| AwardYear: 1994-1995 Edition: PostSecondary Part: 2 - - The Application Process for Financial Aid SectionNumber: SectionTitle: Reviewing the Student Aid Report PageNumbers: 30-36 [[The illustrations in this section are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] The SAR comes in several parts, with each part serving a different purpose. The student's eligibility status determines which parts of the SAR he or she will receive. A student should be advised to take all parts of the SAR to the school he or she plans to attend. Please note that the school may already have received the student's EFC and application information electronically from the CPS, and may award aid based on this data without receiving the printed SAR from the student. However, to be paid a Federal Pell Grant the student must either submit a copy of the SAR to the school or sign an ESAR or an ISIR. Part 1 - Information Summary Part 1 of the SAR is the Information Summary. This part serves as an ELIGIBILITY LETTER TO THE STUDENT. The EFC is printed on the front (at the upper right) along with an explanation of the calculation and instructions for the student. A summary of the student's information is printed on the back of Part 1 along with the certification statements to be signed by the student: the Statement of Updated Information, Statement of Educational Purpose/Certification Statement on Refunds and Default, and Statement of Selective Service Registration Status. For 1994-95, Part 1 has a separate section titled "FAA Information." This space is used to label the codes printed in this section. Additional information for the FAA, such as the results of data matches, is also provided in this section. A separate page is added to Part 1 for reporting National Student Loan Data System information on the student. Part 2 - Information Review Form/Information Request Form The student uses the INFORMATION REVIEW FORM to make corrections if necessary. Part 2 has an expanded listing of the student's information under the "You told us" column, with space for the student to correct the information under the column headed "The correct answer is." Data elements that are questioned are highlighted in bold type in Part 2. For 1994-95, Part 2 is two pages (four sides) long for independent as well as dependent students. Parental data fields are printed on all SARs. These fields*3* are shaded to distinguish parental data from the student's data. If the student did not provide parental data, the parental data fields will be blank. If the student provided parental data on the original application, the data will be on the SAR even if the student is independent, and the information will be carried forward on all subsequent transactions. THE INFORMATION REQUEST FORM, rather than the Review Form, is sent when information provided by the student is rejected. This form provides space for the student to confirm data and provide new data. The Information Request Form must be completed correctly and returned to the FAFSA processor for the student to receive a Federal Pell Grant. Corrections to the SAR information may also be made electronically through the EDE system. Part 2 Information Review Form/Information Request Form also contains helpful hints on reviewing the SAR, and a "For Your Information" section. The "For Your Information" section tells the student the approximate time needed to review and complete the SAR, informs the student that if he or she is convicted of drug distribution or possession his or her eligibility for Title IV student financial aid is subject to suspension or termination, and instructs the student what to do in case of special circumstances. Part 3 - Federal Pell Grant Payment Voucher If the student has a Pell-eligible EFC, the school may use Part 3 (the Payment Voucher) to report the Federal Pell Grant payment to the Department's Payment Management System. Alternatively, the school may choose to send this information to the Department via floppy disk, full data tape, roster or through the EDE System. Types of Student Aid Reports There are several different types of SARs depending on whether the student is eligible or ineligible for a Federal Pell Grant, and whether the student's information was consistent. ELIGIBLE -- The EFC falls beneath the cut-off for Pell eligibility. If the student has a Pell-eligible EFC, the student will receive all three parts of the SAR. However, the student will still need to make any necessary corrections on Part 2. If you decide to use the secondary EFC (See USING THE SECONDARY EFC), you must report the change in Item 10 on the Payment Voucher, which is sent directly to the Payment Management System. Changes reported in Item 10 will be reflected on the processed Payment Voucher you receive back from the Management System. INELIGIBLE -- The EFC exceeds the Pell eligibility cut-off. In this case, the EFC can still be used to determine the student's eligibility for other aid. If the student has an official EFC but is ineligible, the student will only receive Parts 1 and 2 of the SAR. (Since the student is ineligible for Pell, a Payment Voucher is not sent.) If the student needs to make corrections, he or she must use Part 2 of the SAR. (See "Mastering the School Use Only" box later in this Part for more information on making corrections and recalculations. When you make a change (a recalculation) that will result in a Pell-eligible EFC, you must complete the "School Use Only" box on Part 2 of the SAR. The CPS will process the new information based on the corrections. REJECTED -- The student must either provide missing information or correct or confirm information that is questioned before an EFC can be calculated. If the student receives a rejected SAR (a SAR with no EFC), the student must correct the information using either Part 2 of that SAR or a Correction FAFSA. The comments on Part 1 of the SAR will tell the student how to proceed. VOID -- The student has submitted an application with virtually no information reported, or with dependency information confused, or the application was dated before January 1, 1994. A void SAR also results from filing more than one FAFSA with the same processor. If the student receives a void SAR after filing an initial application, the FAFSA processor will send the student an Information Summary (Part 1 of the SAR) with the data from the initial application and a Correction FAFSA. The student must complete the Correction FAFSA and send it back to the FAFSA processor. The CPS will process the new information and a new SAR will be generated and sent to the student. If the void SAR is the result of more than one application sent to the same FAFSA processor, the student should be reminded to use the SAR from the first application to make any further changes. If the student has lost the SAR, he or she should request a duplicate. To request a duplicate SAR, the student should call the FEDERAL STUDENT AID INFORMATION CENTER AT 1-301-722-9200. This is a toll call. The student must provide his or her name, Social Security Number, and date of birth. A copy of the SAR will be sent to the student by the FAFSA processor that originally processed the student's application, unless the student requested the duplicate from a different FAFSA processor. The Information Center will not change an incorrect address over the telephone in order to send a duplicate SAR to a correct address. A request for a change in address must be made in writing (See APPENDIX A). If the student's information has minor inconsistencies, the CPS may be able to make ASSUMPTIONS to calculate an official EFC. In this case, the CPS will transmit information to the FAFSA processor which in turn will send the student Parts 1 and 2 of the SAR. The inconsistent information will be highlighted on Part 2. The student is asked to review this information carefully for errors before submitting the SAR to the financial aid office. The FAFSA processor will include Part 3 of the SAR (the Payment Voucher) for those students who have a Pell-eligible EFC. If the SAR contains incorrect information, or certain items that need to be updated, the student may have to make certain changes. We will discuss these changes in the next section. Of course, there is another possibility that we haven't mentioned: the perfect SAR, on which all the information is consistent and accurate on the first transaction. Hopefully, most of the SARs that you receive will be in this category. In this case, the FAFSA processor that processed the application sends Parts 1 and 2 to the student, along with Part 3 if the student has a Pell-eligible EFC. If a student's application information is received through EDE or by roster or tape, the student must have an opportunity to review the information on the ESAR or ISIR and the ESAR or ISIR must be signed by the student to be considered valid. Verification The effectiveness of the federal student financial aid programs depends, in large part, on the ACCURACY OF THE DATA REPORTED BY STUDENTS. The accuracy of data directly affects the eligibility of millions of applicants for these programs. The financial aid administrator may check the information the student reported on the FAFSA, usually by requesting a copy of the tax returns filed by the student and, if applicable, the student's spouse and parent(s). Many schools conduct their own form of verification. In addition, schools must verify students selected through the federal central processing system, following the procedures established by regulation. The FAFSA processor will print an asterisk next to the EFC on the SAR, ESAR and ISIR to identify students who have been selected for verification. (See The Verification Guide, 1994-95 for more information on this process.) [[Page 36, entitled, Alternate EFC values on output document, is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference this page in the Handbook for more information.]] *3* Parental data fields will also be printed on ESARs and ISIRs. Previously, parental data was printed on the SARs of dependent students only; ESARs and ISIRs included this parental data for independent students, but only on the first transaction. |