New York State Participation in the 2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
| To: | Chief Executive Officers/Presidents of Institutions of Higher Education; Directors of Licensed Private; Registered Business and Certified ESL Schools; Guarantee Agencies; Lending Institutions; Other Interested Parties |
| From: | Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Senior Deputy Commissioner of P16: Office of Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education and Office of Higher Education |
| Date: | March 2008 |
| Subject: | Student Lending, Accountability, Transparency and Enforcement Act (SLATE) |
In May 2007, Chapter 41 of the Laws of 2007 was enacted. This bill established the Student Lending, Accountability, Transparency and Enforcement Act (SLATE). This bill was a result of nationwide investigation by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo relating to the marketing and issuance of educational loans to students and their parents to finance higher education expenses.
This act establishes a code of conduct for postsecondary education institutions recognized and approved by the Board of Regents (referred to as “covered institutions”), employees of these institutions (referred to as “covered institution employees”) and lending institutions. SLATE also places the responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions of this act with the New York State Education Department and authorizes the Department to establish the necessary regulations to implement the provisions of SLATE.
Please be aware that, as of the date of this memorandum, the State Education Department has not received the necessary funding to implement the provisions of SLATE and the proposed regulatory requirements. If no funding is received, the Department will not be in a position to enact the proposed regulation and may need to explore other options for next steps.
At their March meeting, the Regents Higher Education Committee discussed preliminary draft regulations to implement SLATE. The preliminary regulation can be found at http://www.regents.nysed.gov/2008Meetings/March2008/0308hed1.doc. The Regents expect to discuss the proposed regulations a second time at their June meeting and may consider action at its July or later meeting.
I invite you and your colleagues to provide comments to the Department on the draft regulations. For purpose of clarity, the regulation includes the complete statutory language with the text in bold representing the new regulatory language.
I ask that you provide any comments on the preliminary draft regulations by May 23, 2008 to:
Joseph P. Frey, Associate Commissioner
Office of Higher Education
New York State Education Department
Room 977, Education Building Annex
Albany, New York 12234
E-mail: jfrey@mail.nysed.gov
We appreciate the feedback we have received to date from the educational community and look forward to continuing our conversations on this important topic over the next few months.
cc:Joseph P. Frey