Publication Date: July 2, 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) - CCRAA-Compliant Version of Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) on the Web Now Scheduled for July 27, 2008 Release; Additional Release Planned for September 2008 Posted on 07-02-2008 In a June 19, 2008 Electronic Announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, we announced that the Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) on the Web site would be updated on September 28, 2008 to implement provisions related to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (the CCRAA), Pub. L. 110-84. To address what schools should do in the interim period from July 1, 2008 to September 28, 2008 for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008, we advised you in a June 23, 2008 follow-up Electronic Announcement to use the CCRAA-compliant paper versions of the R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheets. As a result of concerns you have expressed to us regarding the September 28, 2008 implementation date, we have accelerated the implementation schedule and will now be able to offer a CCRAA-compliant R2T4 on the Web site on July 27, 2008. We will implement additional, non-CCRAA-specific updates to R2T4 on the Web on September 28, 2008. In the interim period from July 1, 2008 to July 27, 2008, schools that normally use R2T4 on the Web should use the CCRAA-compliant paper versions of the R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheets to perform calculations for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. The CCRAA-compliant versions of the R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal worksheets are available in PDF format on the IFAP Web site at http://ifap.ed.gov/aidworksheets/currentoptions.htm. You can also locate the PDF files by clicking on the "Return of Title IV Funds Worksheets" link on the IFAP home page. Note: You can continue to use R2T4 on the Web after July 1, 2008 to perform calculations for students with a withdrawal date prior to July 1, 2008. Note: Federal Student Aid strongly recommends that schools use the paper worksheets (and not R2T4 on the Web) to perform calculations for students who have a Withdrawal Date prior to July 1, 2008 but have a Date of School's Determination that the Student Withdrew on or after July 1, 2008. The Web site will not correctly calculate certain countdown statistics for records falling under this scenario. In the subsequent sections of this message, we discuss the enhancements being incorporated into the July and September 2008 versions of R2T4 on the Web, respectively. July 27, 2008 Update to R2T4 on the Web As part of the July 27, 2008 update to R2T4 on the Web, Federal Student Aid will add new CCRAA-compliant credit-hour and clock-hour R2T4 worksheets and a new Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheet for use with students who have a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. The CCRAA-compliant worksheets will be designed to capture the same information as the modified paper R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheets available on the IFAP Web site. Based on the withdrawal date you enter when adding a new student record, the Web site will display the appropriate worksheet and associated entry fields and will perform calculations according to the rules and regulations applicable to the specific worksheet. The following additional changes, related to the CCRAA, will be implemented in the July 27, 2008 update to R2T4 on the Web:
We added the TEACH Grant to the modified credit-hour and clock-hour R2T4 worksheets (in Step 1, Step 6, and Step 10) and the Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheet (in Step IV) for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. Note: The TEACH Grant is treated as a grant (not a loan) for R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal Disbursement calculation purposes. The TEACH Grant does not appear on the R2T4 on the Web worksheets for students with a withdrawal date prior to July 1, 2008. As a result of the CCRAA and the new contrast between the time period for post-withdrawal disbursements of loan funds (180 days) and post-withdrawal direct disbursements of grant funds (45 days), we redesigned the Students with a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Notification Tracking Status page and its associated report to provide unique countdown information for pre-CCRAA and CCRAA records. Prior to displaying post-withdrawal disbursement records on the Students with a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Notification Tracking Status page or its associated report, R2T4 on the Web now prompts you to select one of the following options for viewing records: 1) Withdrawal Date Prior to July 1, 2008: This option will display both loan and grant post-withdrawal disbursement status information for students with a withdrawal date prior to July 1, 2008. The Web site calculates the difference between the R2T4 system date and date of the school's determination that the student withdrew, and then subtracts the result from 120. The result appears in the # Days Left From 120 field. The countdown for this field stops after the field "Post-Withdrawal Disbursement completed?" (on the Post-Withdrawal tab) is set to Yes. 2) Withdrawal Date on or after July 1, 2008 - Loans: This option displays loan post-withdrawal disbursement status information for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. The Web site calculates the difference between the R2T4 system date and date of the school's determination that the student withdrew, and then subtracts the result from 180. The result appears in the # Days Left From 180 field. The countdown for this field stops after the new "Post-Withdrawal Disbursement completed - Loans?" field (on the Post-Withdrawal tab) is set to Yes. 3) Withdrawal Date on or after July 1, 2008 - Grants: This option displays grant post-withdrawal disbursement status information for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. The Web site calculates the difference between the R2T4 system date and date of the school's determination that the student withdrew, and then subtracts the result from 45. The result appears in the # Days Left From 45 field. The countdown for this field stops after the new "Post-Withdrawal Disbursement completed - Grants?" field (on the Post-Withdrawal tab) is set to Yes. September 28, 2008 Update to R2T4 on the Web On September 28, 2008, we will implement two additional enhancements to R2T4 on the Web. These enhancements, listed below, are not related to the CCRAA:
If You Have Questions If you have any questions regarding R2T4 on the Web, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov. |