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.
(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-
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
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
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
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.
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,
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
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.
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:
Clerk.