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34 C.F.R. § 682.601   Rules for a school that makes or originates loans.

Title 34 - Education

Title 34: Education
PART 682—FEDERAL FAMILY EDUCATION LOAN (FFEL) PROGRAM
Subpart F—Requirements, Standards, and Payments for Participating Schools

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§ 682.601   Rules for a school that makes or originates loans.

Link to an amendment published at 71 FR 45708, Aug. 9, 2006.

(a) General. To make or originate loans under the FFEL programs—

(1) The school shall employ full-time at least one person whose responsibilities are limited to the administration of financial aid programs for students attending the school;

(2) The school may not be a correspondence school;

(3) The school may not make or originate loans that would be outstanding to or on behalf of more than 50 percent of the undergraduates in attendance at that school on at least a half-time basis unless the Secretary waives this rule pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section;

(4) The school shall inform any undergraduate student who has not previously obtained a loan that was made or originated by the school and who seeks to obtain such a loan that he or she must first make a good faith effort to obtain a loan from a commercial lender;

(5)(i) The school may not make or originate a loan for an academic period to a student described in paragraph (a)(4) of this section until the student provides the school with evidence under paragraph (b) of this section of denial of a loan by a commercial lender for the same academic period.

(ii) In determining whether a school has complied with the requirement set paragraph (a)(5)(i) of this section, the Secretary may take into consideration any patterns reflected by the letters of denial or the students' sworn statements referred to in paragraph (b) of this section that indicate that the school has not given sufficient counseling to students to seek loans from a commercial lender first. An example of an unacceptable pattern would be if all denials of loans to a school's students were made by a small number of lenders; and

(6) The school's cohort default rate as calculated under subpart M of 34 CFR part 668 may not exceed 15 percent; and

(7) Except for reasonable administrative expenses directly related to the FFEL Program, the school must use payments received under §682.300 and §682.302 for need-based grant programs for its students.

(b) Establishing a loan denial by a commercial lender. (1) To verify that a borrower has sought and been denied a loan from a commercial lender pursuant to paragraph (a)(4) of this section, the school shall obtain from the borrower—

(i) A written statement from a commercial lender indicating that the lender denied the borrower a loan for that academic period; or

(ii) The borrower's sworn statement, indicating both the refusal of a loan by a commercial lender and the lender's refusal to provide a written statement of the denial.

(2) If the borrower's statement is used to establish the denial of a loan, the statement must include—

(i) The name and address of the lender that denied the loan;

(ii) The approximate date on which the loan was denied;

(iii) The name and telephone number of the official who communicated the denial to the borrower; and

(iv) The borrower's signature.

(3) If the school determines that the denial of a loan to an eligible borrower by a commercial lender is based upon the lender's refusal to lend more than a part of the amount requested by the borrower, the school may either—

(i) Make or originate a loan to the borrower for the entire amount; or

(ii) Supplement the loan that the commercial lender is willing to make with a second loan to the borrower.

(c) Waiver of the 50 percent lending limit. A school may request the Secretary to waive the 50 percent lending limit described in paragraph (a)(3) of this section if adherence to that limit would create a substantial hardship for the school's present or prospective students. The Secretary determines whether to grant the school a waiver after considering, among other factors—

(1) The extent to which the school provides and expects to continue providing educational opportunities to economically disadvantaged students, as measured by the percentage of those students enrolled at the school who—

(i) Are in families that fall within the “low-income family” category used by the Bureau of the Census;

(ii) Would not be able to enroll or continue their enrollment at that school without Stafford or PLUS loans made or originated by the school; and

(iii) Would not be able to obtain a comparable education at another school;

(2) The extent to which the school offers educational programs that—

(i) Are unique in the geographical area the school serves; and

(ii) Would not be available to some students if the school adhered to the 50 percent lending limit; and

(3) The quality of the school's—

(i) Management of student financial assistance programs; and

(ii) Conformance with sound business practices.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1845–0020)

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1077, 1078, 1078–1, 1078–2, 1078–3, 1082, 1085)

[57 FR 60323, Dec. 18, 1992, as amended at 58 FR 9120, Feb. 19, 1993; 59 FR 33358, June 28, 1994; 64 FR 58965, Nov. 1, 1999; 65 FR 65650, Nov. 1, 2000; 66 FR 34764, June 29, 2001]

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