Overview

The Wisconsin Grant (WG-PNP) Program provides grant assistance to undergraduate, Wisconsin residents enrolled at least half-time in a degree or certificate programs at nonprofit, independent colleges or universities based in Wisconsin.  The maximum award amount is established annually by Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB). Eligibility cannot exceed ten terms. Regent Award supports automated awarding and disbursement of the Wisconsin Grant. 

How is the school notified?

A weekly HEAB Roster from Wisconsin (WI) state is received containing eligible students. Please note that this weekly roster serves as a weekly eligibility notification report as well as weekly requested disbursement approval/rejection report. 

Wisconsin Grant Roster

Students who are eligible to be awarded the WG-PNP are identified by importing the WI HEAB Roster file into Regent Award via the Processes screen or FileWatcher (sFTP). The file is a tab-delimited file, specific to a Federal Award Year (FAY). There will be a different file for each FAY. The file name is used to determine the FAY associated to the file. For example, the file named 06.01.2017_Notif_253_1617_20170530.txt, is for 2016-2017 FAY. The file layout is specified here: http://www.heab.wi.gov/docs/finadmin/guides/guide-wgpnplayout.docx.

Import Wisconsin State Grants Process

To import WI HEAB Roster via UI,  on the Processes-->Import Process screen, select "Import State Grants" under Process Type drop-down and select "Wisconsin" under State drop-down. Only users with the "Import State Grants" permission can access this process.

The students on the roster file will be matched to a student record in Regent Award using the Social Security Number (SSN) only since the students eligible to receive the award will always have an ISIR. 

Any attempt to run the Import State Grants process produces a Process Log entry.

Upon successful import of the file, an Activity Log Entry "Imported on WI HEAB Roster for  [amount] as [status]." is created for each student on the imported roster. 

FileWatcher

The Import WI State Grant process is also available via FileWatcher.

Folder Name	Process Type	FileWatcher Monitored	Description
StateGrantLoadWI	Import		Processed State Grant WI (Roster Award) files Files uploaded from the UI (where REM calls DEX to process them) Also, files that have processed via being loaded into the _FW folder
StateGrantLoadWI_FW	Import		State Grant WI (Roster Award) files processing Sync'd with SFTP Files typically only exist in this folder when they are processing

Reprocess

In order to match up the State-provided data that was loaded prior to students existing in Regent Award to the students once they exist, 'Roster Award - Reprocess'  was created.   This process reprocesses only the current and immediately prior FAY vs. all FAYs in the data. Here is how the FAYs are determined:

• If today's date is
  • 11/01/2017: 2016-2017 & 2017-2018 (FAYs 2017 & 2018)
  • 01/01/2018: 2017-2018 & 2018-2019 (FAYs 2018 & 2019)
  • 06/30/2018: 2017-2018 & 2018-2019 (FAYs 2018 & 2019)
• To allow for "early" and "late" files by FAY, the logic relates to the calendar year

Implementation Note: The school can either request Regent to auto-schedule this process as needed or the user can initiate this process via the UI at ad hoc by selecting Processes → Reprocess Process → Roster Award - Reprocess.

This process also produces Process Log and Activity Log entries similar to the Import Wisconsin State Grants process.

Eligibility

To receive WG-PNP, students must be Wisconsin residents enrolled at least half-time in an undergraduate degree or certificate program at a private, nonprofit institution. Students who have previously earned a Bachelor’s degree are not eligible for WG-PNP.  A student’s eligibility for the Wisconsin Grant is determined by their dependency status, EFC, and tuition rate.  

Eligible students will be imported into Regent Award via the WI Notification Roster file.  The file will be imported into Regent Award as a tab-delimited file for the Financial Aid Award Year (FAY). There is going to be a different file for each FAY. Regent Award will use the roster to determine eligible students for awards.

Eligibility criteria are outlined in detail in the exhibit Bulletin SS - 3317 Wisconsin State Financial Aid Programs.  Regent Award does not take any action for students that are ineligible on the weekly roster.

Eligibility for each Federal Award Year’s Wisconsin Grant begins in the Fall. A less than full-time term counts as an entire term of eligibility toward a student’s maximum of ten terms of eligibility. When a student withdraws from the University and a portion of their grant is refunded, that also counts as an entire term of eligibility.  

Once imported, Regent Award uses the roster and existing Regent Award data to determine eligible students for awarding using the following criteria:

• Roster criteria:
  • Student record does not contain an “R” in the REJECT column
  • Student’s award is greater than $0 in the CALCSTAWARD column
  • Eligibility per student cannot exceed 10 semesters in the WGTGSM column.
• Regent Award criteria:
  • A student must be enrolled at least half-time in the term (program applicable units only)
  • A student is awarded for the federal award year associated with the current roster only (Regent Award doesn’t anticipate awarding for future FAYs for which we do not yet have a roster)
  • A student must be in an eligible program
    • Fund Setup: Make fund available to all programs = Yes
    • Ruleset's eligibility check limits eligibility to only the programs that appear in the school-specific mapping.  

Awarding

WG-PNP is awarded annually at the Federal Award Year level. The Wisconsin FAY contains three terms: Fall, Spring, and Summer. Regent Award reviews all eligible students imported via the roster and uses the calculated amount based on the WG-PNP Formula (see below).  For FAY 2018-2019 and earlier, the system used a tuition-dependent Tier mapping established by the school. The tuition rate was determined by a lookup of the configured cost tiers that the school set up with the state program. For FAY 2019-2020 and later, the system uses a tuition-dependent lookup based on configured Cost Groups and Cost Items. The lookup information is school-specific and must be coded in Regent Award for the school to use this feature.

Upon awarding, Regent Award checks for a valid Active ISIR (non-blank EFC) and open documents and/or tasks configured to block packaging for the Wisconsin Grant. If the student does not have a valid (non-blank EFC) Active ISIR or has open documents and/or tasks configured to block packaging for Wisconsin Grant, the Wisconsin Grant will be blocked from packaging.

For FAY 2018-2019 and earlier, Regent Award's calculation referenced the student’s program and enrollment level (registered program applicable units only) and divided the award amount by the number of registered eligible terms to determine the award amount for each eligible term. For FAY 2019-2020 and later, Regent Award references the student's configured Cost Items and Cost Groups, along with the term's registered units, to determine the total award amount, then divides the amount by the number of registered eligible terms. The resulting calculated amount is awarded for the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms, as applicable. The award is recalculated each term based on actual registered units and roster data.

The system calculates the number of remaining eligible terms based on the semesters already used at the start of the FAY (WGTGSM). Regent Award subtracts that value from 10 to calculate the number of remaining eligible terms. For example, WGTGSM="8" means a student has already used eight semesters, so the student has only two remaining semesters of eligibility. For that example student, Regent Award distributes the calculated award amount across the remaining two eligible terms.

Only ‘Actual’ enrollment status (course data sent on the SBL) is used in calculating the Wisconsin Grant. Anticipated enrollment (i.e. currently configured as full-time) will not be used. The school is required to provide actual course data for the terms in the Wisconsin Grant Federal Award Year to ensure proper awarding of the fund.

2022-2023 FAY

WG-PNP Calculation: 

1. Determine the student's Cost Items in the term in Regent Award
   1. Identify the configured Cost Group in Regent Award in the school-specific lookup
2. Determine the student's total registered program applicable units for the term in Regent Award 
   1. The system rounds down to the nearest whole number of units for the lookup. For example, 11.76 units would use 11 units, not 12.
   2. Any students who are on the HEAB Roster and enrolled in more than the maximum number of units listed for the Cost Group will use the maximum amount to determine the calculation. For example, 21 units would continue to use the 20-unit cost group and tuition code.
3. Determine the student's number of eligible terms in the FAY in Regent Award 
4. Match the Cost Group, registered units, and number of terms to the value for Total Tuition & Fees (Tuition Amount) using the school-specific lookup
5. Use the Tuition Amount for the Tuition Code in the school-specific lookup to determine the award using the 232751163below.
   • Step 4 – Round the ‘Family Contribution Percentage’ to four decimal places.
   • Step 5 – Round the ‘Multiplied by Family Contribution percentage’ to four decimal places.
   • Step 6 – Round ‘Tuition Offset’ and ‘Less Tuition Offset’ to two decimal places. Round the results of Step 6 to the nearest dollar.

WG-PNP Formula for 2022-2023

2023-2024 FAY

WG-PNP Calculation: 

1. Determine the student's Cost Items in the term in Regent Award
   1. Identify the configured Cost Group in Regent Award in the school-specific lookup
2. Determine the student's total registered program applicable units for the term in Regent Award 
   1. The system rounds down to the nearest whole number of units for the lookup. For example, 11.76 units would use 11 units, not 12.
   2. Any students who are on the HEAB Roster and enrolled in more than the maximum number of units listed for the Cost Group will use the maximum amount to determine the calculation. For example, 21 units would continue to use the 20-unit cost group and tuition code.
3. Determine the student's number of eligible terms in the FAY in Regent Award 
4. Match the Cost Group, registered units, and number of terms to the value for Total Tuition & Fees (Tuition Amount) using the school-specific lookup
5. Use the Tuition Amount for the Tuition Code in the school-specific lookup to determine the award using the 232751163below.
   • Step 4 – Round the ‘Family Contribution Percentage’ to four decimal places.
   • Step 5 – Round the ‘Multiplied by Family Contribution percentage’ to four decimal places.
   • Step 6 – Round ‘Tuition Offset’ and ‘Less Tuition Offset’ to two decimal places. Round the results of Step 6 to the nearest dollar.

WG-PNP Formula for 2023-2024

Visual Aid: Award Amount in Two Semesters vs. Three Semesters

If it is determined that a student will not be enrolled at least half-time in all 3 terms of the FAY (Fall, Spring, and Summer), the student will still be considered enrolled in 3-Terms and their WG-PNP tuition code will have 3-Terms, however, the 2-term tuition amount is used to determine the award amount for the remaining terms that are at least half-time. If the student is enrolled at least half-time in 2 terms, the resulting award amount is disbursed over 2 terms. If the student is enrolled at least half-time in only 1 term, the resulting award amount is divided by 2 for the single term. If the student is not enrolled at least half-time in any terms, the resulting award amount will be zero and a zero disbursement amount will be scheduled for the terms.

If a student’s award for a term results in a $0 calculated award amount for a term (e.g. tuition code or calculated amount), the student would not be eligible for a disbursement for the term. However, this is not treated in the same manner as a less than half-time term for determining if a 2-semester or 3-semester tuition code will be used. For example, a student is attending at least half-time in all 3 terms of the FAY but no tuition code exists for one of the terms based on the enrollment level, that term will result in a $0 disbursement but the overall award for the other two terms will use the 3-semester tuition code and receive 1/3 of the calculated amount for each of the two terms.

The awarding for the FAY is ceased at the end of the 3rd term (Summer).

Rounding Cents 

Occasionally, the calculation formulas will result in partial-dollar amounts (cents) in a term. Students still receive their full award amount in whole dollars, subject to the maximum total award limits. If an award has 2 or 3 terms, and any second or third term has cents, those later-term cents are rounded from the later terms and added into the first term's truncated total amount. Then, the first term's truncated cents amount is multiplied by the total number of eligible terms (e.g. 3 terms) and rounded up to the nearest whole dollar. 

Any packaging limits still apply. For example, the system still cannot exceed the total maximum award amount for the FAY.

Specific steps:

1. Determine the total award amount for the FAY using the standard calculation. If the per term award amount for the first term in the initial calculation results in cents, update each respective term award amount as follows:
   1. Round the cents portion of each awarded term's amount to two decimal places using standard rounding for each term (e.g. .66666 round to .67)
   2. Truncate the award amount for the first awarded term (drop the cents).
   3. Use the cent amount dropped from the first term’s award and multiply by the number of awarded terms (e.g. 3 terms with a positive award amount) and round up the first term's cents to the nearest dollar (unless the amount is 1, 2, or 3 cents over an even dollar, then round down).
   4. Add the rounded dollar amount to the first term's truncated amount.
   5. All remaining awarded terms in the FAY will use truncated amounts.
2. The first term amount will be reassessed during packaging until the term is closed (term end date is in the past).
3. All subsequent terms in the FAY will continue to use a truncated amount when reassessed.

Note: The total amount awarded cannot exceed the full year amount established by the calculator.

Conflicts Between Roster Amounts and Regent Award Eligibility

In a scenario where the roster shows the student as eligible, but Regent Award determines the student to be ineligible (the award is below minimum, etc.), the award of $0 is created in a "Cancelled" status with the explanatory award message "Student is eligible for Fund "Wisconsin Grant" in Award Period "YYYY-YYYY" (7/1/YYYY-6/30/YYYY)." in the Activity Log Entries.

Minimum and Maximum Award Amounts by FAY

Minimum and maximum awards are set annually by HEAB.

For 2022-2023 FAY, the minimum and maximum award amounts are:

• Minimum: $500
• Maximum: $3,800

Please note that these are the minimum and maximum amounts for the full FAY award calculated in Step 6 of the Wisconsin Grant - Private Non-Profit (WG-PNP)#formula. For example:

• If a student receives $1,000 as a full 3-term award, the student should be eligible for $334, $333, and $333 for Fall, Spring, and Summer terms. 
• If a student receives $1,000 as a full 2-term award, the student should be eligible for $500 and $500 per each eligible term. 
• If a student receives $1,000 for a full 1-term award, the student should be eligible for $500 for that term.
• If the student's full FAY award is calculated to be < $1,000, no WG-PNP will be awarded for any term.

Supplemental Award

Regent Award will identify any supplemental awards from the roster field, STSUPAWRD.  Regent Award will treat all supplemental awards as a one-time award per FAY.  The award will use the date of the initial notification roster for which the supplemental award was listed to determine which term the award should be scheduled for.   

Packaging up to Cost of Attendance (COA)

If the Wisconsin Grant award amount would exceed the student's cost of attendance, Regent Award will reduce awards in accordance with the Packaging Philosophy and if applicable, will reduce the Wisconsin Grant award amount to cover up to the remaining cost of attendance.  If the student's COA is less than a minimum award amount for WG-PNP ($1,000), the student is not eligible to receive the award.

Recalculation

Upon re-packaging, Regent Award checks for a valid (non-blank EFC) Active ISIR and open documents and/or tasks configured to block packaging for the Wisconsin Grant. If the student does not have a valid Active ISIR or has open documents and/or tasks configured to block packaging for Wisconsin Grant, the Wisconsin Grant will be blocked from re-packaging.

Upon re-packaging, Regent Award checks for a valid Active ISIR that has been verified.  If either of these conditions is not met, the Wisconsin Grant is blocked from re-packaging (existing award is frozen) and disbursement.  

Regent Award recalculates enrollment status when the SBL file is imported and recalculates award amounts for the Wisconsin Grant during the packaging process.   The enrollment status used in the calculated award amount fluctuates based on current and future courses (similar to Pell).  For example, if a student withdraws from a course(s) prior to the end of the term, the award will be updated based on the new tuition code, as applicable. 

Wisconsin State requires upward and downward award adjustments due to eligibility changes (e.g. Primary EFC changes, retroactive enrollment level changes, COA changes) or unpaid disbursements to be made for past, current and future terms with the following exceptions:

Exception 1

Downward adjustments are not made if the disbursement is paid AND the term is closed AND the student is moving from a 3-semester award to a 2-semester award OR a 2-semester award to a 3-semester award.  But such a change will impact subsequent term eligibility.

In the event of a decrease in the calculated amount of a paid disbursement for a closed term for a student moving from a 3-semester award to a 2-semester award OR a 2-semester award to a 3-semester award, the calculated eligibility would not result in a downward adjustment but rather would impact the calculated awards for subsequent term(s) (see Initial 2-Semester Award Amounts and 3-Semester Award and Disbursement Amounts examples below).  Each term’s award amount is recalculated based on the new eligibility.  Remaining eligibility for subsequent term award amounts is reduced by the amount of the previously paid disbursement for the closed term.  Subsequent terms will only be eligible to receive up to the remaining calculated eligibility that was not yet paid (the remaining non-spent eligibility).

If an award amount for a closed term has not yet been disbursed, the award amount must be recalculated based on current eligibility upwards or downwards before invoicing the state for disbursement. 

Example 1:  2-semester award to a 3-semester award scenario 

Based on 2-semester Tuition Code 7, the student is eligible for an annual award of $3,150. A student is initially awarded and paid $1,575 for the full-time Fall and Spring terms. During the Spring semester, the student becomes eligible at 7 credits for the Summer after the Fall term has closed:

• The FT Fall award will remain as $1,575 because the term is closed.
• The FT Spring term award would be updated from $1,575 to $1,050 because the Spring term is still open.
• The 7 credit Summer term would be eligible for the remaining eligibility of $394 (up to $3,019; $1,050 + $1,050 + $919) based on the 3-semester Tuition Code 1.

Initial 2-Semester Roster Award Amounts:

3-Semester Roster Award and Disbursement Amounts:

Example 2:  3-semester award to a 2-semester award scenario 

If a student is initially awarded and paid based on the 3-semester tuition amount $1,050 for the full-time Fall term, $1,050 for the full-time Spring term and $919 for the 7 credit Summer term and the student drops to less than half-time for the Summer after the Fall term has closed:

• The FT Fall term award would be updated from $1,050 to $1,575 regardless of a term being open or closed since upward adjustments are required.
• The FT Spring term award would be updated from $1,050 to $1,575.
• The Summer term award would be canceled (updated to zero).

Initial 3-Semester Award Amounts:

2-Semester Award and Disbursement Amounts:

Note:  In a scenario where the first term (Fall) is in a historic (AY0) Academic Year and the student is moving from a 3-semester award to a 2-semester award OR a 2-semester award to a 3-semester award, a student may be incorrectly awarded during the FAY.  The Task, "Review WG-PNP award eligibility in AY0", will be triggered.  The user may adjust WI Grant manually via Modify Award Wizard (MAW) if necessary. A manual award adjustment will mark this award as "Manual" (not managed by Regent Award for the remainder of FAY).

Exception 2

Neither upward or downward adjustments are made to disbursements after the student is fully withdrawn or graduated from school, except as a result of an R2T4. If the student returns into a new program after withdrawing or graduating from a prior program, neither upward or downward adjustments are made to the prior program, unless a reversal of the R2T4 is performed for a withdraw (returning into the same term as withdraw).

A withdrawn course(s) will update the enrollment level for the term, regardless of whether or not the course was attended, and is required to be recalculated for open and future terms. Courses are withdrawn via the SBL if the course is no longer in attendance or if the course has been unregistered.  

End of Federal Award Year (FAY)

The State of Wisconsin (WI) does not have a standard date for closing the state's Federal Award Year.  It typically occurs on the last day of the month of May for the FAY but may extend into the beginning of June.  WI HEAB Rosters will no longer be received for the Federal Award Year after the state Federal Award Year is closed.

The Wisconsin Grant 2017-2018 FAY closed on June 8, 2018.  For 2018-2019 FAY, the End of FAY date is July 12, 2019.  For 2019-2020, the End of FAY date is June 28, 2020. These dates are configured as part of the school-specific lookup file.

The impacts on the closing of the FAY to the Wisconsin Grant awards are as follows:

• If the award has been paid and the eligibility change for the Summer term occurs on or after the End of FAY date:
  • Summer term WG-PNP award is adjusted downward only (refunds will be required)
  • No upward adjustments to the Summer term WG-PNP award are allowed
  • No upward or downward adjustments are allowed to previous term WG-PNP awards for the FAY (regardless of eligibility change)

• If the WG-PNP award for a previous term has not been paid by the End of FAY date, the award is canceled (changed to $0).

•  If the WG-PNP total award is zeroed out for the FAY, and the award has a paid disbursement, then the system will still process a negative EST.

Crossover Summer Term FAY 

In a crossover Summer term, the Wisconsin Grant is only awarded using the prior-year, former FAY. For example, in the Summer 2020 term, the system only awards the Wisconsin Grant from FAY 2019-2020. The Wisconsin Grant is not awarded from FAY 2020-2021 until the Fall 2020 term. Any Pell Grants or other FAY-based awards are independent of the Wisconsin Grant FAY. 

Withdrawals/Refund Policy

Withdrawals and refunds are not automated in Regent Award. Once tuition adjustments and a Return of Federal Funds (R2T4) calculation has been performed for a fully withdrawn student, the user will make any necessary adjustments to the Wisconsin Grant award.  

Program Changes

The school will be responsible for updating the program change tuition code information with the state. 

In the event of a program change, Regent Award will determine if the new program is associated to the fund (The Program must be eligible according to the school-specific mapping) and if it is, will associate any calculated term awards to the new program.  If the new program is not associated with the fund, Regent Award will determine how many FAY terms the student will be enrolled in for the old program.  If the student will not be attending all 3 terms in the FAY for the old program, Regent Award will recalculate the award as if the student did not enroll at least half-time in all 3 terms of the FAY for the old program. 

Manual Awards

The school staff can also manually add or adjust WG-PNP awards using the Add / Modify Award Wizards (AAW / MAW). Only one WG-PNP award can exist per student per FAY.  If a student has the WG-PNP awarded for the FAY and the user attempts to add another WG-PNP award via the AAW, Regent Award will navigate the user out of the AAW and into the MAW so that the existing WG-PNP award can be manually adjusted. To add a WG-PNP award for a student that was not imported on the Wisconsin HEAB roster, the user must select the "Override Eligibility Rules" checkbox on Step 1 of the AAW. Those staff-adjusted awards will be marked Manual (not managed by Regent Award).  The auto-packaging logic will not make any changes to Manual awards.  

Disbursements

Regent Award determines that the student is eligible for a disbursement using the following criteria:

• A student is enrolled at least half-time
• A student does not have a reject for the award in the roster file (REJECT ≠ R).
  • "Reject" on the roster indicates ineligibility as of the date that the roster file was received. Closed terms that have already been paid are not affected.
• A disbursement amount (greater than $0) exists in the roster file.
  • Regent Award identifies disbursements via the roster field, STSPNT* (* is represented in the roster with a 1 for the Fall term, 2 for the Spring term or 3 for the Summer term).
•  All tasks and documents that restrict disbursement for the fund are honored.

If the disbursement amount from the roster file is greater than $0 and equals the disbursement amount in Regent Award, Regent Award updates the award to reflect the paid disbursement at the time the EST process is run. If the disbursement amount from the roster file is greater than $0 and does not equal the scheduled disbursement amount in Regent Award, the “Review WG-PNP Disbursement Amount” task is triggered and the award needs to be reviewed by the school. When configured, the task (if not "Completed", "Waived", or "Closed") blocks future disbursements for the student. Completing or closing the task authorizes the Regent Award disbursements.  Upon completion of the task, Regent Award will disburse the amount provided in the Wisconsin HEAB Roster, but the amount of the Award in Regent will not change. Expected EST will yield a positive/negative transaction for the difference to be used to invoice the state.

Import Awards 

When WG-PNP awards for 2017-2018 FAY are imported into Regent Award, it is possible for the students that begin an AY in Spring to have Fall awards imported into AY0.

Regent Award will freeze Payment Periods for WG-PNP award imported into AY0.  The AY0 Payment Periods will be assumed to be eligible, while the amounts will be locked down to prevent Regent Award from changing.  Regent Award will also trigger a task when the following criteria is met:

• WG-PNP award is in AY0
• The award is not Manual
• There is a 2- to 3- or 3- to 2- semester change for the FAY

The task will be configured to block future disbursements for the award.  Satisfying the task will remove the block.  Modifying the award through Modify Award Wizard (MAW) will make this award Manual (not managed by Regent Award for the rest of the FAY).  

State Tab

Once the student is successfully packaged, the Wisconsin Grant award information can be viewed on the student’s State Tab. Clicking on the record in the State Awards grid displays the details in the State Data Records.  

Reporting

In addition to the standard fields on the Process Log Details screen, a button to access Reports: Import Wisconsin State Grant Process Results is provided. This report allows the user to view the imported WI HEAB Roster file in the tabular format.

To support Wisconsin Grant (WG-PNP) award processing, Reports: WI State Grant was created. 

External Term Code

In order to match the Term in Regent Award to the Term on the WI Notification Roster, the External Term Code field must be configured on the Term Setup.  Only terms with an External Term Code value will be considered for matching. The values must follow XXYYYY format, where XX is the SM, AU, or SP value from the Wisconsin Grant - Private Non-Profit (WG-PNP)#Term column of the Disbursement Query; and YYYY is the FAY for the WI-PNG award.  For example, Fall 2018 would be provided as "AU2019" in the External Term Code field.

For WI, the terms of a given FAY will always be ordered by the first two characters of the External Term Code as follows:

1. AU
2. SP
3. SM

Change Log