To provide eligible undergraduate postsecondary students
with demonstrated financial need with grant assistance to help meet
educational expenses.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Direct Payments for Specified Use. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Grants are for undergraduate study, and range from $100 to $4,000 per
academic year. However, if reasonable study abroad costs exceed the cost of
attendance at the home institution, the amount of the grant may exceed the
$4,000 maximum by as much as $400. A student is eligible to receive a FSEOG
for the period of time needed to complete the first undergraduate
baccalaureate course of study being pursued by that student. If it awards
grants to students in that year an institution is entitled to an
administrative cost allowance for an award year of 5 percent of the first
$2,750,000, expended plus 4 percent of expenditures greater than $2,750,000
but less than $5,500,000, plus 3 percent of expenditures in excess of
$5,500,000.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: Higher education
institutions (public, private nonprofit, postsecondary vocational, and
proprietary) meeting eligibility requirements may apply.
Beneficiary Eligibility: Undergraduate students
enrolled or accepted for enrollment as regular students; are maintaining
satisfactory academic progress in accordance with the standards and
practices of the institution, have financial need, do not owe a refund on a
Title IV grant, are not in default on a Title IV loan, file a statement of
educational purpose, file a statement of registration compliance (Selective
Service) and meet citizen/resident requirements may benefit.
Credentials/Documentation: Institutions must
document their eligibility and students must demonstrate financial need.
This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87.
Pre-application Coordination: Representatives of
the appropriate ED Regional Office are available for consultation (see
listing of ED Regional Offices in Appendix IV). Students should contact the
institution(s) they attend or wish to attend. This program is excluded from
coverage under E.O. 12372. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB
Circular No. A-102.
Application Procedure: Participating
institutions submit the Fiscal Operations Report/Application to Participate
in Federal Student Financial Aid Programs (ED Form 646-1) which is mailed to
institutions of postsecondary education each summer by the Office of Student
Financial Assistance. New institutions submit only the application form.
This program is subject to the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 110.
Award Procedure: The Office of Student
Financial Assistance determines final awards and notifies participating
institutions.
Deadlines: Specified on the application
(usually October 1). Contact the program office for additional information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time: Notices of
tentative awards sent by February 1, and final award notifications sent by
April 1.
Appeals: None.
Renewals: There are annual renewals.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements: Funds are
allocated to institutions on the basis of the insitution's FY 1999 base
guarantee and pro rata share and then on demonstrated need for funding.
Institutions award funds to students on the basis of financial need as
determined by the Federal Needs Analysis Methodology specified in statute.
This program requires institutional matching funds. The Federal share may
not exceed 75 percent unless waived based on objective criteria established
in regulations.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance: Funds
are awarded for use by participating institutions for one award year at a
time following the year of application.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: A single combined Fiscal Operations
Report/Application form for Federal Perkins Loans, FSEOG, and FWS (ED 646-1)
is submitted by each institution at the close of each award year (June 30).
Audits: Institutions must have a nonfederal
audit done on at least an annual basis at its own expense. Audits are
performed at Government expense by the Department of Education's Office of
the Inspector General as often as its time schedule will allow or when
deemed necessary by the Secretary.
Records: All records pertaining to the
activities of a given fiscal year must be retained for a period of three
years following the institution's submission of its Fiscal Operations Report
for an award year or until resolution of an applicable audit, whichever is
later.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification: 91-0200-0-1-502.
Obligations: (Grants) FY 01 $725,000,000; FY 02
est $725,000,000; and FY 03 est $725,000,000.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance: In
1999 the estimated average award to students was $748.
In fiscal year 2001, institutions awarded $874,684,000 in aid to 1,169,000
students.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
34 CFR 676, Student Guide fact sheet, no charge; Student Financial Aid
Handbook, no charge; Notification to Members of Congress, list of grantees,
published annually or as required, no charge; Federal Needs Analysis
Methodology Booklet, no charge; Verification Handbook, no charge; training
materials, no charge.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office: Students should contact
the educational institution(s) they attend or plan to attend. Educational
institutions should contact the Regional Administrator for Student Financial
Assistance in the appropriate ED Regional Office (see Appendix IV of the
Catalog).
Headquarters Office: Policy Development
Division, Office of Student Financial Assistance, Department of Education,
400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-5446. Telephone: (800)
443-3243.
