Introduction
This volume of the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Handbook discusses how to calculate, award, and disburse aid under the various Title IV student financial aid programs. Throughout this volume of the Handbook, the words "we," "our," and "us" refer to the United States Department of Education (the Department). The word "you" refers to the primary audience of the Handbook, school financial aid administrators. In other volumes of the Handbook we use "institution," "school," and "college" interchangeably, unless a more specific meaning is provided. In this volume we consistently use the term "school." "Federal student aid,” "FSA funds," and “Title IV aid” are synonymous terms for the financial aid offered by the Department. We appreciate any comments that you have on this volume as well as the other volumes of the FSA Handbook. We revise the text based on questions and feedback from the financial aid community, so please reach out to us about how to improve the Handbook through the “Contact Customer Support” feature in our Partner Connect’s Help Center clicking on “FSA Handbook” under the Topic section.
COVID-19 Guidance
This volume does not provide guidance on the special provisions applicable to the Title IV aid programs in connection with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For this guidance please refer to the Department's COVID-19 Resources for Schools, Students, and Families website.
Changes for 2022-23
We have made minimal changes to Volume 3 for 2022-2023. Changes that apply throughout the volume and to individual chapters are summarized below.
Changes throughout Volume 3
For consistency with all other volumes of the FSA Handbook, we have removed the "Chapter Highlights" sections at the beginning of each chapter. Where applicable, we have updated links to Dear Colleague Letters, Electronic Announcements, and other resources. In a few places, we have made minor wording changes to text or section headings for greater clarity.
Chapter 1 We have removed the text that was included in the 2021-2022 Federal Student Aid Handbook under the heading "Direct Assessment program payment periods" and the accompanying regulatory citation. This text is no longer needed because final regulations published on September 2, 2020, removed the separate regulatory definition of "payment period" for direct assessment programs. Payment periods for direct assessment programs are determined in the same manner as payment periods for all other programs, according to whether the modules in a direct assessment program are equated to credit hours or clock hours. Guidance for schools on establishing a methodology to equate direct assessment program modules to either credit hours or clock hours can be found in Volume 2, Chapter 2. In Appendix B ("Coursework Completion Requirements to Receive Disbursements in Subscription-Based Programs"), we have added text to clarify that a student who has not begun attendance in any of the coursework associated with a particular subscription period is not eligible to receive Title IV program funds for that period, even if they would otherwise qualify to receive a disbursement based on subscription-based program coursework completion requirements.
Chapter 2 The guidance under "Costs for programs that become eligible in the middle of a year" previously did not distinguish between awarding aid from the non-loan Title IV programs and awarding Direct Loans. We have revised this guidance to clarify that when awarding non-loan Title IV aid, costs for payment periods before the payment period during which the program became eligible may not be included, and that when awarding Direct Loans, costs for periods of enrollment before the period of enrollment during which the program became eligible may not be included. This is consistent with longstanding guidance in Volume 1 on students who gain eligibility and with guidance in Chapter 7 on awarding aid when programs gain eligibility (see the changes for Chapter 7 below). In the discussion under "Costs for full program charged at start," we have added a note to clarify that the example in Volume 4 cited in the guidance illustrates a principle that is separate from the determination of the cost of attendance that would be used in calculating the specific aid amounts that a student is eligible to receive.
Chapter 3 Pell Grant amounts have been updated throughout chapter based on the Federal Pell Grant Program payment schedules for the 2022-2023 award year. There are otherwise no substantive changes to Chapter 3.
Chapters 4, 5, and 6 There are no substantive changes to Chapter 4, Chapter 5, or Chapter 6.
Chapter 7 We have restored guidance on awarding aid when programs gain eligibility that was unintentionally removed from Chapter 7 when the FSA Handbook was updated for the 2019-2020 award year. The original guidance that was in Chapter 7 prior to 2019-2020 has been slightly edited for greater clarity. There are otherwise no changes in Chapter 7 except for updates to some of the packaging examples to reflect Pell Grant award amounts for the 2022-2023 award year.