AwardYear: 1995-1996 EnterChapterNo: 4 EnterChapterTitle: Federal Pell Grant Program SectionNumber: 7 SectionTitle: Reporting Disbursements PageNumbers: 91-112 So far, we have concentrated on how the school calculates and pays the Pell to the student. This section will explain how to report Pell payments to the Department through the Pell Grant Recipient and Financial Management System (PGRFMS), and how this reporting system affects the school's authorization. NOTE: Questions about your Pell account (obligations) should be directed to the Institutional Financial Management Division, Accounting and Financial Management Service, (202) 708-9807; fax: (202) 401-0387. Questions about Pell Grant systems (including EDE, RDE, or Floppy Disk processing) or ADP services pertaining to these media types should be directed to the Application and Pell Systems Division, Program Systems Service, (202) 708-7716; fax: (202) 708-9700. [[Pell authorization]] The authorization for your school is the maximum amount the school may draw down from the ED Payment Management System (ED/PMS). At the beginning of each award year, a school is given an initial authorization based on an estimate of the Pell funds the school will need to cover its first payments. As the award year progresses, the authorization for your school will need to be adjusted based on the actual number of eligible students with valid SARs or ISIRs. (See the graphic on the next page.) [[The graphic on page 4-92 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] The PGRFMS enables the Department to track a school's need for funds as the award year progresses and adjust the school's authorization on that basis. The System also provides documentation to the school to reconcile the school's total expenditures at the end of the year with the records of the eligible students who were paid by the school. (This documentation is the Student Payment Summary-- see page 4-109.) The Pell funds that you report to ED/PMS as expended must equal the total payments to eligible Pell recipients at the school, as shown by the records for each student. REPORTING METHODS [[Final Rule 11-1-94]] There are four different methods a school may use to report payment information to the Department. One method is to mail the paper documents (SAR Payment Vouchers and the Institutional Payment Summary, which is discussed beginning on page 4-95) to the PGRFMS, addressed to FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM, P.O. BOX 10800, HERNDON, VIRGINIA 22070-7009. Schools using this method should note that 1995-96 is the last year that the paper method may be used. In 1996-97, schools must use one of the three automated methods. These three automated methods transmit the same information as the paper method. Information describing these methods is transmitted to schools through "User's Guides." [[Electronic Data Exchange]] The most widely used automated method is the ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGE (EDE), Electronic Payments Service, which allows schools or their service agents to use the school's computers to enter and transmit initial payment data and changes to previously reported payment data. The Department supplies personal computer software. Information is transmitted electronically by telephone line to a communications network, which in turn transmits the information to PGRFMS, thus greatly speeding up the reporting and response time. [[Recipient Data Exchange]] The second automated method, used especially by schools with large numbers of recipients, is the RECIPIENT DATA EXCHANGE (RDE). The school mails a magnetic tape or cartridge to PGRFMS, which processes the information and returns the processed data on tape/cartridge and/or paper, as the school requests. [[Floppy Disk Data Exchange]] The third automated method is the FLOPPY DISK DATA EXCHANGE, which permits schools to submit payment information on microcomputer diskettes. Schools using this method submit Payment Data batches on either 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" diskettes. All four methods transmit the same basic student information. The only difference is the way in which the information is sent: by paper, by magnetic tape/cartridge, by telephone line, or by diskette. As mentioned earlier, each school receives a User's Guide containing detailed information on the automated system used by that school. In the rest of this chapter, we will provide a general description of the data reporting process. You should refer to your User's Guide for specific information about the records used. PAYMENT VOUCHER*12* [[Final Rule 11-1-94]] The basic document in the PGRFMS is the Payment Voucher. A Payment Voucher is the electronic or magnetic payment record used in EDE, RDE, or Floppy Disk Data Exchange, or (for 1995-96) Part 3 of the SAR. After the school receives a SAR or ISIR, the school completes the Payment Voucher by filling in award information. The school periodically sends Payment Vouchers for its students to PGRFMS in a batch, along with transmittal information (either the paper Institutional Payment Summary [IPS] or the electronic or magnetic equivalent). (See pages 4-95 and 4-105 for more information on the IPS and on the IPS Batch Report, respectively.) PGRFMS returns new Payment Vouchers, called Processed Payment Vouchers, to the school. The Processed Payment Voucher will be paper (if the school submitted paper Payment Vouchers) or an electronic or magnetic record. The information that schools originally provided on their Payment Vouchers is included in the Processed Payment Vouchers (it is printed on the paper ones). Comments about the data--what data PGRFMS has accepted or rejected, for example--are included in the Processed Payment Voucher, as are the data accepted by PGRFMS. On the paper Processed Payment Voucher, comments are on the front, and the accepted data are on the back. Schools review the Processed Payment Vouchers and return any corrected ones with their next submission. [[The graphic "Payment Voucher Processing Path" on page 4-95 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] [[Reporting changes in anticipated payments]] If the student's situation changes and the anticipated payments are not made, the school MUST REPORT THIS CHANGE by resubmitting the Processed Payment Voucher to PGRFMS. For instance, a student may drop from full-time enrollment in one term to half-time in the next, or may no longer be making satisfactory progress, or simply may not return in the second payment period. In each of these cases, the school must adjust the "Amount to be paid" item and any other relevant items on the Processed Payment Voucher and return it to PGRFMS. (For information on completing the Payment Voucher or Processed Payment Voucher, see page 4- 98.) [[Schools must submit reports on time]] Schools must submit Processed Payment Vouchers, for those students whose awards have changed, by the end of the reporting period immediately following the period in which the change occurs. (For information on reporting periods, see the next page.) This requirement ensures that federal funds will not remain at a school when its students do not need the funds. SCHOOLS THAT DO NOT SUBMIT REQUIRED REPORTS OR DO NOT SUBMIT THEM ON TIME, AND SCHOOLS THAT SUBMIT INCOMPLETE REPORTS, WILL HAVE THEIR PELL ALLOCATION REDUCED AND MAY BE FINED. [[Lost payment Vouchers]] NOTE: If you misplace an original paper Payment Voucher (SAR Part 3) or an entire batch of Processed Payment Vouchers, you may request duplicates by contacting the Application and Pell Processing Systems Division, (202) 708-7716; fax: (202) 708-9700, by the reprint request deadline, which is published each year in the Federal Register. (You can also obtain replacement data for a batch or year- to-date data on tape, floppy diskette, or electronically.) You may also write in your request to FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM, P.O. BOX 10800, HERNDON, VA 22070-7009. If you need an original paper Payment Voucher for a student, you must provide (1) a photocopy of either Part 1 or Part 2 of the student's SAR, or (2) a photocopy of or printout from the student's ISIR. INSTITUTIONAL PAYMENT SUMMARY The IPS is the second important document in the PGRFMS. The IPS serves two purposes: It establishes certain basic demographic information about a school, and it accompanies each batch of Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers that schools submit to PGRFMS during the award year,*13* summarizing the information about the Vouchers in that batch. For schools using one of the automated data exchanges, the information collected on the paper IPS is collected in the Header and Trailer records. In the rest of this section, we will use the term IPS to refer to both the paper IPS and the electronic or magnetic equivalents. Schools must submit at least one IPS during each reporting period in the chart below, even if there are no Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers to be transmitted for that period. (Failure to submit reports on time may result in a fine and a reduced Pell authorization.) The number of reporting periods depends on the level of your school's authorization for the previous school year: [[The chart "Reporting periods" on page 4-96 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] You may submit an IPS more frequently than once every reporting period if there are enough Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers to warrant a separate submission. However, you may not submit more than 98 batches during an award year. Note that all Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers for an award year must be submitted by September 30 following the end of the award year (for example, September 30, 1996 for the 1995-96 award year). You may also need to submit an IPS with Vouchers after the end of the award year to report summer school payments, students who need verification completed, or outstanding payment data changes. [[Adjustments after September 30]] Adjustments can be made to your Pell account after September 30 only if there is an underpayment or overpayment of previously reported awards, or if the U.S. Department of Education or one of its contractors has made a processing error. A school can also request administrative relief for unusual circumstances beyond the school's control, for example, a natural disaster. These requests must be made in writing and must be received by January 31 of the calendar year following the award year (for example, January 31, 1997 for the 1995-96 award year). Requests for such actions should be sent to the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, APPLICATION AND PELL PROCESSING SYSTEMS DIVISION, PSS, P.O. BOX 23791, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20026-0791. If you have questions about administrative relief, contact the INSTITUTIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT DIVISION, ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE (202 708-9807; fax: (202) 401-0387). [[Late adjustments due to audit]] The Department is required to reimburse a school for any funds found to be owed to the school during any audit conducted after December 31, 1988--including funds for which reimbursement was not requested before the audit. In order to receive reimbursement under this provision, the school must demonstrate that it qualifies based on a finding in an initial report of the school's required compliance audit. This initial report must be submitted by the appropriate deadline. (See Chapter Three for more information about audit requirements and deadlines). The finding does not need to establish the exact amount of the adjustment, but must establish that the school paid Pell awards for which it was not reimbursed by the Department. "Dear Colleague" Letter GEN 94-14, dated April 1994, provides the procedures and format a school should use in requesting this adjustment. Note that the final deadline (published in the Federal Register each award year) for submitting Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers and disbursement information will continue to apply. A school that misses the regulatory deadline would not be in compliance with Federal Pell Grant Program requirements. [[Adjustments due to overpayments]] Adjusting for an overpayment is permitted any time the school determines that a student for whom a Payment Voucher had been accepted by PGRFMS received more Pell funds than he or she was qualified to receive. The school may report the reduction to the proper amount, unless the school was not liable for the overpayment; in that case, the school reports the amount to the Debt Collection Service, Student Receivables Division, (202) 708-4766. Schools using the paper IPS should refer to the "Dear Colleague" Letter sent with their initial IPS for information on how to fill out the IPS. Other schools should follow the instructions provided in the User's Guide for the data exchange method they use. HOW TO FILL OUT THE PAYMENT VOUCHER Carefully completing the Payment Vouchers for your students ensures that your Pell expenditures are accurately reported, which in turn smoothes the process of acquiring additional funds, if necessary. Fortunately, many items will not need to be completed on the Payment Voucher if the correct information is provided for that item on the IPS. Please be careful to use a copy of your most recent IPS for each batch you submit to ensure that the information on the IPS agrees with the Department's current data for your school. If the information on the IPS for a batch does not apply to a particular student, you must complete the appropriate Payment Voucher item(s) for that student. You will also have to fill in an item on the Payment Voucher when there is no preprinted information on the IPS for that item, or you have not filled in the information on the IPS. [[One Payment Voucher per Pell recipient]] You must submit at least one acceptable Payment Voucher for each Pell recipient at your institution. When you receive a revised SAR or ISIR that you accept as valid for payment, you should submit the revised Payment Voucher with your next batch. PGRFMS's award data processing system will only accept one award per recipient per attended campus. PGRFMS will AUTOMATICALLY replace the previously accepted award data with the data reported on the revised Payment Voucher. Therefore, do not submit the Processed Payment Voucher corresponding to the Payment Voucher that you originally submitted in an effort to reduce the student's previously accepted award amount to $0. See A Guide to 1995-96 SARs and ISIRs for more information on paper Payment Vouchers, and the appropriate User's Guide for other Payment Vouchers. Specific Payment Voucher Items Pell Institution ID of Campus Attended If this Pell ID is not your school's number, and you are an independent school with no branch campuses, you do not need to correct the IDPGRFMS will use the Pell ID number for your school from the IPS. If the preprinted ID number is not your school's number, and you are a central/branch school with branches that have unique Pell ID numbers, this item must be corrected to reflect the correct branch Pell ID. Academic Calendar The academic year categories are defined as follows: CREDIT HOUR (NONSTANDARD TERM)--Your school uses nonstandard academic terms but does measure progress by credit hours or units. QUARTER--Your school uses standard term quarters and measures academic progress by credit hours. SEMESTER--Your school uses standard term semesters and measures academic progress by credit hours. TRIMESTER--Your school uses standard term trimesters and measures academic progress by credit hours. CLOCK HOUR-- Your school measures academic progress by clock hours. CREDIT HOUR WITHOUT TERMS-- Your school does not use terms, and measures academic progress by credit hours. If your school has programs with different academic calendars, you might wish to group Payment Vouchers according to programs with the same academic calendar and submit them as separate batches. Thus, if your school had some programs using clock hours and other programs using quarter terms, you could submit Payment Vouchers for both types of programs separately. This will enable you to use the IPS to identify the academic calendar for all students in the batch. See the instructions for your IPS for more information. The first time you report an alternate academic calendar on your IPS, the batch may be flagged, and you may receive a call to find out if you are making a permanent change, or if you will be using more than one academic calendar throughout the year. To make a permanent change to your academic calendar (for example, from clock to credit hour), you must receive approval from the Institutional Participation Division of the Office of Postsecondary Education. Verification Status You must complete this item. If you leave this item blank, and the student was selected for verification by the CPS, PGRFMS assumes the student was paid under "W" ("Without documentation"). Payment will be limited to one-half of the student's Scheduled Award until the "W" is corrected. In addition, your Pell authorization will be reduced during the final review of your account for all students whose status is still "W" at the end of the award year. Enter "S" ("Selected, not verified") when the student has been selected for verification, but you do not verify that student's information because you have reached the 30 percent verification limit. Note that a Payment Voucher resulting from a first transaction (SAR Transaction 01) will be rejected if you fill in "R" ("Reprocessed"). See The Verification Guide for further explanation of the status codes and the 30 percent verification limit. Term Programs Only (enrollment status) Complete this item only if the academic calendar uses terms (standard or nonstandard). (Select the appropriate enrollment code.) The enrollment status code "Other" (#4) is used when the student's enrollment status is "mixed"--for instance, when a student attends full time one term and half time the next, or when the student attends an additional (optional) term within the award year. An example would be a student attending both semesters of the regular academic year as a half-time student and then also attending a summer term as a half-time student. Clock Hour Programs, or Credit Hour Programs without Terms Hours/credits expected to complete This item is used along with the next item (Hours/Credits in program's academic year definition) for clock hour programs and credit hour programs without terms. Fill in the hours or credits the student is expected to complete in all payment periods occurring in the current award year. If you are paying the student in the current award year for payment periods that are in progress or are already completed, be sure to include them in this total. Keep in mind that the student cannot be paid for more than one academic year of work in one award year. Hours/Credits in program's academic year definition Note that you do not need to fill in this item if the student's academic year is the same as information for this item on the IPS for the batch. If you do need to complete this item, remember that the hours/credits in the academic year must be at least the minimum hours or credits specified in the regulations (900 clock hours, 24 semester hours, or 36 quarter hours, for example.) If your school has programs with different academic years, you may wish to group Payment Vouchers according to programs with the same academic year and submit them as separate batches. (See the discussion under Academic Calendar.) This will enable you to use the IPS to identify the academic year for all students in the batch. If you submit Payment Vouchers with different academic years in the same batch, you must fill in the correct academic year length for those students whose academic year is different from that reported on the IPS. Term and Nonterm Programs not Using Formula 1 Weeks enrolled This item is used along with the next item (WEEKS IN PROGRAMS ACADEMIC YEAR) for programs not calculating Pell awards using Formula 1. (See Section Two of this chapter for more information about the formulas.) Fill in the weeks of instructional time the student is expected to complete in all payment periods occurring in the current award year. Note that the weeks of instructional time might not be the same as the number of calendar weeks. See Chapter Three for more information. Weeks in program's academic year Note that, as with the item HOURS/CREDITS IN PROGRAMS ACADEMIC YEAR, you do not need to fill in this item if the student's academic year is the same as information for this item on the IPS for the batch. If you do complete this item, remember that the weeks must be at least the minimum specified in the regulations (30 weeks of instructional time unless the school has received a waiver from the Department). All Programs (Payment Methodology) In this item, select the formula used to calculate the student's award. The code "Other" is used when more than one formula is used during the award year; for example, if the student enrolled only in a correspondence component for part of the year (Formula 5), and then in residential training for the remainder of the year (Formula 3 or 4). Amount Paid to Date You must complete this item for all students. Fill in the actual amount you have paid the student (either by check or credit to the account) as of the date you complete the Voucher. If you have not yet paid the student but need to submit the Payment Voucher, fill in "0" for payment. Remaining Amount to Be Paid Fill in the amount you expect to pay the student for the remainder of the award year. This amount should take into account the student's expected enrollment status. For instance, if the student is receiving a $600 Pell disbursement as a full-time student in the first of two payment periods but is expected to drop to half time in the second payment period, the "remaining amount to be paid" would be $300. If you have entered $0 for "amount paid to date" because you have not yet paid the student for the first payment period, then the "remaining amount to be paid" for the student in this example would be $900 (for both payment periods). You must report "0" in this item if you expect to make no further payments to the student for the award year. Do not leave the item blank. If the value is greater than "0," then you must specify the months in which the remaining amounts will be paid, either on the IPS or on the individual student's Payment Voucher. The "M" check box, labeled "More Than a Full Academic Year," would be used for students eligible to receive more than one Scheduled Award in a 12-month period. As stated in the Introduction, there is no funding for this provision; therefore, this check box can be ignored. Months In Which Remaining Payments Will Be Made If the months in which remaining payments will be made for this student are different from the months you reported on the IPS, or if you did not report months to be paid on the IPS, then you must fill in the information here. The Department will authorize funds for the projected payments IN ADVANCE of the months you enter in this item. If you have students who will be attending a crossover payment period at the end of the award year, and they will be paid in June, July, or August from this award year's funds, fill in the appropriate months in which remaining payments will be made. Summer School and Other Crossover Payment Periods If you use 1995-96 funds to pay a student enrolled in a crossover payment period in the summer of 1995, you should prepare the Payment Voucher and submit it in your first batch for this award year. If you plan to pay a student out of 1995-96 funds for a summer 1996 payment period, generally it will be to your advantage not to notify ED of the payment for next summer until you are reasonably certain that the student will attend. It is recommended that you do not notify ED until at least January 1996. This will save you effort, as you will have to resubmit Processed Payment Vouchers for all students who were expected to attend the summer payment period but later decided not to attend. Date Enrolled This Award Year You do not have to complete this item if the date enrolled for this student is the same as the date you entered on your IPS. If the date is not the same, fill in the first date the student was enrolled in the eligible program for this award year. (For this item, "enrolled" means the first day the student attended classes. Chapter Two discusses the regulatory definition of "enrolled" for student eligibility purposes, which is a slightly different definition.) If the student enrolled in a crossover payment period before the first day of the award year (July 1), report the actual date enrolled for this item, even though that date occurs before the start of the award year. Secondary EFC Used If you originally reported using a Secondary EFC but later determine that you should have reported payment using the primary EFC, check the box next to number 1 on the paper Processed Payment Voucher for that student. For schools using RDE and EDE, enter the "1" in position 81 of the detailed student payment record. For schools using Floppy Disk Data Exchange, enter the "1" in "Secondary EFC Used." Incarcerated Use this item to indicate whether the student is incarcerated. Although students incarcerated in federal or state institutions are not eligible for Pell, students incarcerated in local institutions are still eligible. Select "Y" for these students, and enter the U.S. Postal Service's assigned abbreviation for the state where the student's correctional facility is located. PROCESSED PAYMENT VOUCHERS AND BATCH REPORTS [[Processed Payment Vouchers]] The Federal Pell Grant Program will process the Payment Vouchers for your students, which means you will receive Processed Payment Vouchers containing the information you entered. (This information will be printed on the paper Payment Voucher.) You will also receive a new IPS and an IPS Batch Report. [[Package 1]] Two separate packages will be sent to your school for each IPS you submit with paper Payment Vouchers. Package 1 contains a new IPS to use for your next submission and a copy of your IPS Batch Report. (If you sent in an IPS WITHOUT paper Payment Vouchers, you will only get back Package 1.) [[Package 2]] Package 2 contains a second copy of the IPS Batch Report and your paper Processed Payment Vouchers, grouped by campus and then placed in the following categories: Rejected -- The information on these Vouchers is inconsistent. Correct these Vouchers before resubmitting them. Accepted with Assumptions --The information on the Voucher was incomplete, so the system made certain assumptions. Review the Vouchers carefully and resubmit them if corrections are necessary. Duplicates --These are duplicates of previously accepted Payment Vouchers you have already submitted to us and thus are not counted in the "total amount paid to date" or the "remaining amount to be paid" in the IPS Batch Report. Keep these Vouchers in your files. You do not need to resubmit them unless the award year data changes. Accepted --Keep these Vouchers in your files. You do not need to resubmit them unless the award year data changes. The Processed Payment Vouchers are grouped by campus attended; then, within that order, by type of Voucher as listed above; and then in SAR Record ID order. Review each Processed Payment Voucher carefully. If, after reviewing the information on the Processed Payment Voucher and the instructions in this section, the IPS "Dear Colleague" Letter, and the appropriate User's Guide on correct reporting procedures, you still do not understand why the award data submitted for a student did not result in the processed data you expected, contact the Application and Pell Processing Systems Division, (202) 708-7716. [[IPS Batch Report]] The first three items on the IPS Batch Report summarize information about the Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers you submitted. Items 1 and 2 tell you how many Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers the Federal Pell Grant Program received and how they were processed (for example, accepted or rejected). Item 3 is the total amount paid to date for all the students in that batch (taken from the total of each Item 6 on each Payment Voucher/Processed Payment Voucher). Note that the Department's count in items 1 and 3 should agree with the amounts you reported in items 13 and 14 of the IPS. The last three items show how your payment data was adjusted for any Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers that were rejected, accepted with assumptions, etc. The adjustments made (Item 5e) are subtracted from the total payments for the students in that batch (Item 4). The result (Item 6) is the net change to the accepted student payment as a result of the particular batch. REPORTING CHANGES ON THE PROCESSED PAYMENT VOUCHERS If the Processed Payment Vouchers you have received are accurate and there are no changes to the students' awards, simply retain these Vouchers in your files. However, if the information for any student is wrong or changes during the award year, you may have to correct the Processed Payment Voucher and resubmit it with your next batch. (See the next page for corrections that do not have to be made.) Corrected Vouchers must be submitted no later than the end of the reporting period following the period in which the change occurred. FAILURE TO SUBMIT REPORTS ON TIME MAY RESULT IN FINES AND REDUCED PELL AUTHORIZATIONS. To make corrections to a paper Processed Payment Voucher, fill in the correct information in the blocks under the preprinted information. Note that the Department never uses the information on the IPS to change the information on a Processed Payment Voucher. You have to correct the Processed Payment Voucher itself. See the User's Guides for information on correcting other Processed Payment Vouchers. The most frequently required changes are to COA,*14* verification status (to update a "W"--payment without documentation), enrollment status (term schools), and payment amounts and dates. Other changes occur less frequently, except in cases of error. For instance, one would not expect the school's academic calendar to change during the award year. [[Optional corrections]] Some corrections do not substantially affect the student's award and need not be reported to the Department: Academic Calendar --You do not have to report a change from one type of standard academic term to another (for example, from a quarter system to a semester system). However, changes from a credit hour to clock hour calendar, for example, must be reported. Cost of Attendance ---You do not have to report a change that does not increase or decrease the amount the student will be paid for the year (Amount paid to date + Remaining amount to be paid). Verification Status ---If the verification status accepted by the Federal Pell Grant Program for the student was N, A, T, C, R, or S, you do not have to report a change to that status. IF THE STUDENTS STATUS WAS "W," YOU MUST REPORT A CHANGE TO THAT STATUS ONCE YOU RECEIVE FULL DOCUMENTATION FROM THE STUDENT AND YOU COMPLETE VERIFICATION. Enrollment Status ---You do not have to report a change to enrollment status that does not increase the amount the student will be paid for the year (Amount paid to date + Remaining amount to be paid). You will have to report a change in enrollment status if a student attends for a longer period than expected and the result is a greater award. For example, if you have a three-quarter-time student who decides to attend summer school as a three-quarter- time student, you must change ENROLLMENT STATUS to "Other" at the same time you report the larger award amount. If you leave the student's status as three-quarter time, PGRFMS assumes that the student's three-quarter-time award is being exceeded, and the larger award amount will not be put on file for the student. Hours/credits expected to complete, Weeks enrolled --You do not have to report a change to these items if the change does not increase the amount the student will be paid for the year (Amount paid to date + Remaining amount to be paid). Hours/credits in academic year, Weeks in academic year --You report a change to these items only if you are redefining your academic year. (For example, you decide to change your 32-week academic year to 30 weeks.) Months in Which Remaining Payments Will Be Made --You do not have to report changes to this item. However, we encourage you to report changes if they apply to a significant number of your students, so that your funding can be adjusted accordingly. STUDENT PAYMENT SUMMARY The Student Payment Summary (SPS) lists the student data in the Department's records for each Pell recipient for whom you submitted a Payment Voucher for the award year. The SPS enables you to check your records to determine any additions and changes to your student data that you need to report to the Department, or any corrections you need to make in your institutional records. An SPS is routinely sent to each school for review at least three times during the award year as well as at the end of the award year. (You may also request an SPS during the award year by writing the U.S. Department of Education, Application and Pell Processing Systems Division, P.O. Box 23791, Washington, D.C. 20026-3791; or by calling (202) 708-7716; fax: (202) 708-9700. You may also call the number given if you have general questions about your SPS. The SPS reflects each Payment Voucher for the award year (as of the date in the upper right corner) that the Department accepted, or rejected but retained in its records. The SPS EXCLUDES Vouchers that the Department rejected and did not retain, as well as Vouchers your school submitted that duplicated data already accepted. Students are listed on the SPS in Pell Institution Number order by the attended campus you reported, then alphabetically by last name. The Department provides summary statistics of all student activity at the end of each attended campus and, for your entire institutional system, at the end of your SPS. Appendix 1, beginning on page 4-113, gives an item-by-item description of your SPS. Appendix 2, beginning on page 4-121, describes the circumstances under which your SPS may list some of your Pell recipients more than once. What to Do with the Student Payment Summary [[Comparing school records to SPS]] You should use your SPS to confirm that the Department has received AND ACCEPTED student payment data for all the Pell recipients you have paid, up through the date in the upper right corner of the SPS. You start by comparing your institutional student records to your SPS to confirm that each of your Pell recipients appears at least once. If you find students missing, you need to report them to the Department IMMEDIATELY. Do not wait until the end of the reporting cycle, as this will not give you sufficient time to resolve your questions or any reporting errors before the final program deadline for submitting student-level data, which is September 30. [[Students missing from SPS]] You should account for each missing student in one of the following three categories: 1. You submitted the student's record to the Department, but it was rejected due to reporting errors--your IPS Batch Report (2a) shows the number of rejected records for each of your batch submissions. 2. You submitted the student's record, but the Department did not receive it--your IPS Batch Report (1c) shows any discrepancies in the number of Vouchers you reported and the number received for each submission. 3. You have not yet submitted the student's record to the Department, either inadvertently or for other reasons. You should review your institutional student records to verify that your payment to each of your Pell recipients agrees with the "Total Payment Amount" the Department has accepted, as shown on your SPS. ("Total Payment Amount" equals the sum of Payment Voucher items 6 and 7.) If you find a difference, you need either to report the revised payment amount(s) to the Department or correct your institutional records for the student. You should use your Processed Payment Vouchers and your IPS Batch Report as the Department returns them to you to reconcile your institutional records. If you then use your SPS as you would your checking account monthly statement, you can verify that your records agree with the Department's or identify the additions and/or changes you need to report in your next submission. You report your additional Pell recipients or your payment amount changes through whatever medium you normally use (paper, RDE, EDE, or Floppy Disk Data Exchange). Don't forget to include a paper IPS with any paper Payment Vouchers you submit. Remember that you must report any changes in the Pell award no later than the end of the reporting period that immediately follows the reporting period in which the change occurred. Special Conditions You Should Note [["W" Verification status]] The Summary Statistics page gives you a count of any student records with a verification status of "W" (Without documentation). As mentioned in Section Four of this chapter, you may not make more than one disbursement for a student selected for verification until the student supplies documentation to verify or correct the application data. Therefore, the Department will honor no more than one-half of the student's Scheduled Award if you report, or the Department assumes, a verification status of "W." You and the student must complete the verification process by the applicable deadline. [[Must revise "W" status]] AS SOON AS YOU COMPLETE VERIFICATION, YOU MUST SUBMIT AN ACCEPTABLE PAYMENT VOUCHER TO THE DEPARTMENT, REVISING THE STUDENTS VERIFICATION STATUS AND AMOUNT(S) THE DEPARTMENT ACCEPTED FOR PAYMENT. Please carefully review any student data on your SPS with a verification status of "W" and complete your reporting promptly. In early August, the Department will reduce the accepted payment to $0 for any students whose verification status remains "W" and will make a corresponding reduction in your Pell authorization. After the verification deadline (August 30, 1996), the Department will reject any student documents submitted to which a "W" status applies. [[Total payments to date: SPS vs. IPS]] The first Summary page for your entire institutional system (at the end of your SPS) lists the "Total Payments to date to all Federal Pell Recipients per school records" (IPS Item 15) from your latest submission. (Under Recipient Data Exchange or Electronic Data Exchange, positions 17-25 of the trailer record correspond to IPS Item 15; under Floppy Disk Data Exchange, you use the Header/Trailer information screen to enter this figure.) Please compare your IPS (or equivalent) Total Payments to date, which is also referred to as Net Expenditures, to the "Total Payment Amount (Item 6 + Item 7)," summarized from your Processed Payment Vouchers shown on your SPS. Appendix 3, beginning on page 4- 123, describes the steps you should take to account for the entire difference between these amounts to verify that your reporting to the Department reconciles. Differences for which you cannot account generally result from one of four conditions: [[Common differences between SPS and IPS]] 1. The "Total Payments to date to Federal Pell Recipients per school records" you reported on your last IPS incorrectly reflected only the total payments to the students in that particular batch. In Item 15, you must report the total amount you have paid to all your Pell recipients, through the date you prepare your IPS, less any recoveries restored to your Pell account. 2. The "Total Payments to date to Federal Pell Recipients per school records" on your last IPS incorrectly included cents, exceeded your Pell authorization, or did not agree with your actual payments. 3. You accurately reported the "Total Payments to date to Federal Pell Recipients per school records" on your last IPS, but you have not yet reported all your student payment data changes and/or additional recipients. 4. The payment amount you originally reported to the Department exceeded the amounts the Department could accept, based on the other data you reported for the student, and the Department disallowed the excess. If the data on which the Department based the disallowance properly reflects the student's award information, YOU MUST ADJUST YOUR INSTITUTIONAL RECORDS to the correct payment amount and recover any excess from the student. [[Resolving discrepancies]] Appendix 3 also describes the steps you should take to confirm that your current institutional Pell payments agree with the student payment data you have reported. These steps should assist you in verifying that you have identified all discrepancies between the Department's records for your Pell recipients and your institutional records, so that you can submit any payment data changes or additional students you still need to report. If you find that any of these conditions apply to your institution, you need to resolve the inconsistencies promptly. The Department provides the SPS to allow you time to review it and submit your payment data changes and additional recipients (INCLUDING ANY REJECTED STUDENT RECORDS) as soon as possible. As mentioned earlier, you need to complete your reporting of all changes and new recipients no later than the end of the reporting period following the reporting period in which the change or addition occurs. You should report changes or additions that occur during the mandatory reporting period that ends August 15, 1996 on or before that date to assure that the September 30, 1996 reporting deadline does not adversely affect your payments to your students or your Pell authorization. REQUESTING FUNDS The reporting system described in this section enables the Department to track your need for Pell funds during the award year and to adjust your Pell authorization accordingly. The system ensures that federal funds do not remain at an institution when its students do not need them. When you request funds from the Department (for the Pell or campus-based programs), that request is handled by a different system, the ED Payment Management System (ED/PMS). [[Automated Clearing House(ACH)]] The Department's Division of Financial Management Services uses a payment system called the Automated Clearing House/Electronic Funds Transfer (ACH/EFT). The ACH/EFT is essentially a direct deposit system. Most postsecondary schools that participate in the SFA programs are now using the ACH/EFT. Because the request for funds is usually handled by each school's fiscal officer, we will not review the fund drawdown procedures in this chapter. If you are responsible for your school's fiscal office activities, you should refer to The ED Payment Management System User's Manual, prepared by the Financial Management Service, and to the current edition of the SFA Blue Book. A second method for requesting funds from ED/PMS is through FEDWIRE. Under this method, requests for funds go directly to ED/PMS. Most state institutions use FEDWIRE. See ED/PMS's User's Manual mentioned above for further details. *12* The payment Voucher is used to transmit payment information for the Federal Pell Grant Program. The first two parts of the SAR can be used to make awards in ANY of the SFA programs. These two parts are discussed in A Guide to 1995-96 SARs and ISIRs. *13* EDE and Floppy Disk Data Exchange schools do not submit a paper IPS. RDE schools do not need to submit a paper IPS unless they plan to submit paper Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment Vouchers along with their tapes. *14* Usually, only changes to costs of $2,340 or less will be reported, as changes to costs above $2,340 will not affect the students award. |