| DCLPublicationDate: 11/1/96 DCLID: CB-96-22 AwardYear: Summary: This letter provides information on a preliminary estimate of your institution's 1997-98 Federal Work-Study funding. WE ARE SENDING YOU THIS LETTER ALONG WITH THE FISAP EDIT/VERIFICATION MATERIALS FOR 1997-98. November 1996 CB-96-22 SUMMARY: This letter provides information on a preliminary estimate of your institution's 1997-98 Federal Work-Study funding. WE ARE SENDING YOU THIS LETTER ALONG WITH THE FISAP EDIT/VERIFICATION MATERIALS FOR 1997-98. REFERENCE: This letter supplements Chapter 7 of the Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook for 1996-97. Dear Financial Aid Administrator: On September 30, 1996, President Clinton signed the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997, (Public Law 104-208) that increased the Fiscal Year 1997 appropriation to $830 million for the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program. This figure is an increase of $213.5 million over the current funding level of $616.5 million, and as a result your institution may receive a 1997-98 FWS award significantly greater than your institution received in the past. As you may be aware, the President also stated on October 26, 1996, that at least half of all increases beyond the FY 1996 level (i.e., the funds received for the 1996-97 award year) would be committed to community service, with emphasis on providing 100,000 work-study jobs for reading tutors to help all children read well by the end of the third grade. To encourage this, the President plans to propose legislation that would waive employer matching requirements for FWS students who serve as reading tutors and that would require that at least half of all increases be committed to community service. The purpose of this letter is to provide your institution 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. The Department also wants to strongly encourage your institution to expand the FWS job opportunities for community service now, particularly for reading tutors. Therefore, in advance of the tentative 1997-98 funding levels notice that will be issued by February 1, 1997, we have enclosed the results of a computer-generated simulation of your institution's FWS funding level for the 1997-98 award year. This estimate is based on the increased FWS appropriation and the allocation formula in the law. This preliminary estimate of 1997-98 FWS funding uses the data that you provided in your Fiscal Operations Report for 1994-95 and Application to Participate for 1996-97 (FISAP) that was submitted during the Fall 1995 as well as FISAP data provided by other participating institutions. These FISAP data were the latest complete information available when this preliminary estimate was generated. WE DID NOT USE THE DATA ON THE DISKETTE ENCLOSED IN THIS PACKAGE BECAUSE IT HAS NOT YET GONE THROUGH THE EDIT PROCESS. Under the FWS allocation formula, an institution will not receive more funds than it requests. Since you did not know about the $830 million FWS appropriation when you requested 1997-98 FWS funding with the submission of your FISAP, the Department calculated this preliminary estimate to reflect your full potential eligibility. The estimate is not limited by your actual request. However, to be considered for your full potential eligibility when the tentative FWS funding levels and final awards are determined, you may wish to increase the requested FWS amount reported on your FISAP (Part II, Section A, Line 4) for 1997-98 as you edit the data on the diskette we have enclosed with this mailing. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS ONLY A PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE OF YOUR FWS FUNDING LEVEL. Your actual 1997-98 funding will differ from this preliminary estimate and, in some cases, differ significantly. This difference may occur because the figures you reported in your 1996-97 FISAP, filed in the Fall 1995, and the figures recently submitted in your 1997-98 FISAP are different, or because the standard expected family contribution averages for 1996-97 and 1997-98 may differ. This difference may also occur because of changes made by other institutions to their data. We look forward to working with you in the coming months as you develop a program that expands to include more eligible students and responds to the President's challenge to have more of them participate in community service activities, especially as reading tutors. This effort will support the President's "America Reads" Challenge, which will mobilize resources to ensure that all children can read independently by the end of the third grade. Please note that you may be able to receive even more funding through the FWS reallocation process if you use at least 10 percent of your total FWS allocation for students performing community service jobs such as reading tutors. We appreciate your assistance and cooperation as we work to inform FWS eligible students of the opportunities to perform community service, especially to serve as reading tutors, and encourage FWS recipients to participate in these activities. If you have questions regarding your institution's preliminary estimate of 1997-98 FWS funding, please call the appropriate Campus-Based Financial Management Specialist identified on the enclosed listing. Sincerely, Elizabeth M. Hicks Deputy Assistant Secretary for Student Financial Assistance Enclosure Institutional Financial Management Division Campus-Based Programs State Representatives Ms. Carolyn Short (202) 708-9184 NE,NV,NH,NJ,NM,NY, alternate - C. Franklin-Jones PR,UT,VI Mrs. C. Franklin-Jones (202) 708-9183 AL,AK,AZ,CO,CT, DE, alternate - Carolyn Short GA,KY,RI,VT Mrs. Rhonda Herbert (202) 708-9191 AR,DC,HI,TN,TX,VA, alternate Mr. Jim Porter PI,GU Mr. Joseph Morris (202) 708-8745 ID,IL,IN,IA,KS,MO alternate - Alice Payne Ms. Dinah Nelson (202) 708-8759 FL,MS,OH,PA alternate - Vicki Roberson Mrs. Alice Payne (202) 708-9754 CA,SC alternate - Joseph Morris Mr. Jim Porter (202) 708-7752 NC,ND,OK,OR,SD alternate - Rhonda Herbert WA,WV,WI, WY Ms. Vicki Roberson (202) 708-7747 LA,ME,MD, MA alternate - Dinah Nelson MI,MN,MT Financial Management Specialist's Fax (202) 260-0522 (202) 401-0387 If ultimately you are unable to reach your Financial Management Specialist at the above telephone number, you may call the alternate identified below the name of your Financial Management Specialist or call (202) 708-7741. |