IFAP Updates
David Bartnicki
Federal Training Officer
ED/FSA/Atlanta
2013-2014 FSA Handbook
The new AVG section was posted at the end of January. This is a great resource for verification, EFC calculations and assistance with FAFSA completion. Chapter 4 (Verification) specifically contains information discussing the new verification items and documentation for 2013-2014. For highlights of changes and updates to the AVG section, please review the Introduction section (2 pages).
Verification
On January 18, 2013 the Department of Education posted the long awaited electronic announcement that provides suggested text that schools may use when requesting verification information. It contains 4 appendices – Appendix A (suggested text), Appendix B (informational chart highlighting key verification items associated with specific verification tracking groups), Appendix C (list of verification items by verification tracking group) and Appendix D (example of a possible school verification document).
Please note:
•- The Statement of Educational Purpose is the one item that a school cannot change or modify (this applies to the one sentence Statement and signature block). Your school may insert your school name in the Statement where indicated.
•- The example document (Appendix D) is for a dependent student selected in group V4 and provides a sample introductory paragraph, possible headers and only includes a request for those items needed to complete verification (requests child support paid data but no SNAP benefits data).
•- As the announcement stresses, we strongly encourage schools to only request the required information needed for each student to complete verification in an attempt to reduce any unnecessary burden on families and schools.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/011813VerificationSuggestedText1314.html
2013 Blue Book
Raise your voices and let your business officers, bursars and CFOs know that the newest Blue Book is available on IFAP (under Publications). It has been many years since the Blue Book has been updated. The Blue Book provides guidance on accounting, recordkeeping, managing, and reporting by postsecondary educational institutions that participate in federal student aid programs. For more information please see IFAP -
http://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/BlueBook.jsp?year=2013.
2013-2014 Pell Payment and Disbursement Schedule
Gen-13-06 provides the Pell payment and disbursement charts for 2013-2014 for full-time, three-quarter-time, half-time, and less-than-half-time students. The maximum Pell for 2013-2014 is $5,645, while the maximum Pell eligible EFC for 13/14 is 5081. For more information and to review the specific Pell payment and disbursement schedules please see GEN-13-06 (
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1306.html).
Shopping Sheet
Two recent documents were posted to IFAP to assist schools using the Shopping Sheet.
An electronic announcement was posted on January 18, 2013 which contains the data and information necessary to populate the institutional metrics section of the Shopping Sheet - the graduation rate, the loan default rate, and the median borrowing figures. In addition, this announcement includes the image files necessary for when there is no graduation rate data or cohort default rate data available for a particular institution.
On January 30, 2013, the Department posted GEN-13-05 which contains a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the implementation of the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet for the 2013-2014 school year. The FAQs clarify the intent of the Shopping Sheet and how it can be used in an institution’s financial aid award process, identifies additional tools the Department will supply to aid implementation efforts, and explains the information available to the general public on the Department’s Web site.
