| AwardYear: 1997-1998 EnterChapterNo: 2 EnterChapterTitle: Student Eligibility and Financial Need SectionNumber: SectionTitle: Introduction PageNumbers: 1-2 Introduction This chapter of The Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook describes the student eligibility requirements that affect the Student Financial Assistance (SFA) Programs. The calculation of financial need, a key determinant of student eligibility, is examined here, as are the details that pertain to documenting citizenship status and other eligibility criteria. Documentation necessary for proving citizenship status, information on eligibility matches, and the Selective Service's Status Information Letters appear in the appendices. [[Output document]] Schools and students receive information about the student's eligibility from the Central Processing System (CPS) on several different types of documents. These documents are the Student Aid Report (SAR) and SAR Information Acknowledgement, which are sent directly to the student, and the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR), which is sent to schools either through the Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) or on tapes and cartridges. Throughout this chapter, we will use the term output document to refer to all of these CPS-produced documents. [[Record retention]] Schools are required to document that a student meets the eligibility requirements described in this chapter, and so must keep certain documents, such as output documents or financial aid history information. Although this chapter mentions some items that must be documented, Chapter 3, Section 7 has a detailed discussion of which records must be kept and how long they must be retained. [[Conflicting information]] A school is also required to reconcile any conflicting information it has about a student's eligibility before it pays the student. The school must consider all information available to it, not just the information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If a school has conflicting information about a student or reason to believe the application information is incorrect, it must resolve the discrepancy before disbursing federal student aid. (See The Verification Guide for more about the general requirement to reconcile all conflicting information.) RECENT CHANGES There have been only a few major changes relating to student eligibility for the 1997-98 award year. Some of the noteworthy changes for 1997-98 are: - Higher loan limits are available to certain students enrolled in preparatory coursework for graduate programs (see "Enrollment as a Regular Student in an Eligible Program" in Section 1). - Ability-to-benefit regulations that took effect on July 1, 1996 govern the approval and administration of tests used to determine a student's eligibility; the Department has approved new tests under these rules (see "High School Diploma; Ability to Benefit" in Section 1). - There have been some changes to the information provided from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) on the SAR and ISIR to help aid administrators use the NSLDS system more effectively(see Section 2). - The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, enacted August 22, 1996, has excluded noncitizens with "family unity" status from SFA eligibility (see Appendix A). There have also been changes to the application processing system, some of which are noted in this chapter. For detailed information about the processing changes, and the processing system in general, see A Guide to 1997-98 SARs and ISIRs and the 1997-98 Counselor's Handbook for Postsecondary Schools. |