Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Family Education Loan, William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan, Federal Pell Grant, and Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Programs

AGENCY:

Department of Education.

ACTION:

Notice; deadline and submission dates for receipt of applications, reports, and other documents for the 2000-2001 award year.

SUMMARY:

The Secretary announces the deadline and submission dates for receiving documents from persons applying for assistance under the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study (FWS), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan), Federal Pell Grant, and Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) programs for the 2000-2001 award year.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Federal Perkins Loan, FWS, FSEOG, FFEL, Direct Loan, Federal Pell Grant, and LEAP programs, administered by the U.S. Department of Education (Department), provide assistance to students attending eligible institutions of higher education to help them pay for their educational costs.

The following table provides the earliest submission and deadline dates for submitting Federal Pell Grant Disbursement Records to the Department's Recipient Financial Management System (RFMS). The 2000-2001 award year is the second year of RFMS. A disbursement record: (1) reports a disbursement or expected disbursement for each student, and (2) requests funds for those institutions that participate in the Just-in-Time payment method pilot. The “regular” disbursement record includes an origination record unique identifier and the amount and date of the disbursement. RFMS uses totals of the accepted disbursement record data in the funding process as either the basis for adjusting an institution's authorization level or as a request for funds. An institution may submit a disbursement record earlier than the reported disbursement date in the record. The Department considers a disbursement of Federal Pell Grant funds to have occurred on the earlier of the date that the institution: (a) credits a student's account at the institution's general ledger or any subledger of the general ledger, or (b) pays a student directly with funds received from the Department. The Department considers a disbursement to have occurred even if institutional funds are used in advance of receiving the program funds from the Department (34 CFR ?? 668.164(a)).

Table B provides the earliest date an institution can submit a disbursement record to the Department. Any disbursement record received prior to the earliest submission date is rejected. Table B also includes the latest date an institution may submit a disbursement record. The Department may impose an adverse action such as a fine or other penalty for an institution's failure to submit a Federal Pell Grant disbursement record within the required 30-day timeframe. Also, failing to submit a disbursement record within the required 30-day timeframe may result in an audit or program review finding for an institution.

Proof of Delivery

The Department accepts as proof of delivery, if the documents were submitted by mail or by non-U.S. Postal Service courier, one of the following:

(1) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal Service.

(2) A legibly-dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.

Note:

The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before relying on this method of proof of mailing, check with the post office at which the submission was mailed. The Department strongly encourages the use of First Class Mail.

(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial courier.

(4) Other proof of mailing or delivery acceptable to the Secretary.

When submitting a written request for administrative relief, the Department accepts commercial couriers or hand deliveries between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday except Federal holidays. The address for hand deliveries is listed in Table B.

Other Sources for Detailed Information on the Application and Automated Processes

A more detailed discussion of the student application process for the Federal Pell Grant Program is contained in the 2000-2001 Student Guide, Funding Your Education, the 2000-2001 High School Counselor's Handbook, A Guide to 2000-2001 SARs and ISIRs, and the 2000-2001 Student Financial Aid Handbook. A more detailed discussion of the institutional reporting requirements for the Federal Pell Grant Program is contained in the Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook and the Information for Financial Aid Professionals web site at http://www.ifap.ed.gov.

Applicable Regulations

The following regulations apply: (1) Federal Pell Grant Program, 34 CFR part 690, (2) Student Assistance General Provisions, 34 CFR part 668, and (3) Institutional Eligibility, 34 CFR part 600.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jacquelyn C. Butler, Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Student Financial Assistance Programs, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW (ROB-3, Room 3045), Washington, DC 20202-5447. Telephone: (202) 708-8242. Individuals who use a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on request to Katie Mincey, Director of Alternate Format Center, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW (Switzer Bldg., Room 1000), Washington, DC 20202-4560. Telephone: (202) 260-9895.

Electronic Access to This Document

You may view this document in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://ifap.ed.gov/csb_html/fedlreg.htm

To use the PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the first of the previous sites. If you have questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC area, at (202) 512-1530.

Note:

The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the code of Federal Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 421-429, 1070a, 1070b-1070b-3, 1070c-1070c-4, 1071-1087-2, 1087a, and 1087aa-1087ii; 42 U.S.C. 2751-2756b.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers: 84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program; 84.032 Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Programs; 84.033 Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program; 84.038 Federal Perkins (Perkins) Loans; 84.063) Federal Pell Grant (Pell) Program; 84.069 Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program; and 84.268 William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Programs)