| AwardYear: 1995-1996 EnterChapterNo: 5 EnterChapterTitle: Campus-Based Programs SectionNumber: 3 SectionTitle: Fiscal Procedures and Records Requirements PageNumbers: 17-21 For information on general fiscal procedures and records requirements for all SFA programs, refer to Section Two of Chapter Three, the current edition of the "Blue Book," and the General Provisions Final Rule published in the Federal Register on December 1, 1994. Additional fiscal procedures required for each campus-based program are discussed in the chapter of this handbook covering that program. FISCAL OPERATIONS REPORT [[School must apply for funds on FISAP]] 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. [[FISAP data must be filed by electronic method]] ED distributes in July each year 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 1993-94 Fiscal Operations Report and 1995-96 Application to Participate were distributed to schools in "Dear Colleague" letter CB-94-15, dated July 1994. Schools that sent the FISAP to ED by the October 1, 1994 deadline received their tentative 1995-96 funding notifications in the "Dear Colleague" letter CB-95-1, dated January 1995. Final 1995-96 funding notifications will be sent to schools in March 1995. ED will distribute electronic FISAP packages to schools in July 1995 to be completed by schools applying for funds for the 1996-97 award year. Proposed new data collection requirements for the 1996-97 Application to Participate were discussed in the "Dear Colleague" letter CB-95-2 dated January 1995. All schools are required to file the FISAP data through the electronic FISAP process (i.e., by mailing diskettes, transmitting data by modem, or mailing a magnetic tape). [[Refer FISAP questions to ED]] Questions concerning the preparation of the FISAP should be referred to ED's Student Financial Assistance Programs, Accounting and Financial Management Service, Institutional Financial Management Division, to the appropriate campus-based state representative. The representatives and their telephone numbers are listed in Chapter One, Section One, 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 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. This also includes students who applied for but did not receive aid, either because the school had no more funds to award or 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 5 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 and Direct/Defense loans (including cancellation and deferment requests) must be kept for at least 5 years from the date on which the loan is assigned to ED, canceled, or 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 Federal Perkins, Direct, or Defense loan in a locked fireproof container until the loan is repaid or until the originals are needed in order to enforce collection of the loan (see Chapter Six, Section Two). A school may substitute microform copies 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 either in hard copy or in microforms. 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), not computer-generated form(s) or microform(s). [[Procedures for all campus-based program records]] 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. [[Repayment history]] 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). [[Federal Work-Study records]] Under FWS, records must also include-- - a certification, signed by the student's supervisor (an official of the school or off-campus agency), that a student has worked and has earned the amount being paid; - a payroll voucher with sufficient information to support all payroll disbursements (see Chapter Seven, Section Three); and - 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 Seven, Section Five). ADMINISTRATIVE COST ALLOWANCE [[Allowance to offset administrative costs]] Schools participating in the campus-based programs are 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 Federal 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 percent of the administrative cost allowance attributable to the school's FWS Program expenditures to offset expenses incurred for its community service program. [[Allowance based on campus-based expenditures]] Each school's administrative cost allowance is based on its expenditures for all three programs, EXCLUDING the amount of Federal 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 percent of the first $2,750,000 of a school's expenditures under the campus-based programs + 4 percent of expenditures greater than $2,750,000 but less than $5,500,000 under the campus-based programs + 3 percent of expenditures greater than $5,500,000 under the campus-based programs [[Limitation on FSEOG Administrative Cost Allowance]] When a school calculates its administrative cost allowance for the 1995-96 award year, the school is to include in its calculation the full amount of its FSEOG awards-both the 75 percent federal share and the required 25 percent non-federal share. However, a school that chooses to provide more than a 25 percent institutional share to FSEOG recipients may not include an FSEOG institutional share in excess of 25 percent in its FISAP or in the calculation of its administrative cost allowance. If a school has been granted by ED a waiver of its required institutional share for the FSEOG or 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 the Federal 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 it has disbursed funds to students from that program during the award year. |