| AwardYear: 1996-1997 EnterChapterNo: 2 EnterChapterTitle: Student Eligibility and Financial Need SectionNumber: 1 SectionTitle: Student Eligibility PageNumbers: 3-48 This section addresses the student eligibility criteria common to most Student Financial Assistance (SFA) Programs. Although programs vary, basic requirements (such as citizenship and satisfactory progress) remain the same for every student--whether the student is applying for grants, loans, or work-study. (See chapters 4 through 10 for information on specific requirements that apply to individual programs.) Student eligibility criteria are often affected by requirements or policies determined by individual schools. For instance, a student must be meeting satisfactory academic progress standards to receive aid; a school, however, must have established a satisfactory progress policy for the purpose of monitoring whether the student meets the required standards. Note that many institutional requirements mentioned in this chapter are also discussed in detail in Chapter 3. CITIZENSHIP A student must be in one of the citizenship categories that follow in order to be eligible for aid through the SFA Programs. An individual who is in category 1, 2, or 4 and who attends an eligible school in the United States may receive any type of aid through the SFA Programs. If attending foreign schools that participate in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, these individuals may also receive FFELs. In the case of parents who want to take out a Federal PLUS Loan for a dependent undergraduate student, the parent(s) and the student must be U.S. citizens or nationals, permanent residents, or eligible noncitizens (that is, they must meet the requirements stated in categories 1, 2, or 4). An individual in category 3 is eligible to receive only Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), and Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds. [[Eligibility categories]] 1. A U.S. CITIZEN OR NATIONAL. The term "national" includes citizens of American Samoa and Swain's Island. 2. A U.S. PERMANENT RESIDENT. A permanent resident's citizenship status should be evidenced by a Student Aid Report (SAR)*1* comment indicating that an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) match has been successful. If no such comment appears on the SAR, the permanent resident must provide the school with INS documentation verifying his or her residency status. 3. CITIZENS OF CERTAIN PACIFIC ISLANDS. Otherwise eligible citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (the former Trust Territories), or the Republic of Palau may receive only three types of SFA Program aid: Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), and Federal Work- Study (FWS) funds. (See Appendix A for more information.) 4. OTHER ELIGIBLE NONCITIZENS. Refugees, persons granted asylum, Cuban-Haitian entrants, those with temporary residents status under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and others are included in this category. Such individuals must provide the school with INS documentation indicating that they are in the United States not with the intention of staying temporarily but with the intention of becoming U.S. citizens or permanent residents. (See Appendix A for detailed explanations about eligible noncitizens and required INS documentation.) [[A-numbers]] The U.S. Department of Education collects Alien Registration Numbers (A-Numbers) during the application process in order to verify the citizenship statuses of U.S. permanent residents and other eligible noncitizens. (The INS assigns A-Numbers to all legal immigrants.) INS MATCH If the applicant indicates on the FAFSA that he or she is an eligible noncitizen, identifying information from the FAFSA is automatically sent to the INS. This verification process, performed by the INS, is known as "Primary Confirmation." [[Match with INS records]] If an INS match is attempted but the student's data are not confirmed, a 13-digit INS Verification Number is assigned to the student and is printed in the FAA Information area on the SAR. In this case, the student's data generally must be checked through the Secondary Confirmation process (discussed below). Note that this INS Verification Number must be provided in Block 6 of the Secondary Confirmation Request Form (G-845S). If a student mistakenly reports that he or she is a citizen rather than an eligible noncitizen, the school may make the correction electronically, or the student may correct the mistake on the SAR. In either case, the student must be sure to provide his or her A-Number. The CPS then processes the student's correction and conducts a match with the INS database. [[INS Verification Numbers]] As mentioned, if a student's status is not confirmed after an INS match is attempted, the INS will assign the student an INS Verification Number printed in the FAA Information area on the SAR. Note that if no INS match can be made because a student fails to provide an A-Number on the application, that student will not receive an INS Verification Number. In this case, the SAR should be resubmitted with the A-Number so that a computer match may be attempted. NEW SSA MATCHING SYSTEM [[NEW]] [[New SSA match verifies SSNs AND citizenship status]] For 1996-97, if the student indicates on the FAFSA that he or she is a U.S. citizen, the application automatically goes though the new Social Security Administration (SSA) matching system, which verifies both U.S. citizenship status and SSNs. (Prior, the SSA conducted a match that verified only Social Security Numbers [SSNs].) In the new system, citizenship information reported by the student is matched with SSA database information. The result of the SSA match is reported differently on the student's SAR than on the institution's ISIR. A comment code and a comment explaining the result are printed on the student's SAR. Comment 146 is printed if the SSA did not confirm U.S. citizenship status, and Comment 62 is printed if the SSA could not verify citizenship because there was no match with the student's SSN, name, or date of birth. On the ISIR, only the comment code is printed. See Action Letter #8, March 1996, "A Guide to the 1996-97 SARs and ISIRs," for more information. For resolution on SSN match results regarding SSN, name, or date of birth, see 1994-95 Action Letter #3 Table A. Match results are provided on SARs and ISIRs as indicated in the 1996-97 SAR Comment Activity for Matches and Hold Files. When a student's reported data conflict with the SSA database--or when no citizenship match can be performed--he or she will receive Comment 146 on his or her SAR, along with a SAR flag "C." A student who receives this comment must provide the school with documentation substantiating his or her claim to be a citizen or eligible noncitizen. Again, a student claiming to be an eligible noncitizen must resubmit his or her SAR, which must include the A- Number. SECONDARY CONFIRMATION [[NEW]] In prior years, if an institution had conflicting information about a student's citizenship status or if the INS was unable to confirm a student's claim to be an eligible noncitizen, the institution had to collect additional documentation. This collection of additional material is known as "Secondary Confirmation." For the 1996-97 award year, schools are not required, in certain circumstances, to conduct Secondary Confirmations. The new regulations addressing changes in Secondary Confirmation requirements appear in Part 668.133(b) of the Final Rule published December 1, 1995. The following paragraph explains the policy change. [[Exception to Secondary Confirmation requirement]] As long as the institution has no conflicting information about a student and as long as the institution has no reason to doubt the student's claim of having eligible noncitizen status, Secondary Confirmation is not required - if, in a previous award year, an institution determined the student to be an eligible noncitizen after the institution performed Secondary Confirmation, and the documents used for that Secondary Confirmation have not expired. [[Secondary Confirmation requests without Verification Numbers]] Secondary Confirmation requests sent to INS without Verification Numbers will be returned unprocessed--with one exception: If the school must perform Secondary Confirmation solely because technical processing difficulties prevented a computer check from occurring, the student will receive SAR Comment 145, and no INS Verification Number will be printed. In this case, the school must write (preferably in red) at the top of the G-845S form "Comment 145 Present, Application Processed on _______ [processing date from SAR]." If the student's data did not go through the match because he or she failed to provide an A-Number on the application, the student will not receive a Verification Number. However, in this case, the SAR should be resubmitted with the A-Number so that the computer match may be attempted. CHANGES IN CITIZENSHIP STATUS DURING THE AWARD YEAR [[Pell & campus-based funds]] If a student becomes a citizen or eligible noncitizen at any time during the award year, that student may be paid Pell Grant or campus-based funds as if he or she had been eligible the entire award year. For example, if a student attending school during the 1996-97 award year (July 1, 1996 to June 30, 1997) is granted permanent- resident status in May 1997 and is still enrolled in school at that time, that student may receive Pell Grant and campus-based funds as if he or she had been eligible every term that the school considers part of [[FFELs & Direct Loans]] Similarly, if a FFEL or Direct Loan borrower becomes a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen during a period of enrollment, his or her loan limit is equal to the limit that he or she would have been allowed had he or she been a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen during the full enrollment period. Consider the case of a first-year student who has sufficient need for a full Stafford Loan ($2,625) but whose citizenship status renders him or her ineligible for an SFA loan. Suppose that this student enrolls in a two-year program in which he or she begins classes in July 1996 and advances to second- year status in May 1997. If the student becomes a citizen or eligible noncitizen before May 1997, he or she would be eligible to receive the maximum Stafford Loan for the first year and another loan for the second year, provided that the student continues to meet the necessary eligibility requirements and does not exceed aggregate borrowing limits. If, on the other hand, the student becomes a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen after May 1997--when he or she has already reached second-year status--different rules apply: The student is not allowed to receive a loan for the first year but is allowed to receive the full amount for which he or she is eligible as a second-year student. Because an enrollment period (the period, as defined by the school, for which the loan is made) must coincide with academic terms such as an academic year, semester, trimester, quarter, or other academic period (as defined by the school), the period of enrollment cannot be adjusted to cover any part of the first year. A school is required to check a student's citizenship eligibility status only when aid is first disbursed during the award year (or, for FFELs and Direct Loans, when aid is first disbursed during the period of enrollment). If a student loses citizenship or eligible noncitizenship status during an award year or during a period of enrollment, the school does not need to take any action to prevent the student from receiving aid. NATIONAL STUDENT LOAN DATA SYSTEM (NSLDS) In order to make sure that SFA funds are appropriately awarded, schools are required to obtain the financial aid history of students before disbursing aid. Financial aid information is evaluated by aid administrators to ensure that students (for instance, transfer students) do not receive overpayments, to ensure that maximum limits for SFA Programs are not exceeded, and to ensure that students who are in default or who owe repayments do not receive SFA funds until the problems are appropriately resolved. To aid schools in accessing relevant financial aid information, the Department has made the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)--a comprehensive database containing selected federal financial aid histories of SFA fund recipients--available to schools. (See Chapter 3, Section 4 for more on NSLDS.) In the past, schools had to obtain financial aid histories by using the paper financial aid transcript (FAT) process--that is, by requesting paper FATs. [[NSLDS may be used to meet regulatory requirements]] Beginning with the 1996-97 award year, however, schools may use information from the NSLDS in meeting regulatory requirements to obtain financial aid transcript information. Regulations published in the December 1, 1995 Federal Register permit schools to use information from the NSLDS as an alternative to obtaining paper FATs. The Department will be providing further guidance concerning the use of the NSLDS for this purpose. Though schools are encouraged to use the NSLDS system rather than the paper FAT system, either is acceptable. Of course, throughout the required retention period, the school must keep documentation of its receipt of FAT information obtained through NSLDS. When a student's financial aid information is updated in the NSLDS, subsequent SARs and ISIRs will reflect the new information. [[NEW]] For 1996-97, the NSLDS information provided on the SAR is much more comprehensive than it was in 1995-96. Note that for the purposes of discussing the NSLDS, the term "SAR" refers to the Student Aid Report going to the student and containing the NSLDS page. "ISIR" refers to the Institutional Student Information Record that the Department sends to the institution and that contains the NSLDS financial aid history information. [[NSLDS information on SARs & ISIRs]] Following is information about the NSLDS that schools should find useful. The NSLDS data on SARs and ISIRs include information on the FFEL and Direct Loan programs; payment information for the Federal Pell Grant Program; and overpayment information for the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), and Perkins Loan programs. Note that the NSLDS does not report data on the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program, on the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) Program, or on the FSEOG Program (except for FSEOG overpayment information) because there are no statutory or regulatory constraints that need to be monitored before SFA funds may be administered through these programs. [[Data not reported]] The NSLDS information reported on SARs and ISIRs for 1996-97 includes: - An indicator of whether the applicant is in default on a Title IV student loan. Default status will continue to generate comments on the SAR, comment codes on the ISIR, and a "C" indicator on both documents. - A listing of defaulted loans in the student's name, including the type of loan (that is, whether the loan is subsidized, unsubsidized, a Perkins Loan, a FFEL, etc.), the default date, the outstanding balance, the loan period, identifiers indicating the guaranty agency (if a FFEL), the school that administered the loan, the current servicer, and--if ED is holding the loan--the regional office holding it. The NSLDS information will also include an indicator showing whether there are more defaulted loans than will fit on the NSLDS page. If so, the school may access NSLDS directly (through Title IV Wide Area Network) for additional information. - An indicator showing whether the applicant owes an overpayment on an SFA grant or a Perkins Loan. - Information on whether the student filed for a bankruptcy protection on a Title IV debt. - Information on the aggregate amounts the student borrowed under all applicable loan programs. (Aggregate amounts only include the portion of SFA loans that have been disbursed. Schools may need to make adjustments to account for the amount still to be disbursed.) If Consolidation Loan amounts are listed and if the outstanding principal balance may affect student eligibility for additional loan amounts, the school must log into NSLDS to find what portions of the Consolidation Loan should be attributed to each of the loan types. - The cumulative amount of Perkins Loans disbursed to the student and, for the current award year, the annual amount of Perkins Loans disbursed. - Indicators if the applicant had an outstanding balance on a National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) or a National Defense Loan (Defense Loan) borrowed before July 1, 1992 or an outstanding balance on an NDSL, a Defense Loan, or a Perkins Loan borrowed before October 1, 1987. This information is needed to determine promissory note provisions for new Perkins Loans or NDSLs. - Indicators showing if any Perkins Loans were awarded under the Expanded Lending Option (ELO), which changes the cumulative maximum allowed. - Details--for the purpose of providing schools with information needed to monitor annual loan limits and frequency of the receipt of these loans--on up to three FFEL and/or Direct Loans made for loan periods beginning as of January 1, 1994. For information on the five methods by which a school may obtain FAT information through the NSLDS, see Chapter 3, Section 4. Only a student whose financial aid data are found in the database will receive the NSLDS data. When no NSLDS FAT information is returned to the CPS, the NSLDS page on the SAR and NSLDS Financial Aid History section of the ISIR will be blank. Schools should not, however, automatically assume that a student without NSLDS information on the SAR/ISIR received no Title IV aid and is automatically eligible for SFA funds. When the NSLDS page on the SAR and NSLDS Financial Aid History section of the ISIR are blank, a student may receive Comment 140 (which REQUIRES NO RESOLUTION by the financial aid administrator) or Comment 138 (which DOES REQUIRE RESOLUTION). [[Comment 140 requires no resolution]] Comment 140 will appear on the SAR/ISIR to alert the financial aid administrator that the student has no financial aid history or to indicate that the student has no relevant financial aid history. If Comment 140 appears, the financial aid administrator should continue processing the student's application. The text for Comment 140 is "Your application record was matched successfully with the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The NSLDS confirmed that your social security number is not associated with any previous financial aid history." Comment 140 will appear when the NSLDS FAT data were returned to the CPS because there was no matching SSN in the NSLDS database and if there is no negative comment and corresponding comment code indicating that there was a problem with the NSLDS match. In such a case, the lack of NSLDS data means that the student received no Title IV aid. Comment 140 will also appear if NSLDS records match the student's reported SSN and either the first three letters of the student's first name or his or her date of birth also match, but records show that the student received no RELEVANT Title IV aid. This situation may occur, for instance, if a student received a Pell Grant in the prior year or paid off an SFA loan. [[Comment 138 requires resolution]] When the reason that no NSLDS data were returned to the CPS is explained on the SAR or ISIR by Comment 138 (rather than by Comment 140), the school must determine if the NSLDS record is that of the applicant and, if so, must use the information in the NSLDS when determining eligibility for SFA funds. Comment 138 may appear if, for example, there is a partial match (for instance, the SSN matches the NSLDS database but the date of birth does not match or the name does not match because a nickname was used on the FAFSA). If the school determines that the NSLDS record in such a situation is that of the applicant, the school should advise the student to correct the discrepancy. Note that the Department will be providing schools with guidance on how to resolve discrepancies flagged by Comment 138. ENROLLMENT AS A REGULAR STUDENT IN AN ELIGIBLE PROGRAM With limited exceptions, an individual must be enrolled as a regular student in an eligible program in order to receive SFA Program funds. A regular student is one who is enrolled for the purpose of obtaining a degree or certificate offered by the institution. [[Definition of eligible program]] The regulatory definition of an eligible program is based on requirements found in statutory language defining eligible institutions. There is an important distinction between the definition of an eligible program and the definition of an eligible institution. Every academic program at a school that meets the definition of an eligible institution and that participates in the SFA Programs is not automatically eligible for participation in the SFA Programs. Indeed, factors such as course length or admissions requirements may prohibit some programs at eligible schools from qualifying as eligible programs. Financial aid administrators should carefully study the material in Chapter 3 on program eligibility, which affects whether or not a student may receive aid. Three aspects that largely define an eligible program are especially important to note--the education credentials that the program awards, its length, and, for "short courses," compliance with certain qualitative factors regarding graduation and placement rates. These qualitative factors are discussed in Chapter 3. Except for exemptions granted for preparatory work and for earning teaching certificates (these exceptions are discussed below), an eligible program either 1) must lead to a certificate, degree, or other recognized education credential, or 2) must be at least two academic years long and considered acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor's degree. These requirements also apply to study-abroad programs approved for credit by eligible institutions. Again, to receive aid, a student in a study-abroad program must be enrolled as a regular student at the eligible institution approving the course. At a proprietary institution of higher education or at a postsecondary vocational institution, the program must lead to a certificate or degree and must provide students with training to prepare them for gainful employment in a recognized occupation. (For the Pell Grant Program, students taking English as a Second Language [ESL] courses are also granted exceptions. See Chapter 3 for an extensive discussion about this and other program eligibility issues.) The minimum length required for a program to be considered eligible varies according to the type of institution. Special requirements for programs under 600 clock hours are incorporated into the regulations (see Chapter 3). Note that program length determines a program's eligibility and affects the amount of aid that may be awarded to students in the program. For example, the amount of a student's Federal Pell Grant, Stafford Loan, or Direct Loan will be reduced if the program is less than an academic year long. (See Chapters 4 and 10.) TWO EXCEPTIONS TO THE "ELIGIBLE PROGRAM" REQUIREMENT There are two cases when a student does not have to be enrolled in an eligible program to receive a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or Direct Loan. There is one case when a student does not have to be enrolled in an eligible program to receive a Perkins Loan or Federal Work-Study (FWS). PREPARATORY COURSEWORK: A student who is not enrolled in a degree or certificate program is eligible for FFELs or Direct Loans for a period of up to one year if the student is taking a course necessary for his or her enrollment in an eligible program. The course must be part of an eligible program otherwise offered by the school, although the student does not have to be enrolled in the eligible program. For instance, a student who has already received a bachelor's degree might need an additional 12 hours of specialized undergraduate coursework in order to enroll in a graduate program. If a student is enrolled at least half time in these prerequisite courses and if the courses are part of an eligible program, the student is eligible for loans for one consecutive 12-month period beginning on the first day of the loan period for which the student is enrolled. TEACHER CERTIFICATION: Another exception involves the FFEL, the Direct Loan, the Perkins Loan, and the FWS programs. This exception allows eligibility for a student who is enrolled at least half time in a required teacher-certification program, even though the teacher-certification program does not lead to a degree or certificate awarded by the school (for example, the certificate may instead be granted by the state). The program must be required for elementary or secondary teacher certification or recertification in the state where the student plans to teach or in the state where the student is completing the program. This exception is not intended to cover optional courses that the student elects to take for professional recognition or advancement. Nor does the exception cover courses that the school recommends but that are not required for certification or recertification. The school should document that the courses are required by the state for teacher certification. For purposes of the FFEL and Direct Loan programs, a student who is considered eligible under this exception is considered a fifth-year undergraduate; therefore, the loan limit is $5,500, plus an additional $5,000 in unsubsidized loans if the student is classified as independent. ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR POSTSECONDARY ATTENDANCE To receive SFA Program aid, a student must be academically qualified to study at the postsecondary level. For SFA purposes, a student with a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent is considered academically qualified. Furthermore, if a program is at least at the associate-degree level, a school may admit into the program a limited number of students who do not have high school diplomas but who have excelled academically in high school and who have met the school's admissions standards. Students who pass approved ability-to-benefit tests may also be qualified (see the discussion that follows). ALTERNATIVES TO THE HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA [[Recognized equivalents to high school diploma]] SFA regulations identify several recognized equivalents to the high school diploma. These equivalents include General Education Development (GED) certificates and state certificates. A certificate of completion of a home-study program is also considered an equivalent to a high school diploma if the program is recognized by the student's home state. Similarly, a student's postsecondary school academic transcript would also be considered the equivalent of a high school diploma if the student has completed a program that is at least two years in length and that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor's degree. [[Access to GED programs]] GED PROGRAMS. In addition to assuring that students who do not have high school diplomas (or recognized equivalents) successfully pass ability-to-benefit tests, the school must make a GED- preparatory program available to such students. The course does not have to be provided by the school itself, and the school is not required to pay for GED program costs. The school, however, must locate a program that is reasonably accessible for its students. For example, the school should locate a program that is offered at a place that is convenient for its students and should take reasonable steps to ensure that the scheduling of the student's program permits participation. The law states that the GED program to be administered must have been proven to be a successful program. A school may consider all programs conducted by its state and local secondary schools to have met this criteria. In addition, a GED program is considered to be qualified for approval if the school has documentation that statistically demonstrates the program's success. [[Simultaneous enrollment]] A student without a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent is not required to enroll in a GED program; however, a school may make enrollment in such a program a requirement for admission. Although a student is not permitted to receive any SFA funds for study in all or part of a GED program, the student enrolled in a GED program remains eligible for SFA funds if he or she is simultaneously enrolled in full-credit, nonremedial courses. (Participation in the GED program is not considered to be simultaneous enrollment in a high school program.) A student enrolled solely in remedial coursework, however, is not eligible for SFA funds. (See "Remedial Coursework for Postsecondary Study" later in this chapter.) ABILITY TO BENEFIT An SFA applicant without a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent can be determined to be academically qualified if he or she 1) passes an independently administered test that is used for determining the student's ability to benefit from postsecondary education and that has been approved by the Department or 2) enrolls in an eligible school that participates in a plan or process that has been both prescribed by the state in which the school is located and approved by the Department.*2* The student must be deemed-- in accordance with a plan or process prescribed by the state in which the student's school is located--to have the ability to benefit from the education or training being offered. [[NEW]] [[New test-approval procedures & requirements]] For 1996-97, the Secretary instituted a new policy for approving and administering ability-to-benefit tests. The policy takes effect July 1, 1996 and governs the determination of student eligibility for Title IV programs under Section 484(d) of the HEA. To allow for a smooth transition from the current test practice to the new practice, for 1996- 97 an institution may continue to use a test and test score that were approved as of June 30, 1996--the day before the new regulatory provisions took effect--until 60 days after the Secretary publishes in the Federal Register the first test and required passing score for each general category of test approved under the new regulations. (Note that at the time this publication went to print, no tests were approved for the 1996-97 award year.) If, for example, the Secretary approves a new test in Spanish on August 1, 1996, an institution may continue to use--until October 1, 1996 --a test in Spanish that was approved June 10, 1996. If an institution properly determined a student's eligibility under the 1995-96 system, the school does not have to redetermine the student's eligibility under the new system. (See Section 668.155 of the Final Rule published December 1, 1995 in the Federal Register for details.) The new regulations address both procedures for publishers that wish to apply for test approval and eligibility criteria that test publishers must meet. Following are the procedures and requirements that a test publisher must meet before the Department, which is responsible for evaluating the quality of state plans and tests, will approve its tests. The Department evaluates the submitted tests according to the Final Rule guidelines published November 29, 1995 in the Federal Register. Upon receipt of an application that meets the appropriate requirements, the Secretary will notify the test publisher. As mentioned above, the Secretary will then publish in the Federal Register the name of the test and the passing score required for students taking the test. The name of the test publisher will also appear in the Federal Register. [[Documentation required for test approval]] Certain documentation is required before the Department will review a test: The test publisher must submit its test and attachments that show that the test meets the "test construction" standards in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1985 edition). (This publication was prepared collectively by the following professional organizations: The American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education.) [[Minimum passing scores]] The minimum passing score for each independently administered exam must be devised by the test publisher and approved by the Secretary. The passing score must be one full standard deviation below the mean for students who earned high school diplomas and who took the test within three years of the date on which the test is submitted to the Department for approval. [[Publishers must certify test administrators]] The school should make arrangements with one or more parties to administer the approved tests to students. New regulatory provisions effective for 1996-97 state that the test administrator must be certified by the test publisher. The school should contact the test publisher to locate a certified test administrator. Certified administrators may come from various occupations. They may be - high school guidance counselors; - qualified professional educators; - regional and area Armed Forces Commands staff who are experts in education, training, and human resource development; - test and measurement experts; and - human resource development professionals. The use of a public or nonprofit center that offers assessment or testing services--provided the center operates independently of the admissions and financial aid offices at the postsecondary school--is also suggested. [["Tests Approved by the Department" on pages 2-16 and 2-17 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] [[Test administrators must be independent of schools]] [[Exception]] Note that an approved test must be administered and graded by an individual or by an organization with no current or prior financial or ownership interest in the institution, its affiliates, or its parent corporation other than the interest generated through its agreement to administer the approved examination. Under these criteria, the test may not be given or scored by a current or former employee, consultant, or student of the school, an owner or member of the board of directors, a person with a financial interest in the school, or a relative of any of these individuals. An exception is made for testing or assessment centers at degree-granting schools, as long as these centers are independent of the admissions process. [[Transition period]] The list of tests (on page 2-16 and 2-17) approved by the Department for 1995-96 applies to the 1995-96 award year and to the 60-day transition period for the 1996-97 award year. If it chooses to do so, a school may use more than one test on the list, as long as the school uses the tests within the allowed time frame. When the transition period expires in 1996-97, the Department will not allow use of any test on the list UNLESS the test was submitted to and approved by the Department in accordance with the NEW test-approval process. This list does not include state tests that were approved by the Department under the test system used for 1995-96. For 1996-97, the Department will review all state tests that are required for all students entering a state's public postsecondary schools and that assess the basic verbal and quantitative skills of these students. If a state test meets the criteria for approval, both public and private schools in that state may use the test. [[Test selection]] When selecting a test, the school should consider the following issues: RELEVANCE OF TEST TO THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM. Are the skills and abilities assessed important for the successful completion of the student's planned program of study? LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY OF THE TEST. Is the overall level of difficulty appropriate to the population of prospective students being assessed and to the coursework required in the program? NATIVE LANGUAGE. If the student's program will be taught in a language other than English, the student should be permitted to take the test in the language of the program. TESTS FOR STUDENTS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES. Students with physical disabilities should receive appropriate assistance in test taking, in accordance with the guidelines developed by the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council of Measurement in Education. [[Students with special needs]] The new regulatory provisions continue to take into account the special needs of students with documented disabilities and of students who are not native speakers of English. Under certain circumstances, special testing procedures or instruments may be used for testing such individuals. [[Test administration]] All tests must be administered in accordance with the procedures specified by the test publisher. Such procedures address, but are not limited to, time limits for completion, rules on how often and within what time frame the test may be readministered, whether the test may be given verbally, and so on. If a test comprises multiple parts, RELEVANT parts must be administered in order for the test to be valid. Again, the passing score cannot be more than one standard deviation below the mean for that examination for that type of program or curriculum. Test publishers routinely provide such information in their manuals. [[Submission of test scores]] A student who has taken an approved, independently administered test within the last 12 months may submit the official test-score notification to the school to demonstrate his or her ability to benefit. If the school accepts the results of a previously administered test, that school must obtain documentation showing that the test and its administration meet federal requirements. If a student withdraws from school and then re-enrolls more than 12 months after taking the test, he or she must take a new test. [[NEW]] For 1996-97, the following situation applies to a student 1) who is admitted into a school without a high school diploma, a GED, or a passing ATB score, 2) who does not earn a passing score on an approved ATB test by the beginning of the academic year, 3) but who passes such a test during the award year: The student is eligible for Pell and campus-based funds beginning with the payment period (usually an academic term) during which the student passed the ATB test. The same student would be eligible for a Direct Loan or FFEL for the entire period of enrollment (usually an academic year) in which the student passed the ATB test. REMEDIAL COURSEWORK FOR POSTSECONDARY STUDY Remedial coursework prepares a student for study at the postsecondary level. If a student is enrolled solely in a remedial program, the student is not considered to be in an eligible program and thus is not eligible for SFA funds. Additionally, if a student's acceptance into the eligible program is contingent upon the completion of the remedial work, the student cannot be considered to be enrolled in the eligible program until the remedial work is completed. There is, however, an exception to this rule: If a student enrolls in preparatory coursework, he or she would still remain eligible for funds from the FFEL and Direct Loan programs. If the student is enrolled in a regular program that includes a limited amount of remedial coursework, SFA funds may be used to pay for that coursework as long as the coursework is at least at the high- school level (as determined by the state legal authority, the school's accrediting agency, or the state agency recognized for approving public postsecondary vocational education). Whether an individual is paid as a full-time, three-quarter-time, half- time, or less-than-half-time student affects the amount he or she can receive under the Pell Grant Program and whether he or she is eligible for loans under the FFEL and Direct Loan programs. When calculating the student's cost of attendance, be sure to include the tuition paid for noncredit remedial work. [[Determining enrollment status]] Determining the enrollment status for students taking remedial coursework may be problematic because schools either may give no credit or may give reduced credit for such coursework. To include noncredit remedial hours in the student's enrollment status for financial aid payments, a school must determine the number of hours of study that the remedial course requires (both classroom and homework hours) and must compare that number with the hours required for similar nonremedial courses. For determining a student's enrollment status, the school should use the same number of credits for the remedial course as for a nonremedial course. (Clock-hour schools should use the number of classroom hours attended in the remedial program.) To determine a student's enrollment status, a school should add the credits or clock hours assigned to the noncredit course to the credits or clock hours of regular coursework. A school may not take into account more than one academic year's worth (30 semester or trimester hours, 45 quarter credit hours, or 900 clock hours) of noncredit remedial coursework for a student. English as a Second Language (ESL) courses do not count against these limits. [[SFA funds must not be used for GED/high school courses]] Financial aid administrators should not count noncredit remedial hours when determining enrollment status or cost of attendance if a noncredit remedial course is part of a program that leads to a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent. A student is never permitted to receive funds for GED training or for high school, even if the GED or high school training is offered at postsecondary schools. These noncredit remedial hours must not be counted, even if the course is required for completing the postsecondary program. A postsecondary student is NOT permitted to receive SFA funds while he or she is simultaneously enrolled in an elementary or secondary school. For example, a high school student who is taking vocational training in the afternoon or weekends is not eligible for SFA funds even if his or her entire program at the postsecondary school is postsecondary in nature. ENROLLMENT STATUS Half-time enrollment status is not a minimum requirement for receiving Federal Pell Grants and campus-based funds. Enrollment status, however, may affect how much student financial aid an individual is permitted to receive under these programs. (See Chapter 4 for information on how enrollment status affects a student's Pell Grant award. See chapters 5 through 8 for information on how enrollment status affects the awarding of campus-based funds.) [[Minimum enrollment]] The FFEL and Direct Loan programs DO require a student to be enrolled at least half time to receive aid. A half-time student must be taking at least half of the course load as that of a full-time student. (See Chapter 10 for more information on the FFEL Program. See Chapter 11 for more information on Direct Loans.) As specified in Department regulations, schools define what is considered to constitute a full-time workload. This measurement may differ from the definition used by others and for other purposes at the school, such as the definition used by the registrar's office. The school's definition for a full-time workload for a program must be used for all students enrolled in that program and must be the same definition for all SFA-related purposes. [[Definition of full time]] A full-time student is defined as a student who is carrying a full-time academic workload (other than by correspondence) as determined by the institution under a standard applicable to all students enrolled in a particular educational program. The student's workload may include any combination of courses, work, research, or special studies that the institution considers sufficient to classify the student as attending full time. For undergraduate students--but not for graduate students-- the school's financial aid office must define full-time status to meet at least the following minimums: - 12 semester hours or 12 quarter hours per academic term in an educational program using a semester, trimester, or quarter system; - 24 semester hours or 36 quarter hours per academic year for an educational program using credit hours but not using a semester, trimester, or quarter system, or the prorated equivalent for a program of less than one academic year; - 24 clock hours per week for an educational program using clock hours; - for a student who is taking a combination of courses offered in semester credit, quarter credit, and/or clock hours, prorated percentages of the minimums for credit- and clock-hour measurements equal to at least one; - a series of courses or seminars equaling 12 semester or quarter hours over a maximum of 18 weeks; or - the work portion of a cooperative education program in which the amount of work performed is equivalent to the academic workload of a full-time student. A student taking only correspondence courses is never considered to be enrolled more than half time. [[The example on page 2-22 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] Note that a student's enrollment status also is important for deferment purposes. A borrower is eligible for a deferment as a half-time student without receiving additional loans during the deferment period if 1) he or she is a Direct Loan borrower or 2) if he or she is a FFEL borrower who received loans on or after July 1, 1993 and at that time had no outstanding balance on a FFEL borrowed before July 1, 1993. A FFEL borrower who received loans between July 1, 1987 and July 1, 1993 and who had no outstanding balance on a FFEL borrowed before July 1, 1987 when receiving the loan can qualify for an in- school deferment only 1) if he or she is enrolled full time or 2) if he or she is enrolled half time or three-quarter time and again borrows a FFEL or Direct Loan for the period covered by the deferment. Students with outstanding loans borrowed before July 1, 1987 must be enrolled full time to receive an in-school deferment. (See Chapter 10, Section 2 for more information.) *1* Except when otherwise noted, the term "SAR" means a regular Student Aid Report (SAR), a one-part SAR Information Acknowledgment, or any other official output document (such as an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR), which comprises student aid documentation sent to a school from the Department). *2* In the case of a school with branch campuses, the process must have been approved by the state in which the branch the student is attending is located. SATISFACTORY PROGRESS The regulations for satisfactory progress were initially published in October 1983 and were amended on December 1, 1987; April 29, 1994; and November 29, 1994. Every school participating in the SFA Programs must monitor its SFA recipients to ensure that they are meeting satisfactory progress standards. Regulations require each school to develop reasonable standards for measuring academic progress and require each school to apply these standards consistently to all students within identifiable categories of students (see the following paragraph). [[Qualitative and quantitative measurements]] A school's satisfactory progress policy for students receiving SFA funds must be at least as strict as the policy used for students who do not receive SFA funds. Again, the policy must be applied consistently to all SFA recipients within identifiable categories of students (such as full-time or part-time, graduate, or undergraduate students). Note that the school's satisfactory progress policy must include both a qualitative measure and a quantitative measure ( such as the use of cumulative grade point average) of the student's progress. [[Minimum standards]] Although a school may establish its own satisfactory progress requirements, these requirements must at least meet the minimum standards required by law and regulations. The law specifies that by the end of the second academic year, the student must, in general, 1) have a C average or its equivalent, or 2) have an academic standing consistent with the requirement for graduation from the program. If a school does not use letter grades, a school's satisfactory progress policy should define "equivalent of a C average." If a school determines that a student has maintained satisfactory progress standards even though his or her average falls below a C average, the school must be able to document that the average deemed acceptable is consistent with the academic standards required for graduation. [[Graduated standards]] Rather than using a single fixed standard throughout the program, a school may use a graduated grade point requirement. For instance, a school may set a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 1.75 (on a scale of 0.0 to 4.0) at the end of the second academic year in a four- year degree program. The school may also require that a student earn at least a 2.0 average in order to graduate. If school policy permits progression toward the 2.0 graduation requirement, the school may permit a lower standard at the end of the second academic year. The GPA is not by itself a sufficient measure of progress. Consider this situation: A student initially enrolls for 12 credits per semester but then withdraws from two classes that he or she was failing. Although the student may have an A average in the two classes from which he or she did not withdraw, that student may not be progressing toward graduation at an acceptable pace. To accurately measure a student's progress in a program, the satisfactory progress policy must include a quantitative measure to determine the number or percentage of courses, credit hours, or clock hours completed; the policy must also include a qualitative measure (such as the GPA) to evaluate the quality of work completed. [[Maximum time frame]] To quantify academic progress, a school must set a maximum time frame in which a student is expected to finish a program. Regulations specify that for an undergraduate program, the maximum time frame may not exceed 150% of the published length of the program measured in academic years, academic terms, credit hours attempted, or clock hours completed, as appropriate. For instance, if the published length of an academic program is 120 credit hours, the maximum time frame established by the school must not exceed 180 attempted credit hours (that is, 120 x 1.5). [[Increments (evaluation periods)]] To ensure that a student is making sufficient progress throughout the course of study, the school must divide the program into EQUAL evaluation periods called increments. An increment may not be longer than half the program or one academic year, whichever is less. In other words, for a school's 700-hour program, an increment must not exceed 350 hours. For a school's 2,000-hour program, an increment must not exceed 900 hours if the school uses a 900-hour academic year definition. Increments are also expected to coincide with payment periods. Once a school defines the length of each increment, the school must compare the number of hours the student attempted with the number of hours the student successfully completed. This calculation enables the school to determine whether the student is progressing at a rate that will allow him or her to finish the program within the maximum time frame. In the example on the next page, the school established a minimum percentage of hours the student must complete each academic year. By setting a percentage rather than a fixed number of hours or credits that must be completed each academic year, the school can easily adjust for changes in a student's enrollment status from one period to the next. Schools, however, may develop standards that vary according to a student's enrollment status. Consider the example: If in the second academic year the student enrolled for only 15 credit hours, that student's progress would be measured as follows: 80% x 45 credit hours attempted (30 in first year and 15 in second) = 36 credits [[The example on page 2-25 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] If this student successfully completed 9 of the 15 credits attempted in the second year, he would be considered to be making satisfactory progress (27 completed in the first year + 9 in the second equals 36 credits, the minimum that must be completed to achieve an 80% completion ratio). A school may use a graduated completion percentage for each year of enrollment. For instance, a school might choose to apply a more lenient completion standard in the students first academic year but may gradually increase the completion standard during the course of study to ensure that the student completes program requirements within the maximum time frame. [[The illustration on page 2-26 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] At some clock-hour schools, a student is given credit for every hour attended, so that the hours attempted equal the hours earned. Beauty and barber schools often credit students in this manner. In such cases, the quantitative standard must be based on calendar time (in weeks or months). For instance, if a school offers a 900-clock-hour program that normally takes 8 months to complete, the school might set a maximum time frame of 12 months for completing the program. Therefore, a student would have to complete the first 450 hours of the program within 6 months to reestablish that he or she is meeting satisfactory progress standards. [[Pass/fail]] Some clock-hour schools structure their programs such that individual subjects may be taken as pass/fail courses; the pass or fail grade would be based on the student's performance. In other words, even though the student may have attended classes for a given number of clock hours for a given subject, he or she may not receive credit for those hours of attendance if a failing grade was earned. (These clock-hour schools are like "normal" credit-hour schools in this regard: Credit-hour schools may function in a similar manner if credits are withheld even though the student has attempted and attended a course for the established number of hours.) In such cases, the financial aid administrator should calculate the clock hours successfully completed as a percentage of the hours attempted (see the discussion above). The regulations further state that a school's satisfactory progress policy must explain how withdrawals, grades of "incomplete," courses that are repeated, and noncredit remedial coursework affect the academic progress determination. A school must also establish procedures that enable the student to appeal a determination that finds him or her not to be making satisfactory progress. For students ultimately judged not to be making satisfactory progress, the school must establish specific procedures that enable such students to once again meet satisfactory progress standards. The quantitative and qualitative standards used to judge academic progress must be cumulative and must include all periods of the student's enrollment. Even periods in which the student did not receive SFA funds must be counted. Bear in mind that as a rule, the Department does not regulate schools' satisfactory progress standards. As stated, the Department 1) sets the minimum qualitative standard requiring a student to earn a C average by the end of the second academic year (or to earn an average consistent with graduation standards) and 2) sets the minimum quantitative standard requiring a student to complete a program within a time frame not to exceed 1.5 times the normal published time frame. Except for these two requirements, the Department only stipulates policy components--not academic standards. [[Loss of eligibility]] If a student does not meet the school's standards of satisfactory progress, he or she is not allowed to receive further aid from the SFA Programs unless the school uses its discretion to waive the satisfactory progress requirement. The statute specifies cases in which the school might choose to waive the standards: for example, if a student becomes very ill, if a student is severely injured, or if a student's relative dies. Schools that permit waivers of satisfactory progress standards must establish written procedures explaining when a special circumstance merits a waiver. [[Waiving satisfactory progress requirement]] If a student loses SFA eligibility because he or she is determined not to be making satisfactory progress, that student will once again regain eligibility when the school determines that he or she is again meeting its satisfactory progress standards. [[Payment after reinstatement]] A student may be paid for the payment period in which he or she regains satisfactory progress but cannot be paid for any payment period in which the standards were not met. For FFELs and Direct Loans, a student who does not meet satisfactory academic progress standards at the beginning of an academic year but who meets the standards later in the award year is eligible for the entire period of enrollment (usually an academic year) in which he or she met the satisfactory academic progress standards--unless school policy provides for reinstatement of eligibility at a later point. LOAN DEFAULTS AND OVERPAYMENTS A person generally is not eligible for SFA funds if he or she is in default on an SFA loan or must repay an SFA grant. This ineligibility rule also applies to a parent seeking a PLUS Loan (through the FFEL or the Direct Loan program). For a parent to receive a PLUS Loan, neither the parent nor the student may be in default or owe an overpayment through the SFA Programs. (The General Provisions regulations contain several exceptions to these blanket rules on defaults and overpayments, as noted in the discussion below.) [[Liens]] Additionally, a student's property must not be subject to a judgment lien for a debt owed to the United States. For example, if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had placed a lien on a student's property, the failure to pay this debt or to make satisfactory arrangements for repayment would render the student ineligible for SFA funds. A parent cannot receive a PLUS Loan if either the student or the parent has property subject to a judgment lien for a debt owed to the United States. LOAN DEFAULTS After a student who is in default repays the loan in full, that student may receive SFA funds as long as he or she meets all other necessary eligibility requirements. If the student borrower and the loan holder agree on a compromised amount for settling a loan and the student repays the amount agreed upon, that student may receive SFA funds. The student regains eligibility whether repayment was completed voluntarily or otherwise (that is, through IRS offset or wage garnishment). Please note that if a student has repaid his or her defaulted loan in full, the school may still consider the prior default to be evidence of a student's unwillingness to repay loans and may therefore deny him or her future Perkins Loans. A student in default on any of the following loans may continue to receive SFA funds if he or she has made satisfactory repayment arrangements with the loan holder: a Federal Perkins Loan (including an NDSL); a FISL, a Federal Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Loan, a Federal SLS,*3* an Income Contingent Loan (ICL), a Federal Consolidation Loan, or a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan; a Federal PLUS or Federal Direct PLUS Loan he or she received as a parent. [[NEW]] Before a school may pay a student who is in default, the school must receive a written statement from the loan holder indicating that the student has made satisfactory repayment arrangements. A student must make arrangements that are satisfactory to the loan holder and that are in accordance with the individual SFA loan program regulations. After the student makes six consecutive, full, voluntary payments on time, he or she regains eligibility for SFA funds. Effective July 1, 1996, this six-payment requirement also applies to defaulted Perkins Loans and NDSLs. Previously, the definition of satisfactory repayment arrangements for these loans was determined by the school holding the loan. [[Rehabilitation]] Although a student regains eligibility for all SFA funds at that point, a student with a Direct Loan or FFEL cannot have his or her loan rehabilitated (assuming the lender agrees to rehabilitate) until 12 consecutive, full, voluntary payments have been made on time. When these conditions are met, the student becomes eligible for in- school deferments. (See Chapter 10, Section 6 for more information on loan rehabilitation provisions.) A defaulted Direct Loan will automatically be rehabilitated after 12 consecutive, full, voluntary payments have been made on time. A Perkins Loan or an NDSL will be rehabilitated after the borrower executes a new written payment agreement and makes one payment for each month for 12 consecutive months. [[Loan certification]] Beginning with the 1995-96 award year, a student who regains eligibility after making six consecutive payments on a defaulted Perkins Loan, NDSL, FFEL, or Direct Loan may have a new FFEL or Direct Loan certified for the entire enrollment period (which may be a full academic year or an academic term). Note that such a certification cannot apply to loan periods that are part of an academic year previous to the one in which the student regained eligibility. If an enrollment period begins in one academic year and ends in the following academic year and if the borrower regains eligibility during the second academic year, the school may certify a loan only for that portion of the enrollment period that is part of the second academic year. Previously, a student who regained FFEL or Direct Loan eligibility could only have his or loan certified for the term in which eligibility was reestablished. If a student has paid a defaulted loan in full but receives a SAR with a comment indicating that he or she is ineligible because of the default, the student must provide the school with documentation proving that the loan has been paid in full. Overpayments [[School error]] [[Student error]] If a student receives a Federal Pell Grant overpayment, he or she is permitted to continue to receive SFA funds if the overpayment can be eliminated by reducing the subsequent Pell Grant payments for the same award year. If the overpayment was the result of the school's error and the school cannot eliminate the overpayment in the same award year, the school must repay the overpayment; the student is then not considered to owe an overpayment and may receive SFA funds. If a student's error caused the overpayment, the student is responsible for repaying the overpayment. The student cannot receive additional SFA funds until he or she repays the overpayment in full or makes satisfactory arrangements to repay the overpayments or until the school repays the overpayment for the student. [[School must attempt to collect]] When a school repays a Pell Grant overpayment or FSEOG overpayment for the student (that is, when the school returns to the program accounts the amount overpaid to the student), the student is no longer considered to owe an overpayment and therefore does not lose his or her eligibility for SFA Program funds regardless of whose error caused the overpayment. The school must make attempts to collect overpayments from its students. Note that if the school corrects the grant overpayment by repaying the Department, the student regains eligibility as long as all other eligibility criteria are met. The student regains eligibility for SFA funds even when he or she fails to return the overpayment to the school and even when the school cannot adjust the student's financial aid package to resolve the overpayment (see the discussion below). Such a student is deemed eligible because he or she is not technically considered to owe the overpayment to the SFA Programs. (See Chapter 4, Section 6 for more on Federal Pell Grant overpayments.) [[Reporting overpayment to ED]] If a school is unable to recover a Pell Grant or FSEOG overpayment due from the student in cases when the student is held liable for the overpayment, the school must report the student's overpayment to the Department. After this information is reported, the student's future SARs and ISIRs will be flagged for resolution when their FAFSAs are received by the Central Processing System (CPS). For the 1996- 97 award year, all Pell Grant and FSEOG overpayments have been incorporated into the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) for flagging and tracking purposes. A student with an overpayment receives an EFC with a comment that tells the student that he or she is ineligible for SFA funds until the overaward is repaid. In addition, a "C"--indicating that the financial aid administrator must resolve the issue before payment is made--is printed next to the EFC reported on the SAR. A student who receives any overpayment through the FSEOG, SSIG, or Federal Perkins Loan program may continue to receive SFA funds if the overpayment can be eliminated by adjusting subsequent financial aid payments (other than Pell Grants) within the same academic year or if the student makes satisfactory repayment arrangements with the holder of the overpayment debt. [[The chart "Effect of Loan Status on Student Aid Eligibility (As of 7/1/96)" on page 2-31 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] Consider the case of a student who received a FSEOG overpayment and who also received a Perkins Loan. The student is allowed to continue to receive SFA funds if later FSEOG or Perkins Loan disbursements for that academic year can be reduced by the amount of the overpayment. Otherwise, the student must repay the overpayment or make arrangements to repay before receiving additional SFA funds. Again, if the school for any reason repays a student's overpayment, the student regains eligibility. (See Chapter 5, Section 2 for more information on FSEOG and Perkins overpayments.) BANKRUPTCY A student with an SFA loan discharged in bankruptcy is eligible for SFA grants, work-study, and loans. Prior to October 22, 1994, a student whose defaulted loan was discharged in bankruptcy could not receive loan funds unless the student reaffirmed the discharged debt and made satisfactory repayment arrangements. Because of legislative changes made by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, the reaffirmation requirement was lifted. Students no longer must reaffirm discharged loans before receiving new loans. [[Loans stayed in bankruptcy]] In addition, if a student has a loan stayed in bankruptcy, he or she remains eligible for SFA funds as long as he or she has no loans in default (including the stayed loan) and as long as all other eligibility requirements are met. For more information on defaults and student eligibility, see the chart on the prior page. ELIGIBILITY AFTER TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY CANCELLATION A borrower whose loan is canceled because of total and permanent disability may later receive any type of SFA funds if he or she meets all other eligibility requirements. If such a borrower wishes to take out an SFA loan, he or she must obtain certification from a legally licensed physician stating that the student's condition has improved and that the student 1) has the ability to engage in substantial gainful activity or 2) can attend school. Then the student must sign a statement indicating that he or she is aware that his or her new SFA loan cannot later be canceled on the basis of any present impairment unless that condition substantially deteriorates to the extent that the definition of total and permanent disability is again met. The borrower is not required to obtain a physician's certification or to sign the aforementioned statement if the borrower is applying for an SFA grant only. [[Reaffirmation not required]] Note that as of July 1, 1995, borrowers who are granted discharges because of total and permanent disability are not required to reaffirm the discharged loans and to make satisfactory repayment arrangements before receiving SFA funds. CERTIFICATION AND STATEMENTS Any student applying for SFA funds must certify that he or she is not in default on any SFA loan and that he or she does not owe an overpayment on any SFA grant. The "Certification Statement on Overpayments and Defaults" is now printed on the FAFSA rather than on the SAR. Schools are no longer required to collect this statement. [[NSLDS database]] The new National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) contains student loan information from guaranty agencies, lenders, schools, and the Department, among other information. Loan-related information on students who have borrowed through the SFA Programs is tracked in the database. Students' loan information that is forwarded from guaranty agencies and schools is updated in the database monthly. In the 1995-96 award year, the NSLDS replaced two matches: 1. the Title IV Default Match, which contained information on all defaulted federal student loans assigned to the Department, as well as overpayments on grants, and 2. the Guaranty Agency Default Match, which contained data on defaulted federal student loans held by guaranty agencies. Both the Guaranty Agency Default Match and the Title IV Default Match flags and comments have been replaced by the NSLDS flag and comments. (For more information, see the prior discussion in this chapter on the NSLDS.) [[School must resolve discrepancies]] Note that schools are required to resolve any conflicts between the NSLDS information and information received from the student, just as schools had to resolve conflicting information when only the former matching system was in place. For example, if the NSLDS indicates that a student is not in default but the school has documentation indicating that the student is in default, the school must resolve this conflict. Until the conflict is resolved, the school is prohibited from paying the student and from certifying his or her loan application. A comment directing the applicant to contact the Department or the appropriate guaranty agency will appear on Part 1 of the SAR if 1) an applicant is found to be in default and has not made satisfactory repayment arrangements, or 2) if an applicant owes an overpayment from the Federal Pell Grant or FSEOG programs. If a defaulted loan is held by a guaranty agency, the name and telephone number of the guaranty agency holding the loan will appear on Part 1. If a student makes satisfactory arrangements to repay a defaulted loan, the Department or the guaranty agency will send the student documentation regarding the resolution. To reestablish eligibility for SFA funds, the student must then submit this documentation to the school. Other Hold Files [[Verification hold file]] If a student has any unresolved issue from a prior verification, his or her records will be placed in the Department's Verification Hold File. A student whose application is in this file will receive a SAR with no EFC calculated. Either Comment 8 or Comment 18 will appear on the SAR and will instruct the student on how to resolve the issue. [[Drug abuse hold file]] The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 gives courts the authority to suspend eligibility for federal student aid when sentencing an individual convicted of possession or distribution of a controlled substance. Any student who applies for federal student aid will receive the following warning on his or her SAR: "As is more fully set forth in Section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, if you are convicted of drug distribution or possession, your eligibility for Title IV student financial aid is subject to suspension or termination." A student whose financial aid is denied because of a drug conviction will be placed on the Department's Drug Abuse Hold File upon direction from the Department of Justice. The student will receive a SAR with no calculated EFC and a comment instructing him or her to contact the Department of Education if the student wishes to contest the finding. (Note that the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 requires every school that receives federal campus-based funds to certify on a form provided by the Department that the school will provide drug-free workplaces. See Chapter 3, Section 2 for more on this institutional eligibility requirement.) *3* Federal SLS loans include Auxiliary Loans to Assist Students and PLUS Loans to students, former names for SLS Loans. VALID SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS [[SSNs required]] The Higher Education Amendments of 1992 require that to be eligible to receive SFA funds, each student provide a Social Security Number (SSN). Since the 1994-95 award year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Central Processing System (CPS) have been working together to conduct matches that verify that the given student's SSN is correct and that the SSN corresponds to the given student's name and birth date. Previously, the CPS checked only to see if the SSN that the student reported was within a valid range of SSNs issued. A comment confirming the success of other matches (such as Selective Service and INS) is printed on the SAR. However, please note that no comment is printed on the SAR when an SSN match is successful. If the school discovers that an SSN is incorrect or discovers conflicting information about the a student's SSN, the school must resolve the conflict before disbursing SFA funds to the student. If a student's name and SSN match but if the SSA shows a different date of birth, a comment will appear on the student's SAR. The school should resolve the discrepancy with the student. (This situation sometimes occurs because the student mistakenly reports the current year as his or her year of birth, for instance.) In such a case, no further action is required through the CPS. [[Comment 24]] If the SSN does not match, the student will initially receive reject code "S" and Comment 24, which instructs the student to verify or to correct his or her SSN. If the student confirms that the SSN is correct and can provide the financial aid administrator with evidence, the student may verify the SSN printed on the SAR (that is, mark the item on the SAR confirming that the SSN submitted is correct, and resubmit the SAR), and the EFC will be calculated. Note that once the student verifies that the SSN is indeed correct, subsequent SAR data corrections or resubmissions do not go through the SSN match again. After the student verifies the data, Comment 25 will appear on the student's SAR, which indicates to the student that he or she must submit proof that the SSN is correct. A "C" is also printed next to the EFC on the SAR. Comment Code 25 also appears on the ISIR sent to the school. [[Comment 61]] If the SSN and the date of birth match but if there is a discrepancy regarding the student's name, the student will receive a SAR with a "C" flag and Comment 61, which tells the student either to correct the appropriate items or to contact the SSA to resolve the problem. This situation is most likely to occur when a student has used a nickname or when a student has failed to inform the SSA of a name change (from marriage, for instance). Upon receipt of student documentation indicating that the submitted SSN is correct, the school may disburse funds. In this situation, the application does not need to be resubmitted to the CPS. Comment 61 will be printed only on the original SAR, not on subsequent SARs. [[SSNs within a valid range]] If no match was conducted, the CPS will check to see whether the reported SSN falls within a valid range. If the SSN falls within a valid range, the student will receive either Comment 59 (if the student's record was not sent to the SSA because the student did not provide his or her last name) or Comment 58 and a "C" flag (if the SSA could not perform the match). For cases in which the SSN is within a valid range, no resubmission is required as long as the institution maintains the documentation verifying the accuracy of the SSN. If a student did not provide his or her last name, the student should submit a correction that does provide the name. If the student must resubmit the SAR (in order to give his or her name or to correct other information), the corrected data will be transmitted to the SSA. The financial aid administrator must carefully examine the results of the match when the SAR is received from the CPS. [[SSNs not within valid range]] If the SSN does not fall within a valid range, the student will receive a rejected SAR and Comment 23, which states that it appears that the SSN is not valid. The student must then verify or correct the SSN and resubmit the SAR. The student's application will then pass through the SSN match. The school may make an initial disbursement of aid before the new SAR is received, as long as the student first submits documentation verifying the number to the financial aid administrator. [[Correction applications are infrequently used]] Correction Applications were virtually eliminated for the 1995-96 award year and subsequent award years. There are only two (rare) cases when they may be necessary: 1. A student may need to change an SSN used by mistake. This problem is likely to arise when spouses or siblings with similar names use each other's SSNs by mistake. In such a case, both applicants would be assigned the same CPS identification number, made up of the SSN and the first two letters of the applicant's last name. The shared number will cause problems for both applicants in the CPS and in the Pell disbursement system. Therefore, the student using the wrong SSN must complete and submit a Correction Application in order to change the SSN. 2. A student's application may successfully pass the SSN match even when his or her SSN is wrong. This situation may occur if, for example, there is a problem with the SSA database. Such a student will not be able to correct the SSN on the SAR (and the financial aid administrator will not be able to correct the SSN electronically) because the SSN has already been confirmed. Therefore, the student must use a Correction Application to change the SSN. A financial aid administrator who needs to receive a 1996-97 Correction Application should contact the Department's Application and Pell Processing Systems Division and ask for the Correction Application Coordinator. The telephone number is 1-202-260-9988. The Department will determine case by case if a Correction Application is necessary. If a Correction Application is necessary, the financial aid administrator may request that it be mailed either to the school or to the student. [[New SSA matching system]] For 1996-97, if the student indicates on the FAFSA that he or she is a U.S. citizen, the application automatically goes though the new Social Security Administration (SSA) matching system, which verifies both U.S. citizenship status and SSNs. Citizenship information reported by the student is matched with SSA database information. For more information on this matching system, see the discussion on the new SSA matching system in Section 1 of this chapter. Students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau who do not have SSNs should send their FAFSAs to the following address--not to the address on the FAFSAs or on the FAFSA envelopes: Federal Student Aid Programs P.O. Box 4003 Mt. Vernon, IL 62864-8603 The Department prefers that schools bundle such applications and send them as a group. For the 1996-97 award year, these applications will first be assigned a special identifying number (in lieu of an SSN) in Item 8 of the FAFSA and then will be sent to the CPS for regular processing. [[Exception to the SSN requirement]] These applications are exempt from the SSN match with the SSA. At the CPS, these applications will initially fail the SSN match and will be rejected. The FAFSA processor will then intercept the rejected applications and resubmit them. A letter explaining why the identifying number was assigned and explaining the SSN verification process will also accompany these students' SARs. A student whose application is rejected for any reason (other than the fact that there is no SSN) should make his or her corrections on the SAR. Students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau--that is, students not required to have SSNs--cannot use FAFSA Express to apply for SFA funds electronically. These students may, however, ask their schools to use EDExpress to transmit the student applications electronically (if EDExpress is available). See The Counselor's Handbook for more information on FAFSA Express and EDExpress. REGISTRATION WITH SELECTIVE SERVICE [[Most males, age 18-25, must register]] Most males from age 18 through 25--including permanent residents and other eligible noncitizens--are required to register with the Selective Service System. Anyone required to register with Selective Service must have done so in order to receive aid through the SFA Programs. Persons exempted from this requirement include: 1. females;*4* 2. males currently in the armed services and on active duty (this exception does not apply to members of the Reserve and National Guard who are not on active duty); 3. males who are not yet 18 at the time that they complete their applications (an update is not required during the year, even if a student turns 18 after completing the application); 4. males born before 1960; and 5. citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau. [[Waiver of registration requirement]] There are certain less common situations in which the registration requirement is also waived. Students who are not required to have already registered prior to meeting one of these criteria and who meet one of the criteria for the entire time they are 18 through 25 qualify for the waiver if 1. they are unable to register due to being hospitalized, incarcerated, or institutionalized; 2. they are enrolled in any officer procurement program at The Citadel, North Georgia College, Norwich University, or Virginia Military Institute; 3. they are commissioned Public Health Service officers on active duty or members of the Reserve of the Public Health Service; or 4. they are commissioned officers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [[School must document students status]] If one of these criteria applies to a student--thereby exempting him from having to register with the Selective Service System--the school must document the student's status. If the student is not clearly exempt from the requirement to register, the school should ask the student to document the exemption by providing the school with a Status Information Letter from the Selective Service. [[Registering students]] The Department takes several steps to ensure that a student registers with the Selective Service when required and to provide convenient ways for the student to register: A student may check Item 105 on either the FAFSA or the SAR. By checking this item, the student gives the Department of Education permission to submit his registration information to the Selective Service so that the student may be registered.*5* [[Comment 29]] As required by law, the Department matches student aid applications with registration records from the Selective Service System. If the student's SAR displays Comment 29, "Your registration or your exemption status has been confirmed by Selective Service," the school may consider the student's registration confirmed. If the Selective Service could not confirm the applicant's registration or if a match was not conducted because of technical reasons, one of the following five comments will appear. (See Appendix C .) 1. Comment 14: The student received aid in a prior year and may not have registered. 2. Comment 30: The Selective Service reports that the student is not registered. 3. Comment 32: The Selective Service did not conduct a match. 4. Comment 33: The student did not provide enough information for registration. 5. Comment 37: The Selective Service was unable to complete the student's registration. Until the registration problem is appropriately resolved, the school must withhold all SFA funds and must not certify a loan application for any student who receives any of these comments. Whenever one of these comments appears, a "C" will appear next to the student's EFC to alert the financial aid administrator that there is an eligibility problem that must be resolved before disbursements may be made. [[Withholding funds]] Unless the financial aid administrator has documentation proving that a student who receives one of these comments is exempt from registration, the student must present appropriate confirmation (that is, his Selective Service Registration Acknowledgement or his letter of registration) to the financial aid administrator. Otherwise, the student remains ineligible for SFA funds. If the student does not have any of these documents, he must reconcile the conflict with the Selective Service. If the conflict is resolved in the student's favor, the student will receive a letter from the Selective Service documenting that he is registered or that he is exempt from registering. Selective Service provides no letters for females because females are not required to register. [[Student must submit documentation]] In recent years, a number of students have been denied aid because they failed to register with the Selective Service before their 26th birthday. (The Selective Service will register only males age 18 through 25, leaving older students with no way to remedy their situation if they failed to register.) The Military Selective Service Act was amended to require a school to pay otherwise eligible students who are 26 or older and who did not register when required. Such students must, however, first demonstrate that they did not knowingly and willfully fail to register. The Department of Education's regulations also allow such students to receive aid if they served on active duty in the armed forces. (It is presumed that a person who has actually served in the armed forces is not trying to avoid registering for duty.) The financial aid administrator should obtain such a student's DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," which shows military service in the armed forces other than the reserve forces, the Delayed Entry pool, and the National Guard. [[Students must demonstrate that failure to register was not knowing and willful]] The financial aid administrator must determine whether a student who has not served in active duty knowingly and willfully failed to register. That is, the financial aid administrator must determine if the student knew of the registration requirement but, nevertheless, chose not to register. The procedures that a financial aid administrator should use to make this determination follow. The financial aid administrator's decision is final and cannot be appealed to the Department of Education. Unless the financial aid administrator can document that the student meets one of the allowable exemptions regarding registration or can document that the student has served in active duty in the armed forces, the student must first write to the Selective Service so that he may receive a Status Information Letter addressing his failure to register. The student should provide as complete a description about his situation as possible: where he was living during the period when he should have registered, whether he was incarcerated or institutionalized, his citizenship status during the period, if applicable, and so on. [[Status Information Letters]] In January 1995, the Selective Service began using revised versions of the Status Information Letters. Copies of the revised letters are included in Appendix B. A code appears in the lower left-hand corner to indicate the type of letter in question. The codes are listed here. - E1-E7 A letter with any of these codes indicates that the student was not required to register or was exempt the entire time he could have registered (ages 18 through 25). - NR A letter with this code indicates that the student was born before 1960 and is therefore not required to register. - RR A letter with this code indicates that the student said he attempted to register but that Selective Service has no proof that he attempted to register. - NM A letter with this code indicates that the student did not register although he was on active duty in the armed forces only for a portion of the time when he could have registered (between ages 18 through 25) and was, therefore, required to register. - RL A letter with this code indicates that the student was required to register, that the Selective Service has no record of his registration, and that Selective Service records show he was sent one or more letters requesting his compliance with the registration requirement during the period he was required to be registered. - RD A letter with this code indicates that the student provided a reason for not registering (or provided documentation proving him exempt from this requirement) but that the Selective Service determined the reason or documentation to be invalid; therefore, this code indicates that the student was required to register but did not. [[Relevant evidence]] If the student receives a "general exemption letter" (codes E1-E7) or a "DOB before 1960" letter (code NR), the student is exempt from registration and may receive SFA funds. If the student receives any other type of letter, the school must determine (based on all relevant evidence) whether the student knowingly and willfully failed to register. The letter from Selective Service is part of the relevant evidence. For example, if the student received a letter indicating a compliance letter had been sent (code RL), this letter would be a negative factor when the financial aid administrator makes the determination. If the student received a "Military Service: Noncontinuous" letter (code NM), the financial aid administrator may reasonably determine that the student did not knowingly and willfully avoid registration. Most of these letters state that the final decision regarding the student eligibility rests with the agency awarding funds. For the purposes of the SFA Programs, the decision is made by the financial aid administrator, who represents the Department. If the school's financial aid administrator determines that the student's failure to register was knowing and willful, the student loses SFA eligibility. [[Schools decision is final]] The school's decision is final and therefore cannot be appealed to the Department. However, the Department will hear appeals from students who have provided their schools with proof of compliance with the registration requirement (i.e., that they are registered or exempt from registration) but who are still being denied federal student aid based on the registration requirement. When deciding whether the student had knowingly and willfully failed to register, the financial aid administrator should consider the following factors: - Where the student lived when he was age 18 to 25. For example, if a student was living abroad, it is more plausible that he would not come into contact with the requirement for registration. - Whether the student claims that he thought he was registered. Mistakes in recordkeeping can occur. Correspondence indicating an attempt to register could form a basis for determining that the student did not knowingly and willfully fail to register. On the other hand, a letter from Selective Service stating that it received no response to correspondence sent to the student at a correct address would be a negative factor. - Why the student was not aware of the widely publicized requirement to register when he was age 18 through 25. Students who have questions about the Selective Service registration may contact the Selective Service at 1-847-688-6888. [[NEW]] Note that for the 1996-97 award year, the Statement of Registration Status has been eliminated. (In prior award years, the statement appeared on the SAR.) Because the CPS conducts data matches to verify the registration status of male students, schools are no longer required to collect signed Statements of Registration Status. The regulatory relief provisions, published December 1, 1995 and effective July 1, 1996, remove the requirement that students sign the statement. BORROWING IN EXCESS OF LOAN LIMITS If a borrower inadvertently exceeds the annual or aggregate loan limit allowed for the SFA Programs, he or she may be eligible for SFA funds if the excess loan amount is repaid in full or if satisfactory repayment arrangements are made with the loan holder. The borrower will remain ineligible for further SFA funds until one of these conditions is met. [[Schools verify compliance, prevent excess borrowing]] Because a school that certifies a loan should have first verified compliance, excess borrowing should not occur often. Financial aid administrators are encouraged to obtain financial aid information by using the NSLDS (rather than by using paper financial aid transcripts) because the NSLDS will catch many problems that might otherwise be overlooked. Following are some cases in which excess borrowing may occur: - if a student borrowed for attendance at multiple schools and if the financial aid administrator did not receive the financial aid transcripts before certifying the new loan; - if the student used different names when borrowing; or - if the student failed to disclose the names of other schools he or she had attended. Cumulative loan limits may also be exceeded because of confusion over amounts borrowed versus amounts outstanding. The charts on page 2-46 and 2-47 show the maximum annual and cumulative loan and grant limits. Note that for Federal PLUS Loans and Direct PLUS Loans, the annual loan limit for parents equals the student's cost of attendance minus any other financial aid the student receives. There is no other borrowing limit under this program. MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS Members of religious orders are not permitted to receive subsidized FFELs, subsidized Direct Loans, Federal Pell Grants, or campus- based aid. Members of any religious community, society, or order that directs the students' courses of study or that provides the students with subsistence support are not considered to have financial need. Members of religious orders are eligible, however, for unsubsidized FFELs and unsubsidized Direct Loans. INCARCERATED STUDENTS If a student is incarcerated, he or she is ineligible for an SFA loan. Incarcerated students are eligible for FSEOGs and FWS. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 recently amended the HEA to prohibit the awarding of a Federal Pell Grant to any individual who is incarcerated in any federal or state penal institution. This amendment is effective for periods of enrollment beginning on or after September 13, 1994. For 1996-97, an incarcerated student is eligible for a Federal Pell Grant only if he or she is incarcerated in a local penal institution.*6* CORRESPONDENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COURSES [[Course must lead to degree]] A student enrolled in a correspondence course is ineligible for SFA funds unless the course is part of a program leading to an associate, a bachelor's, or a graduate degree. A student in a course of instruction offered in whole or in part through telecommunications is not considered to be enrolled in a correspondence course if the following conditions exist. First, the school's telecommunications program must lead the student toward earning an associate, a bachelor's, or a graduate degree from that school. Secondly, the telecommunications and correspondence courses at the school must total less than 50% of all the courses offered. See Chapter 3, Section 1 for more information on telecommunications courses. STUDENT CERTIFICATIONS AND STATEMENTS In order to receive SFA funds, a student must sign certain statements, most of which relate to the various eligibility requirements that have been discussed prior in this chapter. The required statements include 1. Statement of Educational Purpose, and 2. Certification Statement on Overpayments and Defaults. In the 1995-96 award year, these two statements and the Statement of Registration Status were listed together in a single block and printed on the back of Part 1 of the SAR. These statements also appeared on the electronic ISIR. For the 1996-97 award year, however, the Statement of Registration Status has been eliminated. The Certification Statement on Overpayments and Defaults, as well as the Statement of Educational Purpose, have been moved from the SAR to the FAFSA; the only time when these two statements will appear on a student's SAR is when a student's SAR receives Reject 16 and Comment 110 or 111. This comment is printed when the student applies through FAFSA Express but neglects to print and mail the required signature page to the FAFSA processor. [[NEW]] [[Updating dependency status, household size, and number in postsecondary school]] Although students are no longer required to sign a Statement of Updated Information, three items still may need to be updated if they change (unless the changes were the result of a change in the student's marital status). A student's dependency status must be updated if it changes at any time during the award year. If a student is selected for verification (including a student selected by the school rather than by the CPS), he or she must also update household size (Item 46 or 51) and the number of family members in postsecondary education (Item 47 or 52) to be correct at the time of verification. Changes in household size and number in postsecondary education that are the result of a change in the dependent applicant's parents' marital status should not be reported. Because Correction Applications are not being used, corrections or updates that change the applicant's dependency status must now be made on the SAR or made electronically by the school. In the Statement of Educational Purpose, the student certifies that he or she will use all SFA funds received only for postsecondary education expenses. The statement for the FFEL Program must be filed with the lender. For this reason, the Statement of Educational Purpose is included on the loan application. The Certification Statement on Overpayments and Defaults is no longer combined with the Statement of Educational Purpose. The certification states that the student does not owe a repayment on any SFA grant or loan and either is not in default on any SFA loan or has made satisfactory repayment arrangements on any defaulted SFA loan in his or her name. This certification also states that the student has not borrowed (at any school) in excess of the allowable SFA loan limits. The school may rely on this statement only until confirmation is received from the financial aid transcripts. Remember that a student who is in default or who owes a repayment is generally not eligible for SFA funds (exceptions were discussed earlier in this chapter under "Loan Defaults and Overpayments"). [[The "Maximum Annual Loan Amounts Federal Stafford Loan Program and Federal Direct Stafford Loan Program" chart on page 2-46 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] [[The "Maximum Loan and Grant Limits for Programs other than Direct Loans and FFEL" and the "Total Cumulative Loan Limits for FFELs and Direct Loans" charts on page 2-47 are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] SPECIFIC PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS In addition to these general requirements, some programs have additional eligibility rules. For instance, the Pell Grant Program requires that a school receive a valid SAR while the student is still enrolled and is still eligible for payment. See chapters 4 through 10 for details on specific requirements for each program. DEADLINES CHANGES Following are newly established application deadlines for the 1996- 97 academic year. (See "Action Letter" GEN-95-54 for details about these date changes.) The student must meet all required deadlines in order to receive SFA funds. Note that no deadlines will be granted to any student who, for any reason, misses a deadline. No exceptions will be made for a student who receives incorrect advice, who misunderstands a procedure, who loses a SAR, or who does not allow for delays in mail delivery. The student should be advised that he or she is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the application is correct and complete and that all deadlines are met. [[FAFSA deadline: June 30, 1997]] The application processor must receive the FAFSA by June 30, 1997. The processor must receive corrections for a student's SAR or must receive a school's electronic corrections by August 15, 1997. The school must receive a student's VALID SAR by August 29, 1997 in order for the student to receive a 1996-97 Federal Pell Grant. As in prior award years, verification (for students whose applications are selected) must be entirely completed by the last work day in August (August 29, 1997 for 1996-97) or by 60 days after the student's last day of enrollment for the 1996-97 award year, whichever date is earlier. *4* Whether a person is a male or female is a matter for medical determination. If a school needs to determine whether a student is male or female for Selective Service purposes, the school should tell the student to write to Selective Service for a Status Information Letter. *5* The student can be registered with Selective Service as early as 30 days before his 18th birthday; if the student is too young Selective Service will hold the registration until the student is within 30 days of his 18th birthday. Students 26 and older cannot be registered. *6* Students incarcerated by jurisdictions that are defined as a state in the HEA and that have no state government, such as the District of Columbia, are considered incarcerated in a state penal institution and thus not eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants. |