DCLPublicationDate: 5/1/97 DCLID: CB-97-4 AwardYear: Summary: This letter provides information on the Application for Additional Allocation of Federal Work-Study Funds for Fiscal Year1997. May 1997 CB-97-4(LD) SUMMARY: This letter provides information on the Application for Additional Allocation of Federal Work-Study Funds for Fiscal Year 1997. REFERENCE: This letter supplements Chapter 7 of the Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook. Dear Financial Aid Administrator: Due to the substantial increase in the appropriation for the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program for Fiscal Year 1997, the Department of Education (ED) will award an additional allocation of FWS funds for the 1997-98 award year to institutions where 50 percent or more of the Pell Grant recipients have either graduated or transferred to a four-year institution of higher education. This letter invites you to apply for such an additional allocation of FWS funds. Section 442(a)(4) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, authorizes the Secretary to award up to 10 percent of the amount by which the appropriation exceeds $700 million to institutions that have graduated or transferred at least 50 percent of their Pell Grant recipients. The FY 1997 appropriation of $830 million exceeds this threshold by $130 million; therefore, ED has available 10 percent of the $130 million or $13 million, for additional awards to institutions that meet the statutory criterion. We anticipate that these awards will range between a minimum of $15,000 and a maximum of $250,000 each and will be distributed by early July. The Secretary invites you to apply for a portion of these funds by providing information on your institution's 1990-91 Pell Grant recipients. To be eligible, your institution needs to certify that at least 50 percent of your 1990-91 Pell Grant recipients have graduated or transferred to a four-year institution of higher education by the date you submit the enclosed certification form. If your institution can use additional 1997-98 FWS funds and believes that it qualifies, please complete the enclosed application. The application should have a postmark date of no later than June 6, 1997, and be mailed to: Vince Huntley Institutional Financial Management Division U.S. Department of Education P.O. Box 23781 Washington, D.C. 20026-0781 The Secretary strongly encourages institutions that request and receive an additional allocation under this authority to use these funds for community service activities, including employing FWS students as reading tutors for children who are in preschool through elementary school. The Secretary has been very pleased by your response to our earlier requests to make this voluntary commitment. It is our hope that this additional allocation will provide you with the means to strengthen and expand still further your plans for community service in 1997-98. Please note that you are required to use at least 5 percent of any additional FWS allocation that you may receive to pay students employed in community service activities. Again, we encourage you to submit your application by the postmark date, June 6, 1997. We are pleased that additional funds will be available to support the FWS Program at your institution. Sincerely yours, Elizabeth M. Hicks Deputy Assistant Secretary for Student Financial Assistance Enclosure Disclosure of Estimated Burden According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1840-0073. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average .19 hours per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U. S. Department of Education, Washington, D. C. 20202-4651. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Institutional Financial Management Division, U. S. Department of Education, P. O. Box 23781, Washington, D. C. 20202-0781. OMB No. 1840-0073 Expires 04/30/2000 Attachment |