Frank O’Bannon and 21st Century ScholarsFile Layouts

Indiana Commission for Higher EducationDivision of Student Financial Aid

May 1, 2014

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Summary of Presentation

• This presentation will briefly review the completion (COMP), Notification (NOTF), and Reconciliation (RCEN) file layouts and answer some frequently asked questions about these files.

• Full text of the statute is available at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/laws/2014/ic/titles/021/articles/012/.

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Acceleration Incentive and On-Time Schedule

• In year one, each eligible student will receive the on-time award regardless of which year they enrolled in courses.

• After reviewing what was used in the projections given to the General Assembly, the Commission made the following change: – Renewing aid recipients are eligible to receive the on-time

and the acceleration incentive based on their enrollment date and how many credit hours they’ve earned by the end of each academic year.

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Acceleration Incentive During AY 2014-15

• If the student enrolled in courses before the 2013-2014 academic year, the student is not eligible to receive the accelerated schedule incentive. The student started college before this incentive was available.

Example: 2012-2013 Student initially enrolls and earns 39 credit hours. 2013-2014 Student receives first year aid award and completes an additional

39 credit hours for a total of 78. 2014-2015 Student receives on-time second year award but is not eligible to

receive the accelerated incentive because of the initial enrollment date.

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On-Time vs. Full Time Schedule During AY 2014-15

• If the student enrolled in courses before the 2011-2012 academic year, the student is not eligible to receive the on-time award in 2014-15 regardless of which year of aid the student is receiving.

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Example 12010-2011 Student initially enrolls but does not receive aid. 2011-2012 Student does not receive aid. 2012-2013 Student does not receive aid. 2013-2014 Student receives aid for the first time. 2014-2015 Student is eligible to receive a second year aid award assuming he has completed at least 24 credit hours total. However, he will be in the full- time pool not the on-time award pool.

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Example 22012-2013 Student initially enrolls but does not receive aid.2013-2014 Student does not receive aid. 2014-2015 Student receives first year aid award and has completed 90 hours by the end of the window. 2015-2016 Student receives on-time award. He is in his fourth enrollment year and is on track to graduate on- time even though this is only his second year of

aid. In order to receive aid in the second year he only needed to have completed

24/30 hours but to receive the on-time aid award he has to have completed 90.

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Example 32013-2014 Student initially enrolls but does not receive aid. 2014-2015 Student receives first year award and has

completed 30 hours by the end of the window. 2015-2016 Student receives full-time award. He is in his third enrollment year but is not on track to graduate on-time. Student has met the requirement to

receive second year award but not on-time award.

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Completion File

CHE will provide to institution partners a COMP file containing 2013-2014 first-time state aid recipients’ records with empty HEA 1348 data fields, which institutions can update and return to CHE.

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Completion File• Credit Hours Earned Since Last Submission: 2013-14 credits earned, then

by term• Advanced Placement Credit Hours • Dual Credit Hours • Cumulative Hours Earned: AP, Dual, Transfers, Earned at your institution,…

etc.

The COMP file will no longer include the “Transfer Credit Hours” field.

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Completion File• Enrollment date: Date student initially enrolls in courses• Cumulative GPA• Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)• Accelerated Schedule: Student with enrollment date prior to 2013-14

should not be flagged “Y”• Term: not applicable for AY 2013-14, leave it “Blank”

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Completion File• The file allows adding records for student not included in CHE-

created fileExample: Year 1 - student attends CHE-eligible institution A; AwardYear 2 - student attends CHE-eligible institution B; no AwardYear 3 - student attends CHE-eligible institution A; Award

• Institution B must submit to CHE a COMP file containing a record which provides in the “Credit Hours Earned Since Last Submission” field the number of credit hours earned at Institution B during Year 2

Note: CHE will not verify whether or not Institution B submitted data

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Notification File

• Student Account Information– Student Account Total Amount – Including incentives– HEA/FOC/21st Component Amount – does not include the

incentives – National Guard Component Amount– Account year and Account Expiration Date– Aid Amount Type – Preliminary is an estimate – Incentives’ Flags

• COMP data elements• State Aid Usage Progress

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New vs. Grandfathered Aid Recipients• The NOTF file includes the “Initial State Aid Year”

– prior to 2013 use Grandfathered Menu– 2013+ use the New State Financial Aid Menu

Example 1:

Example 2:

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FAFSA Year

Institution Code

EFC Initial State Aid Year

Student Account Total Amount

HEA/FOC/21st Component Amount

National Guard Component Amount

Account Year

Account Expiration Date

Aid Amount Type

State Aid Usage Progress

Academic Honors for GPA Flag

Academic Honors or Technical Honors HS Diploma Flag

2014001807 400 2013 3700 2900   201406302015 A 100Y N

FAFSA Year

Institution Code

EFC Initial State Aid Year

Student Account Total Amount

HEA/FOC/21st Component Amount

National Guard Component Amount

Account Year

Account Expiration Date

Aid Amount Type

State Aid Usage Progress

Academic Honors for GPA Flag

Academic Honors or Technical Honors HS Diploma Flag

2014001807 400 2012 4000 3200   201406302015 A 200N Y

Notification File

• NOTF files might contain records with different account years where the Account balance will be greater than zero for both records.

• 2014 NOTF file will include: – 2013 Student Account Total Amount: a partial annual award to

complete the remainder of the 2013-2014 annual award - students who receive (and use) a state financial aid award for the first time in Spring 2014

– 2014 Student Account Total Amount: the new 2014-2015 annual award that the student will use starting in Spring 2015 (March 14, 2014 Memo)

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Example• John Smith received state financial aid award for the first time in Spring

2014. He attended a public institution –Annual Award $2,308 ($4,108 - $1800); the public institution does not submit a COMP file until July.– 2013 FAFSA

• In 2014-15, John Smith’s EFC is $1,600. Since his completion data is not available during the time 2014-15 awards are calculated (June), he will receive a Preliminary Award – Full time schedule of $1,400 from the grid.– 2014 FAFSA

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FAFSA Year

Institution Code

First Name

Last Name

Middle Initial

EFC Initial State Aid Year

Student Account Total Amount

HEA/FOC/21st Component Amount

Account Year

Account Expiration Date

Aid Amount Type

State Aid Usage Progress

Academic Honors for GPA Flag

Academic Honors or Technical Honors HS Diploma Flag

2013 001843 John Smith A 1800 2013 1154 2013 12312014 A N Y

2014 001843 John Smith A 1600 2013 1400 1400 2014 12312015 P 100 N N

State Aid Usage Progress• We are moving from the old eligibility tracking system of 48 units

to a new percentage system of a maximum of 400 (4 years)– 100 - Student has used one year of state aid– 200 - Student has used two years of state aid– 300 - Student has used three years of state aid– 400 - Student has used four years of state aid– Blank - Student has not used state aid

• There is exception to this rule: – Partial-year usage adjustments due to appeals – student who uses, for example, state

aid for one semester only and appeals– Students from the old system - A student who had accrued 28 Eligibility Units (two full

years plus one quarter or trimester) through 2013-2014 will begin 2014-2015 with a State Aid Usage Progress value of 233

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Partial Awards at the End of College

• There are two exceptions to the fact that the FOB award must be used for full-time students only:– The student does not have a full year left of SFA eligibility– The student is graduating, taking less than a full-time load in his or her

last semester

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Less Eligibility• The student may use the FOB grant in a part-time fashion.

SFA calculates the award offer in a reduced form, as follows: Annual Award*percentage of remaining eligibility.

Example: – The student has used 340 of state aid. His/her annual award, before

eligibility is applied, is $2,100– The student will receive: $2,100*60 percent = $1,260– The student has 12-month period to use his award; not to exceed 50% by

term unless it’s the student’s last term before graduating

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Graduating With Last Semester Part-Time• The Commission will allow the school to claim full award

up to the full tuition and fees, not to exceed the student’s annual award amount

• The last semester part-time applies to student graduating from an Associates, Bachelors, or Certificate program

Example: – The student annual award is $5,800– The student takes 3 credit hours during his last semester that cost $3,600– The school should not claim more that $3,600

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Minimum Award• As of budget year 2014, SFA cannot award a

FOB award in an amount less than $600 or an NGS award or C21 Scholars award that is less than $20. – When a student has other funding that could

reduce the award amount from the grid.

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Minimum Award• Students with less than a full year left of SFA

eligibility or graduating with last semester as part time are allowed to receive less than $600.

Example:– The student has used 380 of state aid. His/her annual award, before

eligibility is applied, is $2,100– The student will receive: $2,100*20 percent = $420

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National Guard• 2014 National Guard awards are calculated the same way as before:

Current Year Tuition and Fees – Frank O’Bannon(Base &incentives)• If an NGSG student does not meet FOB requirements, the student

receives full NGSG award (same as 21C award at public institution)• If a student is eligible for FOB, NGSG is a supplement to HEA.

Student has an annual HEA award calculated and the school claims up to 50% of the award in the first term.

• Since NGSG students are certified one term at a time, the annual NGSG amount will not include Spring term amount. This will be added to the student’s account once they are certified for Spring.

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Example 1• 2014 state aid pool member John Smith does not meet FOB

requirements and has been certified by the National Guard for Semester 1 NGSG. His institution choice is Vincennes U., for which the CHE-approved annual tuition and fees amount is $5080. For John at the start of Semester 1 the RECN record will contain:

Student's State Aid Account Total Amount HEA Available Amt (Annual) NGSG Available Amt (Term) $2540 $0 $2540 (=

0.5*5080)

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Example 2• 2014 state aid pool member Jennifer Miller has an $1800 EFC,

Academic Honor, and she has been certified by the National Guard for a Semester 1 NGSG. She has an on-time progress rate, and her institution choice is Vincennes U., for which the CHE-approved annual tuition and fees amount is $5080. For Jennifer at the start of Semester 1 the RECN record will contain:

Student's State Aid Account Total Amount HEA Available Amt (Annual) NGSG Available Amt (Term)$3690(=1500+800(AH)+1390) $1,500 (from Grid) $1390 (=0.5*(5080–

1500–800))

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RECN File• Student's State Aid Account Total Amount - All award funds are rolled

into one field. In the previous RECN files for the institutions, they were broken out by fund type.

• Student's State Aid Account New Claim Amount – All claimed amounts are located in this field. These used to be broken out by fund

• Student's State Aid Account New Refund Amount– All refund amounts are located in this field. These used to be broken out by fund

• Part-time / Full-time Aid Indicator – allows schools to request switching students from Part Time to Full time funds (and vice versa.)

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: In order to determine the number of transfer credits from "institutions that are not state aid eligible" is there a list available of all eligible institutions? This would help our program find these credits.

Answer: http://www.in.gov/sfa/2334.htm

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Please clarify if the Completion file is a file that schools create and upload to CHE/SFA or we download the student populated Comp file from XGrads when available and fill in the credit completion information? Answer: CHE will provide to institution partners a COMP file containing 2013-2014 first-time state aid recipients’ records with empty HEA 1348 data fields, which institutions can update and return to CHE.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Field #1: Do we receive a COMP file with “I”’s prior to our submission each term?Answer: Yes.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: In the “Action” field from the COMP file: Does “A” for the “preceding year” mean the year just completed or twelve months before?Answer: You will add a record for students attending your institution who did receive a state award before, but not during the current year. Your school will report the completion information by the end of each term.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: We expected to report the total 2013-14 credit hours earned initially in May, and on future files we would report only additional 2013-14 hours earned since the last submission. For example, a student would initially be reported as 24 hours in May (earned 12 fall, 12 spring) and at the end of summer we’d report 6 (earned 6 hours summer). Is that the correct understanding of this field? We planned to ignore/not report transfer hours from any state aid eligible institution, assuming they would report those on their own.

Answer: Yes. That’s the plan; however, there is no way for CHE to track if a school did not report.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Will the incentive amounts be included in the “Student Account Total Amount” field?

Answer: Yes.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Will the incentive amounts be included in the “HEA/FOC/21st Component Amount” field?

Answer: No. HEA/FOC/21st field includes the base award amount only.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: If the “Aid Amount Type” field is equal to a P (Pending) can awards be paid or are these considered estimates by CHE? Answer: These are estimates. An award cannot be claimed unless we receive additional information from the school.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: If the student opts out of 21st Century, will the “21st Century Scholar Opt-Out Indicator” field still be a Y or will it be set to an N? Answer: It will be set to “N”. Scholars who opt out for one year only are set back to “Y” the following year, unless they opt out again.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Does the “State Aid Usage Progress” field impact all awards, including the incentive awards in terms of pro-rating awards when the usage is less than 100 for the aid year.

Answer: Yes.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: For 2014-15, the "Remaining Eligibility Units" field was deleted from the NOTF file. For our grandfathered students, how should we determine if there is less than a full annual award remaining? We have used this information from past NOTF files to offer pro-rated award amounts for these students.

Answer: The "Remaining Eligibility Units” for grandfathered student will be reported in the “State Aid Usage Progress” field. Instead of using 48 total units a student is eligible for, we are using 400. A grandfathered student who used 42 units will be reported as having used 350 (= 400*42/48).

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: What if we are not able to distinguish in our system the difference between AP credit, transfer credit from another school, or dual credit earned while a high school student? Our registrar is telling me that it shows only as transfer hours in our system and that the type of transfer hours are not tracked.

Answer: CHE is collecting the “Cumulative Hours Earned” instead of “Transfer Credit Hours”. If your system does not provide the AP and Dual credits, report the “Credit Hours Earned Since Last Submission” and the “Cumulative Hours Earned”. If your system is not able to distinguish the difference between “Advanced Placement Credit Hours “ and “Dual Credit Hours”, include both in the “Advanced Placement Credit Hours” field.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: What about a sophomore just now getting their first state award, do we still count AP and dual credit even though it is not their first year in college?

Answer: Yes. Even if the student is not a first year student, the student would be required to meet the completion requirement if they begin to receive state financial aid.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: From reviewing this afternoon's email update for the completion and notification files, it looks like we might be using the State Aid Usage Progress field (001 - 400) on the notification file instead of former Remaining Eligibility Units field. Is that correct?

Answer:Yes.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Would this statement be accurate: Notification file shows student's State Aid Usage Progress is 350 and their annual award for 2014-15 is $3,100. That would mean the student should be awarded 50% of their annual award, or $1,550 for Fall and $0 for Spring, correct?

Answer:Yes. The student will have 50% of his annual award ($1,550) that the student can use either in Fall or Spring.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: In past aid year, the minimum award amounts were as follows:

– O’Bannon – $400 for year– 21st Century and National Guard – $20 for the year

Answer:– The new minimum award for FOB is $600– It remained the same for 21st Century and National Guard - $20

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: When a student has other funding which could reduce the award amount from the grid, will $200 per term still be the absolute minimum state award amount?

Answer: The new minimum award for FOB is $600. The per term amount would be $300.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: If the student has less than 100% eligibility remaining for the award year, is the minimum pro-rate based on their remaining eligibility? For example if the student only has 60% eligibility remaining, is the FOB minimum for that student still 600 or would it be 360 (60% of 600).

Answer:In this case, the student receives: annual award (grid + incentives)* 60%.Example1: The student’s annual award, before eligibility is applied, is $2,100. The student will receive $1,260 ($2,100*60 percent).Example2: The student’s annual award, before eligibility is applied, is $800. In this case, The student will receive $480 ($800*60 percent), even though it is less than the minimum amount ($600).

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: For transfer students, how are we to know the enrollment date from another school?

Answer:We have to have enrollment date to determine on-time or acceleration incentive.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: If we do not know the enrollment date from another school, do we send the enrollment date from our school or leave it blank?

Answer:Leave it blank.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Will the COMP file you send us contain Enrollment Date from other institutions?

Answer:Yes.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Do we report transferred AP Credit Hours, considering that other schools MAY have already reported these hours?

Answer:Yes. Some schools don’t accept some AP/Dual credits, while others do. CHE will use the records with highest number of credits accepted.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Do we continue resending AP Credit Hours with each file each term? If not, should this field say “since last submission?”

Answer:CHE consider the value in that field to be optional. If the AP field contains a value CHE will use it to update the AP Hours value stored in GRADS; if the COMP file record AP field is empty/blank we will leave the value stored in GRADS unchanged. This will provide a mechanism which enables schools to correct previously submitted values which we incorrect.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: We have a three-week spring term, which we include in our full summer term in regards to Title IV aid. Should we consider this term as part of our summer like Title IV or separate and send a COMP file at the end of this three-week spring term and another at the end of summer term?

Answer:Since this three-week spring term is included in your institution’s full summer term, it should be included in your summer COMP file.

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Frequently Asked QuestionsQuestion: Will CHE be sending award letters for the full time award amount (24/48/72 credit—making an assumption from 13-14) or will CHE wait for the schools to send their first COMP file and THEN send award notifications to students?

Answer: CHE will send notification letters after we receive the COMP file from schools sometime in June. We will send notification letters with “full time” amounts to students for whom we are still missing the completion information. The letter will include explanation that this is a preliminary award…or something like that.

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Contact Rabia Jermoumi

• Telephone: 317.232.2095• E-mail: rjermoumi@che.in.gov• Web site: www.in.gov/che

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