Processing Simultaneous Award Periods
During simultaneous award period processing, make sure that the packaging plan's award period attribute is B − Both, and not A − Academic or N − Non-Standard. This directs Packaging to use the COA, EFC/SAI, and need for both award periods, and also indicates that all awards for both award periods can be repackaged unless they are locked or have disbursement protection activated.
During simultaneous award period processing, Packaging evaluates maximum eligibility for need across award periods. Packaging first identifies the student's maximum need, and then it schedules disbursements according to need for the respective award period.
For example, you have a student attending for both award periods and you are going to award a University Grant to the student for both award periods at one time. Your semester-based institution treats the summer term as a trailing summer. The following table provides the COA, EFC/SAI, and need for the student—all values are in U.S. dollars (USD):
| Need Analysis Element | Academic Award Period | Non-Standard Award Period | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cost of Attendance |
25,000.00 |
3,200.00 |
28,200.00 |
|
Expected Family Contribution |
11,000.00 |
2,000.00 |
13,000.00 |
|
Need |
14,000.00 |
1,200.00 |
15,200.00 |
The total value of the University Grant that you plan to offer the student is 5,000.00 USD. To begin awarding, create a packaging plan with an award period attribute of Both, and create a packaging rule for the University Grant with a disbursement plan that spans both the NSAP and the AAP, and a disbursement split code that contains disbursements scheduled in both award periods. For this example, the split code used—split code ID 03—directs Packaging to schedule one disbursement per academic term, with 45 percent of the disbursement awarded in the fall semester, 45 percent of the disbursement awarded in the spring semester, and 10 percent of the disbursement awarded in the trailing summer term. Based on this disbursement plan/split code pattern, Packaging matches the award period attribute for this award (Both).
The following table illustrates how you set up the University Grant award for the student and provides the scheduled disbursements based upon the 45/45/10 split of the 5,000.00 USD total award:
| Seq No | FA Item Type | Disb Plan | Split Code | Disbursements - AAP | Disbursement - NSAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10 |
University Grant |
10 |
03 |
2,250.00 (fall), 2,250.00 (spring) (45% fall, 45% spring) |
500.00 (10%) |
When Packaging processes the student for this University Grant, it takes into account the COA, EFC/SAI, and need for both award periods. Because the packaging plan award period is Both and the disbursement plan/split code pattern for the University Grant is Both, the COA, EFC/SAI, and need values for the two award periods are combined. The combined need value determines the student's maximum award eligibility. The scheduled disbursements for this award do not exceed the student's eligibility for each award period so they are validated.
Important:
Packaging maximizes need per packaging run. This fact is important when EFC/SAI exceeds COA for one award period. This means that need in one award period is not reduced when additional EFC/SAI is available from another award period.
What would happen if EFC/SAI exceeded COA for one award period in the previous example? The same conditions exist: you have a student attending for both award periods, you are going to award a University Grant of 5,000.00 USD to the student for both award periods at one time, and your semester-based institution treats the summer term as a trailing summer. The following table provides the new COA, EFC/SAI, and need for the student—all values are in U.S. dollars (USD):
| Academic Award Period | Non-Standard Award Period | Combined | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
COA |
25,000.00 |
3,200.00 |
28,200.00 |
|
EFC/SAI |
11,000.00 |
3,400.00 |
14,400.00 |
|
Need |
14,000.00 |
0.00 |
14,000.00 |
EFC/SAI exceeds COA for the NSAP. However, because Packaging maximizes need per packaging run, the student's total need for the two award periods is 14,000.00 USD. In other words, Packaging does not apply excess EFC/SAI—200.00 USD in the NSAP—from one award period to the other award period.
To begin awarding, create a packaging plan with an appropriate award period attribute, and create a packaging rule for the University Grant with an appropriate disbursement plan and disbursement split code. For this award, you have several options.
Option 1:
You can assign the University Grant a disbursement plan that is targeted only for the AAP, and a split code that divides the disbursement evenly between the two academic semesters. Based on this disbursement plan/split code pattern, Packaging designates the award period for this award as Academic. The following table provides the scheduled disbursements based upon the 50/50 split of the 5,000.00 USD award where the disbursement plan that spans only the AAP has an ID of 15 and the split code that divides the disbursement evenly between the two academic semesters has an ID of 01:
| Seq No | FA Item Type | Disb Plan | Split Code | Disbursements - AAP | Disbursement - NSAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10 |
University Grant |
15 |
01 |
2,500.00 (fall), 2,500.00 (spring) (50% fall, 50% spring) |
0.00 (No need) |
When Packaging processes the student, it takes into account the COA, EFC/SAI, and need for only the designated award period. Because the disbursement plan/split code pattern for the University Grant is targeted to the AAP, only the COA, EFC/SAI, and need values for the AAP are considered. However, other awards within the student's aid package can have disbursement plan/split code patterns that are targeted to both the AAP and NSAP.
Option 2
You can also assign the University Grant the same disbursement plan as in the previous example, spanning both the NSAP and the AAP, and the same disbursement split code (disbursements scheduled in both award periods). For this example, the split code used (split code ID 03) directs Packaging to schedule one disbursement per academic term, with 45 percent of the disbursement awarded in the fall semester, 45 percent of the disbursement awarded in the spring semester, and 10 percent of the disbursement awarded in the trailing summer term. Based on this disbursement plan/split code pattern, Packaging designates the award period attribute for this award as Both. However, because the student does not have need in the NSAP, during validation Packaging distributes the 500.00 USD that would have been scheduled for the trailing summer term among the two semesters of the AAP using relative weighting provided sufficient AAP need remains. Because the disbursement percentages for the fall and spring semesters are equal, each semester receives an additional 250.00 USD.
Packaging determines the relative weighting for each term by dividing the original disbursement percentage of the term, 45 percent, by the sum of all disbursement percentages for terms within the award period, 90 percent. For this example, Packaging does the following calculations:
Remainder Calculation for Fall Semester = 45/90 * 500.00 = 250.00
Remainder Calculation for Spring Semester = 45/90 * 500.00 = 250.00
Total Disbursement for Fall Semester = 250.00 + 2,500.00 = 2,500.00
Total Disbursement for Spring Semester = 250.00 + 2,500.00 = 2,500.00
The following table illustrates how you set up the University Grant award for the student, and provides the scheduled disbursements based upon the redistribution of the 500.00 USD originally scheduled for the NSAP
| Seq No | FA Item Type | Disb Plan | Split Code | Disbursements - AAP | Disbursement - NSAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10 |
University Grant |
10 |
03 |
2,500.00 (fall), 2,500.00 (spring) (45% fall + 45/90 х 500.00, 45% spring + 45/90 х 500.00) |
0.00 (10% originally scheduled, but shortage of need) |