Department of Education
- [Docket ID ED-2020-FSA-0151]
AGENCY:
Federal Student Aid, Department of Education.
ACTION:
Notice of a new matching program.
SUMMARY:
This provides notice of the re-establishment of the matching program between the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and the Social Security Administration (SSA), which sets forth the terms, safeguards, and procedures under which the SSA will disclose to the Department data related to the Medical Improvement Not Expected (MINE) disability data of beneficiaries and recipients under title II and title XVI of the Social Security Act from the SSA system of records entitled the Disability Control File (DCF) and the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR). This matching program will enable the Department to contact the individuals who have a balance on a loan under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), have a title IV loan written off due to default, or have an outstanding service obligation under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program to inform those borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients of the total and permanent disability (TPD) process. Once informed, those borrowers who ( printed page 1100) wish to apply for a discharge may do so more efficiently and effectively.
DATES:
Submit your comments on the proposed re-establishment of the matching program on or before February 8, 2021.
The matching program will go into effect 30 days after the publication of this notice, on January 7, 2021, unless comments have been received from interested members of the public requiring modification and republication of the notice. The matching program will continue for 18 months after the effective date and may be renewed for up to an additional 12 months if, within 3 months prior to the expiration of the 18 months, the respective Data Integrity Boards of the Department and SSA determine that the conditions specified in 5 U.S.C. 552a(o)(2)(D) have been met.
ADDRESSES:
Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after the comment period. To ensure that we do 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 “help” tab.
- Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver your comments about the matching program, address them to the Brenda Vigna, Division Chief, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ron Bennett, Group Director Program Technical & Business Support Group, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education, 830 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20202-5320.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.