December 27, 2023, through June 26, 2025. However, 
the matching program will become applicable at the later of the 
following two dates: December 27, 2023, or 30 days after the 
publication of this notice, on November 24, 2023, unless comments have 
been received from interested members of the public requiring revision 
to and republication of the notice. The matching program will continue 
for 18 months after the applicable date and may be extended for up to 
an additional 12 months if the respective agency Data Integrity Boards 
(DIBs) determine that the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 
552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at regulations.gov. However, if you require an accommodation or 
cannot otherwise submit your comments via regulations.gov, please 
contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT. The Department will not accept comments submitted by fax or by 
email, or comments submitted after the comment period. To ensure that 
the Department does not receive duplicate copies, please submit your 
comments only once. In addition, please include the Docket ID at the 
top of your comments.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit 
your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, 
including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting 
comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under the 
``FAQ'' tab.
    Privacy Note: FSA's policy is generally to make comments received 
from members of the public available for public viewing in their 
entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. 
Therefore, commenters should be careful to include in their comments 
only information that they wish to make publicly available. FSA's 
policy is that commenters should not include in their comments any 
information that identifies other individuals or that permits readers 
to identify other individuals. If, for example, your comment describes 
an experience of someone other than yourself, please do not identify 
that individual or include information that would allow readers to 
identify that individual. FSA reserves the right to redact at any time 
any information in comments that identifies other individuals, includes 
information that would allow readers to identify other individuals, or 
includes threats of harm to another person.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerard Duffey, Management and Program 
Analyst, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 
Philadelphia, PA 19107. Telephone: (215) 656-3249.
    If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and 
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Privacy Act; OMB 
``Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the 
Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988,'' published in 
the Federal Register on June 19, 1989 (54 FR 25818); and OMB Circular 
No. A-108, ``Federal Agency Responsibilities for Review, Reporting, and 
Publication Under the Privacy Act,'' published in the Federal Register 
on

[[Page 82343]]

December 23, 2016 (81 FR 94424), notice is hereby provided of the re-
establishment of the matching program between ED and VA.

Participating Agencies

    ED and VA.

Authority for Conducting the Matching Program

    ED is authorized to participate in the matching program under 
sections 480(c)(1) and 480(d)(1)(D) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(c)(1) and (d)(1)(D)). VA is 
authorized to participate in the matching program under 38 U.S.C. 523.

Purpose(s)

    The purpose of this matching program is to assist the Secretary of 
Education (the Secretary) with verification of a veteran's status 
during the processing and review of applications for financial 
assistance under title IV of the HEA.
    The Secretary is authorized by the HEA to administer programs under 
title IV of the HEA and to enforce the terms and conditions of the HEA.
    Section 480(c)(1) of the HEA defines the term ``veteran'' to mean 
``any individual who--(A) has engaged in the active duty in the United 
States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard; and (B) was 
released under a condition other than dishonorable.'' (20 U.S.C. 
1087vv(c)(1)). Under section 480(d)(1)(D) of the HEA, an applicant who 
is a veteran (as defined in section 480(c)(1) of the HEA) is considered 
an independent student for purposes of title IV, HEA program assistance 
eligibility, and, therefore, does not have to provide parental income 
and asset information to apply for title IV, HEA program assistance. 
(20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)(1)(D)).

Categories of Individuals

    Individuals who have completed the Free Application for Federal 
Student Aid (FAFSA[supreg]) and have indicated that they are veterans.

Categories of Records

    ED will disclose to the VA the Social Security number (SSN), first 
and last name, and date of birth (DOB) of each applicant for financial 
assistance under title IV of the HEA who indicates veteran status in 
their application.
    VA will compare these data elements against the first and last 
name, SSN, and DOB of veterans. As a result of the match, VA will 
assign one of four values to the applicant records: (1) veteran status 
confirmed; (2) record found on database, but not a qualifying veteran; 
(3) record not found on database; or (4) record found on database, but 
applicant on active duty. VA then will transmit applicant records back 
to ED.

System(s) of Records

    ED systems of records: (1) Aid Awareness and Application Processing 
(AAAP) (18-11-21), last fully published in the Federal Register on June 
15, 2023 (88 FR 39233); and (2) Common Origination and Disbursement 
(COD) System (18-11-02) last fully published in the Federal Register on 
June 28, 2023 (88 FR 41942). (Note: the ED Central Processing System 
(CPS) and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Processing 
System (FPS) are the ED information systems that process FAFSA data 
from the Aid Awareness and Application Processing system of records. 
CPS will process this data through September 30, 2024, for Award Year 
(AY) 2023-24. FPS will become operational on or after December 1, 2023, 
and begin processing FAFSA data for AY 2024-25. After September 30, 
2024, CPS will be decommissioned and will be fully replaced by FPS 
within AAAP. FPS will process data for all AYs thereafter. ED uses the 
COD System to determine the amounts and types of Title IV, HEA program 
assistance that an applicant for Title IV, HEA benefits will receive.)
    VA system of records: ``Compensation, Pension, Education, and 
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Records--VA'' (58VA21/22/28), 
last fully published in the Federal Register at 86 FR 61858 (November 
8, 2021).
    Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities 
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will 
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich 
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, 
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible 
format.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published 
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

Richard Cordray,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2023-25999 Filed 11-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P