| AwardYear: 1995-1996 EnterChapterNo: 8 EnterChapterTitle: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program SectionNumber: 1 SectionTitle: Selecting Eligible Recipients PageNumbers: 3-6 GENERAL FSEOG ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS To receive an FSEOG, a student must meet the applicable eligibility requirements listed in Chapter Two, Section One Student Eligibility. In addition, an eligible recipient must be an undergraduate student and must have financial need. [[FSEOG undergraduate student definition]] An undergraduate student is defined under the FSEOG Program as a student enrolled in an undergraduate course of study at an institution of higher education who-- - has not earned a bachelor's degree or first professional degree; and - is in an undergraduate course of study that usually does not exceed 4 academic years, or is enrolled in a 4 to 5 academic year program designed to lead to a first degree. A student enrolled in a program of any other length is considered an undergraduate student for only the first 4 academic years of that program. [[No FSEOG for additional undergraduate degree]] Persons who have earned a bachelor's or first professional degree are NOT eligible to receive an FSEOG to pursue an ADDITIONAL undergraduate degree,*1* based on the above definition of undergraduate student, which is found in Section 676.2 of the FSEOG regulations. [[Make FSEOGs reasonably available]] A school must make FSEOG funds reasonably available (to the extent of available funds) to all eligible students. This requirement is contained in Article VI of the Program Participation Agreement between ED and the school. PRIORITY ORDER FOR FSEOG AWARDS [[First, award those with lowest EFCs who are eligible for Pell Grants]] In determining the priority order in which students will be awarded FSEOG funds in any given award year, a school must first, choose those students with exceptional financial need-that is, those with the lowest EFCs who will also receive Federal Pell Grants in that award year. We will refer to this group of students as the "first selection group." [[Next, award to others with lowest EFCs]] If the school has FSEOG funds remaining after awarding FSEOG funds to all of its eligible Federal Pell Grant recipients in order of lowest EFCs, the school must next award FSEOG funds to those eligible students with the lowest EFCs who will not receive Federal Pell Grants in that award year. We will refer to this group of students as the "second selection group." FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY Students who "will also receive a Federal Pell Grant in that award year" means students who have demonstrated Federal Pell Grant eligibility for the same award year based upon- - a SAR submitted to the school by the student; - an electronic SAR received by the school from the central processing system; or - a manual calculation. The school must keep the appropriate Federal Pell Grant eligibility information on file. If the school determines a student's Federal Pell Grant eligibility by one of the above methods and awards an FSEOG based on that determination, but the FSEOG recipient does not actually receive a Federal Pell Grant during the award year, the school is not required to recover the FSEOG funds, as it relied on the demonstrated eligibility in good faith. [[If payment period crosses July 1]] In awarding FSEOGs to students who are enrolled in a payment period that crosses over July 1 of any year, the school may (FOR THAT PAYMENT PERIOD ONLY) include in the first selection group those students with the lowest EFCs who will also receive Federal Pell Grants in that PAYMENT PERIOD, regardless of the award year to which it is attributed. (Refer to "Dear Colleague" letter CB-91-8, distributed in May 1991.) "Payment period" is defined as a semester, trimester, or quarter; for a school not using those academic periods, it is the period between the beginning and the midpoint or between the midpoint and the end of an academic year. [[The graphic "Awarding FSEOGs" on page 8-5 is currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] LESS-THAN-FULL-TIME AND INDEPENDENT STUDENTS [[Final Rule 11-30-94]] A school must offer at least 5 percent of its FSEOG allocation to less-than-full-time and independent students if the school's FSEOG Program allocation is directly or indirectly based in part on the financial need of these students and if the financial need of all such students exceeds 5 percent of the total financial need of all students at the school (this provision is in Section 676.10(b) of the November 30, 1994 Final Rule). Additional information is in Chapter Five, Section One. Determination of whether a school must offer at least 5 percent of its 1995-96 allocation to these students is based on eligible aid applicant data filed for the 1993-94 award year. For subsequent award year allocations, determinations will be governed by data filed for the second preceding award year. This provision is not applicable for FSEOG if the school received an FSEOG allocation of $5,000 or less. A school cannot exclude less than half-time students from its definition of less than full-time students. MAKING FSEOGs AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR [[Written selection procedures]] A school must develop written selection procedures to ensure that FSEOG recipients are selected on the basis of the lowest EFC and Pell Grant priority requirements over the entire award year in accordance with the selection provisions found in Section 676.10 of the regulations. For an institution that enrolls students as often as monthly or weekly, FSEOG funds can be reserved for use throughout that award year (on the basis of institutional experiences from previous periods) and selection practices can be applied in a manner that would assure a reasonable consistency over the entire award year. ESTABLISHING CATEGORIES OF STUDENTS [[Categorization may not be used to exclude students]] The procedure of establishing categories of students to be considered for FSEOG awards is within the institution's purview as a means of administering its packaging policies. Categories may be based on class standing, enrollment, program, date of application, or a combination of factors. By establishing these categories, the school would be attempting to ensure that the students in each category have an opportunity to be awarded FSEOG funds. The percentage or dollar amount of funds assigned to each category is also within the school's purview; there is no requirement to make that amount proportional to the need of students in a particular category or even to the number of students in the category. However, categorization may not be used to exclude certain students or groups of students from consideration. If the school knows that its funds are so limited as to effectively exclude from consideration year after year categories that come later in the sequence, the school may not be in compliance with the "reasonably available" provision. (This principal would not apply to a category made up of students whose applications are received after a specific deadline; there is no requirement to reserve funds for late applicants, although the school is not precluded from doing so.) [[EFC cutoffs or professional judgment not appropriate for selecting FSEOG recipients]] A school would not be in compliance with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, and the FSEOG regulations were it to award FSEOGs on a first-come, first-serve basis or arbitrarily to set expected EFC benchmarks (cutoffs) from below which it would select FSEOG recipients. Such a practice might exclude otherwise eligible students from the selection process. Furthermore, professional judgment is not an appropriate means of attempting to resolve the indicated circumstance; professional judgment is applicable only to making an adjustment or adjustments to an expected EFC or to a cost of attendance amount, not as a means to circumvent the FSEOG selection policy. *1* Note that the definition of undergraduate student in the FSEOG regulations differs from the definition in the Federal Perkins Loan and FWS program regulations (see Sections 674.2 and 675.2 of the Final Rule published November 30, 1994). The definition of undergraduate student in the Federal Perkins Loan and FWS program regulations does permit persons with a bachelors or first professional degree to receive aid from those programs to pursue an additional undergraduate degree. |