1. TASFAA, Fall 2012 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

2. TEXAS Education Code 54.0071.  If aid funds are not available when tuition and fees are due and the student agrees to assign the necessary portion of the pending aid to the institution, the institution may postpone the tuition and fee due date.  If some of the aid is cancelled before received, the school is to give the student up to 30 days to pay the outstanding balance. Slide 2

3.  Texas Education Code 54.007.  Required of all public institutions for terms of 10 weeks or more. ◦ Option 1: all paid by inst-set due date that is not later than the census date of term ◦ Option 2: use of installments, first due by inst-set due date that is not later than census date  A student with financial aid available to pay for tuition and fees may not use an installment plan.  Institutions may assess an incidental fee for persons using installment plans or who become delinquent.  Students must enter into an agreement with the institution, and wording for the agreement is in statute.  Otherwise eligible hours paid for with an installment plan are valid for formula funding. Slide 3

4.  Texas Education Code 56.033(b).  Up to 10% of your annual TPEG set-asides can go into an emergency loan program. Is there enough in your school’s emergency loan fund?  Texas Education Code 56; Subchapter D.  TPEG emergency loan funds can pay for tuition, fees and textbooks.  Loans are short-term (90-day) loans.  Interest cannot exceed 5%; origination fees cannot exceed 1.25%.  If you have insufficient TPEG E-loan funds, you can select recipients based on need.  Promissory notes are required. Slide 4

5.  Combat Exemptions (TEC 54.2031). No funding is available for this program at this time, but schools may choose to honor the tuition exemptions at their own expense. Check statute for new requirements, including a 150-hour limit. Institutions are responsible for tracking these hours.  Veterans and State Aid. When calculating a student’s financial need for state aid, both federal and state veterans’ benefits are to be ignored as a resource. Eligibility for federal aid ignores FEDERAL benefits, but not state.  Hazlewood. Reports for Summer 2011 through Fall 2012 are due to the CB by November 15. Contact Justin Greiner if you have questions, at: Hazlewood@thecb.state.tx.us. In FY2011, more than 22,000 veterans received Hazlewood benefits totaling $71 million.  Full lesson on Hazlewood: look under “Training, Webinars and Workshops, Public Institutions Workshop, 9/26/12. http://www1.thecb.state.tx.us/apps/SpecialPrograms http://www1.thecb.state.tx.us/apps/SpecialPrograms Slide 5

6.  Exist for TEXAS Grants, TEOG, Top 10 Scholarships, TEG and TCWS*  Major uses: ◦ Confirm eligibility ◦ Identify students whose SSNs are not on file with the CB, so school can start research and be ready to explain them when they submit their FADS report in the fall ◦ Track hours attempted through TXG (150 max) or TEOG (75 max) ◦ (TEXAS Grants and TEOG) – Keep verification screens current RE time of first awards and end of eligibility period ◦ Reconcile amounts issued and Business Office Records at the CB  Interaction with FADB: ◦ Students without SSNs will generate errors in FADB; must be explained ◦ Awards canceled by FADB date must be adjusted in EOY, or verification data is wrong Slide 6

7. Priority Deadline for applying for state aid = March 15, 2013. Persons who apply after this date may receive state aid, but only after those who meet the deadline are awarded. TEXAS Grant Priority Model for selecting IY recipients for fall, 2013: must meet 2/4 priority criteria:  Graduate with 12 SCH dual or AP credit, Distinguished Achievement Program or International Baccalaureate Degree  Graduate with 3.0+ GPA or in top 1/3 of class  Complete math course more advanced than Algebra II or advanced Career and Technical course  Meet or be exempt from TX Success Initiative requirements *GATI = General Academic Teaching Institutions = public universities and Lamar- Orange and Lamar-Port Arthur Slide 7

8. Implementing the Priority Model in Spring 2013 How will your institution identify students who meet the new priority criteria?  Are the requirements known by admissions?  Are the requirements captured by your admissions system?  Is that information shared with financial aid?  Is that information captured by your packaging system?  How will you ID priority recipients for the EOY Report? NOW is the time to get things moving! *GATI = General Academic Teaching Institutions = public universities and Lamar- Orange and Lamar-Port Arthur Slide 8

9. Veterans have Access to IY TEXAS Grant Awards if:  They graduate from high school on or after May 1, 2013,  They enter the service within 12 months of graduation from high school, and  They enroll in college within 12 months of receiving an honorable discharge from the service. *GATI = General Academic Teaching Institutions = public universities and Lamar- Orange and Lamar-Port Arthur NOTE: Non-GATI institutions may continue to award IY TXG to veterans who did not enter college within 16 months of HS graduation but who have acquired associate degrees and enroll in an upper level degree plan within 12 months of receiving the AD. Slide 9

10. Session begins the second Tuesday in January. Regular Session lasts 140 days. In the 82nd Session 5,796 House and Senate Bills were introduced; 1,379 bills (23.8%) were passed into law. The Appropriations Act is one of the last things passed. Slide 10

11.  All our grant/w-s programs (TXG, TEOG, TEG, Top 10, TCWS, etc.), begin the Session with a $0 appropriation for the following Biennium.  Appropriated amounts are negotiated during the course of the Session.  Allocations announced in the spring will be ESTIMATES.  Packaging done on the basis of those estimates will be at the school’s risk. TASFA 2012 - TEXAS GRANT Slide 11

12.  Award amount = [(tuition and fees + course material allowance) – (Pell + EFC)]  Expand eligibility for transfer students  Require full-time enrollment  Cap eligibility at 8 semesters, not 150 hours  Eliminate “matching” requirement  Limit TXG to university students*  Defer to federal regulations RE controlled substances * Provide additional money to TEOG for students who would have received TEXAS Grants Slide 12

13.  Confirm in statute that: ◦ veterans who are out of state due to military orders are eligible to use Hazlewood ◦ veterans can revoke assigned Legacy hours  Clarify ◦ eligibility requirements for disabled and fallen veterans ◦ veterans’ choices about stacking federal and state benefits  Align state and federal language relating to disabled and unemployable veterans  Apply age-26 limit for children only to Legacy children  Recommend the state appropriate funds for institutions, to offset some of the costs of Hazlewood Slide 13

14.  Eliminate “matching” requirement to provide more flexibility in packaging  Eliminate requirement that first-time recipients be “entering students” so TEOG can also serve persons returning to school to acquire new workforce skills  Defer to federal regulations RE controlled substances Slide 14

15.  Add common definitions  Add inst. financial aid SAP requirements to exemption and waiver programs  Prevent the use of exemptions and waivers to avoid penalties for excess hours or excess dropped courses  Require recipients to complete a FAFSA prior to the end of the first semester in a program in order to qualify for a subsequent award  Require institutions to identify a contact point on campus for guidance about exemption and waiver programs Slide 15

16.  Process: ◦ Make BOT a university-only program, but provide additional funding for TEOG to assist community college students ◦ Institutions use their own money– funds are not sent to other institutions or CB  Proposal 1: Create an BOT rebate program, open to all undergrads at universities who meet BOT forgiveness requirements. Available funds will be split among all eligible graduating students. First use of rebates will be to pay down BOT or other loans.  Proposal 2: Maintain a BOT 0% interest in-school loan with a low interest rate applicable once student is in repayment. Would need the current $100 million balance in BOT fund as starter funds, then would become self- sustaining. Slide 16

17.  Accessed through the Grants/Special Programs Website, which is: https://www1.thecb.state.tx.us/apps/SpecialPrograms/.  Make sure you have subscribed to the GSP distribution list so you can get all the important news (allocation announcements, memos, guideline updates, etc.) in a timely manner. For instructions for subscribing, go to: http://lists.state.tx.us/mailman/listinfo/txgnsp-1. Slide 17

18. For all your help in administering these programs. Our office: grantinfo@thecb.state.tx.us website: www.collegeforalltexans.com For forms, program information and training materials: https://www1@thecb.state.tx.us/apps/SpecialPrograms Slide 18