12 2 STA T .3 2 8 8 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 31 5— AU G .1 4, 2008 equival e ntco u rs e w or k t h atarea p plica b le towar d ade g ree or certi f icate offered b y the institution of higher education .’ ’
- (4)
by striking subsection ( j ); ( 5 ) by striking subsection (l) and inserting the following
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‘(l) COURSE S OF FERE DTH ROU G H DI S TANC E E DUCATION. — ‘‘( 1 ) R E L ATION TO CORRES P ONDENCE COURSES.— ‘‘( A ) I N GENERAL.—A student enrolled in a course of instruction at an institution of higher education that is offered principally through distance education and leads to a recogni z ed certificate , or recognized associate, recog - nized baccalaureate, or recognized graduate degree, con- ferred by such institution, shall not be considered to be enrolled in correspondence courses. ‘‘( B )E X CEPTION.—An institution of higher education referred to in subparagraph (A) shall not include an institu- tion or school described in section 3 (3)(C) of the Carl D. P erkins Career and Technical Education Act of 20 0 6 . ‘‘(2) 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 deter m ines under the discretionary authority provided in section 4 79 A that dis- tance education results in a substantially reduced cost of attendance to such student. ‘‘(3) S PECIAL RULE.— F or award years beginning prior to J uly 1, 200 8 , the Secretary shall not take any compliance, disallowance, penalty, or other action based on a violation of this subsection against a student or an eligible institution when such action arises out of such institution’s prior award of stu- dent 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.’’; (6) by striking subsection (q) and inserting the following: ‘‘(q) U SE OF INCO M E DATA.— ‘‘(1) M ATCHING W ITH IRS.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Treasury, is authorized to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service such information reported on Federal income ta x returns by applicants, or by any other person whose financial information is required to be provided on the Federal student financial aid application, as the Sec- retary determines is necessary for the purpose of— ‘‘(A) prepopulating the Federal student financial aid application described in section 483; or ‘‘(B) verifying the information reported on such student financial aid applications. ‘‘(2) CONSENT.—The Secretary may require that applicants for financial assistance under this title provide a consent to the disclosure of the data described in paragraph (1) as a condition of the student receiving assistance under this title. The parents of an applicant, in the case of a dependent student, or the spouse of an applicant, in the case of an applicant who is married but files separately, may also be required to provide consent as a condition of the student receiving assist- ance under this title.’’; (7) in subsection (r)(2)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii);
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