Title 34 published on 2011-07-01
The following are only the Rules published in the Federal Register after the published date of Title 34.
For a complete list of all Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices view the Rulemaking tab.
The Secretary of the Department of Education (Department) establishes a new part in 2 CFR that adopts the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) guidance, as supplemented by this new part, as the Department's regulations for nonprocurement debarment and suspension. The Secretary removes regulations that contain the Department's current implementation of the Governmentwide common rule on nonprocurement debarment and suspension. The Secretary also amends regulations to correct citations as appropriate. The new part will serve the same purposes as, and is substantively identical to, the nonprocurement suspension and debarment common rule published in the Federal Register on November 26, 2003. On August 31, 2005, OMB established interim final guidance that was substantively identical to the common rule and directed Federal agencies to adopt those guidelines as regulations. On November 15, 2006, OMB published final guidance. These final regulations adopt the OMB guidance as regulations of the Department. In addition, the Department adds those requirements that describe how the Department implements suspension and debarment requirements in the context of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). This regulatory action is an administrative simplification that makes no substantive change in the Department's policy or procedures for nonprocurement debarment and suspension. We do not intend any substantive changes to the Department's debarment and suspension regulations. To be sure we achieved that objective, we ask for technical comments about whether the new regulations are substantively different than the existing regulations.
The Department of Education (Department or Education) provides notice of its interpretation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Department's implementing regulations, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in federally assisted programs and activities (Education's Section 504 regulations). Among other things, Education's Section 504 regulations address the accessibility and usability of a recipient's facilities by persons with disabilities. This document explains that for new construction and alterations commenced on or after September 15, 2010, we will permit recipients of Federal financial assistance from the Department to use an additional alternative accessibility standard in lieu of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) for the purpose of complying with Section 504. Specifically, we will permit the use of the U. S. Department of Justice's 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II regulation (referred to in this notice as the 2010 Title II ADA Standards) except that Exception (1) to Section 206.2.3 does not apply. Use of the 2010 Title II ADA Standards will not be required as a means of compliance with Section 504, however, until the Department revises its Section 504 regulations to formally adopt the 2010 Title II ADA Standards in lieu of UFAS.
On June 13, 2011, the Secretary of Education (Secretary) published a notice of final regulations in the Federal Register for Program Integrity: Gainful Employment—Debt Measures (Gainful Employment—Debt Measures) (76 FR 34386). In the preamble of the final regulations, we used the wrong data to calculate the percent of total variance in institutions' repayment rates that may be explained by race/ethnicity. Our intent was to use the data that included all minority students per institution. However, we mistakenly used the data for a subset of minority students per institution. We have now recalculated the total variance using the data that includes all minority students. Through this document, we correct, in the preamble of the Gainful Employment—Debt Measures final regulations, the errors resulting from this misapplication. We do not change the regression analysis model itself; we are using the same model with the appropriate data. Through this notice we also correct, in the preamble of the Gainful Employment—Debt Measures final regulations, our description of one component of the regression analysis. The preamble referred to use of an institutional variable measuring acceptance rates. This description was incorrect; in fact we used an institutional variable measuring retention rates. Correcting this language does not change the regression analysis model itself or the variance explained by the model. The text of the final regulations remains unchanged.
The Secretary of Education (Secretary) amends the regulations implementing section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), which is commonly referred to as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). These amendments are needed to ensure that the U.S. Department of Education (Department or we) continues to implement FERPA in a way that protects the privacy of education records while allowing for the effective use of data. Improved access to data will facilitate States' ability to evaluate education programs, to ensure limited resources are invested effectively, to build upon what works and discard what does not, to increase accountability and transparency, and to contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in education. The use of data is vital to ensuring the best education for our children. However, the benefits of using student data must always be balanced with the need to protect student privacy. Protecting student privacy helps achieve a number of important goals, including avoiding discrimination, identity theft, as well as other malicious and damaging criminal acts.
The Secretary issues final regulations governing the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities. These regulations are needed to reflect changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (Act or IDEA).
On October 28, 2009, the Department of Education (Department) published final regulations in the Federal Register to implement requirements relating to education loans that were added to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). The Department also amended regulations for the Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program to implement certain provisions of the HEA that involve school-based loan issues and that were affected by the statutory changes made to the HEA by the HEOA. That document inadvertently included minor technical errors in the amendments to 34 CFR part 668. This document corrects the final regulations.
The following are ALL rules, proposed rules, and notices (chronologically) published in the Federal Register relating to Title 34
The Secretary proposes to amend regulations under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA or Act). These regulations govern the Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities program, including the Preschool Grants program. The Secretary seeks public comment on these proposed amendments regarding the use of public benefits or insurance in which a child participates to provide or pay for services required under Part B of IDEA. Since the Part B regulations were amended in 2006, our experience with implementing the provisions on obtaining parental consent for the use of public benefits or insurance has raised two important issues. First, the current regulations do not require that public agencies inform parents specifically of all of the protections regarding access to public benefits or insurance, including their rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and IDEA confidentiality provisions. Second, State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) have expressed concerns about the overall costs and administrative burdens imposed by requiring parental consent to access public benefits or insurance, in addition to the parental consent required by FERPA.
The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations for Institutional Eligibility under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), to streamline the application and approval process for new educational programs that qualify for student financial assistance under title IV of the HEA.
The Secretary amends the Student Assistance General Provisions regulations to improve disclosure of relevant information and to establish minimal measures for determining whether certain postsecondary educational programs lead to gainful employment in recognized occupations, and the conditions under which these educational programs remain eligible for the student financial assistance programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA).
The Department of Education published final regulations in the Federal Register on April 28, 2011 (76 FR 23712) to amend the regulations governing the Impact Aid Discretionary Construction program, authorized under section 8007(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. That document inadvertently included the incorrect RIN number for the regulatory action. This document corrects the RIN number for that regulatory action.
The Secretary of Education amends the regulations governing the Impact Aid Discretionary Construction program, authorized under section 8007(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. This program provides competitive grants for emergency repairs and modernization of school facilities to certain eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) that receive Impact Aid formula funds. These final regulations amend a requirement for applying for these Impact Aid funds and will improve the administration and distribution of funds under this program. These final regulations apply to grant competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2012 and later years.
On October 29, 2010, the Department of Education published in the Federal Register (75 FR 66832) final regulations for improving integrity in the programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), by amending the regulations for Institutional Eligibility Under the HEA, the Secretary's Recognition of Accrediting Agencies, the Secretary's Recognition Procedures for State Agencies, the Student Assistance General Provisions, the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program, the Federal Pell Grant Program, and the Academic Competitiveness Grant (AGC) and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National Smart Grant) Programs. This document makes several corrections to the October 29 final regulations, including in the preamble discussion and the regulatory text.
The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations implementing section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act, which is also known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (FERPA). These proposed amendments are necessary to ensure that the Department's implementation of FERPA continues to protect the privacy of education records, as intended by Congress, while allowing for the effective use of data in statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) as envisioned in the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (COMPETES Act) and furthermore supported under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Improved access to data contained within an SLDS will facilitate States' ability to evaluate education programs, to build upon what works and discard what does not, to increase accountability and transparency, and to contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in education. These proposed amendments would enable authorized representatives of State and local educational authorities, and organizations conducting studies, to use SLDS data to achieve these important outcomes while protecting privacy under FERPA through an expansion of the requirements for written agreements and the Department's enforcement mechanisms.
