Department of Education Offers Fiscal Officer Training

February 2, 2006

The Department of Education will offer one-day training workshops for fiscal officers this February, March, and April. The workshops, intended for experienced personnel, will cover duties of the business office in administering federal student aid programs. Topics will include overpayments and withdrawals, cash needs, disbursement, reporting, reconciliation, and campus-based program administration.

The program is free, but advance registration is required. The program will be repeated more than 50 times in all areas of the country, but each session is limited to 50 participants. The program announcement includes more information. To see the schedule of dates and locations and to register, go to www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/training/index.html.

The learning objectives for each program module follows.

Module 1: Role of the Fiscal Officer in Title IV Aid Program Administration:
• Explain the role of fiscal officers;
• Discuss the institution’s roles and responsibilities;
• Identify the institution’s internal control functions;
• Present program integrity and compliance issues; and
• Acquaint fiscal officers with the resources for institutions to administer the Title IV aid programs.

Module 2: Overpayments and Withdrawal Issues:
• Differentiate between institutional refunds and the Return of Title IV aid (R2T4);
• Identify key principles to apply to the calculation of withdrawals under R2T4; and
• Describe how to resolve overpayments of Title IV aid.

Module 3: Cash Needs, Disbursement Rules, and Reporting:
• Discuss prior-year recoveries and charges;
• Cover the disbursement of Title IV aid funds; and
• Describe the use of credit balances and the escheating of Title IV aid funds.

Module 4: Reconciliation of Title IV Funds:
• Present monthly reconciliation in both the Federal Pell Grant and Campus-based Aid programs; and
• Review other reconciliation issues.

Module 5: Issues in Campus-based Program Management and Accounting:
• Describe the allocation and release of Title IV aid funds;
• Explain the transfer of funds in the Federal Perkins Loan and Federal Work Study (FWS) programs;
• Define the carry forward/carry back procedures for both the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs and the FWS programs;
• Cover accounting issues in the campus-based programs, including how to report the document numbers of these programs in the Department of Education's Grants and Payments System (GAPS) and determine closeout amounts and negative balances in GAPS; and
• Summarize record keeping and program integrity issues in the Title IV aid programs.