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This document provides an introduction and overview on how to use "The Blue Book", which is a guide for school business office personnel on managing federal student financial aid programs. It discusses that the primary purpose is to provide guidance on fiscal recordkeeping, accounting, and reporting for Title IV programs. It can be used as a training guide for new employees, reference manual, and basis for a school's own fiscal policies and procedures. The introduction emphasizes the importance of electronic management of financial aid and cooperation between the business and financial aid offices. It also provides references to other key resources like the Student Financial Aid Handbook and GAPS Payee Guide.

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49 views

Description: Tags: 0601introduction

This document provides an introduction and overview on how to use "The Blue Book", which is a guide for school business office personnel on managing federal student financial aid programs. It discusses that the primary purpose is to provide guidance on fiscal recordkeeping, accounting, and reporting for Title IV programs. It can be used as a training guide for new employees, reference manual, and basis for a school's own fiscal policies and procedures. The introduction emphasizes the importance of electronic management of financial aid and cooperation between the business and financial aid offices. It also provides references to other key resources like the Student Financial Aid Handbook and GAPS Payee Guide.

Uploaded by

anon-511728
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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I ntroductio

n
How to Use This Book

Purpose
The primary purpose of The Blue Book is to provide guidance
to school business office personnel who handle fiscal
recordkeeping, accounting, and reporting functions for federal
Title IV student financial aid programs authorized by the
Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). In addition,
it provides a technical resource of Title IV management
responsibilities that are shared between various
administrative offices in a school. It also provides general
information about Title IV programs, policies, and procedures
that are useful to all institutional personnel who administer
and manage Title IV programs.

Some procedures discussed in The Blue Book are


recommended to help institutions meet the fiscal
responsibilities they agree to when they sign a Title IV
Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the U.S.
Department of Education (ED). Other procedures described in
The Blue Book are required by federal laws and regulations.
Although The Blue Book’s primary focus is fiscal
responsibilities, financial aid administrators can also use The
Blue Book as a reference tool for shared responsibilities.

This edition of The Blue Book places special emphasis on the


benefits and challenges of managing Title IV programs
electronically. The goals of any electronic-management
system are to maintain accurate, well-organized records;
submit required reports in an accurate and timely manner;
comply with federal laws and regulations; and provide quality
service to students.

Further, ED requires schools to use automated methods to


meet certain Title IV requirements, such as retrieving
Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) through the
Internet, reporting Federal Pell Grant disbursements through
the Recipient Financial Management System (RFMS),
submitting the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to
Participate (FISAP) electronically, and reporting Title IV
*For Web sites and other
ED publications
information (including overpayments) online to the National
instrumental in fiscal Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Some schools also use
management and
recordkeeping, see
Appendix C.
June 2001 The Blue Book INTRO-1
Introduction

ED’s Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS) to


request and draw down Title IV funds.*

As a result, cooperation and communication across a school’s


administrative offices, especially between the business office
and the financial aid office, are more important than ever.
Schools also need to be careful to ensure that electronic
management does not blur the legally required separation of
authorizing Title IV funds and disbursing Title IV funds. The
Blue Book is designed to help schools achieve these goals and
to use ED’s automated systems successfully.

INTRO-2 The Blue Book June 2001


How to Use This Book

What This Book Contains

June 2001 The Blue Book INTRO-3


Introduction

Using The Blue Book at Your School


The Blue Book can perform several different functions for a
school. For example, it can serve as a:

♦ training guide for new employees (especially in


conjunction with ED’s Fiscal Management Training
Workshop and its Participant’s Guide),

♦ reference manual for any employee, and

♦ basis for a school’s fiscal policies and procedures


manual.

Regardless of how a school uses this book, remember that it is


only a guide, and it does not replace federal laws, regulations,
or generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). School
personnel are still responsible for familiarizing themselves
with all relevant primary source documents.

Margin References
The Blue Book uses three icons in the margin notes to direct
readers to other resources for the material being discussed in
the text.

The Computer icon is for electronic references,


directing readers to Web sites of particular
interest.

The Book icon is for published references and


directs readers to specific regulations and other
resources of particular interest (some of which
might also be available electronically).

The New icon is for newly available Web sites and


published resources, as well as new program
guidelines.

INTRO-4 The Blue Book June 2001


How to Use This Book

Other Resources
A companion publication to The Blue Book is ED’s Student
Financial Aid Handbook (Handbook), which is a primary
resource for financial aid administrators. The Handbook is
mentioned frequently throughout The Blue Book. The
Handbook consists of nine volumes published individually and
successively by ED each year and distributed to school
financial aid offices. Fiscal office personnel should know
where to locate their school’s copy of the Handbook, and they
might want to copy pertinent sections for their own use or
*The SFA Handbook is
print them from
available for download ED’s Web site.*
on ED’s Information for
Financial Aid Another ED publication vital to the work of a fiscal officer is
Professionals (IFAP) Web
site at http://ifap.ed.gov. the
Participating schools are U.S. Department of Education Payee Guide for the Grant
also sent paper copies of Administration and Payment System (GAPS) [GAPS Payee
sections of the Handbook
as they are published. Guide]. It provides information on systems operations and
procedures for federal funds paid to schools through GAPS.
The GAPS Payee Guide helps schools fulfill their
responsibilities in expediting payments, completing forms and
reports, and controlling federal cash received through GAPS.
It also serves as a guide to ED’s new ePayments Web site.

Effective Date
This edition of The Blue Book is written on the basis of laws,
regulations, policies, and procedures published by April 1,
2000 and in effect for the 2001-02 award year. Schools
should be aware, however, these laws, regulations, policies,
and procedures are subject to change. It is a school’s
responsibility to keep abreast of such changes so it remains in
compliance with current rules. Regular updates and changes
in policy guidance are posted on a daily basis on ED’s IFAP
Web site.

Comments and Suggestions on The Blue Book


Your comments and suggestions about any aspect of The Blue
Reference: Book are welcome. We are particularly interested in learning:
• For information on these and
other pertinent printed ♦ the purposes for which The Blue Book is being used (for
materials, see Appendix C example, reference, self-study, training new staff);
of this book.

June 2001 The Blue Book INTRO-5


Introduction

♦ the appropriateness of the content and the usefulness


of the appendices; and

♦ whether you feel this publication is among those that


ED’s Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA)
should update on a regular basis.

You may send your comments to:

The Blue Book/SFA University


SFA/U.S. Department of Education
Room 600-C, Portals Building
1280 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-5361

INTRO-6 The Blue Book June 2001

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