668.165—Notices and authorizations.

(a) Notices. (1) Before an institution disburses title IV, HEA program funds for any award year, the institution must notify a student of the amount of funds that the student or his or her parent can expect to receive under each title IV, HEA program, and how and when those funds will be disbursed. If those funds include Direct Loan or FFEL Program funds, the notice must indicate which funds are from subsidized loans and which are from unsubsidized loans.

(2) Except in the case of a post-withdrawal disbursement made in accordance with § 668.22(a)(5), if an institution credits a student's account at the institution with Direct Loan, FFEL, Federal Perkins Loan, or TEACH Grant Program funds, the institution must notify the student or parent of—

(i) The anticipated date and amount of the disbursement;

(ii) The student's right or parent's right to cancel all or a portion of that loan, loan disbursement TEACH Grant, or TEACH Grant disbursement and have the loan proceeds returned to the holder of that loan, the TEACH Grant proceeds returned to the Secretary. However, if the institution releases a check provided by a lender under the FFEL Program, the institution is not required to provide this information; and

(iii) The procedures and time by which the student or parent must notify the institution that he or she wishes to cancel the loan, loan disbursement, TEACH Grant, or TEACH Grant disbursement.

(3) The institution must provide the notice described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section in writing—

(i) No earlier than 30 days before, and no later than 30 days after, crediting the student's account at the institution, if the institution obtains affirmative confirmation from the student under paragraph (a)(6)(i) of this section; or

(ii) No earlier than 30 days before, and no later than seven days after, crediting the student account at the institution, if the institution does not obtain affirmative confirmation from the student under paragraph (a)(6)(i) of this section.

(4) (i) A student or parent must inform the institution if he or she wishes to cancel all or a portion of a loan, loan disbursement, TEACH Grant, or TEACH Grant disbursement.

(ii) The institution must return the loan or TEACH Grant proceeds, cancel the loan or TEACH Grant, or do both, in accordance with program regulations provided that the institution receives a loan or TEACH Grant cancellation request—

(A) The later of the first day of a payment period or 14 days after the date it notifies the student or parent of his or her right to cancel all or a portion of a loan or TEACH Grant, if the institution obtains affirmative confirmation from the student under paragraph (a)(6)(i) of this section; or

(B) Within 30 days of the date the institution notifies the student or parent of his or her right to cancel all or a portion of a loan, if the institution does not obtain affirmative confirmation from the student under paragraph (a)(6)(i) of this section.

(iii) If a student or parent requests a loan cancellation after the period set forth in paragraph (a)(4)(ii)(A) or (B) of this section, the institution may return the loan or TEACH Grant proceeds, cancel the loan or TEACH Grant, or do both, in accordance with program regulations.

(5) An institution must inform the student or parent in writing regarding the outcome of any cancellation request.

(6) For purposes of this section—

(i) Affirmative confirmation is a process under which an institution obtains written confirmation of the types and amounts of title IV, HEA program loans that a student wants for an award year before the institution credits the student's account with those loan funds. The process under which the TEACH Grant program is administered is considered to be an affirmative confirmation process; and

(ii) An institution is not required to return any loan or TEACH Grant proceeds that it disbursed directly to a student or parent.

(b) Student or parent authorizations. (1) If an institution obtains written authorization from a student or parent, as applicable, the institution may—

(i) Use the student's or parent's title IV, HEA program funds to pay for charges described in § 668.164(d)(2) that are included in that authorization; and

(ii) Except if prohibited by the Secretary under the reimbursement or cash monitoring payment method, hold on behalf of the student or parent any title IV, HEA program, funds that would otherwise be paid directly to the student or parent under § 668.164(e). Under this provision, the institution may issue a stored-value card or other similar device that allows the student or parent to access those funds at his or her discretion to pay for educationally related expenses.

(2) In obtaining the student's or parent's authorization to perform an activity described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, an institution—

(i) May not require or coerce the student or parent to provide that authorization;

(ii) Must allow the student or parent to cancel or modify that authorization at any time; and

(iii) Must clearly explain how it will carry out that activity.

(3) A student or parent may authorize an institution to carry out the activities described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section for the period during which the student is enrolled at the institution.

(4) (i) If a student or parent modifies an authorization, the modification takes effect on the date the institution receives the modification notice.

(ii) If a student or parent cancels an authorization to use title IV, HEA program funds to pay for authorized charges under § 668.164(d)(2), the institution may use title IV, HEA program funds to pay only those authorized charges incurred by the student before the institution received the notice.

(iii) If a student or parent cancels an authorization to hold title IV, HEA program funds under paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of this section, the institution must pay those funds directly to the student or parent as soon as possible but no later than 14 days after the institution receives that notice.

(5) If an institution holds excess student funds under paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of this section, the institution must—

(i) Identify the amount of funds the institution holds for each student or parent in a subsidiary ledger account designed for that purpose;

(ii) Maintain, at all times, cash in its bank account in an amount at least equal to the amount of funds the institution holds for the student; and

(iii) Notwithstanding any authorization obtained by the institution under this paragraph, pay any remaining balance on loan funds by the end of the loan period and any remaining other title IV, HEA program funds by the end of the last payment period in the award year for which they were awarded.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1845-0038)

Code of Federal Regulations

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1094 )

Code of Federal Regulations

[61 FR 60603, Nov. 29, 1996, as amended at 62 FR 27128, May 16, 1997; 65 FR 65675, Nov. 1, 2000; 67 FR 67074, Nov. 1, 2003; 71 FR 64397, Nov. 1, 2006; 72 FR 62029, Nov. 1, 2007; 73 FR 35494, June 23, 2008]

CFR

668.165—Notices and authorizations.

Code of Federal Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations