[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 158 (Thursday, August 15, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53345-53349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20725]


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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 Programs; Notice of Deadline and Submission Dates for Receipt of 
Applications, Reports, and Other Documents for the 2002-2003 Award Year

SUMMARY: The Secretary announces deadline submission dates for 
receiving documents from institutions and applicants for assistance 
under the Federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended for the 2002-2003 award year. 
The Federal student aid programs include the Federal Perkins Loan, 
Federal Work-Study,

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Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Family 
Education Loan, William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan, Federal Pell 
Grant, and Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership programs.
    These programs, administered by the U.S. Department of Education 
(Department), provide assistance to students attending eligible 
institutions of higher education to help them pay their educational 
costs.
    Deadline and Submission Dates: See Tables A and B at the end of 
this notice.

Table A--Deadline Dates for Application Processing and Receipt of 
Student Aid Reports (SARs) or Institutional Student Information 
Records (ISIRs) by Institutions

    Table A provides deadline dates for application processing, 
including corrections, and, for purposes of the Federal Pell Grant 
Program, receipt by institutions of valid Student Aid Reports (SARs) or 
valid Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs).

Table B--Federal Pell Grant Program Submission Dates for 
Disbursement Information by Institutions

    Beginning with the 2002-2003 award year, the Common Origination and 
Disbursement (COD) system replaces the Recipient Financial Management 
System (RFMS) for purposes of the Federal Pell Grant Program. There are 
two categories of institutions participating in COD: full-participant 
institutions and phase-in institutions. Full-participant institutions 
are institutions that interface directly with COD by using the COD 
common record. Phase-in institutions are institutions that send records 
to COD using the RFMS legacy record formats.
    Table B provides the earliest submission and deadline dates for 
both full-participant institutions and phase-in institutions to submit 
Federal Pell Grant disbursement information.
    In general, an institution must submit disbursement information no 
later than 30 days after disbursing or becoming aware of the need to 
adjust a student's Federal Pell Grant. 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 program funds from 
the Department (34 CFR 668.164(a)). An institution's failure to submit 
disbursement information within the required 30-day timeframe may 
result in an audit or program review finding for an institution. In 
addition, the Secretary may initiate an adverse action, such as a fine 
or other penalty for such failure.
    Table B also provides the latest date an institution may request 
Year-To-Date records and administrative relief.

Proof of Delivery

    If the documents are submitted by mail, the Secretary accepts as 
proof of delivery 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) Other proof of mailing or delivery acceptable to the Secretary.

Other Sources for Detailed Information

    The Department publishes a more detailed discussion of the Federal 
student aid application process in the following publications:
     2002-2003 Student Guide.
     Funding Your Education.
     2002-2003 High School Counselor's Handbook.
     A Guide to 2002-2003 SARs and ISIRs.
     2002-2003 Federal Student Aid Handbook.
    Additional information on the institutional reporting requirements 
for the Federal Pell Grant Program is also contained in the Federal 
Student 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) 
Student Assistance General Provisions, 34 CFR part 668 and (2) Federal 
Pell Grant Program, 34 CFR part 690.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacquelyn C. Butler, Program 
Specialist, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 830 
First Street, NE., Union Center Plaza, room 93I1, Washington, DC 20202-
5345. Telephone: (202) 377-4013.
    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 12, 2002.
Candace M. Kane,
Acting, Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P

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[FR Doc. 02-20725 Filed 8-14-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-C