AwardYear: 1995-1996 EnterChapterNo: 5 EnterChapterTitle: Campus-Based Programs SectionNumber: SectionTitle: Introduction PageNumbers: 1-6 The Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program, and Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program are called "campus-based" programs because each school is responsible for administering them on its own campus. A school applies for and receives program funds directly from the U.S. Department of Education by submitting an application, the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP), each award year (see page 5-4). The school's financial aid administrator is responsible for ensuring that eligible students at the school receive program funds in accordance with the provisions of the law, the regulations, the Program Participation Agreement signed by the Secretary of Education and the school's chief administrative officer, and other criteria ED may establish. [[The chart on page 5-1 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] This chapter covers provisions common to the Federal Perkins Loan, FWS, and FSEOG programs. Chapters Six through Eight discuss these programs individually. The Federal Perkins Loan Program provides low-interest, long-term loans to help needy undergraduate and graduate students. The FWS Program gives undergraduate and graduate students the chance to work part-time and encourages community service employment. The FSEOG Program provides grants to undergraduates who demonstrate exceptional financial need. A school may use part of its FWS funds for the Job Location and Development (JLD) Program to locate and develop jobs, including community service jobs, for currently enrolled students. JLD is discussed in Chapter Seven, Section Six. An eligible school that meets the definition of "work-college" may also use its FWS and/or Perkins Loan allocation to meet the cost of a Work-Colleges Program, which is discussed in the Introduction to Chapter Seven. Final Rule, November 30, 1994 [[Final Rule 11-30-94]] A Final Rule amending the campus-based programs regulations was published in the Federal Register on November 30, 1994 and is effective July 1, 1995. The Final Rule incorporates the provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (P.L. 102-325) and the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1993 (P.L. 103-208). The Final Rule also incorporates provisions of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-610), the Crime Control Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-647), the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-382), and the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-394). The preamble to the November 30, 1994 Final Rule includes a discussion of the substantive changes to the Proposed Rule published on June 22, 1994, as well as regulatory interpretations necessary to implement the new statutory provisions. Many of the statutory provisions were self-implementing and superseded the regulations that were in effect at the time of the passage of the various statutes referenced above. Information and guidance were provided to schools on those self-implementing statutory provisions in various "Dear Colleague" letters and other policy documents. The requirements in the Final Rule that affect only one campus- based program are discussed in the appropriate chapters of this Handbook. The requirements that affect more than one campus- based program and were self-implementing statutory provisions already in effect are discussed later in the appropriate sections of this chapter. The new requirements that are effective only with the Final Rule and apply to more than one campus-based program are as follows: - Under certain conditions, a student who drops out before receiving his or her Perkins Loan or FSEOG funds can receive a payment. The conditions for making a late disbursement are described in Sections 674.16 and 676.16 of the November 30, 1994 Final Rule and in Section One of this chapter. [[New overward thresholds]] - Statutory provisions under the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 provided for a $300 overaward threshold only for FWS. The Perkins Loan and FSEOG thresholds were $200 each. In order to reduce the administrative burden for schools, ED now provides a uniform $300 overaward threshold for each campus- based programs when a student receives additional resources after campus-based aid has been awarded. The new uniform $300 overaward threshold is described in Sections 674.14, 675.14, and 676.14 of the Final Rule and in Section Two of this chapter. Final Rule, December 1, 1994 [[Cash management regulations]] [[Final Rule 12-1-94]] The General Provisions Final Rule published in the Federal Register on December 1, 1994 provides uniform cash management rules for all SFA programs. The provisions of the Final Rule, as they affect all SFA programs, are discussed in this handbook in Chapter Three, Section Three. The following provisions affect the campus-based programs and are effective beginning July 1, 1995: [[Notification of expected SFA award]] - A school must notify a student or parent of the amount of funds the student can expect to receive from SFA programs and of how and when those funds will be paid. [[EFT transfer]] - A school may choose to pay a student by electronic funds transfer (EFT) to the bank account designated by the student or parent, as applicable; however, the school must obtain an authorization from the student or parent to disburse by EFT. [[Early payment of a Perkins Loan or FSEOG]] - 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; this provision is included in Section 668.165(c). A school may no longer credit the account of an enrolled student up to 3 weeks before the first day of classes. [[Allowable charges when crediting a student's account]] - When a school disburses SFA funds by crediting a student's account, the school may assess only the following "allowable charges": (1) charges for tuition and fees; (2) charges for room and/or board if the student contracts with the school for room and/or board; (3) if the school obtains the permission of the student or parent, other cost-of-attendance charges included in the HEA (refer to the discussion in Chapter Three, Section Three). [[Rules for maintaining SFA program funds]] - The Final Rule also includes new provisions that apply to bank accounts containing SFA funds, such as the criteria for determining whether a school must keep SFA program funds in an interest-bearing account, and the criteria for requiring some schools to keep SFA funds in a separate bank account that contains no other funds. A detailed discussion of the new provisions is in Chapter Three, Section Three. Program Participation Agreement [[School must sign agreement with ED]] A school that wants to participate in any SFA program must sign a Program Participation Agreement with the Secretary. (For more information on this Agreement, see Chapter Three, Section Two.) The Agreement must be signed by the school official legally authorized to assume, on the school's behalf, the Agreement's obligations. For all of the programs, the Agreement provides that the school must use the funds it receives solely for the purposes specified in the regulations for each program and must administer each program in accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, and the Student Assistance General Provisions regulations. Requirements under the General Provisions regulations are discussed in Chapter Three of this Handbook. Each one of the campus-based programs has additional requirements under the Program Participation Agreement that are specific to the individual program; these requirements are found in Sections 674.8, 675.8, and 676.8 of the regulations for the campus-based programs and in the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. Requirements that are specific to each program are discussed in the chapter for that program. Application for Funds [[School must apply annually]] [[Electronic FISAP is a requirement]] To receive funds from the U.S. Department of Education for one or more of the campus-based programs, a school must submit an application (Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate- - FISAP) for each award year. All schools are required to file the FISAP data through the electronic FISAP process (i.e., by mailing diskettes, transmitting data by modem, or mailing a magnetic tape). ED no longer provides or accepts paper FISAP forms. This means that a school must use the electronic FISAP process to be eligible to participate (i.e., request/receive a funding allocation) in the campus- based programs. [[July---FISAP's are sent to schools]] [[October 1 --- deadline for returning FISAP]] In July each year, ED distributes the electronic FISAP packages and instructions for schools to use in applying for funds for the subsequent award year. The information reported must be accurate and verifiable. ED distributed the materials essential for the preparation and submission of the 1993-94 Fiscal Operations Report and 1995-96 Application to Participate to schools in "Dear Colleague" letter CB-94-15, dated July 1994. The deadline for submitting (mailing or transmitting) the completed FISAP to ED by means of one of the electronic procedures listed above was October 1, 1994. Electronic FISAP packages to apply for 1996-97 campus-based funds--1994-95 Fiscal Operations Report and 1996-97 Application to Participate--will be distributed to schools in July 1995. Proposed new data collection requirements for the 1996-97 Application to Participate were discussed in the "Dear Colleague" letter CB-95-2 dated January 1995. [[Questions about FISAP]] Questions concerning the preparation of the FISAP should be referred to ED's Student Financial Assistance Programs, Institutional Accounting and Financial Management Service, Institutional Financial Management Division, to the appropriate campus-based state representative. The representatives and their telephone numbers are listed in Chapter One, Section One, of this Handbook. Technical questions about the data entry or submission of a FISAP should be referred to an Electronic FISAP Administrator on (301) 565-0032 or (202) 708-6726. Allocation of Funds [[Allocations determined by statutory formulas]] ED allocates funds directly to schools according to the statutory formulas. The allocation (or authorization) for each program is the amount of funding the school is authorized to receive from ED for an award year. This amount is based on the allocation formulas in the law, as well as on the funds appropriated by Congress for the program. However, a school will not receive an allocation that is in excess of its request. [[Notice of final allocation in March]] ED notifies schools of their final allocation for each campus-based program in late March each year by sending "The Official Notice of Funding." Later in the year, schools release any unexpended funds (a "Dear Colleague" letter will be issued in June 1995 about the release of unexpended 1994-95 allocations). [[Penalty for returning more than 10% of funds]] If a school returns more than 10 percent of its allocated funds for a given award year under any one of the three campus-based programs, ED will reduce the school's allocation for the second succeeding award year by the dollar amount returned unless this provision is waived by ED. For example, if the school returned more than 10 percent of its 1993-94 allocation, its 1995-96 allocation was reduced by the dollar amount returned for 1993-94. This provision is in Sections 674.4, 675.4, and 676.4 of the Final Rule published in the Federal Register on November 30, 1994. [[ED may waive the penalty]] ED may waive this provision for a specific school if it finds that enforcement would be contrary to the interests of the program. ED considers enforcement to be contrary to the interest of the program only if the school returned more than 10 percent of its allocation due to circumstances that are beyond the school's control and are not expected to recur. [[School must request waiver in writing]] To request a waiver, a school must submit a written explanation of the circumstances along with supporting documentation. The request for a waiver for the 1995-96 award year had to be postmarked by February 21, 1995 (see "Dear Colleague" Letter CB-95-1, January 1995). [[ED reallocates unexpended funds]] After schools release their unexpended allocations, ED reallocates the funds to schools that have met the criteria for receiving a supplemental allocation. Criteria for the distribution of these funds for each program are established in accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, as well as the regulations published December 1, 1987, as amended by the November 30, 1994 Final Rule (Sections 674.4, 675.4, and 676.4). Certifications a School Must Submit to ED Included in the FISAP package distributed to schools in July 1994 was ED Form 80-0013, "Certifications Regarding Lobbying; Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters; and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements" and Standard Form - LLL, "Disclosure of Lobbying Activities." To participate in the campus- based programs for the 1995-96 award year, a school's Chief Executive Officer, or another person who had the authority to sign on behalf of the entire school, was required to complete, sign, date, and submit (mail or transmit) to ED the above certification forms with the school's completed FISAP by October 1, 1994. A detailed discussion of the certification requirements is in Chapter Three, Section Two of this Handbook. |