(a) Contents of agreements

An agreement with any institution of higher education for the payment of Federal capital contributions under this part shall—

(1) provide for the establishment and maintenance of a student loan fund for the purpose of this part;

(2) provide for the deposit in such fund of—

(A) Federal capital contributions from funds appropriated under section 1087aa of this title;

(B) a capital contribution by an institution in an amount equal to one-third of the Federal capital contributions described in subparagraph (A);

(C) collections of principal and interest on student loans made from deposited funds;

(D) charges collected pursuant to regulations under section 1087dd(c)(1)(H) of this title; and

(E) any other earnings of the funds;

(3) provide that such student loan fund shall be used only for—

(A) loans to students, in accordance with the provisions of this part;

(B) administrative expenses, as provided in subsection (b);

(C) capital distributions, as provided in section 1087ff of this title; and

(D) costs of litigation, and other collection costs agreed to by the Secretary in connection with the collection of a loan from the fund (and interest thereon) or a charge assessed pursuant to regulations under section 1087dd(c)(1)(H) of this title;

(4) provide that where a note or written agreement evidencing a loan has been in default despite due diligence on the part of the institution in attempting collection thereon—

(A) if the institution has knowingly failed to maintain an acceptable collection record with respect to such loan, as determined by the Secretary in accordance with criteria established by regulation, the Secretary may—

(i) require the institution to assign such note or agreement to the Secretary, without recompense; and

(ii) apportion any sums collected on such a loan, less an amount not to exceed 30 percent of any sums collected to cover the Secretary’s collection costs, among other institutions in accordance with section 1087bb of this title; or

(B) if the institution is not one described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary may allow such institution to refer such note or agreement to the Secretary, without recompense, except that, once every six months, any sums collected on such a loan (less an amount not to exceed 30 percent of any such sums collected to cover the Secretary’s collection costs) shall be repaid to such institution and treated as an additional capital contribution under section 1087bb of this title;

(5) provide that, if an institution of higher education determines not to service and collect student loans made available from funds under this part, the institution will assign, at the beginning of the repayment period, notes or evidence of obligations of student loans made from such funds to the Secretary and the Secretary shall apportion any sums collected on such notes or obligations (less an amount not to exceed 30 percent of any such sums collected to cover that Secretary’s collection costs) among other institutions in accordance with section 1087bb of this title;

(6) provide that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary will provide to the institution any information with respect to the names and addresses of borrowers or other relevant information which is available to the Secretary, from whatever source such information may be derived;

(7) provide assurances that the institution will comply with the provisions of section 1087cc-1 of this title;

(8) provide that the institution of higher education will make loans first to students with exceptional need; and

(9) include such other reasonable provisions as may be necessary to protect the United States from unreasonable risk of loss and as are agreed to by the Secretary and the institution, except that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to permit the Secretary to require the assignment of loans to the Secretary other than as is provided for in paragraphs (4) and (5).

(b) Administrative expenses

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An institution which has entered into an agreement under subsection (a) shall be entitled, for each fiscal year during which it makes student loans from a student loan fund established under such agreement, to a payment in lieu of reimbursement for its expenses in administering its student loan program under this part during such year. Such payment shall be made in accordance with section 1096 of this title.

(c) Cooperative agreements with consumer reporting agencies

(1) For the purpose of promoting responsible repayment of loans made pursuant to this part, the Secretary and each institution of higher education participating in the program under this part shall enter into cooperative agreements with consumer reporting agencies to provide for the exchange of information concerning student borrowers concerning whom the Secretary has received a referral pursuant to section 1087gg of this title and regarding loans held by the Secretary or an institution.

(2) Each cooperative agreement made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be made in accordance with the requirements of section 1080a of this title except that such agreement shall provide for the disclosure by the Secretary or an institution, as the case may be, to such consumer reporting agencies, with respect to any loan held by the Secretary or the institution, respectively, of—

(A) the date of disbursement and the amount of such loans made to any borrower under this part at the time of disbursement of the loan;

(B) information concerning the repayment and collection of any such loan, including information concerning the status of such loan; and

(C) the date of cancellation of the note upon completion of repayment by the borrower of any such loan, or upon cancellation or discharge of the borrower’s obligation on the loan for any reason.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (4) and (5) of subsection (a) of section 1681c of title 15, a consumer reporting agency may make a report containing information received from the Secretary or an institution regarding the status of a borrower’s account on a loan made under this part until the loan is paid in full.

(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), an institution of higher education, after consultation with the Secretary and pursuant to the agreements entered into under paragraph (1), shall disclose at least annually to any consumer reporting agency with which the Secretary has such an agreement the information set forth in paragraph (2), and shall disclose promptly to such consumer reporting agency any changes to the information previously disclosed.

(B) The Secretary may promulgate regulations establishing criteria under which an institution of higher education may cease reporting the information described in paragraph (2) before a loan is paid in full.

(5) Each institution of higher education shall notify the appropriate consumer reporting agencies whenever a borrower of a loan that is made and held by the institution and that is in default makes 6 consecutive monthly payments on such loan, for the purpose of encouraging such consumer reporting agencies to update the status of information maintained with respect to that borrower.

(d) Limitation on use of interest bearing accounts

In carrying out the provisions of subsection (a)(9), the Secretary may not require that any collection agency, collection attorney, or loan servicer collecting loans made under this part deposit amounts collected on such loans in interest bearing accounts, unless such agency, attorney, or servicer holds such amounts for more than 45 days.

(e) Special due diligence rule

In carrying out the provisions of subsection (a)(5) ¹ relating to due diligence, the Secretary shall make every effort to ensure that institutions of higher education may use Internal Revenue Service skip-tracing collection procedures on loans made under this part.