Configuring Disbursement based on Attended Units

To use this feature, a school will configure the Pell Disbursement Schedule, "Disburse on Attended Census Enrollment Intensity Percentage" with a selected option of "Attended Census EIP" on the Disbursement Schedule Setup.  For now, that configuration setting has only one value, and the field is available ONLY for Pell Disbursement Schedules.  When this feature is in use, the "EST Release Requirements" will become unavailable on the standard disbursement schedule because the feature itself determines the EST Release Requirements based on the student's attended enrollment level.  Furthermore, there is no need to set up multiple disbursements because, again, the feature itself will determine how many disbursements are necessary, based on attended enrollment level.

The first disbursement's scheduled release date will still be established using the Disbursement Schedule Setup Days Offset.  If the student does not have sufficient attendance for disbursement on the Scheduled Disbursement Date, the student's actual disbursement date may be the date upon which attendance is received for the first time that term, assuming disbursement release criteria are met. 

If attendance is reported for the term before the configured disbursement schedule release date, the disbursement will not release until the configured release date is reached.

Note:  This feature was designed for term-based programs only.  Nonterm programs must be set up in a separate Pell disbursement schedule in order to take full advantage of the disbursement schedule setup options and to properly award and disburse Pell for non-term students.  Furthermore, in order to implement this feature, the existing term-based Pell Disbursement schedule must be sunsetted, because existing Pell disbursements were created under a different setup prior to this feature being available.  A new Disbursement Schedule setup for Pell term-based programs is required to take advantage of this feature.

Disbursement Release

Disbursement Release was updated for FAY 2024-2025 to use the Attended Enrollment Intensity Percentage (EIP) instead of the former 'Attended Census Program Applicable Units.' The new EIP calculation includes the sum of all Pell-eligible census units: Attended Census Program Applicable units + Attended Census Remedial Qualified units + Course Adjustment Total Attended Program Applicable Units. In years previous to 2024-2025, Pell disbursements were restricted based on the Attended Census Program Applicable Enrollment Level (ACPA EL, sometimes informally called “alpaca”). ACPA EL used Program Applicable units only.

Each time attendance is added to a course and the student is repackaged and updates disbursements, Regent Award calculates the student's Attended Enrollment Intensity Percentage (Attended Census EIP) for the term. Regent Award uses the student's attended census EIP to determine the amount of Pell Award the student could be disbursed for the FAY.  

• For example: A student was awarded Full-Time Pell for the year based on 12 units.  Currently, in a term, the student has attended only 3 census units. The Attended Census EIP is 3/12 or 25%. The student is eligible to be disbursed with 25% EIP Pell amount for the term. When the 25% disbursement is released, Regent creates an additional child disbursement for the remaining 75% EIP in the term.

Regent updates the disbursements whenever the student is repackaged. However, if a student has packaging restrictions on disbursements, Regent cannot fully update the student’s disbursements and cannot reevaluate the attempted census EIP. A student must be clear of disbursement packaging blockers in order to recalculate the attempted census EIP and disbursements.

Subsequent Disbursements

As the student progresses through the term, Regent Award will determine additional disbursements by comparing the amount of Pell the student has already been paid to the student's current Attended Census EIP. If the Paid Award Amount for the term is $0, and the Attended Census EIP would allow the student to be disbursed 100% EIP, a full disbursement will be made (one disbursement).  Otherwise, each individual disbursement will use the following formula: 

If the result is a positive amount, Regent Award will allow the release of a new positive disbursement for the term.  If the result is a negative amount, Regent Award will reduce the most recent actual disbursement(s) for the term by the negative amount.  Note: these downward adjustments will be controlled by Fund Setup "Allow Adjustment of Paid Disbursements."  If, after making a negative adjustment, the student's eligibility for disbursement increases at a future point in the term, a new disbursement will be created for the increase.   

If enrollment fluctuates while up and down prior to the next paid disbursement being released, Regent Award will modify the amount of a scheduled disbursement up and down until the point that it's paid.

Disbursement Details

The Attended Census EIP is displayed on the Disbursement Details screen.  Each Pell disbursement displays both the "Attended Census EIP" and the "Attended Census EIP Units" for the student at the time that the disbursement was released.

Open

Year Round Pell (150% Pell)

Regent Award will continue separate tracking for “regular” Pell Grant Scheduled Award disbursements, and “Year-Round Pell” (Additional Pell Grant Award) disbursements. Disbursements of PGSA and APGA may be broken up and held for release depending on the amount the student is eligible to be disbursed at any given point in time depending on the student's attempted census units.

R2T4

The development of this feature presents a scenario that must be considered for R2T4s. This feature will allow for the reduction of Pell when the student's attended census enrollment units decrease. This could occur prior to an R2T4 being completed, effectively reducing a student's award pre-maturely if the decrease in attended census enrollment units is the result of a full withdrawal from school.  Regent requires that schools utilize an R2T4 related task (such as "Review Student Withdrawn from All Courses) in order to create a packaging blocker to prevent this reduction in Pell prior to the R2T4. Otherwise, the returned Pell funds will need to be recouped as part of the PWD process. 

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