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(Grants) Subject: Federal Pell Grant 2009-2010 Award Year Initial Authorization for Advanced Funded Schools

Posted Date:May 12, 2009

Author: William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid

Subject: Federal Pell Grant 2009-2010 Award Year Initial Authorization for Advanced Funded Schools

We have begun processing the Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) Initial Authorization for the 2009-2010 Award Year, for schools that receive Pell Grant funds under the advanced funding method. A school's Initial Authorization, known in the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System as Current Funding Level (CFL), is determined based on a percentage of the disbursement data submitted and accepted during the 2008-2009 Award Year.

For the 2009-2010 Award Year, the Pell Grant appropriation has been supplemented with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Pub. L. 111-5. To comply with federal financial and accounting requirements of the ARRA, the funding of the Initial Authorization will be slightly different than it has been in the past. The funding will be done in three parts as follows:

  • On May 12, 2009, we generated an Electronic Statement of Account (ESOA) that lists the amount of a school's Initial CFL for the 2009-2010 Award Year and sent it to the school's Student Aid Information Gateway (SAIG) mailbox (Message Class PGAS10OP).

  • Subsequent to the May 12, 2009 Initial CFL processing, we plan to generate a second CFL increase and a second ESOA. We will send the second ESOA to the school's SAIG mailbox (Message Class PGAS10OP)

  • Following the second CFL increase, we plan to generate a third CFL increase and a third ESOA. We will send the third ESOA to the school's SAIG mailbox (Message Class PGAS10OP).

Note: At this time, a school is not responsible for any special tracking or reporting related to supplemental ARRA funds. If this changes in the future, we will inform schools through an Electronic Announcement on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.

An Advanced Funded school can view its Initial CFL on the COD Web site's Funding Information screen. A school will be able to view and draw down 2009-2010 Pell Grant funds in G5 on Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

As an Advanced Funded school submits actual Pell Grant disbursements, the COD System will apply the total accepted and posted amount for each disbursement to the amount of the school's Initial CFL. Only after the Initial CFL amount has been reached will the school's CFL be increased to cover additional accepted and posted disbursements. A new ESOA will be sent to the school each time its Pell Grant CFL amount changes.

Notes:

1) Advanced Funded schools that had less than $15,723 in disbursements for the 2008-2009 Award Year will not receive an Initial CFL. These schools will receive a CFL once the COD System has accepted and posted actual disbursement records. A new ESOA will be sent to a school each time its Pell Grant CFL amount changes.

2) Schools that receive funds under the Reimbursement, Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 (HCM1), or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 (HCM2) funding method will not receive an Initial CFL. These schools will receive a CFL once the COD System has accepted and posted actual disbursement records. A new ESOA will be sent to a school each time its Pell Grant CFL amount changes.

3) Unlike the Pell Grant Program, there will be no Initial Authorizations for the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant), and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant programs for the 2009-2010 Award Year. Schools will receive a CFL under one or more of these programs based on the accepted and posted actual disbursement records that they submit to the COD System.

At this time, we want to remind schools of the following disbursement-related information:

  • The earliest date on which an institution may disburse a Pell Grant for the 2009-2010 Award Year, either with Federal funds or its own funds, is February 20, 2009. However, the COD System will not be able to accept 2009-2010 actual disbursement data (Disbursement Release Indicator (DRI) value equals "True") until June 1, 2009.

  • The COD System will accept anticipated disbursements (DRI value equals "False") for 2009-2010 Pell Grant awards beginning March 28, 2009.

  • The COD System will accept actual disbursements (DRI value equals "True") for 2009-2010 Pell Grant awards beginning June 1, 2009.

    • Prior to June 1, 2009, the COD System will reject all actual disbursements.

    • Beginning June 1, 2009, an Advanced Funded school may submit actual disbursements. As a reminder, actual disbursements can be submitted up to 30 days before the disbursement date.

Contact Information

If you have questions about this announcement, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com