Distributing Awards When a Shortage of Need Exists in One Award Period

To further enhance simultaneous award period processing, Packaging handles a shortage of need in one award period by proportionally redistributing the remainder of the award into the other award period.

For example, you have a student who attending your quarter-based institution for the AAP as well as the trailing summer non-standard term. The student's COA, EFC, and need are given in the following table:

Need Analysis Element	Academic Award Period	Non-Standard Award Period	Combined
Cost of Attendance	25,000.00 USD	3,200.00 USD	28,200.00 USD
Expected Family Contribution	11,000.00 USD	3,000.00 USD	14,000.00 USD
Need	14,000.00 USD	200.00 USD	14,200.00 USD

The first award in the student's award package is a 4,000.00 USD University Grant that has a disbursement plan that spans both award periods and a split code that distributes the award among all four terms evenly (25 percent fall, 25 percent winter, 25 percent spring, and 25 percent summer). Based on this disbursement split code, the student should receive 3,000.00 USD in the AAP—1,000.00 USD per quarter—and 1,000.00 USD during the NSAP. Because the 1,000.00 USD in the NSAP exceeds the student's 200.00 USD need, Packaging distributes the remaining 800.00 USD (1,000.00 USD minus 200.00 USD) among the three terms in the AAP provided sufficient AAP need remains. This is based on the relative weighting of the original disbursement percentages that pertain to the AAP portion of the disbursement plan/split code pattern. Packaging determines the relative weighting for each term by dividing the original disbursement percentage of the term, 25 percent, by the sum of all disbursement percentages for terms within the award period, 75 percent. For this example, Packaging does the following calculations:

Remainder Calculation for Fall Quarter = 25/(25 + 25 + 25) * 800.00 = 266.66

Remainder Calculation for Winter Quarter = 25/(25 + 25 + 25) * 800.00 = 266.66

Remainder Calculation for Spring Quarter = 800.00 - 266.66 - 266.66 = 266.68

Total Disbursement for Fall Quarter = 266.66 + 1,000.00 = 1,266.66

Total Disbursement for Winter Quarter = 266.66 + 1,000.00 = 1,266.66

Total Disbursement for Spring Quarter = 266.68 + 1,000.00 = 1,266.68

Note: When calculating the relative weight of a disbursement percentage, the system is precise to the seventh position beyond the decimal point. This precise figure is multiplied by the remainder, and then rounded using the Rounding Option set up for the Financial Aid Item Type.

The following table shows the projected disbursements prescribed by the split code and the projected disbursements that are based on relative weighting:

Disbursement Based on:	Fall Quarter (in USD)	Winter Quarter (in USD)	Spring Quarter (in USD)	Summer Term (in USD)
Prescribed Disbursement Split Percent	1,000.00 (25% х 4,000.00)	1,000.00 (25% х 4,000.00)	1,000.00 (25% х 4,000.00)	1,000.00 (25% х 4,000.00)
Relative Weighting to Account for Need	1,266.66 (25/75 х 4,000.00)	1,266.66 (25/75 х 4,000.00)	1,266.68 (25/75 х 4,000.00)	200.00 (Need)

This relative weighting functionality enables you to continue to award students until their remaining need is exhausted while maintaining a proportional disbursement spread similar to each award's original disbursement percentages.

When Packaging distributes the award proportionally because of a shortage of need, it returns one of the following messages.

Message Number	Message Text	Explanation
9155	FM disbursements recalculated; award period need less than projected.	The award has been recalculated because a portion of the award exceeds FM Need for that award period. This is the message that appears for Need-based aid.
9156	FM disbursements recalculated; award period cost less than projected.	The award has been recalculated because a portion of the award exceeds FM cost for that award period. This is the message that appears for Cost-based aid.
9157	FM disbursements recalculated; award period special need/cost less than projected.	The award has been recalculated because a portion of the award exceeds FM Special Need/Cost for that award period. This is the message that appears for Special Need/Cost Financial Aid Item Types.
9158	IM disbursements recalculated; award period need less than projected.	The award has been recalculated because a portion of the award exceeds IM Need for that award period. This is the message that appears for Need-based aid.
9159	IM disbursements recalculated; award period cost less than projected.	The award has been recalculated because a portion of the award exceeds IM cost for that award period. This is the message that appears for Cost-based aid.
9160	IM disbursements recalculated; award period special need/cost less than projected.	The award has been recalculated because a portion of the award exceeds IM Special Need/Cost for that award period. This is the message that appears for Special Need/Cost Financial Aid Item Types.