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(P-95-05) (P-95-05) Procedures for 1994-95 Federal Pell Grant account adjustments after the September 30, 1995 submission deadline.

DCLPublicationDate: 10/1/95
DCLID: P-95-5
AwardYear:
Summary: Procedures for 1994-95 Federal Pell Grant account adjustments after the September 30, 1995 submission deadline.


P-95-5

OCTOBER 1995

SUMMARY: Procedures for 1994-95 Federal Pell Grant
account adjustments after the September 30,
1995 submission deadline.

References:
o October 1993 Recipient's Guide to the U.S.
Department of Education Payment Management
System (ED/PMS)
o Chapter 4 of the 1994-95 Federal Student Financial
Aid Handbook
o Dear Colleague Letter GEN-94-14, dated April 1994
o Federal Register, dated April 29, 1994, Final Rule,
Federal Pell Grant program
o Federal Register, dated August 1, 1994, Notice of
Deadline Dates for Receipt of Applications,
Reports and other Documents for the 1994-95
Award Year
o Federal Register, dated November 1, 1994, Final
Rule, Federal Pell Grant program

Dear Colleague:

In this letter, you will find instructions for:
1. Reconciling your institution's actual 1994-95
Federal Pell Grant student payments with the
payments accepted by the program, and
2. Using three methods to report post-deadline award
adjustments.

RECONCILING YOUR 1994-95 FEDERAL PELL GRANT
PAYMENTS WITH PAYMENTS ACCEPTED BY THE
PROGRAM

We base your final 1994-95 Pell Grant authorization on the
total student payments accepted by the program from your
submissions through September 30, 1995. You should
reconcile your institutional records with the processed student
payment data, and the accompanying IPS Batch Report,
for EACH of your submissions during the school year. This
ongoing reconciliation process will help you avoid, or greatly
minimize, post-deadline adjustments.

If you have submitted additional payment data since the date
of your most recent Student Payment Summary (SPS), you
may request an update by calling the Pell Grant Institutional
Access System (IAS) at 1-800-4PGRANT (1-800-474-7268).

You should use each SPS to confirm that we received AND
ACCEPTED all of your Federal Pell Grant payments, or to
correct your institutional records for payments we could NOT
accept. Please refer to pp. 4-70 to 4-78 in the 1994-95 Federal
Student Financial Aid Handbook for detailed instructions
on using the SPS.

To reconcile your institution's 1994-95 Federal Pell Grant
Program records, look for the following conditions:

1. A recipient's payment data appears on your institution's
records but does not appear on the SPS (NEW
RECIPIENT);

2. A recipient's payment data appears on your institution's
records for an award amount GREATER THAN the
amount shown on the SPS (INCREASE AWARD
ADJUSTMENT), and;

3. A recipient's payment data appears on your institution's
records for an award amount LESS THAN the amount
shown on the SPS (DECREASE AWARD
ADJUSTMENT).

If any of these conditions apply to your institution, you need
to resolve the inconsistencies promptly and we will adjust your
authorization accordingly. For reporting student payment data
changes after September 30, 1995, please refer to the
instructions for Decrease Award Reports, Administrative
Relief Requests, or Audit Reports which follow. Section V of
the August 1, 1994 Federal Register notice provides additional
information on post-deadline adjustments.

You also need to verify that you have correctly reported your
"Total payments to date to all Federal Pell recipients per your
school's records (Institutional Payment Summary Item 15, or
its equivalent in tape, diskette or electronic records). In your
Total payments, you must include all Federal Pell Grant
payments (direct payments or credits to student accounts) that
you have ACTUALLY made for the entire 1994-95 school
year, LESS any refunds already restored to your Pell Grant
account. You must decrease the Total payments in your
school's records for payments you made which the program
could not accept. We will process corrected Total payments
on any "IPS only" (electronic, diskette, or paper) that we
receive by JANUARY 31, 1996. EDE Electronic Payments
service users should continue to transmit their data through the
General Electronic Support (GES). Send other submissions
to:

REGULAR MAIL
U.S. Department of Education
Application and Pell Processing
Systems Division, PSS
P.O. Box 10800
Herndon VA 22070-7009

COURIER SERVICE
U.S. Department of Education
Application and Pell Processing
Systems Division, PSS
c/o PRC, Inc.
ATTN: G-T01 PGRFMS/DMS
12001 Sunrise Valley DR
Reston VA 22091

REPORTING DECREASE AWARD AMOUNTS

If a student's Total Payment Amount (sum of Amount paid to
date and Remaining amount to be paid) shown on your latest
SPS, or in your processed student records from a submission
after the last SPS, exceeds the actual amount you paid that
student, OR if the student received an overpayment, you must
submit the decrease award amount in the format shown by the
sample Decrease Award Report in Enclosure 1. For your
convenience, we provided a facsimile you may use to report
award decreases in Enclosure 2. You may use this format to
decrease awards, or to report recoveries, for 1994-95 and any
prior school year. You must submit SEPARATELY for each
year. You can also use your normal reporting media. DO
NOT SEND CHECKS to the U.S. Department of Education
to return decrease award amounts.

You may NOT use decrease award amounts to pay a NEW
recipient, or to INCREASE another student's award. For
further information concerning overawards and overpayments,
please refer to pp. 4-41 through 4-42 of the 1994-95 Federal
Student Financial Aid Handbook.

The institutional administrator officially responsible for the
accuracy and completeness of the Decrease Award Report
must provide a HAND-WRITTEN, ORIGINAL signature. If
we receive your Decrease Award Report without an original
signature, we will return it UNPROCESSED. Print or type the
name and title of the person whose signature appears on the
Decrease Award Report. For Date Signed, print or type the
date the responsible official signed the Decrease Award
Report. Use numbers only; for example, you enter
November 10, 1995 as 11/10/95.

Please send your Decrease Award Reports to the Herndon (or
Reston), Virginia address provided above. For each 1994-95
Decrease Award Report that you submit, we will return
Processed Payment Vouchers with an IPS Batch Report. We
will also adjust your Federal Pell Grant authorization to reflect
the decrease award amount and we will send you an updated
1994-95 Statement of Account (SOA).

REQUESTING ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF

You may request Administrative Relief if: (a) the U.S.
Department of Education or one of its contractors made an
administrative or processing error which prevented you from
meeting the September 30, 1995 deadline; or (b) an event, such
as a natural disaster, prevented you from meeting the deadline.
To request Administrative Relief, send a written statement
describing the problem in detail (see 59 FR 146, August 1,
1994, pp. 39244-39245). We must RECEIVE your request for
Administrative Relief no later than JANUARY 31, 1996 at the
address below:

U.S. Department of Education
Institutional Financial Management Division, AFMS
P.O. Box 23781
Washington DC 20026-0781

If we approve your request for Administrative Relief, we will
notify you by letter. You may then submit the approved
student data through your usual submission media (electronic,
tape, diskette, or Payment Vouchers/Processed Payment
Vouchers with an IPS) to the Herndon (or Reston) address.
Please include a copy of our letter approving your request with
your tape, diskette or paper submission.

ADJUSTING AUTHORIZATIONS THROUGH AUDIT
REPORTS

If any financial or compliance audit findings disclose that you
never reported, or you under-reported, a correctly calculated
student award to the Federal Pell Grant program, your
institution may seek funding for such award adjustments when
they are brought to the attention of the U.S. Department of
Education in accordance with either 34 CFR 690.83 © or (e)
of the Federal Pell Grant program regulations.

For additional information and instructions concerning the
audit process, please refer to the April 1994 Dear Colleague
Letter GEN 94-14. Please submit the supporting
documentation prepared under GEN 94-14 to the following
address:

U.S. Department of Education
Audit Resolution Branch, IMD
ATTN: Federal Pell Grant Authorization Adjustments
P.O. Box 23800
Washington DC 20026-3800

Send questions concerning the audit authorization adjustment
process to the above address, or you may call the Audit
Resolution Branch on (202) 708-8208. DO NOT SUBMIT
AUDIT REPORTS TO THE INSTITUTIONAL
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT DIVISION, AFMS.

RECONCILING TO FEDERAL CASH TRANSACTIONS
REPORTS (ED/PMS 272A)

As a final reminder, please check with your business office to
ensure that your institution's Federal Cash Transactions
Report (ED/PMS 272A) accurately shows all of your 1994-95
Federal Pell Grant expenditures. You can find the program
expenditures from your institution's most recent ED/PMS
272A on your latest Statement of Account or Electronic
Statement of Account. If the amount reported on your
institution's final ED/PMS 272A is lower than your
authorization, we will automatically reduce your authorization
to the ED/PMS 272A level as part of ED's internal
reconciliation process. If this happens, your institution's
authorization may be reduced below your actual need.

If you have any questions concerning these instructions, please
refer to pages 1-38 of the 1994-95 Federal Student Financial
Aid Handbook for a list of Financial Management Specialists
and their telephone numbers. If you cannot reach the
Specialist directly, you may call our central number (202)
708-9807 or contact us by fax at (202) 401-0387.

Sincerely,

Michele L. Selvage, Director
Institutional Financial Management Division
Accounting and Financial Management Service


Enclosures (2)