Federal Student Aid - IFAP
   

Publication Date: July 28, 2008

Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: CCRAA Operational Implementation Guidance (CPS, COD System, and EDESuite) - CCRAA-Compliant Version of Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) on the Web Now Available

Posted on 07-28-2008

Federal Student Aid is pleased to announce the availability of the updated Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) on the Web site, which has been modified to implement provisions related to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (the CCRAA), Pub. L. 110-84. We initially notified the community of this July 27, 2008 release in a July 2, 2008 Electronic Announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.

R2T4 on the Web is an online, non-year-specific application that calculates the earned and unearned portion of Title IV program assistance in accordance with section 484B of the Higher Education Act. The site is accessible through the FAA Main Menu of the FAA Access to CPS Online Web site (http://fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/faa/faa.jsp) and from the View menu in the EDExpress for Windows software.

We will implement additional, non-CCRAA-specific updates to R2T4 on the Web on September 28, 2008.

Note: Federal Student Aid strongly recommends that schools use the paper worksheets (and not R2T4 on the Web) to perform calculations for students who have a Withdrawal Date prior to July 1, 2008 but have a Date of School's Determination that the Student Withdrew on or after July 1, 2008. The Web site will not correctly calculate certain countdown statistics for records falling under this scenario. The CCRAA-compliant versions of the R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal worksheets are available in PDF format on the IFAP Web site at http://ifap.ed.gov/aidworksheets/currentoptions.htm. You can also locate the PDF files by clicking on the "Return of Title IV Funds Worksheets" link on the IFAP home page.

CCRAA Updates to R2T4 on the Web

This updated version of R2T4 on the Web adds the new CCRAA-compliant credit-hour and clock-hour R2T4 worksheets and a new Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheet for use with students who have a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. The CCRAA-compliant worksheets are designed to capture the same information as the modified paper R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheets available on the IFAP Web site.

Based on the withdrawal date you enter when adding a new student record, the Web site displays the appropriate worksheet and associated entry fields and performs calculations according to the rules and regulations applicable to the specific worksheet.

The following additional changes, related to the CCRAA, are implemented in this update to R2T4 on the Web:

  • TEACH Grant Added to R2T4, Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Worksheets - The CCRAA authorized the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program for implementation beginning with the 2008-2009 Award Year. The TEACH Grant Program provides up to $4,000 a year in grant assistance to a student who agrees to serve for at least four years as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. A TEACH Grant recipient who does not complete the required teaching within a specified timeframe, or fails to meet certain other requirements of the TEACH Grant Program, will be required to repay the TEACH Grant as a Direct Unsubsidized Loan under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Final regulations for the TEACH Grant Program were published in the Federal Register on June 23, 2008 (73 FR 35472) and are effective July 1, 2008.

    We added the TEACH Grant to the modified credit-hour and clock-hour R2T4 worksheets (in Step 1, Step 6, and Step 10) and the Post-Withdrawal Disbursement worksheet (in Step IV) for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008.

    Note: The TEACH Grant is treated as a grant (not a loan) for R2T4 and Post-Withdrawal Disbursement calculation purposes.

    The TEACH Grant does not appear on the R2T4 on the Web worksheets for students with a withdrawal date prior to July 1, 2008.

  • Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Tracking Status Page and Report Redesigned to Separate Grant and Loan Calculations - The CCRAA modified the amount of time a school has to make a post-withdrawal disbursement of loan or grant funds to a student. Under pre-CCRAA regulations, a school had 120 days from the date of the school's determination that the student withdrew to make a post-withdrawal disbursement of loan or grant funds to the student. The CCRAA revised the time period to make a direct disbursement of the grant portion of a post-withdrawal disbursement not credited to the student's account to a maximum of 45 days from the date of determination. When any portion of a post-withdrawal disbursement is comprised of Title IV loan proceeds, the institution has 30 days from the date of determination to notify the borrower to request confirmation of the borrower's need for the loan. The institution has up to a maximum of 180 days from the date of determination to complete the post-withdrawal disbursement of the loan portion of the disbursement. Institutions may no longer request a waiver for periods longer than 180 days from the date of determination.

As a result of the CCRAA and the new contrast between the time period for post-withdrawal disbursements of loan funds (180 days) and post-withdrawal direct disbursements of grant funds (45 days), we redesigned the Students with a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Notification Tracking Status page and its associated report to provide unique countdown information for pre-CCRAA and CCRAA records.

Prior to displaying post-withdrawal disbursement records on the Students with a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Notification Tracking Status page or its associated report, R2T4 on the Web now prompts you to select one of the following options for viewing records:

1) Withdrawal Date Prior to July 1, 2008: This option will display both loan and grant post-withdrawal disbursement status information for students with a withdrawal date prior to July 1, 2008. The Web site calculates the difference between the R2T4 system date and date of the school's determination that the student withdrew, and then subtracts the result from 120. The result appears in the # Days Left From 120 field. The countdown for this field stops after the field "Post-Withdrawal Disbursement completed?" (on the Post-Withdrawal tab) is set to Yes.

2) Withdrawal Date on or after July 1, 2008 - Loans: This option displays loan post-withdrawal disbursement status information for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. The Web site calculates the difference between the R2T4 system date and date of the school's determination that the student withdrew, and then subtracts the result from 180. The result appears in the # Days Left From 180 field. The countdown for this field stops after the new "Post-Withdrawal Disbursement completed - Loans?" field (on the Post-Withdrawal tab) is set to Yes.

3) Withdrawal Date on or after July 1, 2008 - Grants: This option displays grant post-withdrawal disbursement status information for students with a withdrawal date on or after July 1, 2008. The Web site calculates the difference between the R2T4 system date and date of the school's determination that the student withdrew, and then subtracts the result from 45. The result appears in the # Days Left From 45 field. The countdown for this field stops after the new "Post-Withdrawal Disbursement completed - Grants?" field (on the Post-Withdrawal tab) is set to Yes.

September 28, 2008 Update to R2T4 on the Web

On September 28, 2008, we will implement two additional enhancements to R2T4 on the Web. These enhancements, listed below, are not related to the CCRAA:

  • Award Year Valid Value Range Expanded - We will expand the valid value range for the Award Year field from 2000-2010 to 2000-2020 to accommodate cycles following the upcoming 2009-2010 award year. This field appears in Institutional Charges setup, School Calendar Profile setup, and on the Add and Update R2T4 Record pages.

  • New Repayment Arrangement Type for Loan-Only Students - We will add a new Repayment Arrangement Type for students who only have Title IV loan repayment obligations. This new value will be available on the Student Repayment Arrangements - Completed and Student Repayment Arrangements - Not Completed Notification Tracking Status pages and will display on the Student Repayment Arrangements report.

If You Have Questions

If you have any questions regarding R2T4 on the Web, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.