IIB 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1412
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 2, 2003
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To provide the Secretary of Education with specific waiver 
authority to respond to a war or other military operation 
or national emergency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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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.
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(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 
EMER-
GENCIES. 
(a) WAIVERS AND MODIFICATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, unless enacted with specific ref-
erence to this section, the Secretary of Education 
(referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may 
waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provi-
sion 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 para-
graph (2). 
(2) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is 
authorized to waive or modify any provision de-
scribed in paragraph (1) as may be necessary to en-
sure that—
(A) recipients of student financial assist-
ance under title IV of the Act who are affected 
individuals are not placed in a worse position fi-
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nancially in relation to that financial assistance 
because of their status as affected individuals; 
(B) administrative requirements placed on 
affected individuals who are recipients of stu-
dent 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 in-
advertent, technical violations or defaults; 
(C) the calculation of ‘‘annual adjusted 
family income’’ and ‘‘available income’’, as used 
in the determination of need for student finan-
cial assistance under title IV of the Act for any 
such affected individual (and the determination 
of such need for his or her spouse and depend-
ents, 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 fi-
nancial 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
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modified so that no overpayment will be re-
quired 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, eligi-
ble lenders, guaranty agencies, and other enti-
ties participating in the student assistance pro-
grams 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 require-
ments that are rendered infeasible or unreason-
able 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
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deems necessary to achieve the purposes of this sec-
tion. 
(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 au-
thority 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 im-
pact 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 deter-
mination, and include in such report the Secretary’s rec-
ommendations for changes to the statutory or regulatory 
provisions that were the subject of such waiver or modi-
fication. 
(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
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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 Con-
gress that—
(1) all institutions offering postsecondary edu-
cation 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 ac-
tive service, such institutions should make every ef-
fort to minimize deferral of enrollment or reapplica-
tion requirements and should provide the greatest 
flexibility possible with administrative deadlines re-
lated 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.
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SEC. 4. USE OF PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT. 
A financial aid administrator shall be considered to 
be making a necessary adjustment in accordance with sec-
tion 479A(a) of the Act if the administrator makes adjust-
ments with respect to the calculation of the expected stu-
dent or parent contribution (or both) of an affected indi-
vidual, and adequately documents the need for the adjust-
ment. 
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 attend-
ance at a service school. 
(2) AFFECTED
INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘af-
fected individual’’ means an individual who—
(A) is serving on active duty during a war 
or other military operation or national emer-
gency; 
(B) is performing qualifying National 
Guard duty during a war or other military op-
eration or national emergency; 
(C) resides or is employed in an area that 
is declared a disaster area by any Federal,
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State, or local official in connection with a na-
tional emergency; or 
(D) suffered direct economic hardship as a 
direct result of a war or other military oper-
ation 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 ‘‘na-
tional emergency’’ means a national emergency de-
clared by the President of the United States. 
(5) SERVING
ON
ACTIVE
DUTY.—The term 
‘‘serving on active duty during a war or other mili-
tary 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 connec-
tion with a war or other military operation or 
national emergency, regardless of the location
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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, op-
eration, or emergency or subsequent actions or 
conditions who has been assigned to a duty sta-
tion 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 sec-
tion 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.
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SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 
The provisions of this Act shall cease to be effective 
at the close of September 30, 2005.
Passed the House of Representatives April 1, 2003. 
Attest: 
JEFF TRANDAHL, 
Clerk.