June 2001 The Blue Book INTRO-1

How to Use This Book

Purpose

The primary purpose of The Blue Book is to provide guidance to school business

office personnel who handle fiscal recordkeeping, accounting, and reporting

functions for federal Title IV student financial aid programs authorized by the

Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). In addition, it provides a

technical resource of Title IV management responsibilities that are shared

between various administrative offices in a school. It also provides general

information about Title IV programs, policies, and procedures that are useful to

all institutional personnel who administer and manage Title IV programs.

Some procedures discussed in The Blue Book are recommended to help

institutions meet the fiscal responsibilities they agree to when they sign a Title IV

Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the U.S. Department of Education

(ED). Other procedures described in The Blue Book are required by federal laws

and regulations. Although The Blue Book’s primary focus is fiscal responsibilities,

financial aid administrators can also use The Blue Book as a reference tool for

shared responsibilities.

This edition of The Blue Book places special emphasis on the benefits and

challenges of managing Title IV programs electronically. The goals of any

electronic-management system are to maintain accurate, well-organized records;

submit required reports in an accurate and timely manner; comply with federal

laws and regulations; and provide quality service to students.

Further, ED requires schools to use automated methods to meet certain Title IV

requirements, such as retrieving Institutional Student Information Records

(ISIRs) through the Internet, reporting Federal Pell Grant disbursements

through the Recipient Financial Management System (RFMS), submitting the

Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) electronically,

and reporting Title IV information (including overpayments) online to the

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Some schools also use ED’s

Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS) to request and draw down

Title IV funds.*

As a result, cooperation and communication across a school’s administrative

offices, especially between the business office and the financial aid office, are

more important than ever. Schools also need to be careful to ensure that

electronic management does not blur the legally required separation of authorizing

Title IV funds and disbursing Title IV funds. The Blue Book is designed to help

schools achieve these goals and to use ED’s automated systems successfully.

ntroduction I

*For Web sites and

other ED publications

instrumental in fiscal

management and

recordkeeping, see

Appendix C.
The Blue Book June 2001 INTRO-2

Introduction

What This Book Contains
June 2001 The Blue Book INTRO-3

How to Use This Book

Using The Blue Book at Your School

The Blue Book can perform several different functions for a school. For example,

it can serve as a:

♦ training guide for new employees (especially in conjunction with ED’s

Fiscal Management Training Workshop and its Participant’s Guide),

♦ reference manual for any employee, and

♦ basis for a school’s fiscal policies and procedures manual.

Regardless of how a school uses this book, remember that it is only a guide, and

it does not replace federal laws, regulations, or generally accepted accounting

principles (GAAP). School personnel are still responsible for familiarizing

themselves with all relevant primary source documents.

Margin References

The Blue Book uses three icons in the margin notes to direct readers to other

resources for the material being discussed in the text.

The Computer icon is for electronic references, directing readers

to Web sites of particular interest.

The Book icon is for published references and directs readers to

specific regulations and other resources of particular interest

(some of which might also be available electronically).

The New icon is for newly available Web sites and published

resources, as well as new program guidelines.

Other Resources

A companion publication to The Blue Book is ED’s Student Financial Aid Handbook

(Handbook), which is a primary resource for financial aid administrators. The

Handbook is mentioned frequently throughout The Blue Book. The Handbook

consists of nine volumes published individually and successively by ED each year

and distributed to school financial aid offices. Fiscal office personnel should

know where to locate their school’s copy of the Handbook, and they might want

 Reference:

• For information on these

and other pertinent

printed materials, see

Appendix C of this book.
The Blue Book June 2001 INTRO-4

Introduction

to copy pertinent sections for their own use or print them from

ED’s Web site.*

Another ED publication vital to the work of a fiscal officer is the

U.S. Department of Education Payee Guide for the Grant Administration and Payment

System (GAPS) [GAPS Payee Guide]. It provides information on systems

operations and procedures for federal funds paid to schools through GAPS.

The GAPS Payee Guide helps schools fulfill their responsibilities in expediting

payments, completing forms and reports, and controlling federal cash received

through GAPS. It also serves as a guide to ED’s new ePayments Web site.

Effective Date

This edition of The Blue Book is written on the basis of laws, regulations, policies,

and procedures published by April 1, 2000 and in effect for the 2001-02 award

year. Schools should be aware, however, these laws, regulations, policies, and

procedures are subject to change. It is a school’s responsibility to keep abreast of

such changes so it remains in compliance with current rules. Regular updates

and changes in policy guidance are posted on a daily basis on ED’s IFAP Web

site.

Comments and Suggestions on The Blue Book

Your comments and suggestions about any aspect of The Blue Book are welcome.

We are particularly interested in learning:

♦ the purposes for which The Blue Book is being used (for example,

reference, self-study, training new staff);

♦ the appropriateness of the content and the usefulness of the appendices;

and

♦ whether you feel this publication is among those that ED’s Office of

Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) should update on a regular basis.

You may send your comments to:

The Blue Book/SFA University

SFA/U.S. Department of Education

Room 600-C, Portals Building

1280 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202-5361

*The SFA Handbook

is available for

download on ED’s

Information for

Financial Aid

Professionals (IFAP)

Web site at

http://ifap.ed.gov.

Participating schools

are also sent paper

copies of sections of

the Handbook as they

are published.