[Federal Register: October 23, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 205)]
[Notices]
[Page 53591-53592]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23oc01-48]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Federal Student Assistance Programs under Title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as Amended
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice inviting letters of application for participation in the
Quality Assurance Program.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education invites institutions of higher
education that may wish to participate in the Quality Assurance
Program, under section 487A(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended (HEA), to submit a letter of application to participate in the
program.
DATES: Letters of application may be submitted any time after October
23, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Institutions wishing to apply to participate in the Quality
Assurance Program may do so by mailing a letter of application to
Barbara Mroz, U.S. Department of Education, 830 First Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20202-5232 or by submitting a letter of application
electronically to Barbara Mroz at: Barbara.Mroz@ed.gov
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharyn Hutson, U.S. Department of
Education, 830 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20202-5232, telephone:
(202) 377-4379, or via internet: Sharyn.Hutson@ed.gov
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-888-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audio tape or computer
diskette) on request by contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Institutions of higher education are invited to join the Department
in an effort to simplify regulations and administrative processes for
the Federal Student Financial Assistance (SFA) Programs authorized by
Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The
vision of the Quality Assurance Program, with 143 institutions
currently participating, is to provide tools that help all Title IV
institutions promote better service to students, compliance, and
continuous improvement in program delivery. The program encourages
participating institutions to develop and implement their own
comprehensive systems to verify student financial aid application data.
The Department continues to support the expansion of the Quality
Assurance Program. The Secretary is authorized to provide participating
institutions with regulatory flexibility for the verification of
student data, and to encourage alternative management approaches in the
areas of institutional processing and disbursement of Title IV funds,
and entrance and exit counseling.
The Secretary believes that the process of continuous improvement
fostered by the institutions already participating in the Quality
Assurance Program has enhanced not only the accuracy of student aid
awards and payments, but also the management of student aid offices and
the delivery of services to students. By expanding the Quality
Assurance Program to include other management areas, the Secretary
believes it can serve more institutions and promote further
improvements.
Features of the Program
The mission of the Quality Assurance Program is to help schools
attain, sustain, and advance exceptional student aid delivery and
service excellence. For the past 16 years, the program has done that by
providing participating institutions with the flexibility to design an
institutional verification program that more directly focuses on their
own population segments. It has also helped them target areas of
administration that affect award accuracy or that may leave the
institution vulnerable to potential liabilities.
The Quality Assurance Program has given institutions the tools and
techniques to assess, measure, analyze, correct and prevent problems,
and has provided them with data on which to base their decisions for
solving problems and addressing verification items.
The Secretary encourages institutions participating in the Quality
Assurance Program to evaluate their policies and procedures and adopt
improvements in those procedures. Institutions measure performance and
test the effectiveness of their verification program by using the
Department's Quality Analysis Tool. The Quality Analysis Tool is an
Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) analysis software
product that provides Financial Aid Administrators with an in-depth
analysis of their applicant population. It allows them to see not only
which FAFSA elements changed when verified, but also what impact these
changes have upon the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This analysis
helps Financial Aid Administrators develop a targeted institutional
verification program, which makes the financial aid process easier for
students.
The Quality Assurance Program also helps institutions make
improvements beyond verification. It helps them set goals for
continuous improvement in all areas of financial aid delivery, rather
than be satisfied just to achieve basic compliance. It is a management
tool that works well at all types of institutions,
[[Page 53592]]
including 2- and 4-year public, private, and proprietary. One key
benefit of the program: institutions have reported better service to
students as a primary outcome of their participation in the Quality
Assurance Program. The program is a partnership between the Department
and the participating institutions. Both parties become engaged in
promoting continuous improvement in the administration and delivery of
the student financial assistance programs, thereby enhancing service to
students.
Invitation for Applications
The Secretary invites institutions of higher education that
administer one or more Title IV programs to submit a letter of
application to participate in the Quality Assurance Program.
Institutions that currently participate in the program may continue to
do so without submitting a new letter of application. The Secretary
will review the letter of application, which should reflect the
institution's commitment to the goals of the Quality Assurance Program,
as determined by the Secretary. The letter of application should
address the following goals in detail:
Attain and sustain compliance and continuous improvement
in program delivery, and better service to students;
Improve the accuracy of institutional verification
programs;
Increase institutional flexibility in managing student aid
funds, while maintaining accountability for the proper use of those
funds;
Encourage the development of innovative management
approaches that advance quality.
Review Process
The Department will screen prospective participants to determine if
the institution meets general Title IV eligibility requirements and has
a demonstrated record of program compliance. The Secretary may also
consider the institution's performance with regard to financial
responsibility, administrative capability, program review findings,
audit findings, etc. as outlined in the regulations and in the Student
Financial Aid Handbook: Institutional Eligibility and Participation
section. The Secretary anticipates that the review of applications will
begin within 45 days of the date of this notice. However, applications
that are received later will also be considered.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
Dated: October 17, 2001.
Greg Woods,
Chief Operating Officer, Student Financial Assistance.
[FR Doc. 01-26648 Filed 10-22-01; 8:45 am]
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