2019 Recertification of State Student Financial Assistance Program Participation

In compliance with the regulations on institutional eligibility for participation in the state student financial assistance programs, approved institutions must be recertified every three years. The recertification process applies to institutions previously approved in accordance with the requirements specified in Section 173.1102(2)(3), RSMo.

 

All institutions currently participating in the state student financial assistance programs are certified through September 2019.   For students at your institution to continue to receive state student financial assistance, the recertification process must be complete, including Coordinating Board for Higher Education approval, by September 2019. The following timeline was developed to ensure this deadline is met.

 

Timeline

  • April 12, 2019 – All application materials due
  • June 5, 2019 – Coordinating Board for Higher Education action
  • June-July 2019 – Institutions notified of board action
  • September 2019 – Institutional recertification effective for next three years (until September 2022)

 

Recertification Process Goals

  • Review institutional compliance with MDHEWD policies

  • Update institutional state aid portfolios

  • Collect additional data elements and information necessary for program administration

 

Application Materials

 

Application

Institutions wishing to apply for recertification of their participation in one or more of the state student financial assistance programs must complete the application in its entirety.

 

Participation Agreements

For the last few recertification cycles, institutions have confirmed their program participation on an institution-specific attachment to the application and have not been required to complete new participation agreements. To accommodate this electronic method of providing recertification materials, in each recertification cycle institutions must now complete two participation agreements, both with original signatures, for each program in which they wish to participate. MDHEWD will retain one copy and will return the other to the institution once Commissioner Mulligan has signed them.

 

The Resources section below provides links to information about, and the participation agreement for, each program. MDHEWD’s website has a program participation chart if you are unsure of your institution’s current program participation.

 

Agreements for programs in which the institution currently participates will be effective for the 2019-2020 academic year. However, since processing for the 2019-2020 academic year will still be in progress at the time the Coordinating Board for Higher Education recertifies institutions, participation in any programs added to an institution’s existing portfolio will begin with the 2020-2021 academic year.

 

The Minority Teaching Scholarship is no longer funded. As a result, this program is not included in this recertification cycle.

 

Participation in the A+ Scholarship Program, as well as any programs subsequently assigned to the department for administration will be handled individually. In addition, participation in the Advanced Placement Incentive Grant is conditional on participation in either the Access Missouri Student Financial Assistance Program or the A+ Scholarship Program, or both. A separate participation agreement for the Advanced Placement Incentive Grant is not required.

 

Submission

To apply for recertification, you must return the completed application materials, including the applicable participation agreements, no later than April 12, 2019 to:

Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development

Attn: Kelli Reed

PO Box 1469

Jefferson City, MO 65102-1469

 

You may also submit the materials electronically to kelli.reed@dhewd.mo.gov.  If the materials are submitted electronically, it is not necessary to submit them in hard copy.

 

If your institution will no longer participate in any of the state student financial assistance programs, notify Kelli Reed at kelli.reed@dhewd.mo.gov. No further action is required.

 

Resources

Information about each program is available in the revised statutes of Missouri (RSMo), the administrative rules found in the code of state regulations (CSR) and MDHE’s website. All of the administrative rules are available in a PDF document of Chapter 2 – Student Financial Assistance Program of the code of state regulations. The individual citations are provided below for each program to assist you in finding the appropriate page in that chapter’s table of contents.

 

 

Questions

You may direct any questions to Kelli Reed at kelli.reed@dhewd.mo.gov or 573-751-2444.