The Program Integrity Regulations issued on October 30, 2015, contains several new changes, most of which became effective on July 1, 2016. This Regulatory Bulletin is only going to cover 668.164 which addresses disbursing funds. Specifically, we will discuss the use of Federal Student Aid funds to pay for books and supplies. You may click on 34 CFR — Part 668, Subpart K – Cash Management for the actual regulations.
668.164 Disbursing funds.
What affect, if any, do these new provisions regarding books and supplies have on your institution?
The first two subparagraphs under this provision have been in effect since July 1, 2011, following the publishing of the original Program Integrity Regulations on October 30, 2010.
If the student is a Pell Grant recipient, and the Pell could be disbursed up to 10 days prior to the start of the class, and the Pell would create a credit balance, the school is required to provide a way for the student to purchase books and supplies by not later than the 7th day of class.
So what has actually changed by adding subparagraphs 3 and 4?
It is our understanding that those subparagraphs only apply if the books and supplies are included as part of the tuition and fees in the enrollment agreement, 668.164(c)(2).
Books and supplies may be included with tuition and fees if:
- the school has an arrangement with a book publisher or other entity that enables the school to make the books and supplies available to the students for a price below competitive market rates,
- the school provides a way for the students to obtain the books and supplies by the 7th day of the payment period, AND
- the school ALSO has a policy provided for students that allows them to OPT OUT of obtaining their books and supplies through the school via the way the school provides for the student to obtain books and supplies by the 7th day of the payment period. , and
- the books and supplies are not available or accessible by students from other sources than those provided or authorized by the school, or,
- the school documents there is a compelling health or safety reason.
To ensure an understanding of the appropriate application of this new section of the Cash Management regulations, we presented several examples to the U.S. Department of Education (ED). We share the hypothetical scenarios and ED’s responses below.
Example 1:
In this example, we made an assumption that a school has an enrollment agreement charging for the whole program of 1200 clock hours up front, with a contract price of $15,000, which includes an estimated cost of $1,500 for the student’s books, kits and supplies. Our understanding is that the information contained in the new subparagraphs 3 and 4 of the Cash Management regulations above would apply. That is, the school is allowed to include books and supplies in the charge for tuition and fees, if they otherwise meet the specified criteria (e.g., below competitive market rates, provide ability to have books and supplies by the 7th day of the payment period, gives an “opt out” opportunity, etc.). In this case, the total would be prorated by the applicable payment periods for R2T4 and to determine if a credit balance exists.
Example 2:
A school charges $13,500 in tuition and fees up front, per the enrollment agreement, for a 1200 clock-hour program. The enrollment agreement lists the books and supplies at $500, and a kit for use in the program at $1,000. The total cost is $15,000. The contract indicates that the cost of the books, supplies, and kit are a first payment period charge.
Operational Considerations:
A potential change to consider if you currently include books, supplies, and kits or tools as part of tuition, would be to change your enrollment agreement effective July 1, 2016, and make those items an additional, separate line item on the enrollment agreement. Also, since institutions are now required to determine credit balances by payment period, another operational change to consider is to charge by the payment period. (Otherwise, be prepared to provide a payment period-by-payment period worksheet, spreadsheet, or subsidiary ledger, that indicates prorated costs by the payment period and delineates any federal aid received by the payment period, and any resulting credit balance by payment period after applying the federal funds to the student’s account.)
If your institution chooses to continue to include books, supplies, kits, and tools as part of tuition and fees, it is imperative that you document all of the information in 668.164(c)(2), as highlighted in sub-paragraph points a.- e. above.
