Designation as a Title III or Title V Institution and Waiver of the Non-Federal Share Requirement for FWS and FSEOG (EA ID: CB-21-04)

We provide the following information regarding the designation of Title III or Title V status for institutions and the resulting waiver of the non-federal share requirements for the Federal Work-Study (FWS) and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) programs.

Campus-Based Programs Title III or Title V Non-Federal Share Requirement Waiver

Institutions participating in the FWS and FSEOG programs are normally required to provide a non-federal share under each program. Certain institutions, however, are eligible for a waiver of those requirements under 34 CFR 675.26(d) of the FWS regulations and 34 CFR 676.21(b) of the FSEOG regulations. To receive this waiver of the FWS and FSEOG non-federal share requirement, an institution must be designated by the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education Institutional Service (OPE/IS) as an eligible Title III or Title V institution under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA).

If an institution is designated as a Title III or Title V institution for federal fiscal year 2021 under the process described below, it will receive a waiver of the requirement for the non-federal share of earned compensation paid to students under the FWS Program and of FSEOG funds awarded to students for the 2021–22 Award Year. Federal Student Aid will send a notice to the financial aid administrator indicating that the waiver of the non-federal share matching requirement has been granted.

Institutions that receive the waiver may choose to continue to provide a non-federal share and to determine the amount of that share for one or both programs.

It is important to note that the 50% federal share limitation for FWS wages paid to students employed by a private, for-profit organization, and the 80% federal share limitation for the administration of the Job Location and Development (JLD) Program are not waived under the Title III or Title V designations.

Designation as an Eligible Institution for Title III or Title V Programs

OPE/IS uses an automated designation process by reviewing existing data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to assess eligibility for Title III and Title V programs.

A notice announcing the availability of the 2021 Application for Designation as an Eligible Institution and the application deadline has been published in the Federal Register.

Institutions must check their eligibility status by going to the “Application for Designation as an Eligible Institution” on the OPE/IS website (https://hepis.ed.gov/title3and5/).

Institutions that are determined to be eligible for a Title III or Title V program automatically receive the waiver of the non-federal share requirement for the Campus-Based Programs for the 2021–22 Award Year. No further action is required.

Institutions that are not designated as eligible for a Title III and Title V program must complete the “Application for Designation as an Eligible Institution” by the Monday, April 5, 2021 deadline stated in the Federal Register Notice if they wish to be considered for Title III or Title V eligibility and the resulting waiver of the non-federal share requirement for FWS and FSEOG.

Note: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and institutions with an active Title III or Title V grant (current throughout federal fiscal year 2021) automatically qualify for the waiver of the Campus-Based non-federal share requirement. These waivers are granted unless Federal Student Aid’s Grants and Campus-Based Programs Division receives information from OPE/IS that the institution has lost its grant funding and/or HBCU or TCCU status. Institutions with a current Title III or Title V grant should still check their eligibility should they wish to apply for an additional Title III or Title V grant in 2021.

Single Institutional Applications

To qualify for a Title III or Title V waiver of the FWS/FSEOG non-federal share requirement, any institution with a unique 6-digit OPEID (with a 2-digit extension of “00”) must submit its own annual Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP). Its FISAP cannot be submitted as part of an affiliated institution’s FISAP.

Eligibility for Title III and Title V programs is determined by OPE/IS at the location level (8-digit OPEID), while the Campus-Based funds are awarded at the main campus level (6-digit OPEID) only. The waiver of the non-federal share requirement is authorized for use only by campuses that have been designated by OPE as eligible to participate in the Title III or Title V program. The institutional match must be provided for any portion of an institution’s FSEOG and/or FWS funds expended at a main, location, or branch campus that has not been designated as Title III or Title V-eligible.

For branch campuses that are designated as Title III or Title V-eligible, but the main campus is not, you will need to work with the main campus on funding and claiming the waiver for the branch campus.

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