Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

Title IV Reporting Requirements

PublicationDate: 7/1/95
ChapterNumber: 6
ChapterTitle: Title IV Reporting Requirements
SectionNumber: 5
SectionTitle: Adjusting Expenditures Reported to ED/PMS
PageNumbers: 252-254


Schools may make adjustments to reported disbursements
(expenditures) on open or closed awards in ED/PMS. Such
adjustments may occur as a result of a school:

((Reasons for adjustments))
- paying a refund to a Title IV account when a student has
withdrawn from school;

- recovering funds directly from students (an overpayment to an
eligible student or a payment to an ineligible student); and

- making a disbursement to a student who was underpaid in a
previous payment period.

Adjustments resulting from audit or program review liabilities are
discussed in section 6.6.6 of this book.

6.5.1 Open Awards (Current Year Adjustments)

((Recoveries and expenditures))
If an award is open and is listed on ED/PMS 272A or 272G, a school
may make upward or downward adjustments by reporting the correct
cumulative disbursements on ED/PMS 272A for the reporting period
in which the adjustment is made. If the adjustment is a recovery, the
school repays funds (makes a downward adjustment) from its current
year program account(s). If the adjustment is an expenditure, the
school draws additional funds (makes an upward adjustment) from
its current year program account(s). (See Appendices L and P of the
ED/PMS Recipient's Guide.)

((Adjustments initiated by ED))
An ED grants or program office may also initiate an adjustment to a
school's reported disbursements on open awards. If a grants or
program office reduces a school's award authorization amount to an
amount that is less than the school's reported disbursement amount,
the disbursement amount will be reduced to the revised authorization
amount. The reduction will appear as a prior period adjustment on
the school's ED/PMS 272 Report.

((Federal Pell Grant adjustments))
For the Federal Pell Grant Program, adjustments made by September
30 of the calendar year in which the award year ends are considered
to be current year adjustments. These adjustments are reported in
Processed Payment Vouchers submitted with a school's Institutional
Payment Summary (IPS). (See Chapter 4 of The 1995-96 Federal
Student Financial Aid Handbook.) Such adjustments will affect the
school's Federal Pell Grant authorization, as reported on its
Statement of Account. This adjusted authorization will, in turn, be
reflected on the school's ED/PMS 272 Report.

6.5.2 Closed Awards (Prior Year Adjustments)

Closed awards are those that no longer appear on a school's ED/PMS
272 Report.

((Increasing reported disburse-ments))
If an award is closed and a school needs to increase the amount of
reported disbursements, the school must contact the grants or
program office that issued the award and request an increase to the
reported disbursement. If the grants or program office approves the
increase, the award will be reinstated and the net amount of the
increased disbursement amount will be posted to the school's
ED/PMS account. This action will appear as a prior period
adjustment on the school's ED/PMS 272 Report and will reduce the
school's cash-on-hand (COH) amount.

((Reducing reported disbursements))
If an award is closed and a school needs to reduce the amount of
reported disbursements, the school must contact the grants or
program office that issued the award and request a decrease to the
reported disbursement. If the grants or program office approves the
reduction, the net amount of the reduction will be posted to the
school's ED/PMS account. This action will appear as a prior period
adjustment on the school's ED/PMS 272 Report and will increase the
school's cash-on-hand (COH) amount.

((Federal Pell Grant adjustments))
For the Federal Pell Grant Program, adjustments made after
September 30 of the calendar year in which the award year ends are
considered prior year adjustments. Schools are allowed to adjust
their prior year Federal Pell Grant accounts only as a result of:

- an ED program review,

- an audit,

- a court order, or

- an overpayment to a student.

Once a debt to the Federal Pell Grant Program is established by a
program review or audit, a school may not adjust its Federal Pell
Grant expenditures on the ED/PMS 272 Report. Adjustments that
must be made on the basis of a program review, audit, or court order
are reported and dealt with within ED.

Adjustments made as a result of overpayments to students must be
reported directly to ED's Federal Pell Grant Branch. Such
adjustments must be reported by September 30 of the year following
the original reporting deadline. These adjustments may not be made
on Processed Payment Vouchers submitted with an Institutional
Payment Summary (IPS).

There are isolated examples when the program office or an audit
requires a school to make adjustments on closed awards from either
of the two previous payment systems used by the Department of
Education (EDPMTS or DFAFS). The adjustments occur when
ED/PMS has decreased the award, but the school has unreported
expenditures. The school would make the adjustment through the
applicable ED program office
.