Maintained for Historical Purposes

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

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program - Payments to Students

AwardYear: 1997-1998
EnterChapterNo: 8
EnterChapterTitle: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program
SectionNumber: 2
SectionTitle: Payments to Students
PageNumbers: 7-9


MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AWARD AMOUNTS

[[Enrollment for less than an academic year]]
[[FSEOG for study abroad]]
A school may award a Federal Supplemental Educational
Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) in an amount the school determines a
student needs to continue his or her studies for an academic year. A
student's minimum allowable award for an academic year may be
reduced proportionately if the student is enrolled for less than an
academic year. An FSEOG may not be less than $100 and may not
exceed $4,000 for a full academic year unless the student has
reasonable costs of study abroad that exceed the cost of attendance at
the home school. The maximum amount of the FSEOG may be
increased from $4,000 to as much as $4,400 for a student
participating in a study-abroad program that is approved for credit by
the home school.

GENERAL DISBURSEMENT REQUIREMENTS

[[Revised cash management provisions--34 CFR 668.164]]
A school must disburse FSEOG funds to a student or the student's
school account in accordance with the revised cash management
regulations published in the Federal Register November 29, 1996
and effective July 1, 1997. The new cash management requirements
that apply specifically to the campus-based programs are discussed
in Chapter 5, Section 3. The new provisions that apply to all SFA
programs are discussed in detail in Chapter 3, Section 3.

If a student withdraws (officially or unofficially) or is expelled
before the first day of classes, the school must return to the FSEOG
account any funds that were paid to the student. A student who does
not begin class attendance is deemed to have withdrawn. If a student
drops out AFTER receiving his or her FSEOG but before the end of
the payment period, the school determines the amount of any refund
and repayment as discussed in Chapter 3, Section 4.

FREQUENCY OF DISBURSEMENTS

Beginning July 1, 1997, a school that is awarding an FSEOG for a
full academic year must advance a portion of the grant during each
payment period, EVEN IF IT DOES NOT USE STANDARD
ACADEMIC TERMS. Previously, a school was required to advance
a portion of an FSEOG during each payment period only if the
school used standard academic terms. A school that did not use
standard academic terms was required to advance funds at least twice
during the academic year--once at the beginning and once at the
midpoint. Thus, for the purpose of the frequency of FSEOG
disbursements, the standardization of disbursement rules across the
SFA programs represents no change for schools using standard
academic terms.

In general, to determine the amount of each disbursement, a school
will divide the total FSEOG award by the number of payment
periods the student will attend. The definition of payment period is in
34 CFR 668.4. For a school that measures progress in credit hours
and has academic terms, a payment period is defined as a term (a
semester, trimester, quarter, or nonstandard term). The definition of
payment period for a school that does not have academic terms or a
school that measures progress in clock hours is discussed in detail in
Chapter 3, Section 3.

A school may advance funds WITHIN a payment period in whatever
installments it determines will best meet the student's needs.
However, if the total amount awarded a student under the FSEOG
Program is less than $501 for an academic year, only one payment is
necessary.

UNEVEN COSTS/UNEQUAL DISBURSEMENTS

If the student incurs uneven costs or receives uneven resources
during the year and needs extra funds in a particular payment period,
a school may make unequal FSEOG disbursements. The school may
also make unequal disbursements under the Federal Perkins Loan
Program. For a discussion of uneven costs and unequal
disbursements, see Chapter 6, Section 2.

LATE DISBURSEMENTS

[[Late payment conditions--34 CFR 668.164(g)]]
Regulations regarding late disbursements of FSEOGs were removed
from 34 CFR 676.16(e), and revised regulations for late
disbursements of FSEOGs and Federal Perkins Loans are now in 34
CFR 668.164(g). See the Introduction to this chapter for an
explanation of the FSEOG late disbursement requirements.

FSEOG OVERAWARDS AND OVERPAYMENTS

To determine if a student has received an FSEOG overaward or
overpayment, a school must follow the procedures in 34 CFR 673.5.
(New Part 673 of 34 CFR, published in the Federal Register
November 27, 1996 and effective July 1, 1997, eliminates duplicate
provisions and consolidates common provisions of the campus-based
programs.) A list of resources and a discussion of overawards and
overpayments are included in Chapter 5, Section 2, "Resources and
Overawards."

COORDINATION WITH BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
GRANTS

To determine the amount of an FSEOG for a student who is also
eligible for an educational grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA), a school must coordinate the awards according to the
provisions of 34 CFR 673.6, discussed in Chapter 5, Section 2,
"Resources and Overawards."