Posted Date:March 14, 2013
Author: | William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Draft 2014-2015 FISAP, Instructions, and Technical Reference
The Fiscal Operations Report for 2012-2013 and Application to Participate for 2014-2015 (FISAP) in the Campus-Based programs is currently under revision. We are providing the attached draft versions of the FISAP, accompanying instructions, and technical reference so that schools can prepare to gather necessary information for the actual submission of its information. The Final 2014-2015 FISAP will be available by August 1, 2013.
As a reminder, the due date for the submission of the 2014-2015 FISAP is October 1, 2013.
Changes to the FISAP
In addition to annual award year and date references, significant changes will be made to three key areas as explained below. We have also removed the FISAP Upload feature from the eCampus-Based (eCB) System.
Part I, Section A, item 5. Additional Institutions
- The first six digits of an OPEID identify the institution.
- The last two digits identify the location (main campus or an additional location). If an institution has more than 99 additional locations, the first digit of the OPEID is then incremented to 1. If an institution has more than 199 additional locations, the first digit of the OPEID is incremented to 2, etc.
Part II, Section D and F, Non-Traditional Calendar Enrollment Information
Part VI, Section A, Distribution of Program Recipients and Expenditures by Type of Student
FISAP Upload Option Discontinued
This item was formerly identified as “Additional Locations.” However, we have discovered an unintended misuse of terminology which resulted in some institutions incorrectly interpreting this item and providing incorrect information. This item is to be used by an institution that is reporting, on one FISAP, information for not only itself but also for other institutions that, while having different OPEIDs are under the same administrative control or ownership as the reporting institution.
We are not asking institutions to identify their additional campus locations. We are only asking institutions that are filing the FISAP to identify any additional institutions for which they are combining data on the FISAP.
Explanation of OPEID Numbers: An institution’s unique OPEID is the one associated with what is commonly called the “main campus.” The first digit and the last two digits are always zero.
Reminder - Making funds available to all qualifying students: Campus-Based funds are awarded to the reporting institution (the institution filing the FISAP) and the reporting institution must ensure that funds are made reasonably available to all qualified students at each eligible institution for which it has requested funds and at each additional campus location listed in the institution’s Program Participation Agreement (PPA).
Further instructions are provided on pages iii and I-2 in the FISAP Instructions.
A non-traditional calendar means an institution admits a new group of students monthly, or more frequently, into a majority of its eligible programs—even if those students enroll on a quarter, trimester, or semester basis. Currently the FISAP only requests “non-traditional” institutions to provide undergraduate enrollment.
At one time this was appropriate because a non-traditional institution’s level of degree tended to range from certificates to associate degrees or to other undergraduate credentials. However, some institutions now offer programs above the undergraduate level using non-traditional calendars. In order for these institutions to accurately represent their graduate enrollment on the FISAP form, we are expanding Lines 9-22 of Part II, Section D to include columns (c) and (d), for graduate enrollment.
Institutions with non-traditional calendars will also be able to report Graduate/Professional student data in the income grid in Section F, items 25 through39, column (e).
These changes allow Institutions with non-traditional calendars that have graduate students to report correctly on the FISAP. Note: These new columns (c) and (d) have the same edits as columns (a) and (b) and a null value will not be accepted. As a result, schools that do not offer graduate programs must enter zero (0) in these columns.
Further instructions are provided on pages II-4 through II-12 in the FISAP Instructions.
To provide for more precise statistical analysis, the income grid in this section has been expanded to include $10,000 increments over the current $60,000 limit up to $100,000 and over, and for Undergraduate Dependent students, $5,000 increments over the current $20,000 up to $40,000 and over.
These expanded income grid fields have the same edits as the existing fields and a null value will not be accepted. Schools must enter zero (0) for income grid fields that do not apply.
Because less than one percent (.05%) of the institutions that file a FISAP use the FISAP Upload option, the maintenance effort outweighs its usefulness. Therefore, it will be removed from the eCB System.
Changes to FISAP Instructions
In addition to annual award year and date references, the following changes will be made to the FISAP Instructions.
Introduction
Part I, Section A.
Part II, Section A.
Part II, Section C.
Part II, Section D.
Page iii – Provide additional information concerning Additional Institutions.
Page v – Update Campus-Based deadline dates and funding schedule.
Field 1(a) – Explain the need for additional information if the school is a new applicant for 2014-2015 but its students were included in a FISAP filed by a different institution last year.
Field 5 – Revise Additional Institution data entry information.
Introduction – Add a note to explain that if a school’s Program Participation Agreement does not reflect eligibility for a specific Campus-Based program, data cannot be entered to request funds for that program.
Field 6 - Provide additional information concerning Waiver of the FWS/FSEOG institutional-share requirement for Title III/V institutions.
Fields 7-8 – Provide clarification that High School students who are also enrolled in postsecondary classes are not “regular” students and are not to be reported as enrolled for the purposes of the FISAP.
Fields 9-21 – Provide clarification concerning enrollment information for a school with a non-traditional calendar
Contact Information
For additional information about the draft versions of the FISAP, instructions, and technical reference, please contact the Campus-Based Call Center at 877/801-7168. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. until 8:00 P.M. (ET). You may also e-mail CBFOB@ed.gov.