| AwardYear: 1996-1997 Edition: PostSecondary Part: 2 - - The application process for financial aid SectionNumber: SectionTitle: Using the official EFC to document eligibility PageNumbers: 46-47 The "official" EFC is the EFC calculated by the CPS, using the CPS edits and eligibility matches. The EFC printed at the top of the first page of the SAR, the secondary EFC, and the alternate EFCs printed in the "FAA Information" section of the SAR are all considered official figures that can be used for payment. The CPS may provide the school with an official EFC on an ISIR. An EFC from a source other than the CPS is considered an estimated figure. An applicant for federal student aid must first send a FAFSA to one of the two approved application processors to determine eligibility. The only exception to this rule is a student who applies only for a PLUS Loan. Thus, nearly all applicants for federal student aid must pass through the CPS's eligibility matches and receive official EFCs. Payment for a Federal Pell Grant must be based on the student's official EFC, and any modifications to the data that result in a changed award must be resubmitted through the CPS for recalculation of the EFC. Ultimately, you must have in your records THE STUDENT'S FINAL EFC AND THE CORRECT APPLICATION DATA USED TO CALCULATE THE EFC FROM THE FEDERAL CPS to document the student's eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant. The student's valid SAR or ISIR serves as this eligibility document or record. For the federal campus-based, Federal Direct Loan, and FFEL programs (except PLUS), you must have in your files at least one output record for the student containing an official EFC and data processed by the CPS: either a SAR or an ISIR. This output document or record need not be signed, and it need not contain the final, corrected, or adjusted data for that student. It merely documents that the student's data has been processed through the CPS and has gone through system edits and the eligibility matches. You may not make payments based on an ESTIMATED EFC (an EFC from a source other than the CPS). Packaging can be based on an estimated EFC and a loan application can be certified with an estimated figure, but funds cannot be delivered until the school has received an official EFC from the CPS. If you have received the official EFC but need to correct or adjust the student's information, you may pay the student campus-based, Federal Direct Loan, or FFEL funds based on your EFC recalculation. Or, you may choose to obtain a new official EFC from the CPS by making changes through EDE or by having the student submit a corrected SAR to the FAFSA processor. The school is liable for any recalculation errors that result from using an EFC that was calculated at the school or through a need analysis servicer. Schools should note that the Department does not certify the accuracy of the calculations performed by need analysis servicers. The Need Analysis System (NAS) program calculates the same EFC as the CPS; however, the student's information must be processed by the CPS at least once, because the eligibility matches cannot be performed by NAS. To receive the 1996-97 NAS specifications, all interested need analysis servicers must enter into an agreement with the Department and comply with the procedures set forth in that agreement. The agreement must be completed and signed by new servicers in order to receive the NAS specifications, which are sent automatically to current NAS servicers. A "first payment option" once existed when disbursing Federal Pell Grants to eligible students before receipt of a valid SAR or ISIR from the CPS. Under the new Federal Pell Grant Program regulations, schools are not allowed to make a first disbursement of a Pell award without a valid SAR or ISIR. However, you may still make an interim disbursement to a student who is selected for verification (including a student selected for verification by the school rather than the CPS). See The Verification Guide 1996-97 for more information. If a student is not selected for verification, you may not make a disbursement to the student until you have a valid SAR or ISIR. If the student needs to make corrections to his or her data, or if you wish to use professional judgment to adjust the student's data, you must submit the student's SAR for reprocessing (using Part 2), or make the changes through the Electronic Data Exchange and receive the new SAR or ISIR before making a first disbursement. You are not required to resubmit corrections or adjustments to the FAFSA processor or CPS for recalculation of the EFC if the student is only eligible for federal campus-based, Federal Direct Loan, or FFEL funds. |