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    Disbursement Term Rules
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    Contents

    Disbursement Term Rules

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    Article Summary

    About Financial Aid Disbursement Term Rules

    Disbursement rules govern how an award is divided among individual disbursement dates. Semester-based schools typically divide an annual award between fall and spring semesters. However, the rules can be set differently depending on award code and student's enrollment load (full time, three-quarter time, half time, etc.).

    NOTE: Custom Control FA_PKGTERM needs to be set to "Y" in order to use these disbursement rules. "N" will set the software to use an legacy packaging ruleset.

    Configuration

    The cost of attendance can be configured to include or exclude certain elements by using custom control FA_RULEKEY.

    ProgramIDSequence NumberParameterDescription
    FA_RULEKEY
    (by major)    		11Set to N to indicate the disbursement rule is dependent on the student's major. Set to Y to exclude the major from the disbursement rule.
    FA_RULEKEY
    (By Program Start Semester)    		12Set to N to indicate the disbursement rule is dependent on the student's start semester. Set to Y to exclude the student's start semester from the disbursement rule. (Usually only used for less-than-1-year programs or clock hour/borrower based programs)
    FA_RULEKEY
    (by part-time code)    		13Set to N to indicate the disbursement rule is dependent on the student's part-time code (full time, three-quarter time, half time or less than half time). Set to Y to exclude the student's part-time code from the disbursement rule.
    FA_RULEKEY
    (by Custom Named Rule)    		14Set to N to indicate the disbursement rule is dependent on the student's assigned Custom Named Code Rule selected on the packaging page (Codes are Created using STParmFCPKGR). Set to Y to exclude the Custom Named Code from the disbursement rule. (Usually used for cohorts/student types that need different dates).
    Important
    To apply configuration changes, refresh the cache by navigating to Admin > Admin Servlet > reload data; then log back in.

    Create Custom Named/Label Disbursement Rule for FA_RULEKEY Parameter 4

    In addition to disbursement rules based on a student's major, semester, or part-time code, institutions can establish a custom named rule for specific cohorts. The rule itself is applied on the student's packaging page and  takes precedence over other disbursement term criteria.

    1. Navigate to Admin > STParm Maintenance
    2. In the Parameter Code box enter "FCPKGR"
    3. In the Parameter Value box type a short description (code) for the rule
    4. Click Add; a new screen appears
    5. In the Description box enter text that identifies the rule
    6. In the Long Description box enter more detailed text that describes the rule
    7. Click Save
    8. Refresh the cache by navigating to Admin > Admin Servlet > reload data; then log back in.

    A Consideration for Borrower Based Institutions with many different starting cohorts, you may set up a few named label disbursement rules/schedules that you can re-use by changing the Academic/Award/Payment Period dates after you have completed packaging a previous cohort, that way you do not have to completely recreate a rule with all of the disbursements.

    Set Disbursement Rule

    1. Navigate to Student Financials > F/A Disbursement Term Rules
    2. Click Add and select criteria to use for the Award/Disbursements (The criteria that is available for the Rules are determined in the custom control maintenance)
      • Packaging Award Type: Choose the award ("INTERNAL" type is used for setting up disbursements for the Non-Federal/Other Packaging Rules process)
      • Award Year: Choose the financial aid year
      • Start Semester: Choose the semester
      • Part-Time Code: Choose what student enrollment status to apply the rule to
      • Major Code: Choose what major to associate the rule with (leave blank for all)
      • Named Rule: Choose what Custom Named Rule associated with the rule
    3. Click Add and set the following criteria for the disbursement:
      - Award Code: The award code associated with the award package
      - Percentage Disbursed: The amount of the total award to apply to the student
      - Schedule Semester: The semester in which the disbursement will apply
      - Scheduled Date: The date the award is anticipated to be applied
      - Award Period Begin Date: Set the Award Period begin date on the 1st disbursement for the award. Setting the date in Subsequent disbursements will override the Award Period date for the specific disbursement.
      - Award Period End Date: Set the Award Period End date on the 1st disbursement for the award. Setting the date in Subsequent disbursements will override the Award Period date for the specific disbursement.
      - Payment Period Start Date:        Set the date for the payment period starting date for this disbursement.
      - Payment Period End Date:  Set the date for the payment period ending date for this disbursement.
      - Academic Year: Enter a 1 to indicate the disbursement falls within the current academic year (default). Enter a 2 to indicate the disbursement falls outside of the first academic year but draws from the award year shown.  (This is academic year within the same Federal Award Year. {Default '1' is for the current and only year for most Term based programs. '2' is for a 2nd academic year/period within the same Federal Award Year as used by borrower based programs. 3, 4, and so on can be used where applicable.      })
      - Acad. Year Begin Date:       Set the Academic Year Begin date on the 1st disbursement for the award. Setting the date in Subsequent disbursements will override the Academic Period date for the specific disbursement. 
      - Acad. Year End Date:       Set the Academic Year End date on the 1st disbursement for the award. Setting the date in Subsequent disbursements will override the Academic Period date for the specific disbursement. 
      - NSLDS Sub Usage Period Limit (0.000): [As of July 1st, 2021 the Dept. of Education has removed the Sub Usage regulation and this field no longer affects packaging of Sub loans; recommend setting this field at '0' or to '9'.]  NSLDS Sub Usage Period Limit: NSLDS Sub Usage Period should be set for the 150% limit of the students program. (i.e. "6.0" would be set for 150% of a 4 year program or "3.0" for a 2 year program)
    4. Click Save
    5. Repeat for subsequent Disbursements and Awards


     


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