1999-2000 SFA Handbook Available on IFAP

The Department of Education (ED) recently posted three sections of the 1999­2000 Student Financial Aid (SFA) Handbook on its IFAP web site at http://ifap.ed.gov.

Current Postings
The Student Eligibility core section contains the information traditionally found in Chapter 2 of the Handbook and now includes material that in previous years was published in The Verification Guide, The EFC Formula Book, and The Counselor's Handbook for Postsecondary Schools. ED will no longer issue these publications separately.

The Institutional Eligibility and Participation core section contains numerous subsections covering eligibility, cash management, general participation, record keeping and disclosure, student consumer information, participation requirements, etc., traditionally found in Chapter 3 of the Handbook.

The State Grant Programs Reference section contains information on the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership grant program (LEAP), the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship program, and the Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship program.

ED expects to have all of these sections printed and mailed to Student Financial Aid participants in approximately one month.

Remaining Sections
The three remaining program­specific sections of the SFA Handbook will be posted to IFAP as soon as each is completed, probably in the next four to six weeks. These sections are Campus­Based Programs Reference, Federal Pell Grant Program Reference, and Direct Loan and FFEL Programs Reference. Paper copies of these sections will be mailed as soon as they are printed.

Many student aid topics affected by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 were subject to the Negotiated Rulemaking process. The 1999­2000 SFA Handbook will describe new provisions in the law, but will not provide substantive guidance for any areas that are under negotiation. Any such guidance that is developed and approved by the negotiation teams will be made available on the Reauthorization section of IFAP.