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 EDs 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 schools 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 schools 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 students 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 students need and how it was met. [[Perkins Loan records]] The schools 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 students earnings in the form of services and equipment (see "Non-Federal Share" in Chapter 7, Section 5); and - a certification, signed by the students 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 schools FWS Program expenditures to offset expenses incurred for its community service program. Each schools 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 schools 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 schools 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. |