FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROCEDURES Information pertaining to financial aid can be found in the GSTC Catalog & Handbook. Financial aid is money from various sources made available to assist eligible students in paying for the costs of their education. The types of financial aid available to prospective students include the Title IV Federal Pell Grant, Florida Financial Aid (FFA) Fund, miscellaneous private scholarships, Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, Florida Student Assistant Grant, Florida Pre-paid College Plan, Indian Affairs Scholarship, Escarosa/WIA, Vocational Rehabilitation, Veteran’s Education Benefits, Tuition Assistance and other third-party agencies. The amount of federal financial aid the student receives depends on the student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC), cost of attendance, enrollment status, enrollment date and whether the student attends school for a full academic year. (Academic year at GSTC is defined as 900 hours). Students must maintain satisfactory attendance and satisfactory academic progress for federal financial aid. For purposes of this document, our concentration is on the Title IV Federal Pell Grant (Pell grant). We have documented the steps required for a student to apply for and receive financial aid. Specific rules will be identified along the process. We have bolded each document the first time it is mentioned, as well as, the individual or department responsible in each step. We have summarized the process as outlined below with the detailed steps following. SUMMARIZED PROCESS A. Application – student applies for financial aid B. Enrollment – student meets with guidance counselor and enrolls in program C. Financial Aid Award/Set Up – financial aid personnel (Financial Aid) determines student’s financial aid award and sets him/her up in the financial aid systems D. Registration Fee – student pays registration fee(s) E. Attendance – attendance personnel (Attendance) sets up student in TERMS and enters attendance daily F. Monthly Financial Aid Payments – financial aid determines students needing a payment on a monthly basis G. Acknowledgement/Check Request – financial aid requests checks to be processed H. Checks Processed – ECSD processes check requests; bookkeeping receipts and deposits payment; checks are delivered to students I. Prepare/Submit FFA Disbursement Report – financial aid determines need for transfer of funds in TERMS on a monthly basis and makes request for ESCD to process transfer J. Student Makes a Change – student completes a course or withdraws from a course K. Other Forms Used

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DETAILED PROCESS A. APPLICATION To begin, a STUDENT applies for financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) (EXHIBIT A-1) either on-line at www.fafsa.gov or with a guidance counselor at GSTC. The student will list on the application any school he/she desires to receive their information. Once the application is processed, the student will receive a Federal Student Aid Program Verification Worksheet (Note: GSTC personnel refer to this form as the Student Aid Report (SAR)) (EXHIBIT A-3) either through the mail or it is made available online.The student will complete this document and take it with them when they meet with financial aid. After 3 days of the student applying, an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) (EXHIBIT A-2) will be available electronically to schools listed on the FAFSA. On a daily basis, FINANCIAL AID PERSONNEL (Financial Aid) go on-line to see if there are any ISIRs available for download via the Pell Grant system EDCONNECT. This system is used to transmit/import the ISIRs into EDEXPRESS. EDEXPRESS is a program used to look at the ISIRs. The information reported on the FAFSA is used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is used to determine the student’s eligibility for federal student aid and other types of aid. Financial Aid reviews the EFC code listed on the ISIR and will take appropriate action as needed: 1. 0 – Eligible for full financial aid. No action needed. 2. Number – Partial Pell. No action needed. 3. * - Needs verification. This code generally means a tax return is needed to verify income. A SAR is completed with the student and submitted along with a copy of a tax return. 4. C – Serious conflict; needs to be resolved. This code generally means there is a conflict with the social security number, the student may be an illegal alien, the student hasn’t registered for selective service, and/or the student has a default on their student loan. Financial Aid contacts the student and requests additional information if needed by completing a Financial Aid Verification Working Paper (EXHIBIT A-4) and resubmits. Once a “clean” EFC code is obtained, Financial Aid confirms with the student that they are eligible for financial aid and they can come to the school to enroll with a guidance counselor. B. ENROLLMENT The student meets with a GUIDANCE COUNSELOR. The guidance counselor provides the student with a copy of “Steps to Follow in Order to Register for a Program” (EXHIBIT B-1). Included in this outline is information related to registration fees. There is a $20 registration fee for all students. There is a $30 fee per semester for GED, Adult Basic Education (ABE), and Vocational Preparatory Instruction (VPI) classes. The guidance counselor verifies Florida residency (EXHIBIT B-2) and completes the GSTC Enrollment Form (EXHIBIT B-3). The student takes the enrollment form to Financial Aid.

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C. FINANCIAL AID AWARD/SET UP FINANCIAL AID signs off on the back of the student’s enrollment form indicating what type of financial aid the student is using (EXHIBIT C-1). The student completes a GSTC Book and Supply Form (EXHIBIT C2). Financial Aid is required to disburse funds to students for books and supplies before the student receives his/her first Pell check. This amount is determined by taking the average cost for books and supplies for all Pell eligible programs. If the student has a credit balance after tuition and fees are deducted from the scheduled award amount, the student will be disbursed a check for up to $400.00. This check is disbursed between the first 7 to 14 days. Financial Aid completes a Financial Aid File Checklist (EXHIBIT C-3). Financial Aid will “originate” the student in EDEXPRESS to determine/calculate the award amount. An Award Letter Calculation document (EXHIBIT C-4) is created. This calculation is based on the number of hours for enrolled course. This file is left open on the computer in order to populate fields in the Attendance Charts file. A Student Attendance Record (Attendance Chart) (EXHIBIT C-5) is created with all of the student’s current information. The Attendance Chart is printed. A file folder is created for each student and the attendance chart is stapled to the left side of their folder. A GSTC Student Financial Assistance Award Information (Award Letter) (EXHIBIT C-6) is prepared and given to the student along with the Policies and Conditions Concerning Financial Aid Awards handout (EXHIBIT C-7). Some of the policies included in this handout are as follows: The amount and disbursement date of the student’s financial aid is contingent on the actual number of hours a student has attended. All balances outstanding to GSTC at the date of the award and at each disbursement will be deducted from the award prior to disbursements to the student. The award is based on continuous enrollment without interruption. A copy of the Award Letter is kept in the student’s file folder. Financial Aid adds the student to a Student Eligibility file (an Access database) (EXHIBIT C-8) and includes information from the student award calculation letters. This database is used to monitor and determine which students need a payment processed based on a specific month. This database is kept current by adding new students and removing students when they withdraw or complete a course. Financial Aid adds the student to a Financial Aid file (an Access database). Information from the Financial Aid File Checklist is included (i.e. fees and award amounts). This database is used to produce a report for the selected students identified in the Student Eligibility database that need a payment processed for a specific month. D. REGISTRATION FEE The student takes the enrollment form to BOOKKEEPING and pays the registration fee. (Note: financial aid does not cover these fees). Bookkeeping receives the registration fee from the student and processes the collection in SKYWARD (a bookkeeping software). The student takes the enrollment form back to the guidance counselor.

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(Note: there are no EXHIBITS for “D”). E. ATTENDANCE The guidance counselor collects the student enrollment form and gives to the ATTENDANCE/Data Entry Clerk (Attendance) on a daily basis. Attendance receives copies of the enrollment form from the guidance counselor and adds the student in TERMS. TERMS will automatically populate the M01 Fees by Students screen (EXHIBIT E-1) with tuition amounts per month based on the course number entered and estimated enrolled hours. Instructors/teachers are given an Adult Student Attendance Register (EXHIBIT E-2) listing their class roster. The instructors are to record attendance on a weekly basis and remit to Attendance. Full-time is 6 hours and 15 minutes and is written as “6.25” (quarter of hour); part-time is 3 hours. Attendance receives the attendance registers from instructors/teachers and inputs attendance into TERMS on the H15 Weekly Attendance screen. The course section # and the start date of the week are keyed in to pull up the class roster. The screen populates at the end of each day to default of “6.25” hours for full-time and “3”hours for part-time. Attendance will input an “A” for absent or reduced time if indicated by the instructor on the Adult Student Attendance Register. F. MONTHLY FINANCIAL AID PAYMENTS During the first week of each month, FINANCIAL AID sorts the Student Eligibility database file by a specific month to identify students scheduled for a payment. A list of students identified is printed and Financial Aid has to determine which students are eligible for a payment based on (1) attendance and (2) grades. RULES: 1. Students are required to complete the program of study within the program hours in effect at the time of enrollment and as defined in the school catalog. 2. The maximum amount of time enrolled in any program shall not exceed 150% of the program length based on calendar time. 3. A student must maintain an 83% or higher attendance in order to receive a payment. 4. Federal regulations require that students maintain satisfactory academic progress in order to receive a payment. 5. GSTC standards require students successfully complete the coursework associated with the clock hours in a payment period with a passing grade of C (numeric equivalent of 70) or better to maintain satisfactory academic progress. 6. If a student receives a referral from his/her instructor for unsatisfactory progress for any reason, the student will be placed on an academic warning for a period equal to one payment period. 7. Payment periods are normally made at ½ of total hours (i.e. a minimum of 900/2 or 450 clock hours; however, they may vary according to a student’s program of study). (Note: see EXHIBIT C-5 as an example).

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8. Pell Grant Rule: A student has “earned” a payment when they are at ½ of the 450 hours (i.e. when a student has a minimum of 225 earned (actual) hours). (Note: see EXHIBIT C-5 as an example). Financial Aid prints an Attendance Hours Summary by month report (EXHIBIT F-1) from TERMS. The 3rd party code of “040” is used to select Pell grant students. This attendance report is used to update each student’s attendance. Codes found on this report are as follows: MBR = membership hours ABS = absent hours PRS = present/”earned” hours File folders are pulled for the selected students scheduled for a payment. Financial Aid manually updates the Student Attendance Record worksheet (EXHIBIT C-5) with data from the Attendance Hours Summary report. If a student does not meet the minimum number of hours, their attendance percentage is determined by dividing the number of actual hours attendedby the number of estimated hours enrolled. If the student’s attendance is below 83%, the student is placed on Attendance Warning (“probation”) for up to 150 hours or can be withdrawn from the course. Financial Aid reviews the student’s Pell Satisfactory Academic Progress Report (SAP) report (EXHIBIT F2) submitted by the instructors to confirm the student’s grade is a C or higher in order to receive a payment. (Note: After completing a payment month, Financial Aid updates a SAP file. This file contains cumulative hours paid to determine when a student will reach 450 hours. Financial Aid sends a SAP report to instructors verifying grade given prior to making the last payment). Financial Aid continues to update the Student Attendance Record by recording any book and supply disbursement and notes that amount on the copy of the award letter. Copies of the award letter are made. Financial Aid pulls the M01 Fees by Student screen in TERMS (EXHIBIT E-1) and lists any tuition (fees) due amounts for the current year on the attendance record. Financial Aid verifies if there are any unpaid fees from the prior year; if so, they are also listed. Financial Aid makes sure prior year’s fees are for the same program and payment period. Financial Aid inputs all of the disbursements in EDEXPRESS, exports the data to EDCONNECT and transmits. The total (gross) amount of the award is entered. A report listing any errors/exceptions is available the next day. Financial Aid enters the fees due and payment amounts (based on the Student Attendance Report worksheets) to the correct month in the Financial Aid database. Next, students are selected, the correct month is selected, and the computer calculates the “Gross Pay” and “Fees Paid” amounts. Two copies of the Pell Payment Report (EXHIBIT F-3) are printed. (Note: one copy will be submitted to ECSD/Budgeting requesting “Pell Disbursement” after “acknowledgement” is received; see below). If a student does not qualify for a payment, Financial Aid updates the Student Eligibility database and the original award letter and notifies the student. Students who are at 83% attendance violations are also notified.

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G. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT/CHECK REQUESTS The day after the disbursement request is made and uploaded to EDCONNECT, an acknowledgement can be obtained. FINANCIAL AID downloads the Common Record Response and Message Receipt Acknowledgement report through EDEXPRESS. Financial Aid prints the report and verifies all Pell recipients are listed and are showing an “A” status. If they are, then the Pell Payment Report can be taken to ECSD/Budgeting. If some recipients do not have an “A” status, then corrections are made, the file is resubmitted, and acknowledgement is obtained. Financial Aid prints payment letters for students receiving a disbursement using the Financial Aid database. If there is a new student receiving a check, a Vendor Maintenance Form must be completed. Financial Aid prints Fee Letters for GSTC (EXHIBIT G-1). This letter, along with a copy of the Pell Payment Report, and any Vendor Forms are delivered to ECSD. Financial Aid prepares a Signature List form of students’ names who will be receiving a disbursement. “Final Payment” is added next to the students’ names who will be receiving their final payment and “Mailed” next to the students who have withdrawn but are receiving a check. The date mailed is added on the form. Financial Aid notifies (by e-mail) attendance/data entry, fees specialist and instructors of students who will be receiving their final Pell payments. Financial Aid notifies (by e-mail) instructors of students with only one payment left. A “Final Payment Notice” form is completed after speaking with the instructor. Once the form is filled out, Financial Aid contacts the student to come in and sign the paper indicating they understand that after this time period they will be considered a “self-payer” if they have not completed their program. H. CHECKS PROCESSED ECSD/Budgeting receives the Pell Payment Report from GSTC, along with Fee Letters for George Stone. (Note: the vendor forms go to Accounting Operations). Payments are processed based on requests made by GSTC. (Payments for the “Fees Paid” columns are processed and made payable to GSTC in one check. Payments for the “Net Pay” columns are processed and made payable to each student). Financial Aid picks up the checks from ECSD and gives the check made payable to GSTC to bookkeeping with a Monies Collected Form (MCF). Financial Aid gives the remaining student checks to an administrative clerk, along with the Signature List. The administrative clerk hands out the checks and has the students sign the Signature List indicating they received their check. The Signature List is returned to Financial Aid. BOOKKEEPING receives a check (one check for the grand total of Fees Paid amount located on the Pell Payment Report) from ECSD (delivered from Financial Aid) and a copy of the Pell Payment Report for whatever month it is for. Bookkeeping pulls up TERMS, enters the student ID, and goes to the M01 Fees by Student screen (EXHIBIT E-1). The desired month is highlighted and data is entered, such as: student ID, agency , pay method , check number, “Amount Paid” o Agency code 1. 099 – self payer 2. 040 – Pell 3. 080 –Financial Aid (see FFA Disbursements below)

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o

Pay methods 1. 050 – check 2. 070 – transfer from the District 3. 010 – cash

TERMS automatically prints out an Official Receipt (EXHIBIT H-1). The M01 panel will now show the payment (EXHIBIT E-1). Note: Every year when a new fee amount for a course is established as documented on the Workforce Education Fee Schedule (EXHIBIT H-2), it is entered into TERMS. This is how the system knows how to break down and code each payment for each student as shown on the M03 Account Adjustments Rcpt screen (EXHIBIT H-3). At the end of day, Bookkeeping enters a job submission in TERMS requesting Rprt GS1002, Money Received Report (EXHIBIT H-4), to print on the printer in bookkeeping’s office. This report is supporting documentation for the MCF and is filed to be available for audit review. Note: As part of last year’s audit recommendation, Bookkeeping did away with printing multiple copies of the TERMS Official Receipt and now currently writes the check number on the Money Received Report. Bookkeeping processes the collection in SKYWARD and prepares the deposit slip. The deposit is taken to the bank. I.

PREPARE/SUBMIT FFA DISBURSEMENT REPORT (transfer funds in TERMS)

Florida Financial Aid (FFA) is a fund made up of the Financial Aid Fee that is collected from each student’s monthly tuition payment. Tuition has a factor for FFA funds as listed on the Workforce Education Fee Schedule. These collections are used to offset tuition payments for certain courses not eligible for Pell funding and for Pell students with remaining balances. In order to be eligible for this funding the student must be a Florida Resident and be Pell eligible. Some courses such as Correctional Officer program, CNA class, and Cross Training program are not long enough (amount of hours) to be eligible for Pell. Those students going into those programs still apply for financial aid because there is a financial need; however, GSTC will pay their full tuition out of the FFA Fund (code 6062 in TERMS). GSTC can only pay 1 or 2 months’ worth of tuition at a time because it cannot be determined what actual attendance a student might earn. In addition, some students, after receiving their Pell grant awards, may have a “balance due.” Those remaining balances are paid with FFA Funds. If a student owes more than 2 months’ worth of tuition, then the student is responsible for paying it. FINANCIAL AID copies the Student Eligibility file for the new month and deletes the students who have already paid. Financial Aid pulls up TERMS M01 screen to determine the fees that are due to be paid by FFA Funds and creates a FFA Disbursement report (EXHIBIT I-1). This report is printed and given to Bookkeeping.

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BOOKKEEPING receives a FFA Disbursement report from Financial Aid. Bookkeeping pulls up TERMS and posts the amounts listed in the “Amount Paid” column as agency code “080” for Financial Aid on the M01 Fees by Students screen (EXHIBIT I-2). The system will automatically break down and code each payment on the M03 Account Adjustment Rcpt screen (EXHIBIT I-3). (NOTE: the system does not post anything to code 6062/Financial Aid line because it is taking from this account to offset the payment). Financial Aid prepares and sends a MEMO to ECSD/Budgeting (Memo) (EXHIBIT I-4) requesting transfer of dollars for FFA students from the 6062 FFA account into appropriate accounts such as: 6059 – Basic Fee paid 6068 – Regular Lab Paid o .001 – Technology Lab Fee o .002 – Welding Lab fee 6072 – Capital Improvement 6019 – Law Lab Paid Note: On a monthly basis, Bookkeeping disburses checks payable to ECSD out of Internal Accounts for tuition collected for non FFA students (including the FFA assessment). These funds are allocated to the individual tuition accounts noted above and the 6062 FFA account. That is how the FFA account has a balance available to transfer. ECSD/Budgeting receives the Memo from Financial Aid and processes the FFA Funds transfer request. J.

STUDENT MAKES A CHANGE

There appears to be a concern by GSTC staff in regards to students making a change. When a student is moved from one course to another, neither the absent time nor the less time indicated automatically transfers. Attendance stated this is really only a problem if there is a time lag between when the student makes a change and when the paperwork is given to Attendance for input. When a new course is setup, the computer populates the fields as if the student had full attendance from the date of input going forward. If the student had an “A” for absent day(s) in the “old” course (or a reduced time if indicated), that time is not reflected in the “new course” (it does not transfer over). Example: A student is enrolled in course A on 1/25 and completes the course on 2/23. The student starts course B on the following Monday, 2/27. Course A and course B (much like a section I and II of the same course name) are with the same instructor. The student has 3 absent days on 3/5, 3/6, and 3/7. (Note: the paperwork has not been submitted yet and the computer has not been updated to reflect the change in courses; therefore, the student still appears on the attendance listing under course A). The instructor does not notice the course ids and does not indicate that the course is incorrect. The instructor marks the absent days on the Adult Student Attendance Register (EXHIBIT J-1) under course A. Attendance receives a GSTC Student Grade Record (EXHIBIT J-2) from the instructor with a date of 4/19 written on it indicating a lag of several weeks. (Note: The GSTC Student Grade Record is used to report grades when a student completes a course and initiates the new course).

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On 4/19, Attendance inputs the change in TERMS on the H07 Class Registration (Adult/Voc) screen (EXHIBITS J-3, J-4). A “W/D” withdrawal date is entered for the “old” course and a start date is entered for the “new” course. Keep in mind, attendance automatically posts at the end of each day as shown on the H15 Weekly Attendance screen in TERMS (EXHIBIT J-5) for course A. Therefore, the system is recording time for 2/27 through 4/18 under course A because it is not aware of the change. Course B is added on 4/19 with a start date of 2/27; however, the computer will populate the “new” course B as of entry date of 4/19 going forward (it does not go back in time). The system does not “transfer” the time from the “old” course to the “new” course for 2/27 through 4/18 as shown on the H15 Weekly Attendance screen in TERMS (EXHIBIT J-6). Therefore, it will not pick up any absent days if there were any. When the Attendance Hours Summary report (EXHIBIT J-7) is printed, the student will show more time under course B on the “PRS” present hours line than is actual due to the 3 absent days not reflected under course B. This could result in the possibility of receiving a Pell payment prior to the student truly earning it. It was determined the time has to be transferred/adjusted MANUALLY by the Attendance/Data Entry Clerk. (EXHIBIT J-8) It was also determined from the H15 Weekly Attendance Screen, the Membership Hours still calculates correctly, but the Personal Hours does not reflect “A” absent or a reduced time if indicated. K. OTHER FORMS USED There are two forms used to indicate student changes. There appears to be some concern by GSTC staff when to use which form. The two forms and how they are currently used are listed below: 1. STUDENT WITHDRAWAL, FOLLOW-UP, RE-ENTRY, AND CHANGE OF SCHEDULE form (Change of Schedule) (EXHIBIT K-1)- The student informs the instructor of their desired change needed and the instructor fills out the Change of Schedule form. The student takes the form to the Guidance Counselor. The Guidance Counselor verifies the information and gives the form to Attendance. Attendance updates TERMS accordingly. Copies of the form: a. White copy – given to Attendance/data entry and filed in student’s folder b. Green copy – given to Ms. Birk (teacher) for follow-up c. Yellow copy – given to financial aid; then to Bookkeeping and shredded d. Pink copy – kept by instructor Note: When a student withdraws from a class, Financial Aid has to determine whether GSTC still owes the student any Pell grant payments or if any money needs to be returned. 2. GSTC Student Grade Record form (EXHIBIT K-2) – This is a GSTC internal form used when a student completes one course and starts a new course. Grades are reported on this form. During the group discussion consisting of the GSTC staff interviewed, it was realized Financial Aid needs a copy of the GSTC Student Grade Record. Attendance will provide a copy to Financial Aid going forward.