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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 104939-104940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30606]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Parts 30 and 682

[Docket ID ED-2023-OPE-0123]
RIN 1840-AD93

Student Debt Relief for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan 
Program (Direct Loans), the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) 
Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins) Program, and the Health 
Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program; Withdrawal

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of proposed rulemaking and termination of 
rulemaking proceeding.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is withdrawing a 
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that, under the Secretary's 
authority to waive repayment of a loan provided by the Higher Education 
Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), proposed to do the following: amend 
regulations regarding waiver of certain student loan debts; provide 
targeted debt relief as part of efforts to address the burden of 
student loan debt; and modify the Department's existing debt collection 
regulations to provide greater specificity regarding certain non-
exhaustive situations in which the Secretary may exercise discretion to 
waive all or part of any debts owed to the Department.

DATES: The notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal 
Register at 89 FR 27564 on April 17, 2024, is withdrawn as of December 
20, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamy Abernathy, U.S. Department of

[[Page 104940]]

Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, 
5th Floor, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 245-4595. Email: 
[email protected].
    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: 

Background

    On April 17, 2024, the Department published an NPRM in the Federal 
Register that, in accordance with the Secretary's authority to waive 
repayment of a loan provided by section 432(a) of the HEA, would 
specify the Secretary's discretion to provide debt relief targeted to 
specific circumstances. See 89 FR 27564. The proposed regulations would 
modify the Department's existing debt collection regulations to provide 
greater specificity regarding the Secretary's discretion to waive 
Federal student loan debt. It would also specify the Secretary's 
authority to waive all or part of any debts owed to the Department 
based on a number of different circumstances, such as the following: 
growth in a borrower's loan balance beyond what was owed upon entering 
repayment; the amount of time since a loan first entered repayment; 
whether the borrower is otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness or 
discharge under existing authority but has not successfully applied; 
and whether a borrower obtained a loan to attend an institution or 
program that was subject to secretarial actions to end its title IV 
eligibility, that closed prior to such secretarial actions, or was 
associated with closed Gainful Employment programs with high debt-to-
earnings rates or low median earnings.
    The Department accepted public comments on the NPRM from April 17, 
2024 through May 17, 2024. In response to the NPRM, the Department 
received 148,567 written comments, and the Department has reviewed such 
comments.
    Withdrawal of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Termination of 
the Rulemaking Proceeding
    In accordance with the Secretary's authority under section 432(a) 
of the HEA to waive repayment of a loan, the Department issued the NPRM 
to specify the Secretary's discretion to provide targeted debt relief 
to borrowers facing specific challenges repaying their student loans. 
The NPRM also proposed revisions to update and clarify various 
references and provisions in subparts A, C, E, and F of 34 CFR part 30 
and proposed to amend part 682 by adding a new Sec.  682.403.
    The Department believed clarifying the circumstances in which the 
Secretary may use the existing and longstanding waiver authority under 
section 432(a) of the HEA would better inform the public about how the 
Secretary may exercise this waiver authority in a consistent and 
equitable manner. Current regulations do not describe how the Secretary 
uses this waiver authority. We also believed that providing such 
specificity would allow the Department to highlight circumstances where 
we are particularly concerned about borrowers' inability to 
successfully repay their debt in full in a reasonable period, where the 
Department anticipated that the costs of collection would exceed the 
amount recoverable, and in circumstances that would implicate equity 
and fairness.
    However, upon further consideration of the operational challenges 
in implementing the proposals in the NPRM, the Secretary withdraws the 
NPRM and terminates the rulemaking proceeding.
    In making this decision, we considered the Department's ability to 
implement the proposed rules if they were finalized in a form identical 
or largely similar to what was included in the NPRM. With the time 
remaining in this administration, the Department is focused on several 
priorities including court-ordered settlements and helping borrowers 
manage the final elements of the return to repayment following the Fall 
2024 end of the 12-month on-ramp period designed to assist borrowers 
who were unable to make their payments or who needed more time to 
access information to determine the right repayment plan for their 
circumstances. With the end of the on-ramp period, some borrowers may 
start becoming delinquent and start down the path to default. Given 
that many newer borrowers are at risk of default, and many of these 
borrowers would not have been otherwise affected by the proposed rules 
in the NPRM, along with the uncertainty around the implementation of 
the NPRM proposals, at this time the Department intends to commit its 
limited operational resources to helping at-risk borrowers return to 
repayment successfully. The Department has also concluded that 
withdrawing the NPRM will assure agency flexibility in re-examining the 
issues and exploring options and alternatives with stakeholders in the 
future. For all of these independently sufficient reasons, the 
Department is withdrawing this NPRM.
    Importantly, the Department is not withdrawing this NPRM and 
terminating this rulemaking proceeding based upon a changed view of the 
Secretary's authority under section 432(a) of the HEA, or based upon 
any preliminary determination about the limitations of such authority. 
See Missouri v. Biden, No. 24-cv-1316, ECF No. 57 (granting preliminary 
injunction). Rather, the Department continues to believe that the NPRM 
is authorized by the Secretary's longstanding and existing authority 
under the HEA, as explained in the NPRM. See 89 FR 27564.
    We do not intend for a final rule to be issued on this NPRM. Were 
the Department to issue a regulation in this area in the future, it 
would be bound by the requirements of Section 492(a) and (b) of the 
HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1098a(a) and (b).
    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, braille, 
large print, audiotape, 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 Department documents 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 Department documents 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.

Miguel Cardona,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-30606 Filed 12-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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