Education Department Extends COVID-19 Regulatory Flexibilities for Title IV Programs; Announces Implementation of President’s Executive Order for Continued Student Loan Borrower Relief – Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
On August 21, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued an electronic announcement extending the effective period for all previously issued regulatory flexibilities related to the COVID-19 national emergency. Those regulatory flexibilities were initially implemented through a series of earlier announcements from ED on March 5, April 3, May 15, July 9 and July 10. Under this latest announcement, except for certain topics addressed below, the effective period of all of those regulatory flexibilities, including but not limited to the broad flexibilities provided to offer distance education, now extends through the later of (1) the end of the Title IV federal student aid payment period that includes December 31, 2020; or (2) the end of the payment period that includes the end date for the federally-declared emergency related to COVID-19.
The following are exceptions to the above general effective period:
- Campus-based programs’ matching requirements: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act waived the institutional match requirement associated with the Federal Work-Study (FWS) and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) programs for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 award years. Therefore, irrespective of when the national emergency declaration is lifted, no institutional match is required for either of these award years.