The ABC’s of Being a DFA Pam McCafferty Director of Financial Aid Fitchburg State College

Today’s Agenda  To cover the basic requirements that must be done by the Director of Financial Aid  To provide resources for future reference  To make you feel better about being a DFA

Alphabet Soup  PPA  ECAR  E-APP  FISAP  ACA  FCC  ICC  IPEDS

PPA Program Participation Agreement

PPA: Why?  Required to participate in the following financial aid programs: Pell SEOG Perkins FWS Direct Loans FFEL

PPA: What?  Agreement between the Department of Education and a School  School is agreeing to comply with the laws, regulations and policies governing FSA programs

PPA: When?  Initial Application  Recertification  Reinstatement  Updates

PPA: How?  E-App (Electronic Application for Approval to Participate)   User Ids “ED” + 8 digit OPEID Number “ED” + 9 digit Taxpayer Identification Number

Recertification  Notice sent to school six months prior to expiration of PPA  School submits complete application 90 days prior to expiration of PPA  School cannot continue to participate with expired PPA

Approval  If approved, two copies of PPA sent to school  School signs both copies and returns to DOE  DOE signs and returns one copy to school along with ECAR  Approval good for six years

ECAR  Eligibility and Certification Approval Report  Summary of the Approval FSA programs Highest academic degree Locations Officers

Updates  Ownership  Address  Name  Phone number  Officials President, CFO, DFA

Updates…  New Location  Increase Program Level  New Program  Apply to participate in an additional Title IV program Only report for programs and locations that receive Title IV aid

…Updates  Change in Accreditor  Change in State Authorization  Third Party Servicer  Change in Educational Measurement Ex: semester to clock hour Report all updates within 10 days!

Locations  If 50% or more of the program will be offered at that sight  Cannot disburse aid at new location until approved

Submission  Submit online  Print Signature Page  Mail Signature Page Accreditation Documentation Licensing Documentation

As a new DFA…  Find the current PPA/ECAR  Find your User ID’s  Login and add yourself  Check accuracy of other data and make updates as needed

FISAP Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate

FISAP: Why? “The school is responsible for ensuring that eligible students receive funds according to the laws, the regulations and the PPA…”

FISAP: What? Fiscal Operations Report Report what you did with last year’s funds and… Application to Participate Request funds for next year

FISAP: What?…  Campus Based Funds SEOG Perkins FWS

FISAP: When?  Each award year  Available August 1 st  Submit Reallocation in August  Submit by October 1 st  Corrections by December 15th

FISAP: How?  Submit online   TG# and PIN required  Mail Certification Signature Page Drug-Free Workplace, Anti-Lobbying, and Debarment Forms

ACA Administrative Cost Allowance Taken out of your annual authorization for FWS and SEOG.

FCC Federal Capital Contribution Perkins Loan Annual Federal Allocation May be zero

ICC Institutional Capital Contribution  School’s matching share  Required  Must equal 1/3 of federal share (1/4 of combined FCC and ICC)

Campus Based Statement of Account  Award year specific  SEOG Award  FWS Award  Perkins LOE Level of Expenditure  Login, select the Self Service tab

As a new DFA…  Check the FISAP timeline  Who is responsible for filing it? If it’s you..  Find the TG#  Assign yourself as the TG Administrator  Get a PIN

What about Pell?  Electronic Statement of Account  Annual  Initial Allocation = ½ of prior year’s expenditure  Increase allocation through Pell disbursement records

Last but not least…IPEDS Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Annual Campus-wide report Financial Aid section filed April Very time consuming

As a new DFA…  Find the IPEDS coordinator for your campus Maybe Institutional Research  Check the IPEDS timeline

Helpful Hints  Tackle these things ASAP  Give yourself plenty of time  Attend MASFAA and DOE trainings  Be prepared to work with other offices  Set deadlines for yourself and others

Resources    Student Handbook  Ask other DFA’s

Congratulations! You’ve survived The ABC’s of Being a DFA!