STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.

SEC. 484. STUDENT ELIGIBILITY. (a) In General.— Section 484 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 1091) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1) of subsection (a), by inserting “(including a program of study abroad approved for credit by the eligible institution at which such student is enrolled)” after “or other program”; and (2) by striking paragraph (4) of subsection (a) and inserting the following: “(4) file with the institution of higher education which the student intends to attend, or is attending (or in the case of a loan or loan guarantee with the lender), a document, which need not be notarized, but which shall include— “(A) a statement of educational purpose stating that the money attributable to such grant, loan, or loan guarantee will be used solely for expenses related to attendance or continued attendance at such institution; and “(B) such student’s social security number;”. (b) Exceptions to Eligible Student Definition.— (1) Amendments.— Section 484(b) of the Act is amended— (A) in paragraph (4) by striking “part B” and inserting “part B, D, or E or work-study assistance under part C”; and (B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, no incarcerated student is eligible to receive a loan under this title.”. (2) Effective date.— The amendments made by paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection shall be effective on and after December 1, 1987. (c) Ability To Benefit.— Section 484(d) of the Act is amended to read as follows: “(d) Students Who Are Not High School Graduates.— In order for a student who does not have a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such certificate, to be eligible for any assistance under subparts 1, 3, and 4 of part A and parts B, C, D, and E of this title, the student shall meet either one of the following standards: “(1) The student shall take an independently administered examination and shall achieve a score, specified by the Secretary, demonstrating that such student can benefit from the education or training being offered. Such examination shall be approved by the Secretary on the basis of compliance with such standards for development, administration, and scoring as the Secretary may prescribe in regulations. 106 STAT. 616 “(2) The student shall be determined as having the ability to benefit from the education or training in accordance with such process as the State shall prescribe. Any such process described or approved by a State for the purposes of this section shall be effective 6 months after the date of submission to the Secretary unless the Secretary disapproves such process. In determining whether to approve or disapprove such process, the Secretary shall take into account the effectiveness of such process in enabling students without high school diplomas or the equivalent thereof to benefit from the instruction offered by institutions utilizing such process, and shall also take into account the cultural diversity, economic circumstances, and educational preparation of the populations served by the institutions”, (d) Verification.— Section 484(f) of the Act is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “Nothing in this subsection shall preclude the Secretary from verifying all applications for aid through the use of any means available, including through the exchange of information with any other Federal agency”. (e) Loss of Eligibility.— Section 484(g) of the Act is amended— (1) by inserting “(1)” before “No student”; (2) by inserting “, part D” after “part B” each place it appears; (3) by inserting “fraudulently” before “borrowed” each place it appears; and (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(2) If the institution determines that the student inadvertently borrowed amounts in excess of such annual or aggregate maximum loan limits, such institution shall allow the student to repay any amount borrowed in excess of such limits prior to certifying the student’s eligibility for further assistance under this title.”. (f) Verification of Immigrant Status.— Section 484(h) of the Act is amended to read as follows: “(h) Verification of Immigration Status.— “(1) In general.— The Secretary shall implement a system under which the statements and supporting documentation, if required, of an individual declaring that such individual is in compliance with the requirements of subsection (a)(5) shall be verified prior to the individual’s receipt of a grant, loan, or work assistance under this title. “(2) Special rule.— The documents collected and maintained by an eligible institution in the admission of a student to the institution may be used by the student in lieu of the documents used to establish both employment authorization and identity under section 274A(b)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) to verify eligibility to participate in work-study programs under part C of this title. “(3) Verification mechanisms.— The Secretary is authorized to verify such statements and supporting documentation through a data match, using an automated or other system, with other Federal agencies that may be in possession of information relevant to such statements and supporting documentation. “(4) Review.— In the case of such an individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States, if the statement described in paragraph (1) is submitted but the documentation required under paragraph (2) is not presented or if the docu-106 STAT. 617mentation required under paragraph (2)(A) is presented but such documentation is not verified under paragraph (3)— “(A) the institution— “(i) shall provide a reasonable opportunity to submit to the institution evidence indicating a satisfactory immigration status, and “(ii) may not delay, deny, reduce, or terminate the individual’s eligibility for the grant, loan, or work assistance on the basis of the individual’s immigration status until such a reasonable opportunity has been provided; and “(B) if there are submitted documents which the institution determines constitutes reasonable evidence indicating such status— “(i) the institution shall transmit to the Immigration and Naturalization Service photostatic or other similar copies of such documents for official verification, “(ii) pending such verification, the institution may not delay, deny, reduce, or terminate the individual’s eligibility for the grant, loan, or work assistance on the basis of the individual’s immigration status, and “(iii) the institution shall not be liable for the consequences of any action, delay, or failure of the Service to conduct such verification.”. (g) Additional Provisions.— Section 484 of the Act is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsections: “(l) Special Rule for Correspondence Courses.— A student shall not be eligible to receive grant, loan, or work assistance under this title for a correspondence course unless such course is part of a program leading to an associate, bachelor or graduate degree. (m) Courses Offered Through Telecommunications.— “(1) Relation to correspondence courses.— A student enrolled in a course of instruction at an eligible institution of higher education (other than an institution that meets the definition in section 521(4)(C) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act) that is offered in whole or in part through telecommunications and leads to a recognized associate, bachelor, or graduate degree conferred by such institution shall not be considered to be enrolled in correspondence courses unless the total amount of telecommunications and correspondence courses at such institution equals or exceeds 50 percent of such courses. “(2) Restriction or reductions of financial aid.— A student’s eligibility to receive grants, loans, or work assistance under this title shall be reduced if a financial aid officer determines under the discretionary authority provided in section 479A that telecommunications instruction results in a substantially reduced cost of attendance to such student. “(3) Special rule.— For award years prior to the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall not take any compliance, disallowance, penalty, or other action against a student or an eligible institution when such action arises out of such institution’s prior award of student assistance under this title if the institution demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that its course of instruction would have been in conformance with the requirements of this subsection. 106 STAT. 618 “(4) Definition.— For the purposes of this subsection, the term ‘telecommunications’ means the use of television, audio, or computer transmission, including open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, or satellite, audio conferencing, computer conferencing, or video cassettes or discs, except that such term does not include a course that is delivered using video cassette or disc recordings at such institution and that is not delivered in person to other students of that institution. “(n) Students With a First Baccalaureate or Professional Degree.— A student shall not be ineligible for assistance under part B, C, D, and E of this title because such student has previously received a baccalaureate or professional degree. “(o) Data Base Matching.— To enforce the Selective Service registration provisions of section 1113 of Public Law 97–252, the Secretary shall conduct data base matches with the Selective Service, using common demographic data elements. Appropriate confirmation, through an application output document or through other means, of any person’s registration shall fulfill the requirement to file a separate statement of compliance. In the absence of a confirmation from such data matches, an institution may also use data or documents that support either the student’s registration, or the absence of a registration requirement for the student, to fulfill the requirement to file a separate statement of compliance. The mechanism for reporting the resolution of nonconfirmed matches shall be prescribed by the Secretary in regulations. “(p) Study Abroad.— Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit or otherwise prohibit access to study abroad programs approved by the home institution at which a student is enrolled. An otherwise eligible student who is engaged in a program of study abroad approved for academic credit by the home institution at which the student is enrolled shall be eligible to receive grant, loan, or work assistance under this title, without regard to whether such study abroad program is required as part of the student’s degree program. “(q) Verification of Social Security Number.— The Secretary of Education, in cooperation with the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, shall verify any social security number provided by a student to an eligible institution under subsection (a)(4) and shall enforce the following conditions: “(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), an institution shall not deny, reduce, delay, or terminate a student’s eligibility for assistance under this part because social security number verification is pending. “(2) If there is a determination by the Secretary that the social security number provided to an eligible institution by a student is incorrect, the institution shall deny or terminate the student’s eligibility for any grant, loan, or work assistance under this title until such time as the student provides a correct social security number. “(3) If there is a determination by the Secretary that the social security number provided to an eligible institution by a student is incorrect, and a correct social security number cannot be provided by such student, and a loan has been guaranteed for such student under part B of this title, the institution shall notify and instruct the lender and guaranty agency making and guaranteeing the loan, respectively, to cease further disbursements of the loan, but such guaranty shall 106 STAT. 619not be voided or otherwise nullified with respect to such disbursements made before the date that the lender and the guaranty agency receives such notice. “(4) Nothing in this subsection shall permit the Secretary to take any compliance, disallowance, penalty, or other regulatory action against— “(A) any institution of higher education with respect to any error in a social security number, unless such error was a result of fraud on the part of the institution; or “(B) any student with respect to any error in a social security number, unless such error was a result of fraud on the part of the student”. (h) Clerical Amendment.— Section 801(a) of the National Literacy Act of 1991 is amended by striking “the Act” and inserting “the Higher Education Act of 1965”.