In summary, general-provisions regulations make changes to the following:

Revised regulations redefine the following terms and/or consolidate and create consistent definitions for the following terms:

• Professional degree.
• Full-time student.
• Graduate and professional student.
• Half-time student.
• Period of enrollment.
• Substantially equal in length.
• Successfully completes.
• Three-quarter-time student.
• Undergraduate student.
• Payment period.

Additional highlights of the new general-provisions rules include:

• Returning undelivered loan funds. If the school attempts to deliver Federal Family Education Loan Program funds to the borrower via check, and the check is not cashed, or if the school attempts to deliver FFELP funds to the borrower via EFT, and the EFT is rejected, the school must return those funds to the lender within 240 days of the date the check was issued.
• Canceling the loan. The school must return the loan proceeds to the lender or cancel the loan, or both, if the school receives a loan-cancellation request from the borrower by the later of the first day of the payment period or 14 days after the date the school notifies the borrower of the borrower’s right to cancel all or a portion of the loan, if the school obtains affirmative confirmation from the student. The school must return the loan funds within 30 days of the date the school notified the student- or parent-borrower of the right to cancel the loan if the school does not obtain affirmative confirmation from the student. Affirmative confirmation is a process by which the school obtains written confirmation from the student of the types and amounts of Title-IV loans that the student wants for the award year.
• Opening a bank account for the student. The school can require its students to provide bank-account information to open an account at the bank of the student’s choice. If the student does not comply, the school still must deliver loan funds to the student within any applicable regulatory time frames, but may not require that a borrower open a bank account. If the school opens a bank account on the borrower’s behalf, sets up a process in which the borrower can open the account, or assists the borrower in opening the account, the school must obtain the borrower’s written consent to open the account; ensure that the borrower does not incur any costs in the use of that account for in receiving any debit card, stored-value card, or other type of card to access the funds in that account; and ensure that the student has convenient access to the bank or a branch or ATM of that bank.
• Crediting the student’s account for charges. The school can credit the student’s school account with FFELP-loan funds to pay for the following current-year charges: tuition; fees; and room and/or board, if the student contracts with the school for room and/or board. The school also can pay for other educational charges if it obtains the borrower’s authorization, and may pay prior-year charges of no more than $200 for tuition, fees, room and/or board, or, with borrower authorization, other educational charges.
• Delivery time frames. The school must, except in the case of a late delivery, deliver FFELP-loan funds once each payment period to a student who is enrolled and otherwise eligible.
• Late delivery. The school may not make a late delivery of FFELP-loan funds more than 180 days after the date the school determines the student withdrew or became ineligible. The regulations eliminate the option to request an exception to the late-delivery rules, resulting in a loss of funding to the student if the school does not deliver the loan funds within the 180-day time frame.
• Post-withdrawal disbursement. The school must make a post-withdrawal disbursement from available grant funds before it can make one from available FFELP-loan funds. If the student has outstanding charges with the school, and the school will credit the student’s account with FFELP- loan funds, it first must obtain confirmation that the borrower still wants the funds to be disbursed.  The school must notify the borrower, within 30 days of its determination that the student withdrew, of any funds the school wishes to credit to the student’s school account or directly deliver to the student- or parent-borrower as a post-withdrawal disbursement.
• Re-entering the same program of study. If a student withdraws from a nonterm credit-hour or clock-hour program during a payment period and re-enters the same program within 180 days, subject to ED, guarantor or lender conditions, the student remains in the same payment period and continues to be eligible for the Title-IV funds for which the student was eligible prior to withdrawal.
• Minimum period of enrollment. The minimum period of enrollment for which a school may certify a loan is: a single term, if the school measures progress in credit hours and uses a semester, trimester or quarter-based system or has other terms that are substantially equal in length in which no term is less than nine weeks long; or the student’s program (or remaining portion of the student’s program), or the academic year, whichever is less, if the school measures progress in clock hours or uses credit hours but does not have terms that are substantially equal in length in which no term is less than nine weeks long.
• Excused absence. The school may include clock hours for which the student has an excused absence in its determination of the student’s successful completion of clock hours in the payment period, if the school has a written policy permitting excused absences, and those absences fall within specific tolerances.
• Notifying the student of loan funds to be delivered. Before a school can deliver any FFELP funds to the student directly or credit funds to the student’s school account, it must notify the student of the amount of funds the student can expect to receive from each program, how and when the funds will be disbursed or delivered, and for FFELP loans the separate subsidized and unsubsidized amounts. Except for a post-withdrawal disbursement, if loan funds are credited to the student’s school account, the school must notify the student/parent of the anticipated date of disbursement/delivery, and of the student’s/parent’s right to cancel all or any portion of the loan and of the process and deadline by which the borrower must notify the school to cancel the disbursement.
• Borrower notification to the school. The student or parent FFELP borrower must inform the school if the borrower wishes to cancel all or any portion of a loan, and the school must inform the borrower of the outcome of any cancellation request.
• Student fails to attend. If a student does not begin attendance (the school cannot document the student’s attendance in one class in that period), the school must return any FFELP funds that were credited to the student’s school account for that period, and any amounts paid to the school directly by the student or on the student’s behalf, up to the full amount disbursed for the period of enrollment. If the school was not aware that the student would not begin attendance when it delivered funds directly to the student, it must inform the lender so that a final-demand letter can be sent to the borrower. If the school knew the student would not begin attendance before it directly delivered funds to the student, the school is required to return those funds to the lender. The school must return any funds as required within 30 days after the date the school learns the student will not begin or has not begun attendance.