The Monthly Memo

WHEG TECH FORMULA APPROVED

At a special Higher Educational Aids Board meeting on Wednesday, March 24, the Board approved the following WHEG formula: ($7,500-EFC) X 12% = Award ($900 Maximum). All formulas have now been approved, and 2004-2005 processing will begin this month.

[Please follow this link to the March, 2004 Board Report.]

NOTIFICATION LIST PROCESSING

April 6th and April 20th will contain 2003-04 processing

April 13th and 27th will have 2004-05 academic year processing.

REFUNDS

Money is very tight and processing refunds in a timely manner is important. When returning funds, please include the following:

• Student first and last name
• Student’s SSN
• Disbursement Code (type of refund)
• Your 3 digit HEAB school code
• Academic year and semester of award being returned (Or HEAB voucher number)
• Check number and date of check being sent back to HEAB (Not the # and date of original award check unless it’s the same check being sent back.)

LEGISLATION

Most of you are already aware that AB 342, legislation that would have denied Wisconsin Financial Aid to students convicted of various drug offenses, did not get out of committee. This proposed legislation was similar to a current restriction at the federal level. Because of discussion around this issue, we had some questions about how the federal law affects state grants. The TIP grant is the only state program that is denied because of a drug-related conviction. Our Policies and Procedures Manual, Chapter 4, Student Eligibility, spells out this issue most clearly:

While HEAB follows the federal eligibility guidelines in almost all cases, there are three important situations where HEAB considers a student eligible for state aid even though the student would be ineligible for federal aid. The three situations are:

1. a drug-related conviction;
2. incarceration; and
3. in default on a federally guaranteed student loan.

There is nothing in current state statutes or current state administrative code that would prohibit students who are in one or more of these situations from receiving state aid.

EXCEPT: The Talent Incentive Program (TIP) Grant is funded, in part, by federal funds. This means that, in order for the student to be eligible for a TIP grant, the student must meet the federal eligibility requirements listed above, with the exception of #2. An incarcerated student could still be eligible for a TIP grant if the student met all of the other eligibility requirements.

VOUCHERS, NOTIFICATION AND ERROR LISTS

We have had questions about the notification and error lists so I have copied the following information from the HEAB Policies and Procedures Manual as a reference:

SCHOOLS MAY NOT SUBMIT A VOUCHER REQUEST FOR A STUDENT THAT IS NOT ON THE NOTIFICATION LIST. THE VOUCHER REQUEST WILL BE REJECTED AND WILL NOT BE PROCESSED. SCHOOLS MAY VOUCHER ONLY FUNDS FOR STUDENTS THAT ARE ON THE NOTIFICATION LIST.

If you do not receive funds for an individual student when you have submitted a voucher request, you should review the Error Lists that are sent to you by HEAB to determine the reason. If the student does not appear on the Error Lists, please e-mail the grant coordinator and ask for an explanation. Please make sure to include the social security number of the student in question.

UPDATES

	CURRENT	THIS TIME LAST YEAR
WHEG-UW COMMITTED SPENT	130.57% 96.02%	135.82% 99.95%
WHEG-WTC COMMITTED SPENT	166.81% 99.82%	169.91% 100.00%
TIP GRANT COMMITTED SPENT	136.69% 95.84%	134.70% 89.96%
TUITION GRANT COMMITTED SPENT	96.74% 94.74%	115.59% 95.65%

WHEG UW PROCESSING - IMPORTANT!

The 03-04 WHEG appropriation does not provide enough funding to meet our committed awards.  Rather than cut or revoke awards, we will over-spend the appropriation this year and institutions will be reimbursed at the start of the next fiscal year. University System has given approval for financial aid offices to run deficit balances for their committed awards and in early July HEAB will reimburse those deficit amounts. Please feel free to call Connie with questions or concerns at (608) 264-6181, or by email at connie.hutchison@heab.state.wi.us.

Vouchers are normally processed on Tuesday and Friday nights. If funds are available on Tuesday night, UW voucher requests will be processed normally as 03-04 expenditures. If funds are not available, the voucher requests will be processed as 04-05 expenditures and no checks will be mailed from HEAB at this time, but will be reimbursed in July as stated above. 

UPCOMING DEADLINES AND EVENTS

Next HEAB Training Dates: May 20, 2004

HEAB conducts one-day training programs for new and continuing financial aid administrators. The training session covers all aspects of the programs administered by HEAB, including:

How To Voucher
How To Do File Maintenance
An Overview of the Individual HEAB Programs
A Review of HEAB Reports

If you want to register for a session or need more information, please contact Nancy Wilkison at (608) 267-2206 or nancy.wilkison@heab.state.wi.us.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

Please check our website for the most current information, information about upcoming trainings, and other important notices.

Questions or concerns? I truly appreciate your feedback. Please contact me by phone at (608) 264-6181 or by email at connie.hutchison@heab.state.wi.us.

Connie Hutchison