| AwardYear: 1997-1998 EnterChapterNo: 7 EnterChapterTitle: Federal Work-Study Program SectionNumber: 5 SectionTitle: Program Funds PageNumbers: 35-44 [[Increased funding for the FWS Program]] [[100% Federal share authorized for FWS job as reading tutor--34 CFR 675.26(d)(2)]] Funding for the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program for the 1997-98 award year was increased to $830 million by the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 104-208). This amount represents an increase of $213.5 million over the 1996-97 FWS funding level of $616.5 million. To encourage schools to use the increased funds for community service, with emphasis on employment of FWS recipients as reading tutors, the Department amended the FWS regulations by adding 34 CFR 675.26(d)(2), which authorizes payment of a 100% federal share of the wages of a student employed as a reading tutor for children who are in preschool through elementary school (refer to the Federal Register printed November 27, 1996--Part IV); the work performed by the student must be for the school itself, for a federal, state, or local public agency, or for a private nonprofit organization. (Community service jobs are discussed in Section 4 of this chapter, and federal share requirements are discussed on pages 7-37 and 7-38.) This regulatory change will provide schools with the flexibility needed to respond to the "America Reads Challenge," which will mobilize resources to ensure that all children can read independently by the end of the third grade. [[Notification of increased funding--CB-96-22, November 1996.]] Schools were notified of the increase in funding for the FWS Program in Dear Colleague Letter CB-96-22, dated November 1996. The letter, in advance of the tentative 1997-98 funding level notice, provided each school with an estimate of its increased funding level for the 1997-98 award year, based on the increased FWS appropriation and on the allocation formula in the law; however, the school could receive increased FWS funding only if it requested it. As schools were not aware of the increased funding level when they submitted their 1997-98 Fiscal Operations Reports and Applications to Participate (FISAPs), the letter to each school provided instructions for increasing the amount of FWS funds requested for 1997-98. The Department provided schools with as much time as possible to do the planning and development necessary to match and spend any increased FWS allocation for the 1997-98 award year. ALLOCATION AND REALLOCATION The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, describes the allocation process in detail; the procedures are not repeated in the regulations for the FWS Program. FWS funds are allocated directly to schools according to the statutory formulas in section 442 of the Act. (See Chapter 5, Introduction.) All federal funds a school receives as part of its FWS allocation must be held in trust for the students who are the intended beneficiaries under the FWS Program with the exception of funds the school receives for the administrative cost allowance (ACA) and for certain activities under the Job Location and Development (JLD) Program. (See Section 6.) The funds may not be used for, or serve as collateral for, any other purpose. [[Transfer of funds to FSEOG--34 CFR 676.18]] A school may transfer up to 25% of its FWS allocation, as well as 25% of its Federal Perkins Loan federal capital contribution (FCC) allocation, TO the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program. The FSEOG regulations prohibit the transfer of funds FROM the FSEOG Program to any other program. However, a school that transfers funds from the FWS Program TO the FSEOG Program during an award year must transfer any unexpended FWS funds BACK to the FWS Program at the end of the award year. (For more information, see page 7-41.) [[Reduction of allocation due to returned funds--34 CFR 673.4(d)(3)]] If a school returns more than 10% of its FWS allocation for an award year, the school's allocation for the second succeeding award year will be reduced by the dollar amount returned, unless the Department waives this provision. The Department may do so for a specific school if the Department finds that enforcement would be contrary to the interests of the program. The Department considers enforcement to be contrary to the interest of the program only if the school returned more than 10% of its allocation due to circumstances that are beyond the school's control and are not expected to recur. (See Chapter 5, Introduction.) Under the provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, unexpended funds returned to the Department will be reallocated to eligible schools that used at least 10% of their total FWS allocation to pay students employed in community service activities. A school must request the reallocated FWS funds, and the school must have a fair-share shortfall to receive these funds. Refer to "Dear Colleague" Letter CB-96-11, dated June 1996.) A school must use all the reallocated funds and must use them only to pay students in community service jobs. [[5% of funds for community service jobs--34 CFR 675.18(h)]] A school must use at least 5% of its FWS initial and supplemental allocations for an award year to pay the federal share of wages to students employed in community service jobs unless the Department approves a waiver. The school may request a waiver of the 5% community service requirement in writing. However, the Department will approve a waiver only if it determines that the school has demonstrated that enforcing the requirement would cause hardship for the students at the school. [[Request for waiver--Dear Colleague letter CB-96-17(LD)]] To request a waiver for the 1997-98 award year, schools are required to send a waiver request and any supporting information or documents to the Department on or before June 20, 1997. The waiver request must be signed by an appropriate school official and above the signature, the official must include this statement: "I certify that the information the institution provided in this waiver request is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I understand that the information is subject to audit and program review by representatives of the Secretary of Education." If a financial aid administrator has any questions regarding the FWS community service expenditure requirements or waiver procedures, he or she may contact the school's campus-based programs Financial Management Specialist in the Institutional Financial Management Division of the Department; a list of state specialists is included in Chapter 1, Section 2 of this Handbook. FWS community service expenditures for the 1996-97 award year will be reported on the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) a school receives in July 1997, as that FISAP is the one the school will use to report its 1996-97 program expenditures. When a school receives reallocated FWS funds, the minimum amount of FWS federal funds the school must expend on community service jobs is the greater of - 5% of the total FWS allocation and - the amount of the reallocated FWS funds [[FWS funds for less-than-half-time or independent students--34 CFR 675.10]] If a school's FWS allocation is based in part on the financial need of less-than-full-time or independent students and if the need of all of these students exceeds 5% of the total need of all students at the school, the school must OFFER those students at least 5% of its FWS allocation. (This provision is in discussed in Chapter 5, Section 1.) An approved school may use part of its FWS allocation for the purpose of meeting the costs of the new Work-Colleges Program discussed in the introduction to this chapter. FEDERAL SHARE LIMITATION [[Exceptions to the 75% limitation--34 CFR 675.26(a)]] The federal share of FWS wages paid to students may not exceed 75%, with the following exceptions: - The federal share of FWS wages to students employed by a PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT organization may not exceed 50%. [[100% Federal share for reading tutors in FWS--34 CFR 675.26(d)(2)]] - The Department authorizes a 100% federal share of FWS wages earned by a student who is employed as a reading tutor for children who are in preschool through elementary school; the work performed by the student must be for the school itself, for a federal, state or local agency, or for a private nonprofit organization. A school is not required to ask the Department for a waiver of the FWS nonfederal share requirement to receive the 100% federal share authorization for FWS students employed as reading tutors. Instead, the school should use 100% federal dollars to pay such a student and then show on its FISAP that it did so. All schools are encouraged to place FWS students as reading tutors for children as an important way to meet the FWS community service expenditure requirement. A discussion of employing FWS students as reading tutors is in Section 4 of this Chapter. [[100% Federal share for eligible schools]] - The Department may authorize a federal share of 100% of FWS wages at schools designated as eligible schools under the Strengthening Institutions Program, the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program, or the Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions Program. The school must request the increased federal share for an award year on the FISAP for that year, and the work performed by the student must be for the school itself, for a federal state or local public agency, or for a private nonprofit organization. The federal share may be lower than 75% if the school chooses to contribute more than the minimum required nonfederal share. For example, if a school has a large demand for FWS jobs from its various departments, it may contribute more than the usual 25% to allow for additional employment. [[Restrictions on the use of the federal share]] The federal share may NOT be used to provide fringe benefits such as sick leave, vacation pay, or holiday pay or employer's contributions to Social Security, Workers' Compensation, retirement, or any other welfare or insurance program. These restrictions on the federal share apply even when the Department authorizes a federal share of 100% of FWS wages. The federal share limitation does not affect federal agencies that want to enter an off-campus FWS job agreement. They may provide the required share of student compensation normally paid by off- campus agencies plus any other employer costs that they agree to pay. The federal share of allowable costs in carrying out the JLD Program may not exceed 80% of such costs. (See Section 6 of this chapter.) NON-FEDERAL SHARE The nonfederal share of FWS wages must be at least 25% for 1993-94 and subsequent award years, with the following exceptions: [[Exceptions to 25% minimum]] - The nonfederal share of FWS wages must be at least 50% in the case of work for PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT organizations; the 50% nonfederal share is not subject to waiver. - The Department provides a waiver of the FWS institutional-share requirement for FWS wages earned by a student who is employed as a reading tutor for children who are in preschool through elementary school. As stated previously, a school is not required to ask the Department for a waiver of the FWS nonfederal share requirement to receive the 100% federal share authorization for FWS students employed as reading tutors. (For more information on employing FWS students as reading tutors, see Section 4 of this chapter). - The Department may grant a waiver of the FWS institutional- share requirement to a school that is designated as an eligible institution under the Strengthening Institutions Program, the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program, or the Historically Black Graduate Institutions Program if the designated institution requests a waiver. [[Waiver of institutional share]] If the Department grants a waiver, the school to which the waiver is granted has the OPTION of providing an institutional share and determining the amount of the share. The school, however, must provide the proper federal and institutional shares for any portion of its FWS allocation that it expends under the provisions governing student employment provided by a private for-profit organization (50% federal-share limitation) or for the administration of the JLD Program (80% federal-share limitation). The institutional-share requirement for these two categories of FWS expenditures may not be waived. A school may use any resource available to pay its share of FWS compensation except federal funds allocated under the FWS Program. The school's share may come from its own funds, from outside funds (such as from an off-campus agency), or from both. [[Using a noncash contribution to pay institutional share]] The school also has the option of paying its share of a student's FWS wages in the form of a noncash contribution of services or equipment--for example, tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies. If the school's share for the award period is paid by noncash contributions, the share must be paid before the end of the student's final payroll period. The school must document all amounts claimed as noncash contributions. If a school has assessed a charge against a student who is employed under FWS (such as a parking fine or library fine), the school may not include forgiveness of such a charge as part of the school's noncash contribution for the student. [[Costs off-campus agency pays]] Any FWS employment agreement a school may have with an off- campus agency should specify what share of student compensation and what other costs the agency will pay. The agreement between the school and a for-profit organization MUST require the employer to pay the nonfederal share of student earnings. The agreement between the school and an employing agency or nonprofit organization MAY require the employer to pay - the nonfederal share of student earnings; - required employer costs, such as the employer's share of Social Security or Workers' Compensation; and - the school's administrative costs not already paid from its ACA. [[Excess funds from off-campus agency]] If a school receives more money under an employment agreement with an off-campus agency than the sum of (1) required employer costs, (2) the school's nonfederal share, and (3) any share of administrative costs the employer agreed to pay, the school must handle the excess in one of three ways: - use it to reduce the federal share on a dollar-for-dollar basis; - hold it in trust for off-campus employment during the next award year; or - refund it to the off-campus employer. Funds from programs sponsored by federal agencies (such as the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health) may be used to pay the nonfederal share, as long as the programs have the authority to pay student wages. A school should contact the appropriate federal agency to see if the program in question does have this authority. As discussed at the beginning of this section, with three exceptions, the federal share of FWS wages cannot exceed 75%. If the school's noncash contribution is less than the remaining 25%, the school must make up the difference in cash. CARRY FORWARD/CARRY BACK [[Reporting carried forward funds]] A school may spend up to 10% of its current year's FWS allocation (initial and supplemental) in the FOLLOWING award year (carry forward). If the school carried forward funds to be spent in the following award year, the school must report that amount on the FISAP. For example, if a school carried forward 10% of its FWS 1996-97 allocation to be spent in 1997-98, the school must report this amount on the October 1997 FISAP, in Part V of the Fiscal Operations Report for 1996-97. Before a school may spend its current year's allocation, it must spend any funds carried forward from the previous year. [[The graphic on page 7-41 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper for additional information.]] [[Spending current year funds on previous year's costs]] A school is also permitted to spend up to 10% of its current year's FWS allocation (initial and supplemental) for expenses incurred in the PREVIOUS award year. The official allocation letter for a specific award period is the school's authority to exercise this option. As stated in Section 3 of this chapter, a school is authorized to make payments to students for services performed on or after May 15 of the previous award year but prior to the beginning of the current award year (that is, for summer employment) from the current award year's allocation. This "carry-back" authority is in addition to the previous authority to carry back 10% of the current year's allocation for use at any time during the previous award year. LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD OR BACK Schools are not permitted to add funds that are carried forward or back to the total FWS allocation for an award year when determining the maximum percentage of available funds that may be used in that award year for any of the purposes listed below: - the transferring of FWS funds to FSEOG, - providing the federal share of wages in private for-profit sector jobs, or - the JLD Program. For example, for the 1997-98 award year, schools may not add to the 1997-98 total FWS allocation any FWS funds carried forward into 1997-98 from 1996-97 or carried back into 1997-98 from 1998-99 when determining the maximum percentage of available funds that may be used in 1997-98 for the purposes listed above. The maximum amount usable for each of the three purposes listed in the previous paragraph is the appropriate percentage of a school's total 1997-98 original FWS allocation plus any supplemental 1997-98 FWS allocation. TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO THE FSEOG PROGRAM [[25% maximum to FSEOG--34 CFR 676.18(c)]] A school may transfer up to 25% of its total FWS allocation (initial and supplemental) to the FSEOG Program. The Department's permission is not required. Note that this total FWS allocation for an award year does not include FWS funds carried forward or carried back into the award year from other award years (see the example that follows). The school must report any transfer of FWS funds to FSEOG as an expenditure on its FWS Fiscal Operations Report. However, a school that transfers funds to the FSEOG Program from the FWS Program during an award year must transfer any unexpended FWS funds BACK to the FWS Program at the end of the award year. EXAMPLE Oasis Junior College has received a total (initial and supplemental) FWS allocation of $24,000 for the 1996-97 award year, and $20,000 for the 1997-98 award year. The financial aid administrator has carried forward $2,400 of the 1996-97 FWS allocation into the 1997-98 award year, and now would like to transfer 25% of her 1997-98 FWS allocation into the 1997-98 FSEOG account. What is the maximum amount that can be transferred? The maximum FWS that can be transferred to FSEOG in this example is 25% of the $20,000 FWS allocation for 1997-98, or $5,000. [[The graphic which accompanies the example on page 7-43 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] ADMINISTRATIVE COST ALLOWANCE (ACA) As discussed in Chapter 5, Section 3, a school participating in the FWS Program is entitled to an ACA if it provides FWS employment to its student in that award year. The allowance may be used to help offset administrative costs such as salaries, furniture, travel, supplies, and equipment. The formula a school uses to calculate its total ACA for the campus-based programs is on page 5-24. [[Paying administrative costs of conducting a community service program--34 CFR 673.7(f)]] A school may use up to 10% of the ACA attributable to the school's FWS Program expenditures to pay administrative costs of conducting its community service program. These costs may include the costs of - developing mechanisms to ensure the academic quality of a student's experience; - ensuring student access to educational resources, expertise, and supervision necessary to achieve community service objectives; and - collaborating with public and private nonprofit agencies and programs assisted under the National and Community Service Act of 1990, in the planning, development, and administration of these programs. FISCAL PROCEDURES AND RECORDS Requirements for maintaining and accounting for Student Financial Assistance (SFA) program funds are included in 34 CFR 668.163 of the cash management regulations published in the Federal Register November 29, 1996, effective July 1, 1997. The cash management requirements that apply in general to SFA programs (those in the General Provisions) are discussed in Chapter 3, Section 3. The cash management requirements specific to the campus-based programs (those in the FWS, FSEOG, and Perkins Loan regulations) are discussed in Chapter 5, Section 3. [[Recordkeeping Requirements--34CFR 668.24 and 34CFR 675.19]] New recordkeeping requirements for all SFA programs were published in the Federal Register (Part IX) November 27, 1996 and become effective July 1, 1997. Revised was 34 CFR 668.24, and amended was 34 CFR 675.19, which now states that a school must follow the recordkeeping requirements in the General Provisions and those in the FWS regulations. The recordkeeping requirements that apply in general to SFA programs (those in the General Provisions) are discussed in Chapter 3, Section 7. The recordkeeping requirements specific to the campus-based programs (those in the FWS, FSEOG, and Perkins Loan regulations) are discussed in Chapter 5, Section 3. Information on FWS payroll records is provided in Section 3 of this chapter. In addition to following the fiscal procedures and records requirements mentioned in Chapter 3, Sections 3 and 7, in Chapter 5, Section 3, and in Section 3 of this chapter, a school must meet the following requirements, which are included in the FWS regulations - The school must establish and maintain an internal control system of checks and balances that insures that no office can both authorize FWS payments and disburse FWS funds to students. - If the school uses a fiscal agent for FWS funds, that agent may perform only ministerial acts. - Each year the school must submit a Fiscal Operations Report and other information the Department requires. The information must be accurate and must be provided on the form and at the time the Department specifies. |