A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n Letter to Dr. Thomas C. Meredith regarding issues facing students and institutions of higher education in Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
October 5, 2005
Dr. Thomas C. Meredith
Commissioner of Higher Education
3825 Ridgewood Road
Jackson, Mississippi 39211
Dear Dr. Meredith:
Last month I received a letter from your predecessor, Dr. Richard Crofts, regarding the pressing issues facing students and institutions of higher education in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Please be assured that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) staff and I stand with you during these challenging times.
We have reviewed the specific requests outlined in Dr. Crofts' September 14, 2005, letter, and I am pleased to respond. First, with respect to funding needs, President George W. Bush asked me to develop a plan to ensure sufficient short- and long-term funding for students and institutions affected by Hurricane Katrina. We completed our work on an initial package of proposed changes, and I recently announced many of the specific details. Specifically, we will work with the Congress on the following proposals:
Aid to Colleges and Universities. Colleges and universities enrolling displaced students would receive $1,000 for each displaced student they enroll in order to help meet the unexpected costs associated with educating these students. Emergency Support for Affected Colleges and Universities and Relief for Impacted Students. To help colleges and universities, including community colleges, in the affected areas resume operations quickly and effectively, colleges and universities that have temporarily ceased operations would be able to retain federal student aid already received for the 2005-2006 academic year. Students would be relieved of any obligation to repay the federal aid that they received for the current term at the colleges and universities that have temporarily ceased operations. Short-term Help for Borrowers. The Department would allow borrowers to defer loan repayments for up to six months during which time interest would be forgiven on all federally funded student loans for borrowers that live or work in the affected areas of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Flexibility to Colleges Helping Displaced Students. To help those affected by Hurricane Katrina, the Department would have waiver authority to allow the Secretary to quickly waive or modify certain provisions of federal education laws to provide assistance to students, as well as to colleges and universities.
Dr. Crofts indicated in his letter that the extension of reporting deadlines to December 1, 2005, meets the needs of Mississippi's public universities. If Mississippi institutions need extensions beyond December 1, please contact us, and we will work with you to address their needs.
The Department has already provided guidance on several matters of concern to institutions and students affected by Hurricane Katrina. Enclosed are copies of the Department guidance that has been issued to date. Those documents include:
specific guidance advising institutions of their ability to enroll students on a temporary basis and award federal student aid to these students even if the student has already been awarded federal student aid for the same time period at a non-operational institution (Attachment A); the 2004 "Dear Colleague" letter (GEN-04-04) on general guidance for disasters (Attachment B); the Federal Register notice extending to December 1, 2005, certain deadline dates for submission of information, reports, and forms by affected institutions (Attachment C); and the chart that is located on the Department's website (http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/katrina.html) listing the extended reporting and application deadlines as well as the contact information for Department staff who are available to assist institutions with any questions (Attachment D).
In addition, I have attached a guidance letter issued on September 16, 2005, (Attachment E) that:
waives the verification requirements for the 2005-2006 award year so that institutions will not have to verify family income information for affected families, including the need to collect tax forms and other financial data for students whose records were lost, destroyed, rendered illegible, or are otherwise unobtainable as a result of the impact of Hurricane Katrina; allows an institution enrolling a transferring student displaced by Hurricane Katrina to accept a "dependency override" decision made by the previous institution, thereby allowing a student to receive greater amounts of federal student aid in an expedited manner; and strongly encourages institutions to consider using "professional judgment" when determining a student's eligibility for federal student aid so that special circumstances are considered when determining the financial need of students and families affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Finally, I am enclosing a guidance letter posted on September 30, 2005. The letter approves Dr. Crofts's specific request to allow for implementation of a 26-week academic year in 2005-2006 for all of the affected postsecondary institutions located in a Hurricane Katrina federally declared disaster area in Mississippi that offer a two-year program leading to an associate degree or a four-year program leading to a baccalaureate degree (Attachment F). Institutions will need to obtain approval from their cognizant state licensing agencies and accrediting agencies before adopting the 26-week academic year.
I hope this information is beneficial to the students, families and institutions of higher education affected by Katrina. I will continue to work with you to address their needs. Please know that my staff stands ready to assist in every way possible. I have designated Assistant Secretary Sally Stroup at 202-502-7750 of the Office of Postsecondary Education to serve as our liaison for additional questions you may have. She will call you to discuss the Department's actions, and we would be happy to meet with you at your convenience in Jackson, Mississippi. Finally, please know of my personal commitment to you and the students of Mississippi. I look forward to working closely with you in the days ahead.
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Sincerely, |
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/s/
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Margaret Spellings |
Enclosures
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