SCHEV Update

1. SCHEV Update Lee Andes October 6, 2011

2. SCHEV Council Actions

3. SCHEV is developing its system-wide recommendations and will take action on October 25, 2011 • Watch this site for update by early next week. http://www.schev.edu/council/AgendaBookIndex.asp

4. TAG Recommendations • Action has been taken on the Tuition Assistance Grant Program. • SCHEV recommends funding sufficient to support a maximum award of $2,800 for FY13 and $3,000 for FY14. • Will communicate to Governor and appropriate legislative offices.

5. VSFAP Recommendations • Anticipate undergraduate VSFAP recommendations of $18 million FY13 and $36 million FY14. • Anticipate graduate VSFAP recommendations of $3.6 million FY13 and $7.1 million FY14.

6. Increase in VSFAP Need • Financial need under the Partnership Model for FY13 increased by 23 percent over FY12’s calculations. • Largely economy driven • 27 percent increase in students demonstrating need under the model • 18.7 percent increase in FAFSA applications • 39 percent increase in Pell grant recipients • 8.6 percent decline in EFCs • Above data based upon comparison of FY09 & FY10 data files

7. Increase in VSFAP Need

8. Higher Education Advisory Committee • Definition of Low/Middle Income • The definitions of “low-income family” and “middle-income family” shall be developed and reviewed pursuant to subdivision B 2 of § 23-38.87:23. • 2. Criteria for determining which families qualify as “low-income” and “middle-income” for purposes of § 23-38.87:15 and how they relate to federal, state and institutional policies governing the provision of financial assistance to students of such families;

9. Definition of Low/Middle Income • “9. To establish a higher education funding framework and policy that… provides adequate need-based financial aid for low- and middle-income students and families” • Each institution shall include in its six-year plan… an institutional student financial aid commitment that… provides assistance to students from both low- and middle-income families. 

10. Definition of Low/Middle Income • 2. Plans for providing sufficient financial aid tomitigate the impact of tuition and fee increases on low- and middle-income students and their families as described in § 23-38.87:15, including the projected mix of grants and loans; • the institution's six-year plan… shall be obligated to provide increased financial aid to maintain affordabilityfor students from low- and middle-income families.

11. Definition of Low/Middle Income • 4. Federal and state financial aid programs and institutional practices to ensure that the appropriate level of financial assistance is being provided to both low-income and middle-income families, http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?111+ful+CHAP0828

12. Definition of Low/Middle Income Approachesconsidered to date: • Percent of poverty level • Percentile of adjusted gross income • Percentile of EFC • TFRB as a percentage of AGI

13. Definition of Low/Middle Income • Challenges: • finding meaningful indices capable of producing an understandable statewide definition that is operational at the institutional level. (i.e. Gross income v Adjusted Gross Income) • determining how the definition will be used

14. Interest in STEM • There remains considerable interest in providing STEM-related incentives either at the institution or the student level to increase degree completion. • Ideas to date include scholarship/loans, loan forgiveness, tuition waivers, rebates, grants, etc for students and performance incentive funding for institutions. • Stayed tuned…

15. Two Year College Transfer Grant

16. Proposed Changes • Consideration for legislative proposal to raise the maximum EFC from 8000 to 12000 • Consideration to conforming definition of STEM-N with the SCHEV definition of STEM for reporting purposes • Originally developed by College Completion America

17. Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program

18. FY12 Funding Update • FY11 remaining revenue was approved to rollover to FY12 • Means awards for all late applications • Could result in increased spring award amount for category 1 and 2

19. Regulations are Complete • TAG Regulations have been officially promulgated into law… http://lis.virginia.gov/000/reg/TOC08040.HTM#C0071

20. Veterans GI Benefits

21. Have been reviewing issue for several months. • Talked with both federal and state veteran’s offices, attorney generals office, and several financial aid directors

22. The federal law regarding the GI Bill, Chapter 33, has no requirement, and federal staff has no expectation, that non-federal programs conform to the federal treatment.  • Federal law is permissive to the over-award policies governing non-federal aid programs. • Federal law explicitly states that Chapter 33 benefits are intended to cover educational expenses. • Federal guidance to not consider GI Bill Chapter 33 as a resource refers to federal treatment only.

23. Federal Code pertaining to Chapter 33 GI Bill: • § 3313. Educational assistance: amount; payment • (a)Payment.— The Secretary shall pay to each individual entitled to educational assistance under this chapter who is pursuing an approved program of education (other than a program covered by subsections (e) and (f)) the amounts specified in subsection (c) to meet the expenses of such individual’s subsistence, tuition, fees, and other educational costs for pursuit of such program of education.

24. No federal law or guidance could be found that required the benefits be excluded from over award calculations other than federal. • All inquiries were deferred to the laws governing the respective aid programs.

25. State programs prohibit award recipients from having financial assistance that exceeds COA.  • The Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant and Two Year College Transfer Grant programs have statutory over-award restrictions, • The Virginia Student Financial Assistance Program (VSFAP) and College Scholarship Assistance Program (CSAP) are regulatory.  

26. Staff has determined that amending VSFAP and CSAP regulations to permit such over-awards would result in dramatically inconsistent treatment of state funded financial aid programs.  • VSFAP budget language indicates that the award is to be based on “financial need” and CSAP statutory language says that the award should only be given to a student “with exceptional need.”  • So, even though there is no specific statutory over-award restriction for these programs, the legislative need-based intent is clearly evident. 

27. Determined that SCHEV does not have sufficient legislative authority to make the changes requested by the institutions.  • However, if an institution is able to identify unique educational costs borne by a veteran, the institution has the federal authority to increase the student’s cost of attendance accordingly.

28. For VSFAP, TAG, CSAP, and the CTG, state aid cannot be awarded as part of a package that exceeds COA • Other programs were not part of the initial review, but programs such as the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependent Education Program has no statutory or regulatory restriction and so the over award is permitted

29. Questions??