1.0  Purpose

1.1     Wayne State University seeks to assure the fullest use of its financial aid resources by advising students of the availability of such funds.

1.2     From its General Fund (including school, college and departments’ discretionary resources within the General Fund), the university endeavors to provide financial aid to meritorious and needy students.

1.3     The university encourages donors to provide private funds (as defined in section 8.12) for student financial aid (as defined in section 8.1) to help students obtain an education at Wayne State University.

1.4     The university seeks to avoid overawarding financial aid to persons receiving federal or state need-based aid, since such overawarding (as defined in section 8.3) is contrary to federal and state law.  In order to avoid overawards of federal or state need-based aid, the university establishes central administration and monitoring of financial aid awards within the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA).

1.5     Overawards of institutional funds may be authorized in exceptional cases by the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs for those students who demonstrate some financial need and are receiving no federal or state need-based aid.

1.6     The university seeks to establish uniform procedures for making, recording and reporting financial aid awards.

2.0  Applicability

2.1     This university policy applies to all departmental awards (defined in section 8.4) and institutional awards (defined in section 8.5), including scholarships, grants, prizes, loans, fellowships and that portion of any stipend that is applicable to tuition.

3.0  Providing Information To Students, Donors, And Departments

3.1     Not later than February 1 of each year, the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid shall publish a descriptive brochure listing all institutional and departmental awards that are available to students.  This information shall also be available on the university’s Financial Aid website.  This list shall also be published in the university Bulletin, as well as any bulletins/catalogues that shall be published by the Law School and the School of Medicine.

3.2     The Division of Development and Alumni Affairs shall annually notify scholarship and loan donors, or their representatives, of the amount of funds awarded, balances remaining, and the recipients of financial aid, to the extent permitted by law.

3.3     The university Controller shall periodically, but not less than quarterly, (1) inform OSFA of the fund balances in institutional and departmental private financial aid accounts, and (2) inform departments of the fund balances in their private departmental financial aid accounts.

4.0  Departmental Awards

4.1     “Departments” (including schools, colleges, centers, institutes, programs and other university-affiliated organizations) shall select recipients of departmental awards (as defined in section 8.4) and notify OSFA via the appropriate form.  OSFA shall, subject to section 5.3, authorize disbursement of funds to the recipient.

5.0  Delegation Of Authority

5.1     The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid has been established by the President as Wayne State University’s central office for managing financial aid programs on all campuses and in all programs of the University, and is therefore responsible for monitoring all financial aid (as defined in section 8.1).

5.2     OSFA shall prescribe appropriate forms upon which departments shall provide notification of the selection of students for departmental awards.  

5.3     OSFA shall not authorize the disbursement of a departmental award to any student for whom such an award would constitute an overaward, contrary to federal and state law; but in the event that it refuses to authorize a disbursement for this reason, it shall notify the department of its action and the reason for it.

5.4     OSFA shall be responsible for selecting students who shall receive institutional awards; shall follow university policies and donor specifications in making such selections; shall assure that no award constitutes an overaward, contrary to federal and state law; and shall authorize the disbursement of institutional awards.

5.5     Financial aid paid from grant and contract accounts must have the approval of the Office of Sponsored Program Administration (SPA) before submission to OFSA.  This includes payments to graduate assistants, which are administered through the Graduate School and Sponsored Program Administration.

5.6     The university Controller shall not disburse any financial aid award except as authorized by OSFA.

6.0  Procedures

6.1     When a donor wishes to establish a private program of student financial aid, the Division of Development and Alumni Affairs shall submit the donor’s statement of conditions for use of the fund to the General Counsel, OSFA, and the university Controller for review.  The Division of Development and Alumni Affairs shall preserve a copy of the statement of conditions agreed upon and shall provide copies to OSFA, the university Controller and the department, if any, that is to select recipients of the scholarship or loans.

6.2     The university Controller shall identify all private financial aid accounts and shall transfer signature authority for those accounts to OSFA, which shall be the sole signatory for payments from these accounts.

6.3     The Division of Development and Alumni Affairs and the university Controller shall establish all new accounts for private financial aid with OSFA as the authorized signatory.

6.4     No scholarships, awards, prizes, tuition stipends or loans shall be disbursed through the university Disbursements Office via a Special Payment Authorization (SPA) except for payments listed under section 7.5.  No scholarships, awards, prizes, tuition stipends or loans shall be disbursed through the Student Accounts Receivable Office via the Tuition Fee Credit Voucher (TFCV), except for those TFCVs that are used to pay students from accounts which are exempt pursuant to section 7.0 of this policy.  Such TFCVs, after approval by Sponsored Program Administration and OSFA, shall be forwarded to Student Accounts Receivable for processing.

7.0  Exceptions

This university policy does not apply to:

7.1     Awards made pursuant to a grant or contract for educational services between Wayne State University and an external agency.  These include, but are not limited to, the following:

7.1.1  The Detroit Public Schools’ Post Degree Program tuition reimbursement program;

7.1.2  Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation contractual instructional programs;

7.1.3  Special tuition-sponsored instructional programs of the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and United States Department of Education conducted at Wayne State University;

7.1.4  Tuition support programs of employers to pay the university for tuition expenses incurred by employees;

7.2      Stipends paid for nontuition expenses (which are approved by Sponsored Program Administration);

7.3       Payments to high school students in special WSU programs (e.g., Upward Bound);

7.4     Training grants sponsored by the city of Detroit, U.S. Army or other Department of Defense organizations and the Bureau of Health Professions;

7.5     Payments to persons who are not Wayne State students, including persons who have been Wayne State students, but who are not enrolled for the period of the award.

8.0  Definitions

8.1     “Financial aid” includes any scholarship, grant, award, prize, fellowship, stipend or loan given to a student (1) by the federal or state governments or on their behalf by the university, or (2) by any nongovernmental agency external to the university, or (3) by the university.

8.2     “Financial need” is, for purposes of this university policy, defined by federal regulations, and is calculated, pursuant to those regulations, by OSFA.

8.3      “Overaward” is the granting of financial aid in excess of “financial need.”

8.4    “Departmental awards” are those that are awarded by any academic unit or program from its own general fund account, or from other discretionary funds or donated funds, whether awards are made at the academic unit’s discretion or pursuant to criteria established by the donor of such funds.

8.5     “Institutional awards” are those that are awarded by OSFA from the university’s General Fund or donated funds, pursuant to university budgetary and/or financial aid policies, whether awards are made at OSFA’s discretion or pursuant to criteria established by the donor of such funds.

8.6     “Scholarships” are financial aid payments to students based on academic performance or special demonstrated talents.  Some scholarships include financial need as an additional criterion.

8.7     “Loans” are financial aid awards that are made with the expectation of repayment, with or without interest, at a later date, unless the loan is forgiven based on the fulfillment of certain stipulations.

8.8    “Prizes” are awards of money to students in recognition of a specific performance, achievement or accomplishment without the intention or purpose of assisting the student to pay the costs of his/her education.

8.9     “Fellowships” are financial aid payments based on academic merit, distributed according to award guidelines.

8.10   “Grants” are financial aid payments to students, usually based on financial need or other criteria defined by the contributing agency.

8.11   A “stipend” is a payment for tuition and/or living expenses under a fellowship or training grant given to a student by a governmental agency or by the university.  Payment is made directly by the agency, on the agency’s behalf by the university, or by the university.  A stipend should not be paid for compensation of services (these should be on university payroll), except those specified by federal agencies.

8.12   “Private” financial aid accounts are funded by private donors and reside outside the General Fund.

9.0  Duration

9.1      This university policy is revocable by the president at any time and without notice.

9.2      This University Policy supersedes University Policy 01-10 First Release.

10.0      Effective Date

10.1    This university policy is effective upon issuance.

 

 

Signed by President Irvin D. Reid April 4, 2007.