Hillsborough Community College is in compliance with its program responsibility under the Title IV of the 1998 Higher Education Amendments. On September 30, 2005, the college received the Program Participation Agreement and Eligibility and Certification Approval Report from the US Department of Education (USDOE) that enables the college to receive and award Title IV Financial Aid program funds. Title IV Financial Aid Programs consists of the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan, the Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan and Federal Work Study. The Eligibility and Certification Approval Report confirms HCC’s ability to award Title IV financial aid to students enrolled in all Associate Degree programs and certain vocational and college credit certificate programs. The College’s Program Participation Agreement and Eligibility and Certification Approval expire on June 30, 2009.
Another source of verification of HCC’s compliance is the USDOE's determination that the College satisfies the definition of an eligible institution (Department of Education Approval Report) under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). As the result of HCC's meeting our responsibility for proper administration of federal funds, the college has not been placed on Federal Pell Grant reimbursement payment method. HCC is noted as an Advance Payment Institution for the Federal Pell Grant program with the USDOE.
On July 1, 2005, HCC received $7,299,243 advanced funding (USDOE Common Origination & Disbursement School Funding Level, 2005-2006) from the Department of Education for the Federal Pell Grant program. The College is able to utilize these resources to pay students awarded Federal Pell Grants during the 2005-2006 academic year. HCC receives additional Federal Pell Grant funds from the Department of Education once all of the advanced allocation is expended. Furthermore, the College was not required to obtain a letter of credit in favor of the USDOE.
Hillsborough Community College also receives advance funding for Federal Campus-based programs. On July 1, 2005, the USDOE forwarded to HCC $450,000 for the Federal Supplemental Educational Grant and $500,000 for Federal Work-Study programs (Campus-Based Statement of Account – Award Year 2005-2006). The funds are to be used for awarding eligible students federal campus-based programs during the 2005-2006 academic year. The initial allocation is usually the final amount the college receives from USDOE for each academic year.
Hillsborough Community College met our obligation to complete and submit its Annual Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) by the September 30, 2005 due date. The completion and filing of the FISAP is a USDOE requirement for schools to continue receiving Title IV funding. In addition, the FISAP is a compliance element under the Participation Agreement, General Terms and Conditions, 34 CFR part 668, paragraph 4. The 2004-2005 FISAP is currently being reviewed by auditors.
Hillsborough Community College's complies with our responsibility for disseminating financial aid and consumer information to students. The sources for providing this information to students are as follows:
Hillsborough Community College’s official Federal Cohort Default Rate for fiscal year 2003 is 5.6%. The cohort rate is the percentage of a school’s student borrowers who enter repayment on student loans during a particular fiscal year and default in that fiscal year or the next fiscal year. The federal fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30. Colleges who have default rate above 20% must develop default prevention measures that are aimed to lower the default rate. However, HCC's default rate has decreased by 4% over the past three years, a significant achievement for the college.
Hiilsborough Community College has not had any adverse communications that will affect our ability to participate in the Title IV Financial Aid Programs. There are no litigation issues or complaints regarding the College filed with the USDOE. Also, the college is not aware of infractions to regulations which may jeopardize Title IV funding.
Annually, HCC's financial aid programs are audited by the State of Florida Auditor General Office. To date, the College has completed its 2003-2004 Financial Aid Audit review. There were no significant noncompliance findings or issues that existed in Title IV programs administered by HCC. The Auditor General reviewed student eligibility and awarding of Title IV programs for which there were no findings. Also, HCC did not receive a finding for significant unpaid dollars that were due back to the USDOE.
Hillsborough Community College did received improvement recommendations from the 2003-2004 Financial Aid Audit review, however. The recommendations related to the specific timeframe for processing the seven steps required to complete the Return of Title IV and implementing institutional procedures to properly address Uncashed Financial Aid Checks. The college's response to the audit recommendations resulted in the following processing enhancements:
- Hillsborough Community College implemented new procedures that will eliminate future RT4 Audit findings. The Return of Title IV Procedures were modified to address the timelines of completing each process.
- Two additional Financial Aid staff were specifically hired to monitor the processing flow for the RT4 files. Spreadsheets were created to track payment expiration dates, due dates for referring obligations to the USDOE, and establishing overpayment status with the USDOE's National Student Loan Data Systems.
- In Fall 2004, HCC also implemented a new grade, FX, which enables the College's Office of Financial Aid to identify expeditiously students who received failing grades due to nonattendance. The FX grade was incorporated into the college’s Grading System Administrative Rule, 6HX-10-5.02, and the new grading procedure was disseminated to College staff through internal publications and newsletters. In addition, HCC's Offices of Students Services and Financial Aid hosted various training sessions for the faculty to discuss College’s position on the grading procedure and the proper usage of the FX grade.
- The college developed a procedure, Uncashed Financial Aid Checks, that will ensure the timely return of Federal Pell Grant and Federal Supplemental Educational Grants to the USDOE, as well as the return of Federal Stafford Loan checks that were issued to students and not cashed within 180 days to the Guarantee Agency for the Federal Stafford Loan.
Hillsborough Community College is currently awaiting the results of our 2004-2005 Financial Aid Audit review.
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