| PublicationDate: 3/26/97 Summary: FWS Allocations, "America Reads" and Community Service Author: OPE - Office of the Assistant Secretary for OPE Posted March 26, 1997 Dear Colleague: This is the fifth of our periodic updates about Federal Work-Study (FWS) allocations for 1997/98, the "America Reads" challenge, and community service. In this letter, I want to (1) describe specifically another opportunity your institution will soon have to apply for an additional FWS allocation, and (2) provide general information about the Job Location and Development Program authority. ADDITIONAL ALLOCATION You should have received your final 1997/98 FWS allocation by the time you read this message. In mid-April, your institution will receive a letter inviting you to apply for an additional 1997/98 FWS allocation under Section 442(a)(4) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. This provision, which has never before been implemented, authorizes the Secretary, for any year in which the FWS allocation exceeds $700 million, to allocate 10% of the FWS appropriation above this threshold to institutions "from which 50% or more of the Pell Grant recipients attending such eligible institution graduate or transfer to a four-year institution of higher education." The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has $13 million in FWS funds to allocate to institutions under Section 442(a)(4) of the HEA. We anticipate that allocations will range from $15,000 to $250,000. To demonstrate that your institution qualifies, we will ask that you certify, using a one page form that ED will provide, that 50% or more of the Pell Grant recipients enrolled in your institution for academic year 1990/1991 have graduated or transferred to a four-year institution of higher education. We encourage you to begin to gather this information now so that you will able to respond to ED by our anticipated mid-May due date. We strongly encourage institutions that receive these additional funds to use them to expand involvement in community service and to become more involved in the "America Reads" challenge. We have been very heartened by your institutions' response to the "America Reads" challenge and the national effort to make reading tutors available to children in grades pre-K through elementary. Please note that you are required to spend at least 5% of any additional allocation that you receive on community service. JOB LOCATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM We have had a number of questions about the Job Location and Development (JLD) Program authorized by the HEA. We are delighted by the number of institutions that have expressed an interest in using their increased FWS allocations to expand the number of off-campus positions. Under the JLD Program, an institution may use 10% of its FWS allocation or $50,000, whichever is less, to establish or expand a program to locate and develop off-campus jobs, including community service jobs, for currently-enrolled students. You are required to use JLD Program funds to locate jobs for FWS and non-FWS students who want jobs, regardless of need. Using JLD funds to locate jobs for FWS students only does not satisfy this requirement. Please note that the program may not be used to locate jobs for placement of students after they graduate. JLD Program funds provide support for the administrative costs associated with establishing or expanding off-campus jobs for currently-enrolled students. These funds cannot be used to pay students whose jobs were located or developed as part of an institution's JLD Program. You also are required to provide an institutional share. Federal funds may be used to cover up to 80% of the program's costs; the institution must provide at least 20%, either in cash or in services. In addition, there is no waiver for the institutional share under the JLD Program. To participate in the JLD Program, an institution has only to participate in FWS. While the 1996/97 Financial Aid Handbook directs you to contact the Institutional Participation and Oversight Service in this office, that step is no longer required. In completing the FISAP, you will be directed to provide information that meets all the reporting requirements for JLD. We will contact you again soon with more information about the additional allocation of FWS funds and about the Job Location and Development Program. We trust that in the meantime this information is helpful as you plan for 1997/98. Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth M. Hicks |