| Publication Date: June 27, 2008 Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid Summary: CCRAA Operational Implementation Guidance (CPS, COD System, and EDESuite) - Student Aspects of TEACH Grant Processing Operational for July 1, 2008 Posted on 06-27-2008 Note: On May 8, 2009, we updated this posting by removing an attachment that is no longer accurate. Specifically, we removed the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (ATS) Web site User Guide because the guide does not reflect the recent addition of the TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling screens. We plan to post a new version of this guide in the near future. For information about TEACH Grant counseling, refer to a May 8, 2009 Electronic Announcement. In a June 19, 2008 Electronic Announcement posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, we provided additional and, in some cases, updated information about the operational implementation of the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program. The purpose of this communication is to provide additional information about the student aspects of TEACH Grant processing that will be operational for July 1, 2008. As explained in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-08-01 posted on the IFAP Web site, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (the CCRAA), Pub. L. 110-84, authorized the TEACH Grant Program for implementation beginning with the 2008-2009 Award Year. The TEACH Grant Program provides up to $4,000 a year in grant assistance to a student who agrees to serve for at least four years as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. A TEACH Grant recipient who does not complete the required teaching within a specified timeframe, or fails to meet certain other requirements of the TEACH Grant Program, will be required to repay the TEACH Grant as a Direct Unsubsidized Loan under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Final regulations for the TEACH Grant Program were published in the Federal Register on June 23, 2008 (73 FR 35472) and are effective July 1, 2008. Our expectation is that schools will read this announcement and its attachments as well as our June 19th Electronic Announcement and its attachments in their entirety. The combination of these two announcements should provide schools with a complete overview of our operational implementation of the TEACH Grant Program and, specifically, the processing aspects that will be operational July 1, 2008. We cover information in the following order:
As the TEACH Grant Program's July 1, 2008 effective date draws near, we look forward to working together with schools to provide TEACH Grant funds to eligible students and appreciate the extra effort, patience, and understanding that will be required of schools. Thank you in advance for the assistance you will provide in serving our students who will receive TEACH Grant awards. Student Aspects of TEACH Grant Processing Operational for July 1, 2008 In our June 19th Electronic Announcement, we provided a summary of the basic components of TEACH Grant processing. The basics components covered both school and student processing aspects. In this announcement, we will focus on the student aspects of TEACH Grant processing that will be operational for July 1, 2008. All Student Aspects of TEACH Grant Program First, we will review all student aspects of the TEACH Grant Program.
For the 2008-2009 Award Year, the application for a TEACH Grant is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). We have added a question to the 2008-2009 FAFSA on the Web application to assist in identifying potentially eligible TEACH Grant recipients. For the 2008-2009 Award Year, this question will only appear on FAFSA on the Web and not on the paper FAFSA, or on an application generated by a school in FAA Access to CPS Online or through the Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) process. A school that chooses to participate in the TEACH Grant Program will respond to a request from a student to determine eligibility for a TEACH Grant award using information the school has and confirmation of intent provided by the student. A student completes an Agreement to Serve (ATS) electronically via the ATS Web site each year that he or she is scheduled to receive a TEACH Grant award. The ATS will explain the service obligation that must be fulfilled, the circumstances that will result in the TEACH Grant being converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, and, if the TEACH Grant is converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, the terms and conditions associated with repaying the loan. A TEACH Grant fact sheet will be available on the ATS Web site. Note: A student must also complete counseling before receiving each TEACH Grant award. Counseling requirements related to the TEACH Grant Program are outlined in the June 23, 2008 final regulations. Upon acceptance of an origination record that includes, at a minimum, anticipated disbursement information, the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System generates a TEACH Grant Disclosure Statement for the student. Once the COD System has an accepted ATS (completed by the student via the ATS Web site), an accepted origination record, and an accepted actual disbursement record for the initial disbursement, the TEACH Grant award is sent to the DLSS. The student receives a TEACH Grant Notice of Disbursement(s) Made (previously referred to as "Welcome Letter") generated by the DLSS. On a quarterly basis, the DLSS generates a statement about the TEACH Grant for the student. The student's completion of the required teaching or conversion of the TEACH Grant to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, as applicable, is recorded and monitored via the DLSS. The DLSS sends TEACH Grant award information to the NSLDS. Both individual award information and aggregate award information are available for view by a school and the student. After a student is no longer enrolled in the program for which a TEACH Grant was awarded, he or she reports on the completion of the required teaching. The student updates his or her agreement fulfillment status, including confirmation of each year's qualified teaching service, in response to notifications generated by the DLSS. A student who does not complete the required teaching, or who otherwise fails to meet the requirements of the TEACH Grant Program, must repay the award as a Direct Unsubsidized Loan according to the terms and conditions of the ATS. Repayment and servicing of the Direct Unsubsidized Loan is recorded and monitored via the DLSS. Student Aspects of TEACH Grant Processing Operational for July 1, 2008 The student aspects of TEACH Grant processing that will be operational for July 1, 2008 are as follows:
As previously communicated, we implemented functionality related to adding the TEACH Grant question to the 2008-2009 FAFSA on the Web application during the period January - May 2008. On June 28, 2008, we will implement the TEACH Grant ATS Web site and COD System functionality that supports TEACH Grant origination and disbursement processing functions. This will include processing TEACH Grant origination and disbursement records submitted by schools, generating a TEACH Grant Disclosure Statement for students, and sending award information to the DLSS. We will also implement functionality that results in the DLSS generating a TEACH Grant Notice of Disbursement(s) Made for students and sending award information to the NSLDS. Note for EDExpress Users: On June 30, 2008, we will post an updated version of the EDExpress software (EDExpress for Windows 2008-2009, Release 3.0) that supports TEACH Grant origination and disbursement processing functions. The updated EDExpress software will allow a school to enter, store, and export/import TEACH Grant origination, disbursement, and response information. Explanation of Attachments In four attachments to this announcement, we provide additional information about the student aspects of TEACH Grant processing that will be available for July 1, 2008.
Contact Information Once again, we appreciate your partnership in serving TEACH Grant recipients. If you have questions about the TEACH Grant question on FAFSA on the Web and its related Student Aid Report/Institutional Student Information Record comment codes or the EDExpress software, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806). You may also e-mail CPSSAIG@ed.gov. If you have questions about the COD System's TEACH Grant functionality, including Agreement to Serve (ATS) completion or the TEACH Grant Disclosure Statement, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com. If you have questions about the DLSS' TEACH Grant Notice of Disbursement(s) Made or monitoring of TEACH Grant awards, contact the School Services Team at the Direct Loan Servicing Center at 888/877-7658. Attachments/Enclosures: |
