Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

Campus-Based Programs: Common Elements - Fiscal Procedures and Record Requirements

AwardYear: 1996-97
EnterChapterNo: 5
EnterChapterTitle: Campus-Based Programs: Common Elements
SectionNumber: 3
SectionTitle: Fiscal Procedures and Record Requirements
PageNumbers: 17-21



For information on general fiscal procedures and records
requirements for all Student Financial Assistance (SFA) Programs,
refer to Section 2 of Chapter 3, the current edition of the Blue Book,
and 34CFR 668. Additional fiscal procedures required for each
campus-based program are discussed in the handbook chapter
covering that program.

FISCAL OPERATIONS REPORT

As discussed in the introduction to this chapter, a school must submit
an application (Fiscal Operations Report and Application to
Participate [FISAP]) for each award year to receive federal funds
under the campus-based programs. The school uses the Fiscal
Operations Report portion of the FISAP to report its expenditures
under the campus-based programs in the previous award year.

Each July, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) distributes the
electronic FISAP packages and instructions for schools to use in
applying for funds for the subsequent award year and in reporting
expenditures for the previous award year. Materials essential for the
preparation and submission of the 1994-95 Fiscal Operations Report
and 1996-97 Application to Participate were distributed to schools in
"Dear Colleague" letter CB-95-11, dated July 1995. Schools that sent
the FISAP to ED by the September 29, 1995 deadline received their
tentative 1996-97 funding notifications in the "Dear Colleague" letter
CB-96-3, dated February 1996. Final 1996-97 funding notifications
will be sent to schools later in 1996.

ED will distribute electronic FISAP packages to schools in July 1996
to be completed by schools applying for funds for the 1997-98 award
year. Proposed new data collection requirements for the 1997-98
Application to Participate were discussed in "Dear Colleague" letter
CB-96-4, dated February 1996. All schools are required to file the
FISAP data through the electronic FISAP process (that is, by mailing
diskettes, transmitting data by modem, or mailing a magnetic tape).

[[Questions about the FISAP]]
Questions concerning the preparation of the FISAP should be
referred to the appropriate campus-based state representative under
ED’s Student Financial Assistance Programs, Accounting and
Financial Management Service, Institutional Financial Management
Division. The representatives and their telephone numbers are listed
in Chapter 1, Section 2, of this handbook. Questions about the data
entry or submission of a FISAP should be referred to an Electronic
FISAP Administrator on 301-565-0032 or 202-708-6726.

CAMPUS-BASED PROGRAM RECORDS

[[Types of records the school must keep]]
A school must keep financial records that reflect all campus-based
program transactions and must keep all records supporting the
school’s application for campus-based funds. This documentation
includes the applications and records of all students who applied for
campus-based assistance for a specific award year and were included
on the school’s FISAP for that award year. The school must also
retain applications and records of students who applied for but did
not receive aid either because the school had no more funds to award
or because the school determined that the student did not need funds.
The school must keep general ledger control accounts and related
accounts that identify each program transaction and separate those
transactions from other institutional financial activity.

[[Period for record retention]]
Generally, a school must keep records pertaining to a specific award
year for three years after submitting the FISAP for that award year.
There are two exceptions: one for loan records and one for records of
expenditures questioned in audits or program reviews. Repayment
records for Federal Perkins Loans, National Direct Student Loans
(NDSLs), and Defense Loans (including cancellation and deferment
requests) must be kept for at least three years from the date on which
ED accepts the assignment of the loan, the loan is canceled, or the
loan is repaid. Records questioned in an audit or program review
must be kept until the questions are resolved.

[[Storage of records]]
A school must keep the original signed promissory note and signed
repayment schedule for a Perkins Loan, NDSL, or Defense Loan in a
locked fireproof container until the loan is repaid or until the school
needs the originals in order to enforce collection of the loan. (See
Chapter 6, Section 2.) A school may substitute records on
microforms, optical disk, or other comparable imaging technology
for original records (other than promissory notes and repayment
schedules), or it may keep its records in computer format. If a school
chooses the computer format, it must keep the source documents
supporting the computer input in hard copy, microforms, optical
disk, or other comparable imaging technology. If a loan is assigned
to ED, the school must send the original promissory note or a
certified copy of the note, as well as a copy of the original deferment
or cancellation form(s). The school may not send computer-
generated form(s) or microform(s).

[[All campus-based programs]]
Records for all campus-based programs must

- be reconciled at least monthly (this applies to fiscal information
only);

- identify each student’s account and its status--amounts awarded,
disbursed, etc.;

- show the eligibility of each student who received campus-based
funds; and

- show the amount of each student’s need and how it was met.

[[Perkins Loan records]]
The school’s records for the Federal Perkins Loan Program must also
include a repayment history for each borrower, containing

- the date and amount of each repayment during the life of the loan;

- the amount of each repayment credited to principal, interest,
collection costs, and either penalty or late charges;

- the date, nature, and result of each contact with the borrower (or
endorser for loans made prior to July 23, 1992) in the collection of
an overdue loan; and

- copies of all correspondence to or from the borrower (and
endorser for loans made prior to July 23, 1992), except for bills,
routine overdue notices, and routine form letters (demand letters,
notices of intent to accelerate, and the like are not considered to be
routine form letters).

[[FWS records]]
Under FWS, records must also include

- a payroll voucher with sufficient information to support all payroll
disbursements (see Chapter 7, Section 3);

- a non-cash contribution record if a school paid its share of a
student’s earnings in the form of services and equipment (see
"Non-Federal Share" in Chapter 7, Section 5); and

- a certification, signed by the student’s supervisor (an official of
the school or off-campus agency), that the student has worked and
has earned the amount being paid. (For students paid on an hourly
basis, the certification must include or be supported by a time
record showing the hours worked in clock-time sequence or the
total hours worked per day.)

Administrative Cost Allowance

[[Expenses that may be covered by the allowance]]
A school participating in the campus-based programs is entitled to an
allowance to help offset administrative costs, such as salaries,
furniture, travel, supplies, and equipment. The allowance can also be
used for service fees that banks charge for maintaining accounts.
Computer costs associated with Perkins Loan billing may also be
paid from this allowance. Schools may use the allowance to help pay
the costs of administering not only the campus-based programs but
the Federal Pell Grant Program as well. Administrative costs also
cover expenses for carrying out the student consumer information
services requirements. A school may use up to 10% of the
administrative cost allowance attributable to the school’s FWS
Program expenditures to offset expenses incurred for its community
service program.

Each school’s administrative cost allowance is based on its
expenditures for all three programs, EXCLUDING the amount of
Perkins Loans assigned to ED. The school calculates the total
administrative cost allowance for the campus-based programs in Part
VI of the FISAP by adding the following:

5% of the first $2,750,000 of a school’s expenditures
under the campus-based programs
+
4% of expenditures greater than $2,750,000 but less
than $5,500,000 under the campus-based programs
+
3% of expenditures greater than $5,500,000 under
the campus-based programs

[[Calculating the administrative cost allowance]]
When a school calculates its administrative cost allowance for the
1996-97 award year, the school is to include in its calculation the full
amount of its FSEOG awards--both the 75% federal share and the
required 25% non-federal share. However, a school that chooses to
provide more than a 25% institutional share to FSEOG recipients
may not include an FSEOG institutional share in excess of 25% in its
FISAP or in the calculation of its administrative cost allowance. If
ED has granted a school a waiver of its required institutional share
for the FSEOG Program or the FWS Program, that school’s
administrative cost allowance may be calculated only on the full
federal portion of its awards for those programs.

[[Source of administrative cost]]
The school takes the administrative cost allowance out of the annual
authorizations the school receives for the FSEOG and FWS programs
and from the available cash on hand in its Perkins Loan fund. It is
not a separate allowance sent to the school. A school may draw its
allowance from any combination of campus-based programs, or it
may take the total allowance from only one program provided there
are sufficient funds in that program. However, a school may not
draw any part of its allowance from a campus-based program unless
the school has disbursed funds to students from that program during
the award year.

If a school charges any administrative cost allowance against its
Perkins Loan fund, it must charge these costs during the same award
year in which the expenditures for these costs were made.