Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program

The Secretary amends the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) program, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program regulations. These final regulations implement a new Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan in the Direct Loan program based on the President's "Pay As You Earn" repayment initiative, incorporate recent statutory changes to the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan in the Direct Loan and FFEL programs, and streamline and add clarity to the total and permanent disability (TPD) discharge process for borrowers in loan programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). These final regulations implementing a new ICR plan and the statutory changes to the IBR plan will assist borrowers in repaying their loans while the changes to the TPD discharge process will reduce burden for borrowers who are disabled and seeking a discharge of their title IV debt.