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 the request for approval of a 26-week academic year for Louisiana postsecondary institutions affected by Hurricane Katrina and inquiry about higher education funding issues
October 5, 2005
The Honorable E. Joseph Savoie
Commissioner of Higher Education
Board of Regents
P.O. Box 3677
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
Dear Dr. Savoie:
In your letter of September 7, 2005, you specifically asked for approval of a 26-week academic year for 2005-2006 for postsecondary institutions in Louisiana affected by Hurricane Katrina. You also asked about certain funding issues related to higher education. I am writing to approve your request for a 26-week academic year and to provide an update on your funding request.
With regard to the length of the 2005-2006 academic year, enclosed is the Department of Education's (Department) guidance letter issued on September 30, 2005, which approves your request to implement a 26-week academic year in 2005-2006 for all of the affected postsecondary institutions in a Hurricane Katrina federally declared disaster area in Louisiana that offer a two-year program leading to an associate degree or a four-year program leading to a baccalaureate degree (Attachment A). However, institutions also need to obtain approval from their cognizant state licensing agencies and accrediting agencies before adopting the 26-week academic year.
In recent days, the states of Louisiana and Texas were hit by another devastating storm, Hurricane Rita. Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with the many families, students, and faculty impacted by this storm. For those Louisiana institutions adversely affected by Hurricane Rita, I will consider, on a case-by-case basis, requests for a reduction in the minimum number of weeks in the academic year. The Department's guidance letter explaining this opportunity for postsecondary institutions impacted by Hurricane Rita is enclosed (Attachment B).
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.
Finally, the Department has received additional inquiries regarding the verification process and use of professional judgment. In response to those questions, the Department issued the attached guidance letter on September 16, 2005, (Attachment C) 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.
I trust this additional guidance and information is beneficial to the students, families, and institutions of higher education affected by Hurricane Katrina. Please notify us of any additional questions or concerns that may arise. We will continue to work with you to assist Louisiana institutions and their students.
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Sincerely, |
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/s/
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Margaret Spellings |
Enclosures
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