Help - Glossary
The following glossary listing contains definitions/descriptions of terms that are related to Federal student aid Title IV programs and/or acronyms..
The terms are listed according to alphabetical order. You can select the All link to view a listing of all of the glossary terms, or you may select the letter equal to the first letter of the term.
Glossary
SAR/ISIR Comment Codes and Text
Companion document to the EDE Technical Reference. It can be used as a stand-alone guide for interpreting the Student Aid Report (SAR) and ISIR comment codes and text.Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
The qualitative (grade point average) and quantitative (time limit) measure of a student's progress toward completing a program of study. To maintain eligibility for FSA program assistance, the student must show continued progress. Schools must establish policies regarding satisfactory academic progress and must check the progress of FSA recipients at least once each academic year.Satisfactory Repayment Arrangement
A specified number of consecutive, on-time, voluntary, reasonable, and affordable payments made directly to the guarantor by a borrower with a loan or loans in default. The borrower must make three such payments to become eligible to consolidate a defaulted loan, six such payments to regain eligibility for the FSA programs, and 12 such payments to rehabilitate a defaulted loan.Scheduled Academic Year (SAY)
In the FFEL and Direct Loan programs, one of two types of academic years (the other a borrower-based academic year (BBAY)) a school can use in determining a period of enrollment or when another year will begin for the student. Clock-hour and nonterm credithour programs must use the BBAY. For term-based credit-hour program, a school can use BBAYs for all its students, students enrolled in certain programs or the school can make an election on a student-bystudent basis. Schools must have a written policy that explains how they apply these options when calculating loan eligibility.Scheduled Award
In the Pell Grant program, the amount a student may receive during an academic year for a given cost of attendance (COA) and Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). The Scheduled Award assumes a student is enrolled full time for a full academic year.Scholarships
A form of financial assistance that does not have to be repaid. Scholarships may be awarded based on any number of criteria, such as academics, achievements, hobbies, talents, and affiliations with various groups, or career aspirations.School Closeout
The process of identifying and submitting any outstanding records for an award year and returning any money for which there are no records to substantiate its use.School Lender
A school that has been approved as a lender under the FFELP and has entered into a contract of guarantee with the Department or a similar agreement with a guarantor.School Participation Team (SPT)
There are 10 School Participation Teams within FSA that assist participating schools with eligibility issues, including management improvement services, program review, financials, eligibility and recertification, and audits. Formerly known as Case Management Team.School Transfer Profile
The information a school provides to NSLDS pertaining to its participation in the Transfer Student Monitoring Process. The profile designates the school’s contact person, email address for receipt of Alert Notification Messages and Inform and Alert options. Also see Alert Notification Message and Transfer Student Monitoring Process.Section 529 Plans
Prepaid tuition plans and college savings plans, named for the section of the IRS code that authorizes them. Also known as Qualified Tuition Programs (QTPs).Self-Evaluation
A school's regularly scheduled inhouse evaluation of the way it administers its student financial aid program. A self-evaluation is undertaken in an effort to detect any problems early on and resolve them.Self-Help Aid
Financial aid in the form of loans or student employment.Separation of Functions
As a part of administering the FSA programs, a school is required to establish and maintain a checks-and-balances, internal-control system ensuring that no single school office or individual can both authorize payments of FSA funds and disburse those funds to students. Often this required separation is created by dividing the functions between the school's financial aid office and the school's business office.Servicer
An organization or individual contracted by a recipient to perform financial or other services which may include interacting with offices at the Department of Education on the recipient's behalf.Simplified Needs Test
A formula under the Federal Methodology that ignores the asset information reported on the FAFSA in calculating a student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC). It is also referred to as a simplified formula. Also see Federal Methodology(FM).Single-Entry Bookkeeping
The system, for example, in a personal checkbook, where generally only records of cash and of personal accounts are maintained. Where transactions are infrequent and receivables, payables, and assets other than cash are few, carefully maintained single-entry records may be adequate.Single Year (SY) Feature
A feature of the Master Promissory Note which allows multiple Direct Loans for the same student/borrower with the same academic year from the same school to link to the same MPN. The Single Year Feature applies to schools that choose not to use the Multi-Year Feature. Schools that choose to use this feature must obtain a new promissory note for each academic year.Site Visit
A visit to a school during which an independent auditor, nationally recognized accrediting agency, and/or ED seeks to understand the school's physical plant, enrollment, student financial aid application process, and methods of monitoring student attendance.Skip Tracing
Diligent efforts to locate a borrower's telephone number or address when such information is unknown.Social Security Administration (SSA)
The federal agency that establishes and coordinates Social Security earnings and benefits. The CPS conducts a match of FAFSA data against this agency’s database to confirm the student's identification and eligibility for federal student financial aid.Social Security Number (SSN)
The nine-digit number assigned to an individual by the Social Security Administration. The SSN is used as a student identifier in all the federal student aid programs.Special Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (SLEAP) Program
State grant programs that provide: (1) aid to students with financial need to help pay postsecondary education expenses; and (2) help states provide programs that strengthen opportunities for elementary school and secondary school students with financial need to enter postsecondary education. The SLEAP Program is funded only when Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program funding is greater than $30 million. By law, the excess amount must be applied to the SLEAP Program.Standard Repayment Schedule
A repayment schedule under which the borrower pays the same amount for each installment payment throughout the entire repayment period, or pays an amount that is adjusted to reflect annual changes in the loan's variable interest rate. The length of repayment for a loan being repaid using a Standard Repayment Schedule cannot exceed 10 years, excluding in-school, grace, deferment, or forbearance periods.State Lender
In any state, a single state agency or private not-for-profit agency designated by the state that has been approved as a lender and that has entered into a contract of guarantee with the Department or a similar agreement with a guarantor.Statutory Interest Rate
The maximum annual interest rate (under the Higher Education Act) that a lender may charge on a loan.School-issued Smart Cards
Issued by a school and used by students to: (1) access facilities like science labs; (2) take books out from the library; (3) enter athletic events, etc. Some schools pays Title IV credit balances to students by making those funds available through such school-issued smart cards. Since schools exercise control over these cards, the school is, in effect, holding a student's Title IV credit balance, and must obtain a student's permission before doing so.Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG)
ED vehicle for electronically transmitting and receiving data for the FSA programs. Entities exchanging data through the SAIG include the CPS, NSLDS, COD, schools, third-party servicers, state agencies, lenders and guarantors. Enrollment in the SAIG (formerly known as the Title IV WAN) is available at: www.fsawebenroll.ed.gov.Student Aid Master Record
A school record containing information for an in-school student for each award year. The school records all basic information relating to all student aid programs, including institutional and other aid programs, on the master record.Student Aid Report (SAR)
The output document that the CPS sends to a student after a FAFSA is processed. It summarizes the information the student submitted on the FAFSA; reports the student's calculated EFC; provides comments to the student as well as information for the financial aid administrator; and reports the student's NSLDS financial aid history. Also see Output Document and Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR).Student Identifier (SID)
A unique identifier for each applicant, made up of an applicant's Social Security Number (SSN), and the first two letters of the applicant's last name.Student Loan Interest Statement
IRS Form 1098-E, issued by an individual or institution that receives more than $600 in student loan interest during a calendar year to the borrower.Student Right-to-Know Act
The Student Right-to- Know Act requires disclosure of information on Graduation, Completion, and Transfer-Out Rates; and the Graduation, Completion, and Transfer-Out Rates for Student Athletes at schools that award athletically related aid.Subsidiary Accounts
Accounts related to a control account that support in detail the summary transactions posted in the control account.Subsidiary Records
Institutional records that must exist to support the totals in each Title IV financial aid program account. Reconciliation between accounts and subsidiary record detail should be performed at least once a month.Subsidized Loan
A FFEL or Direct Loam that is eligible for interest benefits paid by the federal government. The federal government pays the interest that accrues on subsidized loans during an in-school, grace, authorized deferment, and (if applicable) post-deferment grace periods if the borrower meets certain eligibility requirements.Substantiation of Cash
The act of accounting for funds already drawn. In the COD Process, schools can substantiate disbursements by sending in an Actual Disbursement Record that incudes the disbursement amount and date.Supplemental Appropriation
An additional allocation of available funds for one or more Campus-Based programs that may be given to a school on the basis of the school's need for additional funds. Supplemental allocations are made after schools release unexpended Campus-Based funds at the end of an award year.Suspension Period
The suspension period follows liquidation. During the suspension period, no new payment actions can take place without the approval of the program office.
