Title 45-Public Welfare

CHAPTER I-OFFICE OF EDUCATION, DE-
PARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION,
AND WELFARE

PART 190-BASIC EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANT PROGRAM Scope, General Definitions, Application Procedures, and Allowable Educational Costs

A notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on July 13, 1973 (38 FR 1778 et seq.) covering the general definitions, procedures for applying for a determination of an expected family contribution, method of award calculation, and the allowable educational costs for the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant Program (Title IVA-1 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended (20 U.S.C. 1070a)). At the time of publication of the proposed regulations, the Office of Education distributed them directly to 5,000 institutions of postsecondary education for review and comment. The Office of Education also conducted a series of regional workshops throughout the country. Participants in these workshops included institutional financial aid officers, high school counselors, TRIO project directors and others interested in the program. Since many of those who would normally respond in writing had the opportunity to comment verbally on these proposed regulations during those regional meetings, only 30 written comments were received. The recommended changes in these regulations, however, reflect our consideration of both the verbal and written comments received.

The public comments received centered around four major issues: the allowable costs of attendance (§ 190.51); the definition of clock hour (§ 190.2(c)); definition of full-time student (§ 190.2 (f)); and the criteria under which a special recomputation of a student's expected family contribution due to extraordinary circumstances would be permitted (§ 190.16).

The largest group of comments expressed concern regarding the allowable costs of attendance for the program (§ 190.51). The area of greatest concern was the off-campus room and board allowance and the allowance for miscellaneous expenses. The overwhelming majority of comments received indicated that these allowances were too low to adequately reflect even minimal costs of the students. With regard to the costs proposed for the 1973-74 academic year, the allowable costs for the Basic Grants were as follows: (1) the amount charged to the student by the institution for tuition, fees, and room and board; (2) an off campus living allowance of either $950 or $750 depending on whether the student lived in his own quarters or with

his parents; and (3) a miscellaneous expense allowance of $350 for each student to cover books, supplies, and miscellaneous expenses.

In the development of cost allowances for the academic year 1973-74 it was felt that a number of factors had to be considered. While the off-campus allowances might not reflect a higher cost of living in one area, they were substantially above the cost of living for other parts of the country. As such, the cost allowances were intended as reasonable average costs and the Basic Grant payment schedule was issued on this basis. Since these allowances were designed to apply to all Basic Grant recipients who lived off-campus and were designed to take into account the variety of living costs in all parts of the country, the allowances for the 1973-74 academic year were not changed.

However, in view of the significant increases in the cost of food and maintenance during the past year which is reflected in an 8.8 percent Consumer Price Index increase, the off-campus room and board cost allowance has been increased to $1,100 for the 1974-75 academic year. Also beginning with the 1974-75 academic year, no distinction will be made in the allowance for students living off-campus, whether or not they are living with their parents, because studies have indicated that the costs for these students are approximately equal. Although there may be significant differences among various areas of the country, studies made by the two major national need analysis services (College Scholarship Service and the American College Testing Program) indicate that the average student budget for off-campus living costs is about $1,100, regardless of whether such students are living with their parents or in own quarters.

In addition, the allowance for miscellaneous expenses covering such costs as books, supplies, laundry, and clothing expenses, etc. has been increased to $400. The increase of $50 is justified on the basis of the 8.8 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index. The new allowance of $400 would seem to be sufficient to recognize the need of students to pay for reasonable expenses without incurring the risk of having the program charged with allowing unnecessary luxuries.

Related to the changes affecting the allowable cost question is the inclusion of a provision that eligible students who are incarcerated be permitted as allowable costs of attendance only tuition and fees and an allowance of $150 for books and supplies. This amendment, we believe, extends Basic Grant funds to these students in proportion to their needs.

In view of the pressing need to incorporate these provisions into the Payment

Schedule which is used by institutions of higher education participating in the Basic Educational Opportunity Grants Program in determining the amount of a students grant award, it has been determined that further resort to proposed rulemaking procedures with respect to these regulatory provisions would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest (5 U.S.C. 553(b)).

Another area of concern dealt with the definition of clock hour for purposes of determining full-time attendance (§ 190.2(c)). As originally proposed, 1 clock hour would require 3 hours of faculty supervised laboratory or shop training if such laboratory or shop training did not require outside preparation. Therefore, the proposed definition would require students enrolled in many Vocational programs to be in shop or laboratory training 75 hours per week in order to quality as full-time students. The amended regulation provides that one hour of faculty supervised laboratory or shop training would count as 1 clock hour for the purpose of determining a full-time student. The revised definition of clock hour, we believe, provides a more equitable treatment of students enrolled in vocational training programs and treats students in traditional and non-traditional programs of higher education in a more consistent manner.

Another major concern was expressed with regard to the applicability of the proposed definition of full-time student to students enrolled in summer session programs, students enrolled in specially scheduled "block-time" programs, and students enrolled in institutions which measure academic progress in terms of both credit and clock hours (§ 190.2(f)).

The definition of a full-time student is based on two concepts; the amount of academic workload carried by the student, and the length of the student's enrollment. For example, a student who is enrolled in a school utilizing a quarter system would be classified as a full-time student if he carries a minimum of 12 quarter credits per academic term and expects to enroll for three quarters. In this context, a summer session student would not have been classified under the previous regulations as a full-time student even though he may carry the equivalent of a full-time workload over a period of two summer sessions. For this reason, the regulations have been amended to permit eligibility of summer session students provided that the course work undertaken or expected to be undertaken during two or more summer session terms would amount to the equivalent of at least 12 quarter or 12 semester hours upon completion. The definition of a fulltime student has further been amended to apply to students enrolled in specially scheduled series of courses or seminars other than summer session programs. For a student enrolled in such a program to be considered a full-time student, he or she must complete the equivalent of

at least 12 semester or 12 quarter hours during a period not exceeding 18 weeks.

In addition to these modifications, the regulations also provide for a method for determining full-time status for students enrolled in institutions which measure progress in terms of both credit and clock hours. Such students often do not qualify for full-time status if their workload is measured solely in terms of credit hours or in terms of clock hours. At the same time, their combined workload is equivalent to the academic endeavor of students enrolled in schools with more traditional academic calendars. For this reason, the regulations contain a provision which allows for the determination of full-time status based on the sum of the proportionate workload carried in terms of credit hours and the proportionate workload carried in terms of clock hours.

Related to these additions to the definition of "full-time student," are modifications made in the definition of "academic year" and the addition of a new definition of "school year." It should be noted at the outset that these modifications do not, in any way, change the basic procedures for award calculation or proration of awards. Rather, they clarify and simplify what otherwise would appear to be very complex terminology and procedure. These changes are as follows:

1. The definition of academic year has been changed to specify that such a period is the period of time falling between July 1 of one year and June 30 of the subsequent year. This definition is to be utilized in conjunction with grant award calculation and disbursement. Thus, for purposes of the Basic Grant Program, the academic year is essentially equivalent to the Federal fiscal year.

2. The definition of “school year" was added in support of the definition of full-time student and provides a basis for determining the grant amount of which a student would be eligible during any particular academic year. As such, this definition describes the period of academic enrollment which is to be used as a base in calculating a student's award during a given academic year.

3. The modifications to the definition of academic year required several additional provisions to Subpart F dealing with the determination of Basic Grant awards. Consequently, procedures for calculating a student's grant were added to cover the following conditions: (a) a student who is enrolled in an eligible program of study which is less than a full school year in duration; (b) a student who is enrolled in a school year which is more than 12 months in duration; and (c) a student who is enrolled in a school year which spans 2 academic years.

Another group of comments received concerned the criteria under which a special recomputation of a student's expected family contribution due to