AwardYear: 1996-1997 EnterChapterNo: 8 EnterChapterTitle: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program SectionNumber: 2 SectionTitle: Payments to Students PageNumbers: 7-9 MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AWARD AMOUNTS [[Enrollment for less than an academic year]] [[FSEOG for study abroad]] A school may award a Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) in an amount the school determines a student needs to continue his or her studies for an academic year. A students minimum allowable award for an academic year may be reduced proportionately if the student is enrolled for less than an academic year. An FSEOG may not be less than $100 and may not exceed $4,000 for a full academic year unless the student has reasonable costs of study abroad that exceed the cost of attendance at the home school. The maximum amount of the FSEOG may be increased from $4,000 to as much as $4,400 for a student participating in a study-abroad program that is approved for credit by the home school. DISBURSEMENT [[Method of payment]] A school must notify a student of the amount he or she can expect to receive as well as how and when that amount will be paid. A school may disburse an FSEOG directly to a student by check or may credit the students account. In addition, a school may choose to pay a student by electronic funds transfer (EFT) to the bank account the student designates; however, the school must first obtain an authorization from the student to disburse by EFT. A school may not require a student to sign a power of attorney as a prerequisite to receiving his or her FSEOG. [[Timing of disbursement]] The school may not disburse funds for a payment period until the student registers for that period. (Correspondence students must submit their first completed lessons before receiving funds.) The earliest a school may PAY DIRECTLY OR CREDIT THE ACCOUNT of an enrolled student is 10 DAYS before the first day of a payment period or period of enrollment. A school may no longer credit the account of an enrolled student up to three weeks before the first day of classes as a school could do before the 1995-96 award year. If a student withdraws (officially or unofficially) or is expelled before the first day of classes, the school must return to the FSEOG account any funds that were paid to the student. [[Late payment conditions--34CFR 676.16(f)]] Under certain conditions, a student who drops out before receiving his or her FSEOG can receive a payment. The school may disburse FSEOG funds to the student only if - the FSEOG is awarded to the student while he or she is still an eligible student and - the FSEOG funds are used to cover documented educational costs that were incurred for a payment period for which the award was intended and during which the student was actually enrolled.*1* A school that disburses FSEOG funds to a student after he or she has dropped out must document in the students file the reason for the late disbursement. If a student drops out AFTER receiving his or her FSEOG but before the end of the payment period, the school determines the amount of any refund and repayment as discussed in Chapter 3, Section 4. FREQUENCY OF DISBURSEMENTS [[Standard term school]] If a school is awarding an FSEOG for a full academic year and the school uses standard academic terms, it must advance a portion of the grant during each payment period. (Generally, the total FSEOG award is divided by the number of payment periods the student will attend.) In schools with a traditional academic year, payment periods are usually defined as semesters, trimesters, or quarters. [[Non-standard term schools]] If the school does not use standard academic terms, it must advance funds at least twice during the academic year--once at the beginning and once at the midpoint. Normally, no more than half the award may be advanced before the midpoint. If the student attends less than an academic year, the award is divided by the number of payment periods the student will attend during the academic year. A school may advance funds WITHIN a payment period in whatever installments it determines will best meet the students needs. However, if the total amount awarded a student under the FSEOG Program is less than $501 for an academic year, only one payment is necessary. UNEQUAL DISBURSEMENTS If the student incurs uneven costs or receives uneven resources during the year and needs extra funds in a particular payment period, a school may make unequal FSEOG disbursements. The school may also make unequal disbursements under the Federal Perkins Loan Program. For a discussion of uneven costs and unequal disbursements, see Chapter 6, Section 2. FSEOG OVERAWARDS AND OVERPAYMENTS [[Resources that must be considered when awarding FSEOG]] A financial aid administrator may not award or disburse an FSEOG to a student if the grant, when combined with all other resources, would exceed the students need. The aid administrator must take into account those resources that he or she can reasonably anticipate at the time aid is awarded to the student, those the school makes available to its students, or those the aid administrator knows about. If a student who has already been awarded a financial aid package later receives additional resources that cause his or her financial aid package to exceed his or her need, the amount in excess of the students need is considered an overaward. Beginning with the 1995- 96 award year, there is now a $300 overaward threshold for all campus-based programs. The $300 threshold is allowed only if an overaward occurs after campus-based aid has been packaged. The threshold does not allow a school to deliberately award campus- based aid that, in combination with other resources, exceeds the students financial need. A list of resources and a discussion of overawards and overpayments are included in Chapter 5, Section 2, "Resources and Overawards." *1* Costs that may be included are those normally included in a students cost of attendance under section 472 of the HEA (discussed in Chapter 2). |