Session #5 Operational Update: ACG and National SMART Grant Sue O’Flaherty Kathleen Wicks.

1

Session #5

Operational Update:ACG and National SMART Grant

Sue O’FlahertyKathleen Wicks

2

• ACG, National SMART Grant History

• School, Student Eligibility Overview

• Funding

• Updates

• Operational Concerns

• Resources

Session Agenda

3

Higher Education Reconciliation Act (2005)

ACG, National SMART Grant History

4

Program Similarities

Student Eligibility

U.S. Citizen Only –Eligible Non-Citizens Do Not Qualify

Pell Grant Recipient During Same Award Year

Full-time Enrollment for Payment Period

Enrolled in Degree Program

Progression by Student Academic Year

Only One Scheduled Award for Each Academic Year

Level

5

Program Differences

ACGNational SMART

Grant

1st & 2nd academic years of a two or four-year degree program

3rd & 4th academic years of a four-year degree program

Requires completion of rigorous secondary school program of study

Requires student to be in a eligible major

1st Academic Year - $ 7502nd Academic Year - $1,300

3rd Academic Year - $4,0004th Academic Year - $4,000

GPA of at least 3.0 as of the end of 1st academic year only

GPA of at least 3.0 at each disbursement

6

ACG: Eligibility Reason Code

ACG Reason Code

2006-2007

2007-2008

01: HS Programs 119,306 (38.8%)

38,327 (37.9%)

02: AP/IB 13,370 (4.4%) 4,725 (4.7%)

03:Coursework 174,509 (56.7%)

58,030 (57.4%)

Totals 307,545 101,082

7

ACG: Year in School

Year in School

2006-2007 2007-2008

00 131,782 (42.8%)

50,966 (50.4%)

01 102,341 (33.3%)

26,431 (26.1%)

02 73,422 (23.9%)

23,685 (23.4%)

Total 307,545 101,082

8

National SMART StatisticsCIP 2007 2008

01 - Agriculture 1,611 1,26711 – Computer Science 10,293 5,06814 -Engineering 13,600 8,96515 -Technology 3,104 1,73516 – Foreign Language 632 30726 – Life Sciences 22,782 14,43427 - Mathematics 4,334 2,51729 – Military Technologies 1 130 – Multi/Interdisciplinary 1,753 92040 – Physical Science 6,201 3,99141 – Science technologies 134 9003 – Natural Resources &42 – Psychology --- 247

9

National SMART: Year in School

Year in school

2006-2007 2007-2008

03 28,281 (44.3%) 7,338 (42.6%)

04 35,612 (55.7%) 9,901 (57.4%)

Total 63,893 17,239

10


• Institution & Student Eligibility

• Funding

• Eligibility

• Updates

• Operational Issues

• Resources

Session Agenda

11

Institutional Participation• All schools that participate in Pell Grants

and offer an eligible educational program must participate in ACG and National SMART Grants

• No new Program Participation Agreement (PPA)

• Must review self-identified applicants

12

• ACG Self-Identification results from the CPS are sent to school on the student’s financial record.

• A special flat file is sent to the schools containing ACG self-identification responses.

• Student Specific information is available using FAA Access.

Institutional ParticipationReviewing Self-Identified Applicants

13

Institutional Eligibility

• For 2006-2007:–Approximately 5400 schools participate in Pell

–3350 Are eligible for ACG•2603 Have reported to COD

14

Institutional Eligibility

For 2006-2007• 1944 are eligible for both ACG

and National SMART-1348 Have reported to COD

15

Institutional Eligibility• Offers a 2 or 4 year degree program• Program length in COD System

– 5,6,7,8 for ACG– 6,7,8 for National SMART

• See School Information, “General” page at COD Web site (cod.ed.gov)

16

Institutional Eligibility• Based on school program information as

reported in the Application for Approval to Participate in Federal Student Financial Aid Programs (See eligcert.ed.gov)

• COD Edit 48 “School is Ineligible” returned on student disbursement if school is ineligible

• No edit on student program length

17

• Student may not receive ACG or National SMART Grant concurrently from more than one school.

• Student must receive ACG (or National SMART Grant) and Pell Grant from the same award year

• For ACG:– HS graduation after 1/1/06 (ACG Level 1)– HS graduation after 1/1/05 (ACG Level 2)

Student EligibilityAdditional Criteria

18

Transfer Student Eligibility

• ACG/National SMART Programs require award information from previously attended schools to properly award transfer students.– Calculation for eligibility used– Where to obtain necessary

information

19

Beginning in March 2008, Eligibility Used (EU) and Total Eligibility Used (TEU) will be calculated differently for ACG and National SMART Grant

• Award Year for Pell• Academic Year Level for ACG

and National SMART

Determining Transfer EligibilityEligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used

20

Determining Transfer EligibilityEligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used

EU% = 100% × Sum of Actual Disbursements of Award ÷ Scheduled Award Amount*

TEU% = Sum of all EU%’s at each applicable Academic Year Level** Across Award Years and Schools

* Scheduled Award Amount is the maximum award amount by Academic Year Level and Award Year

** The COD System considers Academic Year Levels 0 and 1 to be the same when calculating TEU %

21

Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility UsedExample 1

A student in Academic Year Level 3 is awarded an 07-08 SMART grant for $3000, $1250 in actual disbursements.

EU% = 100% × ($1250 ÷ $4000) = 31.2500%

Grade Level

Award Year

Award Amount

Anticipated Disb Amount

Actual Disb Amount

Scheduled Award Amt

Eligibility Used

3 2008 3000 1000 1250 4000 31.2500%

Total Eligibility Used (Sum of all EU's) – Academic Year Level 3 31.2500%

22

Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility UsedExample 2A Student in Academic Year Level 4 is awarded an 07-08 SMART grant. However the student’s second disbursement would have caused his actual disbursements to exceed his award amount so the disbursement is rejected with Edit 137.

Award Number

Disb Number

Academic Year Level

Award Year

Award Amount

Actual Disb

AmountScheduled Award Amt

Eligibility Used

001 1 4 2008 4000 1050 4000 26.2500%

001 2 4 2008 4000 3000 4000 N/A


The student’s second disbursement would cause EU to equal EU% = 100% × [($1050 + $3000) ÷ $4000] = 101.2500%

23

Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility UsedExample 3

A student has 4 ACG Awards for Academic Year Levels 1 and 2 in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 Award Years. Suppose the Scheduled Grant Amount for ACG is increased 50% from $750 to $1125 for Academic Year Level 1 and from $1300 to $1950 for Academic Year Level 2.

AwardAttended School

Academic Year Level

Award Year

Award Amount

Disbursement Amount

Scheduled Award Amt

Eligibility Used

1 A 1 2008 500 125 750 16.6666%

2 A 1 2009 1125 500 1125 44.4444%

3 B 1 2008 200 200 750 26.6666%

4 B 2 2009 1300 1250 1950 64.1025%



24

Determining Transfer Eligibility

• Now that you know the calculation….. Where can you obtain the information you need?– ISIR– COD to NSLDS– COD

25

Determining Transfer EligibilityISIR Record

• NSLDS Data Elements added/changed for ACG and National SMART Grant

• Scheduled Award• % Eligibility Used by Scheduled Award • Total % Eligibility Used by Academic Year Level• Award Year• “School Year” label changed to “Academic Year

Level”

26

Determining Transfer Eligibility – COD to NSLDS

• Award Year• OPEID• Transaction Number• Award Amount• Amount Paid to Date• Date Posted to COD• Academic Year Level• Award ID

27

Determining Transfer Eligibility – COD to NSLDS

• ACG Eligible Payment Reason Code• ACG High School Program Code• Major CIP Code• Scheduled Award• Percent Eligibility Used• Total Eligibility Used

28

Determining Transfer EligibilityNSLDS

29

Transfer Student Monitoring• NSLDS will monitor changes made by

other institutions to ACG/National SMART Grants and alert the informing school.

• Monitoring is across award years• Changes made to any one of the following

will trigger an alert:• Award Amount• Amount Paid to date (Disbursement

Amount)• Latest Disbursement Date

30

Transfer Student Monitoring

• The alert process continues to send schools an alert email notification and the alert data via Web only or Web and Batch. Schools designate the alert method on the School Transfer Profile page setup.

31

Determining Transfer EligibilityCOD Website

32

COD Web: Person Information Webpage

Total Percent Eligibility Used (Across all Schools, Award Years)

Percent Eligibility Used

Scheduled Award Amount

Academic Year Level

33



• Funding

• Updates


• Resources

Session Agenda

34

Total Amount Disbursed

As of October 26, 2007

Funding: 2006-2007

ACG $ 242,075,172

SMART $ 205,583,662

35

Funding Authorization• ACG & National SMART Grant

– NO initial authorization– Funding driven by student disbursement

records

• When to submit ACG & National SMART Grant records:– 7 Days in advance of disbursement date– 7 days before COD sends funding transaction to

GAPS

• No Just-In-Time or Pushed Cash methods

36

Reconciliation & Closeout• For Award Year 2007-2008, Schools

SHOULD be reconciled by September 30, 2008

• Must closeout within…– Pell: Five Years– ACG, SMART: Four Years

37

Post-Deadline Processing• For Award Year 2007-2008:

– Occurs After September 30, 2008

• Schools request on the Web

• Request only when you are ready to submit

• Granted only for unusual circumstances

38

Underlying Pell Grant Requirement

• If student has an ACG or National SMART Grant and is not a Pell recipient, the student will lose the ACG/National SMART Grant

• A special deobligation job will be run beginning in Spring 2008

39



• Funding

• Updates


• Resources

Session Agenda

40

For 2007-2008:• Rigorous Secondary Programs of Study, and

Eligible Majors

Beginning March 2008:• Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used for ACG,

National SMART Grant

• Reports

Operational Updates

41

New High School Program Codes: 2007-2008

Program State Code

High Schools That Work Award of Educational Achievement

Kentucky KY0003

Minnesota Dual Credit Program Minnesota MN0002

Missouri Show Me Scholars Missouri MO6001

New Hampshire Granite State Scholars New Hampshire NH6001

South Carolina Dual Enrollment Program South Carolina SC0004

South Dakota Scholars South Dakota SD6001

Wyoming State Scholars Wyoming WY6001

42

New Eligible Majors: 2007-200801.1001 Food Science01.1002 Food Technology and Processing03.0104 Environmental Science03.0301 Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and

Management03.0502 Forest Sciences and Biology03.0509 Wood Science and Wood Products/Pulp

and Paper Technology

03.0601 Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management

30.1001 Biopsychology30.1901 Nutrition Sciences42.1101 Physiological Psychology/Psychobiology

43

Eligibility Used, Total Eligibility Used• Beginning March 2008, COD will calculate EU

and TEU (for all award years).

• For ACG and National SMART Grant programs, COD will send, via daily outbound NSLDS file:• Percent Eligibility Used at this School• Total Percent of Eligibility Used• Scheduled Award Amount

44

Reporting Impacts• Changes in field names and record lengths will

impact the following reports for ACG & National SMART Grant:– Multiple Reporting Records– Year-To-Date (Origination)– Year-To-Date (Disbursement)

• Field position details can be found in the 2008-2009 COD Technical Reference

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/cod/0809CODTechRef.html


45



• Funding

• Updates


• Resources

Session Agenda

46

Citizenship• The inclusion of a Citizenship Status Code in the

Person Block is optional– If no Citizenship Status Code is provided in the

Person Block, COD will pull the value from CPS

• Documentation– Citizenship Status Code must be included if it

differs from the value on CPS. For example, if school has accepted documentation that student is a U.S. Citizen AND the CPS contains a different code, school must report a code of “1” in the citizenship status field.

47

Grade Level Edits

• Pulling Grade Level from FAFSA

• Must deliberately report grade level!

Program Grade Level

ACG 0, 1, 2

National SMART Grant 3, 4

48

Edit Statistics: 2006-2007: Both Programs

Edit Error Message ACG Hits SMART Hits

014 Citizenship Status is not eligible for this award 8,513 3,638

041 Changed Award Amount Is Less Than Total Disbursements

1,690 1,487

048 School is Ineligible 5,172 1,457

051 Disbursement Date With Payment Trigger Set to True Outside of Allowable Window

3,111 486

123 Incorrect Student Level for ACG/National SMART Grant Awards

7,744 9,653

994 Missing Value 29,141 8,843

Total Error Messages for Program for 2006-2007 1,445,855 382,274

Data accurate as of 9/11/2007.

49

Edits 56, 58

Preventable - for the most part!

Edit Block MessageAward Type

Affected

056 Disbursement Sequence Number Not In Sequential Order All

058 Disbursement Duplicate Disbursement Information On File All

50

Edits 56, 58

51

ACG Edit Statistics: 2006-2007

Edit Error Message ACG Hits

127 Missing Rigorous High School Program Code 16,570

129 Invalid Rigorous High School Program Code 7,167

130 Award Amount Exceeds Maximum Scheduled Award for ACG 20,933

135 Disbursement exceeds scheduled award for ACG at your school 7,273

Total Error Messages for Program for 2006-2007 1,445,855


52

SMART Edit Statistics: 2006-2007


Edit Error Message SMART Hits

131 Incorrect CIP Value 10,714

132 Award Amount Exceeds Maximum Scheduled Award for National SMART grant

5,187

137 Disbursement exceeds scheduled award for National SMART grant at your school

6,496

Total Error Messages for Program for 2006-2007 382,274

53

Edit StatisticsPOP Edits for 2006-2007

Edit Message Hits

134 Disbursement exceeds scheduled award at all schools for ACG during the same or multiple award years

1793

136 Disbursement exceeds scheduled award at all schools for National SMART Grant during the same or multiple award years

136

54

Award ID

Field Name

SSN Award TypeAward Year

Pell IDAward

Number

Example 123456789 A 09 999999 001

Valid Values

9 digitsA for ACG

T for SMART2 digits 6 digits 3 digits

123456789A09999999001

55



• Funding

• Updates


• Resources

Session Agenda

56

Resources• COD Technical Reference


• Webinarshttp://ifap.ed.gov/IFAPWebApp/currentCPresentationsYearPag.jsp?p1=Additional+FSA+Presentations&p2=c

• COD Computer-Based TrainingNow available!



http://ifap.ed.gov/IFAPWebApp/currentCPresentationsYearPag.jsp?p1=Additional+FSA+Presentations&p2=c



57

Related COD Sessions

58

59

Contact InformationSue O’Flaherty

Senior Advisor, Program Operations Channelsue.o’[email protected](202) 377-3393

Kathleen WicksDirector, Grant [email protected](202) 377-3110

mailto:sue.o%E2%80%[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Session #5 Operational Update: ACG and National SMART Grant Sue O’Flaherty Kathleen Wicks.

Documents