A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Letter to Honorable E. Joseph Savoie regarding issues facing students and institutions of higher education following Hurricane Katrina

September 14, 2005

Honorable E. Joseph Savoie
Commissioner of Higher Education
Board of Regents
P. O. Box 3677
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821

Dear Dr. Savoie:

Thank you for your careful and thoughtful presentation of the pressing issues facing students and institutions of higher education in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Be assured that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) staff and I stand with you during these challenging times.

We have reviewed the specific requests outlined in your letter, and I am pleased to respond. First, with respect to your request for additional funding necessary to forgive all student loans disbursed for the Fall 2005 semester via the closed school discharge provisions and your request for additional aid for displaced students, the President has asked me to develop a plan to ensure sufficient short- and long-term funding for the affected students and institutions. We are making great progress and expect to complete our work very soon. Thereafter, and upon completion of appropriate Administration clearances, we will submit a proposal to Congress for its consideration. The information that you provided has been helpful in this process, and we will notify you of further developments regarding available resources.

With respect to your request for waivers of deadlines and regulations applicable to the student aid programs, ED's first priority is to assist all affected students to enable them to continue their education. To that end, ED issued specific guidance (Attachment A) on September 2, 2005, advising institutions of their ability to enroll students on a temporary basis and award Federal student aid, regardless of any previously awarded Federal student aid for the same time period at an institution that is not holding classes. In the same guidance, we advised affected institutions to rely on an earlier February 2004 letter (GEN-04-04) (Attachment B) titled "General guidance for helping Title IV participants affected by a disaster." If you have any questions about implementation of these two guidance documents, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Further, on September 9, 2005, ED published a notice in the Federal Register (Attachment C), extending to December 1, 2005 certain deadline dates for submission of information, reports and forms by affected institutions. ED's website (http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/katrina.html) includes a chart (Attachment D) listing the extended reporting and application deadlines, as well as the contact information for ED staff who are available to assist institutions with any questions.

Finally, we are reviewing your request for a 26-week academic year for all affected postsecondary institutions for the 2005-2006 school year. I expect to address your request in the next few days.

Again, thank you for contacting me and sharing your requests and concerns. Please know, too, that Department staff stand ready to assist in every way possible in the days ahead. I have designated Assistant Secretary Sally Stroup of the Office of Postsecondary Education, who can be reached by phone at (202) 502-7750, to serve as our liaison for additional follow-up. She will call you to discuss the actions we have taken to date, and we would be happy to meet with you at your convenience in Baton Rouge. Finally, please know of my personal commitment to you and the students of Louisiana. I look forward to working closely with you in the days ahead.

Enclosures:
Attachment A
Attachment B
Attachment C
Attachment D