| PublicationDate: 2/26/97 Summary: Recertification Information Author: IPOS - Institutional Participation and Oversight Service Posted to the SFA BBS on February 26, 1997. Dear Colleagues: The purpose of this notice is to emphasize that all institutions must be recertified in order to continue to be eligible for participation in the Title IV student financial aid programs and to help identify any institutions which may have been missed in the Department's mailings. This is urgent because an institution's Program Participation Agreements (PPA) will expire on July 23, 1997 unless it has been recertified. The Department has recently completed its recertification mailing to more than 850 institutions. This latest mailing represents the last cohort of recertification mailings to institutions located in the United States and substantially completes the Department's mandate under the Higher Education Act. Under the law all PPAs in existence on July 23, 1992 will expire by July 23, 1997 unless the institution has been recertified by the Department. If the Department does not complete its review of an institution's complete application by July 23, 1997, participation will be granted automatically on a month-to-month basis until the institution is notified of a recertification action , provided that the school's recertification application is substantially complete and is received in the Department either by April 23, 1997 or by the date specified in the school's notice of recertification, whichever is earlier. (For example, those schools required to submit their applications by March 31, 1997 must do so in order to have the month-to-month action apply.) What to Do If Your Institution Has Not Received an Application: If your institution has not already received an application for recertification and either your institution's current Program Participation Agreement (PPA) is due to expire, or you can not make that determination because there is no expiration date on the current PPA, contact one of the regional case team contact numbers listed below or a Document Receipt and Control Center (DRCC ) specialist at (202) 205-1935 to request a complete application packet. In determining the expiration date of your institution's eligibility to participate in the Title IV programs refer to the Program Participation Agreement (the document which is signed by the Chief Executive Officer and countersigned on behalf of the Secretary of Education), NOT the eligibility letter. Many older PPAs have no expiration date; newer ones will have a date which may have passed or will expire before July 23, 1997. These are the PPAs which need immediate attention if you have not already submitted an application. If we have not identified your institution by one of our mailings, it is your responsibility to immediately request an application and submit it no later than April 23, 1997 or Title IV funding will be jeopardized. What to Do If Your Institution Has Already Submitted an Application for Recertification or You Believe the Notice to Submit an Application Is in Error: If you believe your institution should not be required to submit a new application for recertification, submit a written explanation to my attention within 20 days to: U. S. Department of Education Institutional Participation and Oversight Service P. O. Box 44805 7th & D Streets, SW GSA Building, ROB 3, Room 3522 Washington, D. C. 20407 The Reorganization of the Institutional Participation and Oversight Service (IPOS) Has Created Case Management Teams for the Review of Recertification Applications In various meetings over the past year as well as in a BBS message in late November I described the new IPOS initiative of team-based case management. This means that all aspects of monitoring and oversight of schools, including audit resolution, financial analysis, program reviews, and recertifications will be handled by teams responsible for a portfolio of schools. A full description of this reorganization of IPOS can also be found on the Department's Web page (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/announce/1996/sfann2.html) and in the December 12th NASFAA Newsletter. The team contacts provided below are the resources for questions and concerns of institutions concerning recertification. These are also the numbers to be used in contacting what was formerly the Institutional Participation Division, Institutional Monitoring Division and Regional Operations Division. For questions concerning initial certification (not recertification) or changes of ownership, contact the Initial Participation Branch of IPOS at 202 260-3270. Future Messages In future messages we will be providing information about common errors in completing the application for recertification as well as answering frequent questions about this process which have arisen over the last months. In addition we will be providing information about a streamlined procedure for reporting institutional changes to the Department once the recertification process has been completed. Sincerely, Marianne R. Phelps Director, Institutional Participation and Oversight Service Regional Case Team Contacts Boston team - (617) 223-9338 Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont New York team - (212) 264-4022 New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands Philadelphia team - (215) 596-0247 Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia Atlanta team - (404) 562-6315 Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee Chicago team - (312) 886-8767 Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin Dallas team - (214) 767-3811 Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas Kansas City team - (816) 880-4053 Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska Denver team - (303) 844-3677 Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming San Francisco team - (415) 437-8276 Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas Seattle team - (206) 287-1770 Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington |