| AwardYear: 1996-97 EnterChapterNo: 4 EnterChapterTitle: Federal Pell Grant Program SectionNumber: 2 SectionTitle: Calculating the Federal Pell Grant PageNumbers: 9 -42 In this section, we will review the basic steps in calculating a Pell award. These steps, in effect, adjust the Pell award to take into account the students cost of attendance (COA) for the academic year, the students enrollment status, the ability to contribute to his or her education (EFC), the amount of coursework taken in the award year, and the length of the students enrollment during the academic year. [[See Section 3 for special considerations]] Pell calculations for most programs can be performed by following the steps in this section. However, there are some situations that require further adjustments. These situations are discussed in Section 3, "Special Program Considerations." Check that section to see if these special considerations apply to any of the programs at your school. BASIC CONCEPTS [[Scheduled award]] A primary concept in the Federal Pell Grant Program is the "Scheduled Award," which is the amount of a Pell a student receives during an academic year for a given COA and EFC, assuming the student is enrolled FULL TIME for a FULL academic year. For example, a student with a COA of $6,000 for a full academic year and a nine-month EFC of 0 would have a Scheduled Award of $2,470 (the maximum for 1996-97). A student will receive less than a full Scheduled Award if he or she is enrolled less than full time or is enrolled for less than a full academic year. For instance, if a student attends two semesters as a half-time student at a semester school, the student would receive half a Scheduled Award. Or, if the student enrolled full time in a program late in the award year and only completed half of an academic year in that program, he or she would receive no more than half of a Scheduled Award. The concept of the Scheduled Award has always been important because it has limited the student to a maximum payment for an award year. The Scheduled Award cannot be exceeded, even if the student transfers to another school or attends for more than one academic year in the award year (for example, by attending a summer session). [[Annual award]] The annual award is the maximum amount (from the appropriate Payment or Disbursement Schedule) a student would receive during a full academic year for a given enrollment status, EFC, and COA. Note that for a full-time student, the annual award will be the same as the Scheduled Award. [[Award year]] The award year begins on July 1 of one year and ends on June 30 of the next year. [[The illustration on page 4-10 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] As already noted, a student cannot be paid more than one Scheduled Award for an award year. The regulations provide that students may receive up to a second Scheduled Award during a single award year if the Department determines that sufficient funds are available. There is no funding for payment of a second Scheduled Award for 1996-97; therefore, students will not be able to receive more than one Scheduled Award for the 1996-97 award year. [[Academic year]] The academic year is used to measure the amount of coursework the student will complete during the award year. The school must define the academic year for each program of study; once it has defined the academic year for that program, it must use that definition for all SFA purposes. A schools definition of an academic year must contain at least 30 weeks of instructional time; within the weeks of the academic year, a full-time student must be expected to complete at least 24 semester or trimester hours or 36 quarter hours at a school measuring program length in credit hours, or at least 900 clock hours at a school measuring program length in clock hours. The General Provisions regulations provide a definition of academic year and allow schools to apply for a waiver of the 30 week minimum. (See Chapter 3, Section 1 for more information on the definition of academic year.) [[Calendar weeks vs. weeks of instructional time]] Note that for the Pell calculations, the school will need to determine how many weeks of instructional time are in the program or academic year, or in each term if the school uses terms. In some cases, the weeks of instructional time will not be the same as the number of calendar weeks. Chapter 3 explains how to determine weeks of instructional time. The school should be careful not to use calendar weeks when it should be using weeks of instructional time. [[Different academic year for different programs]] Depending on the academic nature of the programs involved, a school may define an academic year differently for different programs of study. For instance, it may set an academic year of 900 clock hours and 30 weeks in one program and 1,200 clock hours and 40 weeks in another. The school may even use a different academic year for an evening program, as opposed to a day version of the same program, as long as each academic year meets the minimum requirements established for an academic year. If the school establishes separate versions of a program, with different academic years, but allows individual students to take courses in both versions, the school must be able to determine which program the student is actually enrolled in. [[Standard term and nonstandard term]] Term-based schools may have either standard terms or nonstandard terms. Standard terms are semesters, trimesters, or quarters. Any other type of term is a nonstandard term. Nonstandard term has sometimes been used to refer only to terms of unequal length, but under this definition terms of equal length may be nonstandard terms. CHOOSING A FORMULA [[34 CFR 690.63(a)]] The regulations specify five different formulas for calculating Pells; the formula the school uses depends on the type of program. However, each formula has the same basic steps. Once the school chooses a formula, the school must use that same formula for all students in the same program of study for the entire award year. [[Formula 4 or 5]] Three of the formulas (Formulas 1, 2, and 3) are used for credit-hour, term-based programs. Of the remaining two formulas, Formula 4 is used for all clock-hour programs and for nonterm credit-hour programs, and Formula 5 is used for students enrolled only in correspondence courses (not including residential components of correspondence programs). Calculations for correspondence programs are discussed separately in Section 3 of this chapter. [[Formula 3]] A school can use Formula 3 to calculate Pells for any credit-hour, term-based program. However, if the program meets certain requirements, Formula 1 or 2 may also be used. If the program meets the requirements for more than one formula, the school may choose which formula to use. [[Formula 1 or 2]] To qualify for Formula 1 or 2, the program must - be offered in semesters, trimesters, or quarters (standard terms); - use an academic calendar that includes two semesters or trimesters or three quarters; - not have overlapping terms (that is, the beginning and end of the term must be the same for all students in the program); and - define full-time enrollment for each term as at least 12 credit hours. If the program provides at least the statutory minimum of weeks for an academic year (30 weeks of instructional time, unless the school has received a waiver from the Department) in the fall through spring terms, Formula 1 may be used. If it does not provide this minimum in the fall through spring terms, Formula 2 may be used. Note that in both cases the school may decide to use Formula 3. [[Combining terms]] A school may combine terms to allow a program to qualify for Formula 1 or 2. For example, a school with several summer terms for which full-time enrollment is less than 12 credit hours may combine these terms into a single term for which full-time enrollment is 12 credit hours so that Pells for students in the program can be calculated under Formula 1. A school may also combine a short term with a semester in order to have two semesters as required for Formulas 1 and 2, as the following example shows. [[The example on page 4-12 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[Calendar changes]] Because the academic calendar for a program must fall within specific limits for the school to be able to use Formula 1 or 2, if the calendar for the program changes, the school may have to check again to see if it can still use Formula 1 or 2 for the program. [[The example on page 4-13 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] No matter what formula is used, there are five basic steps to calculating a Pell award: STEP 1: Determine Enrollment Status STEP 2: Calculate Cost of Attendance STEP 3: Determine Annual Award STEP 4: Determine Payment Periods STEP 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period We will now discuss each of these steps in more detail. Appendix A contains step-by-step summaries for each of the five formulas. DETERMINING ENROLLMENT STATUS The students enrollment status is based on the number of credit or clock hours for which the student enrolls. It determines which cost components are used to calculate the students Pell COA and, for some programs, establishes which Payment or Disbursement Schedule is used to determine the students annual award. [[Enrollment status change during year]] If a students enrollment status changes during the year, the school may have to recalculate the students Pell payment based on the students new enrollment status. Section 5 of this chapter explains when a school is required to recalculate based on a change in enrollment status. For credit-hour programs with terms, the school must determine whether the student is enrolled full time, three-quarter time, half time, or less than half time. This allows the school to determine which Payment or Disbursement Schedule it needs to use. For clock- hour programs and for credit-hour programs without terms, the school only needs to determine if the student is enrolled at least half time or less than half time, so that it can calculate the COA correctly. [[The chart "Enrollment Status Minimum Requirements" on page 4-14 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[School defines full-time enrollment]] If the school has standard terms (i.e., semesters, trimesters, or quarters), it may establish its own standards for determining enrollment status for each of its academic programs, provided its standards meet the minimum requirements defined in the regulations, as shown in the chart below. Note that the schools academic standard may differ from the enrollment standard used by the financial aid office for SFA purposes. For example, the school may define full time as six hours during the summer; however, the financial aid office uses 12 hours as full-time for all terms including the summer term. The school must apply its standards consistently to all students enrolled in the same program of study, for all SFA purposes. [[Enrollment status for nonstandard terms--34 CFR 690.63(d)(1)(ii)]] If a schools academic calendar contains nonstandard terms, the school must determine the students enrollment status for each nonstandard term. To determine enrollment status for a nonstandard term, the school must first determine the number of credit hours required for full-time enrollment status using the following formula: [[The formula on page 4-15 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] If the resulting number is not a whole number, it is rounded up to the next whole number. After the school has determined the number of credit hours required for full-time enrollment, the school can then determine the less-than-full-time status for the nonstandard term using the following formula: [[The formula on page 4-15 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] The resulting fraction is then matched with the appropriate less-than- full-time status classification. The fraction must equal or exceed the enrollment status classification. For example, two-thirds would correspond to a half-time enrollment status. The following examples illustrate how the enrollment status for a nonstandard term is determined. [[Page 4-16, "Nonstandard term examples," is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] If the school has combined two or more terms into a single term for purposes of the Pell calculation, the students enrollment status is based on the combined number of hours the student is enrolled in for all the component terms of the combined term. Note that if the student later does not begin attendance in one of the parts of the combined term, the school must recalculate the students award (see Section 5 for more on recalculations). [[The "Combined term example" and "Step 1 summary by formula" illustrations on page 4-17 are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] CALCULATING THE COST OF ATTENDANCE The components used to calculate a students Pell COA are the same as those used to calculate the COA for the other SFA Programs. (See Section 2 of Chapter 2 for a list of these components.) [[Cost for full time for full academic year]] Although schools must use the same components for calculating a students cost for the Federal Pell Grant Program as for the other SFA Programs, the Pell COA is always based on costs for a FULL- TIME STUDENT FOR A FULL ACADEMIC YEAR. That is, the amount of each component must always be a full-time, full academic year cost. [[Less than half time]] If the student is enrolled less than half time, the aid administrator may include in the Pell COA only those cost components allowable for less-than-half-time enrollment. (See Chapter 2 for more information, and for other restrictions on COA components.) For students who are less than half time, COA may include only: - tuition and fees; - an allowance for books and supplies; - transportation (but not miscellaneous expenses); and - an allowance for dependent care expenses The major difference between the COA for Pell and for other SFA Programs is that under Pell, costs for programs or enrollment periods longer or shorter than an academic year must be prorated so that they apply to one full academic year.*1* This is true for both components of the academic year definition, the number of weeks and the number of clock/credit hours: If the program or period of enrollment differs from the defined academic year in either component, the costs must be prorated to determine the Pell COA. [[Two proration methods]] Schools may now choose between two proration methods. A school may either prorate the entire cost using one fraction, or split the COA into credit or clock hour costs and week costs, and prorate the two types of costs separately. A school may use whichever method it prefers. [[NEW]] To prorate the COA by one fraction, the school must calculate two fractions and multiply the COA by the lesser of the two fractions. There is one fraction for each component of the academic year definition. One fraction is determined by dividing the number of credit or clock hours in the programs academic year by the hours for which the costs apply; the other by dividing the number of weeks in the programs academic year by the weeks for which the costs apply: The COA is multiplied by the lesser of these two fractions to determine the students Pell COA. This Pell COA must be used when determining the amount of the students annual award. Note that in some cases the prorated COA calculated by this method will be the same as the original, nonprorated COA: If for one of the components of the academic year the program or period of enrollment for which costs apply is the same as the academic year, one of the fractions will be equal to one. [[The fractions on page 4-19 are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] Following are some examples showing how to determine full-time, full-year costs. [[Examples 1, 2, and 3 on pages 4-20 and 4-21 are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[Split proration]] The school may still split the COA into two parts and prorate the two parts separately, if it chooses. The school multiplies costs associated with credit or clock hours (tuition and fees, books and supplies, loan fees) by the credit or clock hour fraction discussed previously, and multiplies costs associated with weeks of instructional time (room and board, miscellaneous expenses, disability expenses, transportation, dependent care, study abroad, reasonable costs associated with employment as part of a cooperative education program) by the week fraction discussed previously. The students Pell COA is the sum of the two types of prorated costs. [[Actual vs. average cost]] While schools have the option of determining actual costs for individual students, most schools prefer to determine the COA by using an average cost for a group of similar students. (For example, a school may have different charges for different academic programs or different charges for in-state vs. out-of-state students.) [[The "Step 2 summary by formula" on page 4-22 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] DETERMINING THE ANNUAL AWARD Once the school has figured the students COA, the financial aid administrator can use the Payment Schedule or appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule*2* to look up the students annual award. As mentioned earlier, the annual award is the maximum amount a student would receive during a full academic year for a given enrollment status, EFC, and COA. For students enrolled in clock- hour or nonterm credit-hour programs, the annual award is always determined from the full-time Payment Schedule, even if the student is attending less than half time. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE THE DISCRETION TO REFUSE TO PAY AN ELIGIBLE PART-TIME STUDENT. [[The "Step 3 summary by formula" on page 4-23 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] DETERMINING THE PAYMENT PERIODS The programs academic year must be divided into payment periods. Pells must be paid in installments over the academic year to help meet the students cost in each payment period. The payment period determines when Pell funds are disbursed and the exact amount to be disbursed. [[Term programs]] For term programs, the payment period is the term. However, if the term program is measured in clock hours, the student must complete all hours scheduled for a term before receiving another disbursement. Terms With Clock Hours in Section 3 explains how to determine subsequent payment periods if the student does not complete all clock hours in a term. [[Nonterm programs--34 CFR 690.3(b)]] For nonterm programs, the school must define, in writing, the payment periods as measured in clock or credit hours for each program. The regulations require at least two equal payment periods for programs that are shorter than or equal to an academic year or at least two equal payment periods in each academic year for programs longer than an academic year. [[Less than AY]] [[Equal to or longer than AY]] If the program of study is shorter than an academic year, each payment period is the period of time in which the student completes half the credit or clock hours in the program. If the program of study is equal to or longer than an academic year, each payment period is the period of time in which the student completes half the credit or clock hours in the academic year. If the number of credit or clock hours to be completed in the final academic year is fewer than the number in the defined academic year, each payment period is the period of time in which the student completes either half the academic year or all the remaining hours in the program, whichever is shorter. [["Nonterm payment period examples" on page 4-24 are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[More frequent payment periods--34 CFR 690.3(b)(4)]] Regulations also permit a school to establish more frequent payment periods for its programs of study. For example, a school may choose to use monthly payment periods. The payment periods must be equal in number of credit or clock hours, except that a final payment period for a program may be shorter than the other payment periods. [[The example "More frequent payment periods" on page 4-25 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] For nonterm programs, the payment period ends when the student has completed all the credit or clock hours in the payment period. Because the length of a payment period (measured in weeks of instructional time) is based on what a full-time student is expected to complete, part-time students will take longer than full-time students to complete each payment period. However, as we will discuss in "Calculating the Payment for a Payment Period," the number of weeks of instructional time that is used in the formula to calculate the payment for the payment period will remain the same. [[34 CFR 690.3(b)(3)]] For some nonterm credit-hour programs, the school does not award credits for part of the year (or program). For example, the school may award the student credits only after the student has completed the entire program. The school must still determine the payment periods as usual, but may adjust the beginning of the second payment period to account for the student being halfway or further through the year or program without having completed half the hours. In such cases, the second payment period is considered to begin at the later of the calendar midpoint between the first and last day of class or the point at which the school considers that the student has completed half of the academic coursework for the year or program. [[The example on page 4-26 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[Nonterm programs--Excused absences]] Note that a school with a nonterm program may take into consideration a small number of "excused absences" in determining whether a student has completed the hours in a payment period. For example if a schools written policy (in accordance with its accrediting agency guidelines) allows a student to miss up to 50 hours of a program, the school may still pay a student who had missed 20 of the first 450 hours at the same time it would pay a student who did not miss any hours. However, the absences must be excused--that is, the student will not be required to make up the 20 hours of absences to receive the degree or certificate for the program. [[The "Step 4 summary by formula" on page 4-27 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] CALCULATING THE PAYMENT FOR A PAYMENT PERIOD Once the school has determined the payment period, it can determine how much of the annual award the student will receive for that payment period. A student may receive a Pell payment only for those terms, or payment periods, in which the student is enrolled. For some students, the total disbursements for all payment periods within the award year will equal the amount of the Scheduled Award. However, students who attend for less than an academic year (in either clock/credit hours or weeks of instructional time) will not receive a full Scheduled Award. This may occur if the student enrolls for only part of the year, attends part time, or if the program is less than an academic year in length. These enrollment variations are taken into account in the calculation of the students payment for the payment period. The four calculation formulas discussed in this section account for these variations differently; therefore, we will describe the calculation for each formula separately (see page 4-11 for more information on which formula to use). [[Formula 1]] For a program using Formula 1, a student will attend less than an academic year only if he or she enrolls part time or does not enroll in all terms in the academic year. The adjustment for part-time enrollment is made in determining the annual award (by using the appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedules). The adjustment for a student not enrolling in all terms is made by dividing the annual award evenly between the terms. If the student does not enroll in a term, he or she will not receive that part of the award. Therefore, to determine the payment for a payment period, divide the annual award by the number of payment periods in the academic year (two for semesters or trimesters, three for quarters). However, if the school has a summer term, it may wish to use an alternate calculation that spreads the award over the summer term as well (see "Summer Terms" later in this section for more information). [[The example on page 4-28 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[Formula 2]] [[34 CFR 690.63(c)(3)]] For a program using Formula 2, a student will attend less than an academic year in credit hours only if he or she enrolls part time or does not enroll in all terms (fall through spring) in the academic year. As for Formula 1, the adjustment for part-time enrollment is made in determining the annual award (by looking up the award on the appropriate schedule). Because the fall through spring terms provide fewer than 30 weeks of instructional time, the school must always adjust for less than an academic year in weeks by prorating the annual award: [[The formula on page 4-28 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] Then, to adjust for students not attending all terms, the award is divided evenly between terms. To determine the payment for one payment period, divide the PRORATED annual award by the number of terms in the year (two for semesters or trimesters, three for quarters). If the school has a summer term, it may use the alternate calculation mentioned earlier to distribute the award over all terms (see "Summer Terms" later in this section). [[The example on page 4-29 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[Formula 3]] [[34 CFR 690.63(d)3, 4]] Under Formula 3, the school also adjusts for less than an academic year by using enrollment status in determining the annual award and by distributing the award over terms. Because the program may use uneven nonstandard terms, the award cannot simply be divided evenly among the terms. Instead, the school must multiply the annual award by a fraction representing the proportion of an academic year the payment period contains. This adjusts for the period of enrollment that is less than an academic year either because the student misses a term or because the terms provide less than an academic year of instruction. To calculate a students payment for a payment period, the school uses the following formula: [[The formula on page 4-29 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[34 CFR 690.63(f)]] If the resulting amount is more than 50% of the annual award, the school must make the payment in at least two disbursements. A single disbursement may never be more than 50% of the annual award. [[The examples on pages 4-30 and 4-31 are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[Formula 4]] [[34 CFR 690.63(e)(2) Unlike under the preceding three formulas, no adjustment for enrollment status is made in determining the annual award under Formula 4. Instead, a comparable proration of the award based on hours enrolled must be performed. The calculation for the payment period adjusts the annual award both if the student will be enrolled in fewer credit/clock hours than in a full academic year (an adjustment mainly handled by enrollment status in the other formulas) and if a full-time student would be attending fewer weeks than a full academic year. To adjust for fewer weeks, the school must multiply the annual award by the lesser of: [[The formula on page 4-32 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] Note that the result of this multiplication will never be greater than the original annual award. Because the annual award has not been adjusted for enrollment status, the fractions use the weeks of instructional time for a FULL-TIME STUDENT to complete the hours in the program or academic year. The school must determine the weeks of instructional time it takes a full-time student to complete the hours based on the time required for the majority of its full-time students to complete the program or academic year, not student by student. [[34 CFR 690.63(e)3]] Then, to adjust for fewer clock/credit hours, the school must multiply this adjusted annual award by the following fraction: [[The fraction on page 4-32 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[34 CFR 690.63(f)]] The resulting amount is the payment for a payment period. However, if this amount is greater than 50% of the annual award (which will only occur in a term-based program), the school must make the payment in at least two disbursements. A single disbursement may never be more than 50% of the annual award. [[The examples on page 4-33 are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[The "Step 5 summary by formula" on page 4-34 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] CHECKING REMAINING ELIGIBILITY: CROSSOVER PAYMENT PERIODS Payment periods do not always fall neatly into one award year or another. When a payment period falls into two award years, it is referred to as a "crossover payment period." [[The illustration on page 4-35 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] At a school with a traditional term calendar, the summer term is usually a crossover payment period. The basic calculation for a crossover payment period is the same as that for any other payment period. However, there are additional provisions for some summer terms. (See "Summer Terms" in this section.) [[Payment from either award year]] The school may make a payment for a crossover payment period out of either award year, provided the student has a valid SAR or ISIR for the award year selected, except that if more than six months of the payment period occurs in a given award year, the Pell payment must be made from that award year. The decision about which award year to use is usually based on the students remaining eligibility in the earlier award year. For instance, if a student had already been paid for two semesters (each at least 15 weeks) as a full-time student for a full academic year in the 1996-97 award year, the student would have been paid a full Scheduled Award for that year. However, if the school receives a valid SAR or ISIR for the 1997-98 award year, the student could be paid for the crossover period from that years funds. Of course, a student may still be eligible for a summer payment from the earlier award year if the student has not attended for a full academic year. For example, a student who enrolls at midyear, in the spring session, might still have eligibility remaining for the summer term. As another example, a student could receive a Pell payment for the summer term, even after receiving payments for the other terms in the award year, if the student attended PART TIME in those other terms, or if those terms provided less than 30 weeks of instructional time. [[Costs for crossover payment period]] Costs for a crossover payment period are figured in the same way as for any other payment period; that is, the costs are based on a full academic year. For instance, if the school has fall and spring semesters that comprise an academic year, the financial aid administrator must not add the costs for the summer term to the costs for the fall and spring semesters. The award for the summer term is still based on the costs for one academic year. However, if the academic year definition includes the summer term, then the costs for the summer term MUST be included in the cost for a full academic year. If the student was previously enrolled in the award year, the school may be able to use the same COA for the summer term that it used for the immediately preceding term the student attended. However, this is not possible if the school is required to recalculate the COA. (See Section 5 of this chapter for information on when recalculations are required.) If it is necessary to base the students COA on the summer term, the financial aid administrator must prorate the summer costs to establish the cost for an academic year. (See "Calculating the Cost of Attendance" in this section for information on prorating costs.) If the summer session is the first term in the award year for that student (for example, the school is paying a student for the summer 1996 term from the 1996-97 award year), the school must establish the students full-year cost based on the costs for the SUMMER term. If the student enrolls in another term in that award year, the school may have to recalculate the students costs for the later term (see Section 5.) SUMMER TERMS If a school offers a summer term in addition to fall through spring terms, the school may choose to calculate the students payment for the summer term by using the same formula used to calculate the payment for each term within the schools fall, winter, or spring terms. However, for a program for which the school calculates awards using Formula 1 or 2, the school may perform an alternate calculation that distributes the annual award over all the terms for all students enrolled in the program. [[Full-time status definition]] Regardless of the method the school chooses to calculate the students summer payment, the aid administrator must apply the schools definition of full-time status consistently to all SFA Programs. In addition, in order to calculate a students Pell for the summer under Formula 1 or 2 or under the alternate calculation, the aid administrator must define full-time enrollment during the summer as at least 12 credit hours. [[Alternate calculation]] To perform the alternate calculation, the school divides the annual award by the number of terms (including the summer term) in the award year. If the school chooses this alternate calculation, the school must use the alternate calculation for ALL students enrolled in the same program of study, increase the number of weeks of instructional time in the academic year defined for the students program to include the number of weeks in the summer term, and include the costs for the additional term in the Pell COA. The school may also include the number of credit hours for the additional term in the academic year defined for the students program. [[The "Alternate calculation example" on page 4-37 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] If the school does not choose to use the alternate calculation and calculates the payment for the summer term using Formula 1 or 2, the school must ensure that the amount of Pell funds the student receives for the award year does not exceed the Scheduled Award. (See "Crossover Payment Periods" in this section.) [[The example on page 4-38 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] [[Summer minisessions]] If a term-based school offers a series of minisessions that overlap two award years (by "crossing over" the June 30 end date for one award year), these minisessions may be combined and treated as one term. However, schools are no longer required to combine these minisessions. The weeks of instructional time in the combined term are the weeks between the beginning of the first minisession and the date the last minisession will end. The students enrollment status for the entire payment period must be calculated based on either - the total number of credits the student is taking for all sessions, if that number is known when the award is calculated, or - a projected number of credits based on the credits the student is taking for the first session if the number of credits to be taken in subsequent sessions is unknown when the award is calculated. If the school combines minisessions into a single term, a student may not be paid more than the amount for one payment period for completing any combination of the minisessions. Note that recalculation is required if the student does not ultimately attend the projected classes in a subsequent minisession. (See "Change in Enrollment Status" in Section 5 of this chapter.) If the school does not combine minisessions into a single payment period, it must treat each minisession as a separate nonstandard term and calculate the payment for each using Formula 3. [[The "Minisession example" on page 4-39 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] CHECKING REMAINING ELIGIBILITY: TRANSFER STUDENTS [[SAR or ISIR and transcript needed]] The school must be careful not to exceed the Scheduled Award when paying a student who has previously received a Pell for the award year at another school. To pay such a student, the school must obtain a SAR or ISIR and financial aid history information. There are three ways for a school to obtain the students application information and official EFC if the student did not list that school on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): [[Duplicate SAR]] 1. The school can have the student request a duplicate of his or her original SAR and submit it. [[PIN Number]] 2. If the school participates in EDE, it can have the student provide the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that is printed on the upper right corner of the SAR, so that the school can obtain the students data electronically. [[Correct SAR]] 3. The school can have the student correct his or her SAR to add the schools name to the list of schools in items 92 through 103. [[Financial aid history]] The school may obtain a financial aid history by requesting that the other eligible school(s) that the student attended send a financial aid transcript. Note that schools may also be able to receive transcript information through the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). (See Chapter 3 for more on transcript requirements and NSLDS.) [[Calculating the payment]] The Pell payment for a transfer student is calculated in the same way as for any new student. That is, the school must divide the annual award (prorated if necessary) into payments for each payment period. However, before paying a transfer student, the school must also make sure the student does not receive more than 100% of his or her Scheduled Award during the award year. Thus the school must determine what percentage of the Scheduled Award at the previous school the student actually received. [[Figuring percentage of remaining eligibility--34 CFR 690.65(d)]] The necessary information is on the financial aid transcript from the previous school. First, find the percentage of the Pell received at that school by dividing the amount the student received at the previous school by the students Scheduled Award at that school. Then subtract this percentage from 100%. The result is the maximum percentage of the Scheduled Award that the student may receive at the new school. [[The "Transfer example" on page 4-41 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] The reason for using percentages is that a transfer student may have different Scheduled Awards because the costs of attendance at the two schools may be different. The percentages are used to compare the portions of a students total eligibility that have been used at both schools. (If the students Scheduled Award is the same at both schools, the financial aid administrator can find the amount of the students remaining eligibility simply by subtracting the amount received at the first school from the Scheduled Award.) Note that a transfer student receives the same payments as any other student until the limit (100% of a Scheduled Award) is reached. For example, a transfer student enrolls for two terms in the award year at a school and would ordinarily receive a $500 payment for each term. However, the students remaining eligibility, based on payments at the other school, is only $600. Rather than "rationing" this amount by splitting it into two $300 payments for the two terms, the school must pay the student $500 for the first term and the remainder ($100) for the second term. Thus, the student will have received a full payment for the first term, even if he or she does not return for the second term. TWO MATHEMATICAL NOTES [[Rounding]] When making disbursements, round to the nearest dollar: Round up if the decimal is .50 or higher; round down if it is less than .50. For instance, if a calculation resulted in a payment of $516.66, round up to $517. If the calculation result was $516.33, round down to $516. For a student who is expected to be enrolled for more than one payment period in the award year, the school must alternate rounding up and rounding down to ensure that the student receives the correct amount for the year. For example, if a student had a Scheduled Award of $1,025 to be paid in two payment periods, the first payment would be $513 (rounded up from $512.50), and the second payment would be $512 (rounded down to ensure that the student is not overpaid for the year). The same principle applies when there are three or more payment periods in the award year. For instance, if the student has a Scheduled Award of $1,100 and enrolls at a school using quarter terms, the payment for each term would come to $366.66. The first two payments would be rounded up to $367, and the last payment would be rounded down to $366 to reach the total of $1,100. [[Fractions]] When using fractions, be careful to multiply first, and then divide to avoid making an overpayment. For example, to calculate the payment in a program that has three payment periods of 300 hours each, you should use the method in this example: [[The example on page 4-42 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper handbook for additional information.]] *1* Note that prorating the COA will not affect the amount of Pell the student receives unless the proration reduces the cost below $2,470 or raises it above $2,470. However, you must enter accurate amounts when reporting disbursements (see Section 7). *2* The Payment and Disbursement Schedules are mailed to all participating schools before the award year begins. Many schools and servicers have programmed the schedules, using the Department's specifications, for use on microcomputers or mainframes. |