34 C.F.R. § 668.2 General definitions.
Title 34 - Education
Link to an amendment published at 71 FR 45692, Aug. 9, 2006. (a) The following definitions are contained in the regulations for Institutional Eligibility under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 34 CFR part 600:
Accredited Award year Branch campus Clock hour Correspondence course Educational program Eligible institution Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) programs Incarcerated student Institution of higher education Legally authorized Nationally recognized accrediting agency Nonprofit institution One-year training program Postsecondary vocational institution Preaccredited Proprietary institution of higher education Recognized equivalent of a high school diploma Recognized occupation Regular student Secretary State Telecommunications course (b) The following definitions apply to all Title IV, HEA programs: Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) Program: A grant program authorized by Title IV–A–1 of the HEA under which grants are awarded during the first and second academic years of study to eligible financially needy undergraduate students who successfully complete rigorous secondary school programs of study. Campus-based programs: (1) The Federal Perkins Loan Program (34 CFR parts 673 and 674); (2) The Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program (34 CFR parts 673 and 675); and (3) The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program (34 CFR parts 673 and 676). Defense loan: A loan made before July 1, 1972, under Title II of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. Dependent student: Any student who does not qualify as an independent student (see Independent student). Designated department official: An official of the Department of Education to whom the Secretary has delegated responsibilities indicated in this part. Direct Loan Program loan: A loan made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. Direct PLUS Loan: A loan made under the Federal Direct PLUS Program. Direct Subsidized Loan: A loan made under the Federal Direct Stafford/Ford Loan Program. Direct Unsubsidized Loan: A loan made under the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford/Ford Loan Program. Enrolled: The status of a student who— (1) Has completed the registration requirements (except for the payment of tuition and fees) at the institution that he or she is attending; or (2) Has been admitted into an educational program offered predominantly by correspondence and has submitted one lesson, completed by him or her after acceptance for enrollment and without the help of a representative of the institution. Expected family contribution (EFC): The amount, as determined under title IV, part F of the HEA, an applicant and his or her spouse and family are expected to contribute toward the applicant's cost of attendance. Federal Consolidation Loan program: The loan program authorized by Title IV-B, section 428C, of the HEA that encourages the making of loans to borrowers for the purpose of consolidating their repayment obligations, with respect to loans received by those borrowers, under the Federal Insured Student Loan (FISL) Program as defined in 34 CFR part 682, the Federal Stafford Loan, Federal PLUS (as in effect before October 17, 1986), Federal Consolidation Loan, Federal SLS, ALAS (as in effect before October 17, 1986), Federal Direct Student Loan, and Federal Perkins Loan programs, and under the Health Professions Student Loan (HPSL) Program authorized by subpart II of part C of Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, for parent Federal PLUS borrowers whose loans were made after October 17, 1986, and for Higher Education Assistance Loans (HEAL) authorized by subpart I of part A of Title VII of the Public Health Services Act. Federal Direct PLUS Program: A loan program authorized by Title IV, Part D of the HEA that is one of the components of the Direct Loan Program. The Federal Direct PLUS Program provides loans to parents of dependent students attending schools that participate in the Direct Loan Program. The borrower is responsible for the interest that accrues during any period. Federal Direct Stafford/Ford Loan Program: A loan program authorized by Title IV, Part D of the HEA that is one of the components of the Direct Loan Program. The Federal Direct Stafford/Ford Loan Program provides loans to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students attending schools that participate in the Direct Loan Program. The Secretary subsidizes the interest while the borrower is in an in-school, grace, or deferment period. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford/Ford Loan Program: A loan program authorized by Title IV, Part D of the HEA that is one of the components of the Direct Loan Program. The Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford/Ford Loan Program provides loans to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students attending schools that participate in the Direct Loan Program. The borrower is responsible for the interest that accrues during any period. Federal Pell Grant Program: A grant program authorized by Title IV–A–1 of the HEA under which grants are awarded to help financially needy students meet the cost of their postsecondary education. Federal Perkins loan: A loan made under Title IV-E of the HEA to cover the cost of attendance for a period of enrollment beginning on or after July 1, 1987, to an individual who on July 1, 1987, had no outstanding balance of principal or interest owing on any loan previously made under Title IV-E of the HEA. Federal Perkins Loan program: The student loan program authorized by Title IV-E of the HEA after October 16, 1986. Unless otherwise noted, as used in this part, the Federal Perkins Loan Program includes the National Direct Student Loan Program and the National Defense Student Loan Program. Federal PLUS loan: A loan made under the Federal PLUS Program. Federal PLUS program: The loan program authorized by Title IV-B, section 428B, of the HEA, that encourages the making of loans to parents of dependent undergraduate students. Before October 17, 1986, the PLUS Program also provided for making loans to graduate, professional, and independent undergraduate students. Before July 1, 1993, the PLUS Program also provided for making loans to parents of dependent graduate students. Federal SLS loan: A loan made under the Federal SLS Program. Federal Stafford loan: A loan made under the Federal Stafford Loan Program. Federal Stafford Loan program: The loan program authorized by Title IV-B (exclusive of sections 428A, 428B, and 428C) that encourages the making of subsidized Federal Stafford and unsubsidized Federal Stafford loans as defined in 34 CFR part 682 to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) program: The grant program authorized by Title IV-A–2 of the HEA. Federal Supplemental Loans for Students (Federal SLS) Program: The loan program authorized by Title IV-B, section 428A of the HEA, as in effect for periods of enrollment that began before July 1, 1994. The Federal SLS Program encourages the making of loans to graduate, professional, independent undergraduate, and certain dependent undergraduate students. Federal Work Study (FWS) program: The part-time employment program for students authorized by Title IV-C of the HEA. FFELP loan: A loan made under the FFEL programs. Full-time student: An enrolled student who is carrying a full-time academic workload (other than by correspondence) as determined by the institution under a standard applicable to all students enrolled in a particular educational program. The student's workload may include any combination of courses, work, research, or special studies that the institution considers sufficient to classify the student as a full-time student. However, for an undergraduate student, an institution's minimum standard must equal or exceed one of the following minimum requirements: (1) Twelve semester hours or 12 quarter hours per academic term in an educational program using a semester, trimester, or quarter system. (2) Twenty-four semester hours or 36 quarter hours per academic year for an educational program using credit hours but not using a semester, trimester, or quarter system, or the prorated equivalent for a program of less than one academic year. (3) Twenty-four clock hours per week for an educational program using clock hours. (4) In an educational program using both credit and clock hours, any combination of credit and clock hours where the sum of the following fractions is equal to or greater than one: (i) For a program using a semester, trimester, or quarter system— (ii) For a program not using a semester, trimester, or quarter system— (5) A series of courses or seminars that equals 12 semester hours or 12 quarter hours in a maximum of 18 weeks. (6) The work portion of a cooperative education program in which the amount of work performed is equivalent to the academic workload of a full-time student. HEA: The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. Independent student: A student who qualifies as an independent student under section 480(d) of the HEA. Initiating official: The designated department official authorized to begin an emergency action under 34 CFR 668.83. Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program: The grant program authorized by Title IV-A–4 of the HEA. National Defense Student Loan program: The student loan program authorized by Title II of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) program: The student loan program authorized by Title IV-E of the HEA between July 1, 1972, and October 16, 1986. National Early Intervention Scholarship and Partnership (NEISP) program: The scholarship program authorized by Chapter 2 of subpart 1 of Title IV-A of the HEA. National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant) Program: A grant program authorized by Title IV–A–1 of the HEA under which grants are awarded during the third and fourth academic years of study to eligible financially needy undergraduate students pursuing eligible majors in the physical, life, or computer sciences, mathematics, technology, or engineering, or foreign languages determined to be critical to the national security of the United States. One-third of an academic year: A period that is at least one-third of an academic year as determined by an institution. At a minimum, one-third of an academic year must be a period that begins on the first day of classes and ends on the last day of classes or examinations and is a minimum of 10 weeks of instructional time during which, for an undergraduate educational program, a full-time student is expected to complete at least 8 semester or trimester hours or 12 quarter hours in an educational program whose length is measured in credit hours or 300 clock hours in an educational program whose length is measured in clock hours. For an institution whose academic year has been reduced under §668.3, one-third of an academic year is the pro-rated equivalent, as measured in weeks and credit or clock hours, of at least one-third of the institution's academic year. Output document: The Student Aid Report (SAR), Electronic Student Aid Report (ESAR), or other document or automated data generated by the Department of Education's central processing system or Multiple Data Entry processing system as the result of the processing of data provided in a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Parent: A student's biological or adoptive mother or father or the student's stepparent, if the biological parent or adoptive mother or father has remarried at the time of application. Participating institution: An eligible institution that meets the standards for participation in Title IV, HEA programs in subpart B and has a current program participation agreement with the Secretary. Show-cause official: The designated department official authorized to conduct a show-cause proceeding for an emergency action under 34 CFR 668.83. Third-party servicer: (1) An individual or a State, or a private, profit or nonprofit organization that enters into a contract with an eligible institution to administer, through either manual or automated processing, any aspect of the institution's participation in any Title IV, HEA program. The Secretary considers administration of participation in a Title IV, HEA program to— (i) Include performing any function required by any statutory provision of or applicable to Title IV of the HEA, any regulatory provision prescribed under that statutory authority, or any applicable special arrangement, agreement, or limitation entered into under the authority of statutes applicable to Title IV of the HEA, such as, but not restricted to— (A) Processing student financial aid applications; (B) Performing need analysis; (C) Determining student eligibility and related activities; (D) Certifying loan applications; (E) Processing output documents for payment to students; (F) Receiving, disbursing, or delivering Title IV, HEA program funds, excluding lock-box processing of loan payments and normal bank electronic fund transfers; (G) Conducting activities required by the provisions governing student consumer information services in subpart D of this part; (H) Preparing and certifying requests for advance or reimbursement funding; (I) Loan servicing and collection; (J) Preparing and submitting notices and applications required under 34 CFR part 600 and subpart B of this part; and (K) Preparing a Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP); (ii) Exclude the following functions— (A) Publishing ability-to-benefit tests; (B) Performing functions as a Multiple Data Entry Processor (MDE); (C) Financial and compliance auditing; (D) Mailing of documents prepared by the institution; (E) Warehousing of records; and (F) Providing computer services or software; and (iii) Notwithstanding the exclusions referred to in paragraph (1)(ii) of this definition, include any activity comprised of any function described in paragraph (1)(i) of this definition. (2) For purposes of this definition, an employee of an institution is not a third-party servicer. The Secretary considers an individual to be an employee if the individual— (i) Works on a full-time, part-time, or temporary basis; (ii) Performs all duties on site at the institution under the supervision of the institution; (iii) Is paid directly by the institution; (iv) Is not employed by or associated with a third-party servicer; and (v) Is not a third-party servicer for any other institution. Two-thirds of an academic year: A period that is at least two-thirds of an academic year as determined by an institution. At a minimum, two-thirds of an academic year must be a period that begins on the first day of classes and ends on the last day of classes or examinations and is a minimum of 20 weeks of instructional time during which, for an undergraduate educational program, a full-time student is expected to complete at least 16 semester or trimester hours or 24 quarter hours in an educational program whose length is measured in credit hours or 600 clock hours in an educational program whose length is measured in clock hours. For an institution whose academic year has been reduced under §668.3, two-thirds of an academic year is the pro-rated equivalent, as measured in weeks and credit or clock hours, of at least two-thirds of the institution's academic year. U.S. citizen or national: (1) A citizen of the United States; or (2) A person defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22), who, though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States. Valid institutional student information report (valid ISIR): A valid institutional student information report as defined in 34 CFR 690.2 for purposes of the Federal Pell Grant Program. Valid student aid report (valid SAR): A valid student aid report (valid SAR) as defined in 34 CFR 690.2 for purposes of the Federal Pell Grant Program. William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program: The loan program authorized by Title IV, Part D of the HEA. [59 FR 22418, Apr. 29, 1994, as amended at 59 FR 61178, Nov. 29, 1994; 60 FR 61809, Dec. 1, 1995; 61 FR 60396, Nov. 27, 1996; 63 FR 40623, July 29, 1998; 64 FR 38729, June 22, 2000; 65 FR 65674, Nov. 1, 2000; 67 FR 67071, Nov. 1, 2002; 69 FR 12275, Mar. 16, 2004; 71 FR 38002, July 3, 2006]
Title 34: Education
PART 668—STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS
Subpart A—General
§ 668.2 General definitions.
