Hurricane Katrina Informational Guide

OGSLP has compiled a listing of resources to help Oklahoma schools and lenders assist students who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. It appears that as many as 5,000 evacuees may be temporarily located in Oklahoma. The Department of Education and industry partners are working together to help make this transition as smooth as possible for students who are affected by this tragedy.

As an example, industry participants are currently working on a compilation of Questions & Answers (Qs & As) to help schools and lenders assist students affected by this disaster which will be available within a week to ten days for distribution. As soon as the final copy is available, we will forward it to you.

Department of Education Guidance and Resources
The Department of Education provided guidance on transfers, deadline extensions and other guidance in an Electronic Announcement on September 2, 2005. In this announcement, ED also refers to GEN-04-04 (published last year) that can be used for this current natural disaster.

Provisions in GEN-04-04 include:

• The holder may grant forbearance for up to three months and must document the reasons why it granted the forbearance, but does not need to obtain supporting documentation or a signed written agreement from the borrower.

• The period of borrowers’ nonattendance due to the disaster should not result in them entering or using their grace period. Borrowers who are in an “in-school” status or an “in-school deferment” status, but have their attendance interrupted due to a disaster, are to remain in that same status until they withdraw or re-enroll in the next regular enrollment period, whichever is earlier.

• If the lender has been notified that the school has delayed opening for a scheduled term or has ceased operations for an undetermined period of time, the lender is authorized not to disburse loan funds to schools in the affected areas. The lender should wait to receive revised disbursement schedules from the affected schools.

Helpful ED links are as follows:

• September 30, 2005 Electronic Announcement #6 - Length of Academic Year for Institutions Affected by Hurricane Katrina

• September 16, 2005 Electronic Announcement #5 - Verification, Dependency Overrides, and Professional Judgment

• Federal Register: September 9, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 174) Hurricane Katrina; Notice extending institutional and applicant filing and reporting deadlines.

• September 9, 2005 Electronic Announcement #4 - CPS and COD Technical Support

• September 9, 2005 Electronic Announcement #3 - Adding Federal School Codes

• September 9, 2005 Electronic Announcement #2 - Deadline Extensions

• September 2, 2005 Electronic Announcement #1 - Transfer Students

• GEN-04-04 - This letter was issued in February 2004 to assist Title IV participants affected by a disaster.

• Federal Student Aid – “Hurricane Information – Help is Available for Students, Borrowers, and Schools” (Includes sets of Q's and A's for Students and Parents, Borrowers, Lenders, Servicers, and Guaranty Agencies)

• “Hurricane Help for Schools” - Providing Assistance for Schools Serving Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

• “Hurricane Help for Schools" - Fact Sheet
  

Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Web Site
The FEMA Web site provides detailed information on the areas declared major disasters. The following states have been designated as disaster areas as a result of Hurricane Katrina: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.

NCHELP's Hurricane Katrina Resource Page
NCHELP has posted a Hurricane Resource Page to its Web site with information and links regarding Hurricane Katrina. The page includes federal guidance, information regarding institutions and students and details for the FFELP community. It is accessible from the NCHELP home page.

NASFAA’s Katrina Resource Page
NASFAA has set up a Hurricane Katrina Resource Page to gather in one place aid-related information on the effects of Katrina. Among its features are student aid policy guidance, information on schools hit by the hurricane, articles on how schools outside the area of devastation are helping schools and students affected by Katrina, links to media articles, sources of nonfederal aid, and NASFAA's materials on consortium agreements to help schools allow their students to attend classes elsewhere for credit towards their degree. The Katrina Web site is a work in progress. (Note: you may need to be a NASFAA member to access all of this information.)

Oklahoma Higher Education Responds to Students Affected by Hurricane Katrina (News Release - 9/2/2005)
Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities are stepping up to help students displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. College officials met via video conference on September 2 to discuss their responses to the disaster, especially to the thousands of college students along the Gulf Coast whose fall semester was interrupted by the hurricane.

To help displaced students continue or start their college education with as minimal interruption as possible, some institutions are making the admission and enrollment process easier by extending fall enrollment deadlines, waiving late fees and even allowing current students to withdraw with full refunds. Click below to read more on the efforts of many Oklahoma colleges and universities.

View the entire news release at www.okhighered.org/news-center/katrina-response.html.