[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 161 (Monday, August 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43754-43756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-20855]



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Part V





Department of Education





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Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Supplemental Educational 
Opportunity Grant, Federal Family Education Loan, Federal Work-Study, 
Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Pell Grant, Leveraging Educational 
Assistance Partnership, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 161 / Monday, August 20, 2001 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA Nos. 84.007, 84.032, 84.033, 84.038, 84.063, 84.069, and 84.268]


Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Supplemental 
Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Family Education Loan, Federal 
Work-Study, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Pell Grant, Leveraging 
Educational Assistance Partnership, and William D. Ford Federal Direct 
Loan; Notice of Deadline and Submission Dates for Receipt of 
Applications, Reports, and Other Documents for the 2001-2002 Award Year

SUMMARY: The Secretary announces the deadline and submission dates for 
receiving documents from institutions and applicants for assistance 
under the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study (FWS), Federal 
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Family 
Education Loan (FFEL), William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct 
Loan), Federal Pell Grant, and Leveraging Educational Assistance 
Partnership (LEAP) programs for the 2001-2002 award year.
    The FSEOG (84.007), FFEL (84.032), FWS (84.033), Federal Perkins 
Loan (84.038), Federal Pell Grant (84.063), LEAP (84.069), and Direct 
Loan (84.268) programs, administered by the U.S. Department of 
Education (Department), provide assistance to students attending 
eligible institutions of higher education to help them pay for their 
educational costs.
    Deadline and Submission Dates: See Tables A and B at the end of 
this notice.
    Table A provides deadline dates for application processing and 
receipt of Student Aid Reports (SARs) or Institutional Student 
Information Records (ISIRs).
    Table B provides the earliest submission and deadline dates for 
submitting Federal Pell Grant Disbursement Records to the Department's 
Recipient Financial Management System (RFMS). Any disbursement record 
received prior to the earliest submission date is rejected. The 
Secretary may initiate an adverse action, such as a fine or other 
penalty, for an institution's failure to submit a Federal Pell Grant 
disbursement record within the required 30-day timeframe. That failure 
may also result in an audit or program review finding for an 
institution.
    In general, an institution must submit a Federal Pell Grant 
disbursement record no later than 30 days after disbursing a Federal 
Pell Grant to a student. The Secretary considers a disbursement of 
Federal Pell Grant funds to occur on the earlier of the date that the 
institution: (a) Credits those funds to a student's account in the 
institution's general ledger or any subledger of the general ledger, or 
(b) pays those funds to a student directly. The Secretary considers a 
disbursement to have occurred even if institutional funds are used in 
advance of receiving the program funds from the Department (34 CFR 
668.164(a)).
    Table B also provides the latest date an institution may request 
Year-To-Date records and administrative relief.

Proof of Delivery

    The Secretary accepts as proof of delivery if the documents were 
submitted by mail or by non-U.S. Postal Service courier, one of the 
following:
    (1) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the 
U.S. Postal Service.
    (2) A legibly-dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.

    Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated 
postmark. Before relying on this method of proof of mailing, check 
with the post office at which the submission was mailed. The 
Secretary strongly encourages the use of First Class Mail.

    (3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial 
courier.
    (4) Other proof of mailing or delivery acceptable to the Secretary.

Other Sources for Detailed Information on the Application and 
Automated Processes

    A more detailed discussion of the student application process for 
the Federal Pell Grant Program is contained in the Department's 
following publications:
     2001-2002 Student Guide.
     Funding Your Education.
     2001-2002 High School Counselor's Handbook.
     A Guide to 2001-2002 SARs and ISIRs.
     2001-2002 Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook.
    A more detailed discussion of the institutional reporting 
requirements for the Federal Pell Grant Program is also contained in 
the Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook. These materials may be 
found at the Information for Financial Aid Professionals web site at: 
http://www.ifap.ed.gov.
    Applicable Regulations: The following regulations apply: (1) 
Federal Pell Grant Program, 34 CFR part 690, (2) Student Assistance 
General Provisions, 34 CFR part 668, and (3) Institutional Eligibility 
under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 34 CFR part 600.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacquelyn C. Butler, Program 
Specialist, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Student Financial 
Assistance Programs, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., ROB-3, room 3045, 
Washington, DC 20202-5447. Telephone: (202) 708-8242.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
    To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in 
the Washington, DC area, at (202) 512-1530.
    You may also view this document in text or PDF at the following 
site: http://www.ifap.ed.gov.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.


    Program Authority:  20 U.S.C. 421-429, 1070a, 1070b-1070b-3, 
1070c-1070c-4, 1071-1087-2, 1087a, and 1087aa-1087ii; 42 U.S.C. 
2751-2756b.

    Dated: August 14, 2001.
Greg Woods,
Chief Operating Officer, Student Financial Assistance.

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 Table A.--Deadline Dates for Application Processing and Receipt of Student Aid Reports (SARs) or Institutional
                                       Student Information Records (ISIRs)
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                                                                                           What is the deadline
             Who submits?                 What is submitted?     Where is it submitted?     date for receipt?
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Student..............................  Free Application for     Electronically to the    July 1, 2002.\1\
                                        Federal Student Aid      Department's Central
                                        (FAFSA) on the Web,      Processing System
                                        Renewal FAFSA on the     (CPS).
                                        Web, or FAFSA Express
                                        electronic application.
                                       Signature Page (if       The address printed on   August 21, 2002.
                                        required).               the signature page.
Student through an Institution.......  An electronic original   Electronically to the    July 1, 2002.\1\
                                        or renewal application.  Department's CPS.
Student..............................  A paper original Free    The address printed on   July 1, 2002.
                                        Application for          the FAFSA, Renewal
                                        Federal Student Aid      FAFSA, or envelope
                                        (FAFSA) or paper         provided with the form.
                                        Renewal FAFSA.
Student..............................  Correction on the Web..  Electronically to the    August 16, 2002.\1\
                                                                 Department's CPS.
                                       Signature Page (if       The address printed on   August 21, 2002.
                                        required).               the signature page.
Student through an Institution.......  Electronic corrections   Electronically to the    August 27, 2002.\1\
                                        and duplicate requests.  Department's CPS.
Student..............................  Corrections submitted    The address printed on   August 16, 2002.
                                        using Part 2 of an SAR.  Part 2 of the SAR.
Student..............................  Change of address,       The address printed on   August 16, 2002.
                                        change of                Part 2 of the SAR.
                                        institutions, and
                                        duplicate requests.
                                                                The Federal Student Aid  August 27, 2002.
                                                                 Information Center by
                                                                 calling 1-800-433-3243.
Student..............................  Valid SAR..............  Institution............  The earlier of:
Student through the Department's CPS.  Valid ISIR \4\.........  Institution receives     --The student's last
                                                                 ISIR from the            date of enrollment; or
                                                                 Department's CPS.       --September 3, 2002.
Student..............................  Verification documents.  Institution............  The earlier of: \2\
                                                                                         --90 days after the
                                                                                          student's last date of
                                                                                          enrollment; or
                                                                                         --September 3, 2002.
Student..............................  Valid SAR after          Institution............  The earlier of: \3\
                                        verification.
Student through the Department's CPS.  Valid ISIR after         Institution receives     --90 days after the
                                        verification.\4\.        ISIR from the            student's last date of
                                                                 Department's CPS.        enrollment; or
                                                                                         --September 3, 2002.
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\1\ The deadline for electronic transactions is 12 midnight (Central Time) on the deadline date. Transmissions
  must be completed and accepted by 12 midnight to meet the deadline. If transmissions are started before 12
  midnight but are not completed until after 12 midnight, those transmissions will not meet the deadline. In
  addition, an transmission picked up on or just prior to the deadline date that gets rejected may not be able
  to be reprocessed because the deadline will have passed by the time the user gets the information notifying
  him/her of the reject.
\2\ Although the Secretary has set this deadline date for the submission verification documents to the
  institution, if corrections are required, the earlier deadline dates for submission of paper or electronic
  corrections must still be met.
\3\ The institution must have already received an SAR or ISIR with an eligible EFC while the student was
  enrolled and eligible for payment. Students completing verification while no longer enrolled will be paid
  based on the higher of the two EFCs.
\4\ For this purpose, the date the ISIR transaction was processed by CPS is considered to be the date the
  institution received the ISIR. The CPS process date is on the 2001-2002 ISIR record layout, field 163. It is
  also printed on the first page of the SAR and ISIR.


     Table B.--Earliest Submission and Deadline Dates for Submitting Federal Pell Grant Disbursement Records
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                                                                                           What is the earliest
             Who submits?                 What is submitted?     Where is it submitted?  submission and deadline
                                                                                            date for receipt?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Institution..........................  At least one acceptable  To RFMS using EDE or     An institution may
                                        disbursement record      custom software:         submit disbursement
                                        must be submitted for   Student Air Internet      records as early as
                                        each.                    Gateway (SAIG)           June 21, 2001, but can
                                       Federal Pell Grant        (formerly Title IV       not submit a
                                        recipient at the         Wide Area Network).      disbursement record
                                        institution by:.                                  any earlier than:
                                       Electronic Data                                   (a) 30 calendar days
                                        Exchange (EDE) \1\.                               prior to the
                                                                                          disbursement date
                                                                                          under the Advance
                                                                                          payment method;
                                                                                         (b) 5 calendar days
                                                                                          prior to the
                                                                                          disbursement date
                                                                                          under the Just in-time
                                                                                          payment method; or
                                                                                         (c) The date of
                                                                                          disbursement under the
                                                                                          Reimbursement or Cash
                                                                                          Monitoring payment
                                                                                          methods.

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                                                                                         An institution is
                                                                                          required to submit a
                                                                                          disbursement record
                                                                                          not later than the
                                                                                          earlier of:
                                                                                         (1) 30 calendar days
                                                                                          after the institution
                                                                                         --Makes a disbursement;
                                                                                          or
                                                                                         --Becomes aware of the
                                                                                          need to make an
                                                                                          adjustment to
                                                                                          previously reported
                                                                                          disbursement data; or
                                                                                         (b) September 30, 2002.
                                                                                         After September 30,
                                                                                          2002, an institution
                                                                                          may submit a
                                                                                          disbursement record
                                                                                          only:
                                                                                         (a) For a downward
                                                                                          adjustment of a
                                                                                          previously reported
                                                                                          award; or
                                                                                         (b) Based upon a
                                                                                          program review or
                                                                                          initial audit finding
                                                                                          per 34 CFR 690.83.
                                       Requests for Year-To-    1. Pell Grant User       August 16, 2002.\2\
                                        Date Records.            Support Hotline: 1-800-
                                                                 474-7268
                                                                2. http://www.
                                                                 pellgrantsonline.ed.gov v.
                                                                3. SAIG................
                                       Request for              1. U.S. Department of    January 31, 2003.
                                        administrative relief    Education, Office of
                                        based on a natural       Student Financial
                                        disaster or other        Assistance, Schools
                                        unusual circumstances,   Channel/Pell
                                        or an administrative     Operations, P.O. Box
                                        error made by the        23781, Washington, DC
                                        Department or            20026-0781.
                                        Departmental            2. http://www.
                                        contractors.             pellgrantson
                                                                 line.ed.gov.
                                                                3. by email: sfa.
                                                                 administrative.
                                                                 [email protected].
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\1\ An institution must ensure that its transmission of disbursement records is completed before midnight (local
  time at the institution's EDE destination point) on September 30, 2002.
\2\ Year-To-Date records may be requested after this date, however, there may not be sufficient time for
  institutions to receive the file, create a disbursement record batch and submit to the Secretary by the
  September 30, 2002 deadline date for receipt of all 2001-2002 requests for payment.
Note: RFMS must accept a student origination record for a student from an institution before it accepts a
  disbursement record from the institution for that student. An institution may submit an origination and a
  disbursement record for a student in the same transmission.


[FR Doc. 01-20855 Filed 8-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P