PUBLIC LAW 105-244 -OCT. 7, 1998 112 STAT. 1705 "If an institution continues to participate in a program under this part, and the institution's appeal of the loss of eligibility is unsuccessful, the institution shall be required to pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the amount of interest, special allowance, reinsurance, and any related payments made by the Secretary (or which the Secretary is obligated to make) with respect to loans made under this part to students attending, or planning to attend, that institution during the pendency of such appeal."; and (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking "July 1, 1998," and inserting "July 1, 1999,"; (2) in the matter following subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3)— (A) by inserting "for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days," after "access"; and (B) by striking "of the affected guaranty agencies and loan servicers for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days" and inserting "used by a guaranty agency in determining whether to pay a claim on a defaulted loan or by the Department in determining an institution's default rate in the loan program under part D of this title"; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: " (4) DEFINITION OF MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES. —(A) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), an institution of higher education shall be treated as having exceptioned mitigating circumstances that make application of that paragraph inequitable if such institution, in the opinion of an independent auditor, meets the following criteria: "(i) For a 12-month period that ended during the 6 months immediately preceding the fiscal year for which the cohort of borrowers used to calculate the institution's cohort default rate is determined, at least two-thirds of the students enrolled on at least a hsilf-time basis at the institution— "(I) are eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grgmt award that is at least equal to one-half the maximum Federal Pell Grant award for which a student would be eligible based on the student's enrollment status; or "(II) have an adjusted gross income that when added with the adjusted gross income of the student's parents (unless the student is an independent student), of less than the poverty level, as determined by the Depgirtment of Health and Human Services. "(ii) In the case of an institution of higher education that offers an associate, baccalaureate, graduate or professional degree, 70 percent or more of the institution's regular students who were initially enrolled on a full-time basis and were scheduled to complete their programs during the same 12-month period described in clause (i)— "(I) completed the educational programs in which the students were enrolled; "(II) transferred from the institution to a higher level educational program;
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