Overview

Regent Award provides the ability to automate awarding of the Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant (GTEG) for semester term programs based on specified eligibility and awarding requirements beginning with the 2019-2020 Federal Award Year.

Eligibility

The following criteria are determined by Georgia State:

• The GA State Award Year consists of the Summer, Fall and Spring terms beginning with the Summer term and ending with the Spring term
• The ISIR must have a valid EFC (primary EFC => 0). 
• The student is required to be a U.S. citizen or National of the United States or have evidence of Eligible Permanent Resident Alien status. If the citizenship requirement is unable to be confirmed via the ISIR but the student is eligible (confirmed by the school), the school will be required to add the award manually using the Add Award Wizard (AAW). 
  • ISIR DHS Match Flag = Y; OR
  • ISIR Secondary DHS Match Flag = Y; OR
  • ISIR SSA Citizenship Flag = A; OR
  • ISIR SSA Citizenship Flag = Blank AND ISIR SSN Match Flag = 4
• The UDF "GAResident" must be imported on the SBL with a value of "Satisfied" for the student to be considered a Georgia resident. 
• The Federal Selective Service requirement applies for GTEG.
• The Federal Drug Conviction requirement applies for GTEG.
• The student must NOT be incarcerated. 
• The student must NOT be in default or have an overpayment for any Federal Award.
• The student must NOT be in default or have an overpayment for any State Award.
  • Regent Award will assume the student is eligible in this case and the school must manually adjust the award if deemed ineligible.
• The student must maintain a Satisfactory SAP status.
• The student must be enrolled Full-Time for the term
  • If the student drops below Full-Time status prior to Census, the disbursement is canceled. 
  • If the student returns to a Full-Time status, the disbursement will be reinstated.
• The student must be in an Undergraduate program of study leading to a college degree.

Configuration Requirements for Eligibility

• Fund Setup must be configured as "SAP Required" = Yes.
• The "GAResident" UDF must be configured as active in Institution Setup prior to beginning to import the value via the SBL.
  • The student must have the UDF "GAResident" imported on the SBL in a Satisfied status to be eligible for GTEG.

Awarding

Regent awarding and disbursing will begin with the 2019-2020 GTEG Award Year (Summer 2019) as a Non-Need Based Fund. Students may receive up to three semesters of the GTEG fund per Award Year. The award amount is budgeted each year by the Georgia Legislature and is subject to change during the award year. If the award amount changes during the award year, the change becomes effective beginning with the Fall Term. 

Effective with the Fall 2018 semester for the 2018-2019 FAY, students are eligible for $475 per Full-Time term. The 2019-2020 amounts are TBD. An award will be packaged using a combination of the Flat Amount per Payment Period and Amount Per Unit on the fund for up to 10 Full-Time semesters. (10 FT semesters x 12 semester Hours = 120 Paid-Hours). In the 11th Full-Time semester, a student will be eligible for the remaining hours. If the student has remaining hours, $40 per credit hour will be used to calculate the award (see the Paid Hours Limit and Remaining Hours section below). For example, if the student has 7 remaining semester hours, the award would be calculated as follows: $40 per credit hour x 7 remaining semester hours = $280 award amount. 

The payment period will use the FAY along with the Effective Start Date and Effective End Date under Fund Setup to determine if the fund will be packaged for the amount configured. The most recent award year and/or effective date will be used first to determine if the term falls on or after the payment period start date. Regent Award will then use the configured amounts based on the following logic:

• If the Amount Per Unit is left Blank, the Flat Amount Per PP would always be used.
• If the Flat Amount Per Payment Period is left Blank, the Amount per Unit would always be used.
• If neither the Amount Per Unit nor the Flat Amount Per Payment Period is left blank, the Amount Per Unit will be used but will be limited by the Flat Amount Per Payment Period.

Under Fund Setup, if "Distribute Using Payment Period Amounts" is chosen, the amount configured will be awarded for each payment period in the AY (Academic Year based funds) or FAY (Federal Award Year based fund) according to the FAY and/or effective dates provided.

Configuration Requirements for Awarding

The following Fund Setup configuration options must be configured as shown for GTEG awarding:

• Alternative FAY Schedule = May 1 to April 30
• Replaces EFC = Selected
• ISIR Required = Yes
• Award Distribution Options = Distribute Using Payment Period Amounts
• Amount Per Payment Period = Yes
• Enrollment Status Minimum = Full-Time
• Enrollment Status Maximum = Full-Time
• Amount Per Payment Period table will be configured with the appropriate per payment period award amounts for each FAY as designated by Georgia State Regulations.

Paid Hours Limit and Remaining Hours

A student is eligible to receive GTEG payments for a maximum of 127 semester hours. A maximum of 12 semester hours per term is counted toward the paid hours limit, even if actual enrollment is greater than 12 hours. 

The student can only receive an award amount for the remaining hours in a full-time semester for up to 127-semester hour limit. For example, if a student has 7 remaining semester hours of GTEG eligibility and is taking 15 semester hours in the Fall semester, the student may only receive an award amount for the remaining 7 hours. Any partial remaining hours can be rounded up to a full semester hour. (e.g. 2.5 semester hours remaining can be rounded up to 3 semester hours.)

Cost of Attendance (COA)

GTEG is packaged to Cost of Attendance. GTEG must be reduced if any other student financial aid from federal, state, institutional or private sources in combination with the GTG award amount exceeds the Cost of Attendance. 

Disbursements

An invoice file outside of Regent Award is required to be imported into the GA SURFER system.  The file is then processed, and approved by GSFA by the Invoicing Deadline Date as established by GSFA. Each invoice submitted by the Eligible Postsecondary Institution includes Enrolled-Hours, Attempted Hours, Paid-Hours, and the student’s program of study information, if applicable to the program.  

The GTEG Disbursement Schedule may require the disbursement date to be configured at or near the end of the payment period to ensure all hours are attempted prior to invoicing (since attempted hours are required to be reported).  

The Expected EST file should be run to create the Invoice file that is imported into the GA SURFER system.  The EST file contains the data fields required for invoicing.

Award Notification

The school must notify each GTEG recipient of the amount of GTEG funds being awarded for the Award Year via the Award Notification communication.