This guidance is not award-year-specific and applies across award years.
This AskRegs Knowledgebase Q&A was updated on February 1, 2023 to note that the COVID-19 national emergency will end on May 11, 2023.
Yes. Section 3503 of the CARES Act allows an institution to transfer up to 100 percent of its unexpended Federal Work-Study (FWS) allocation into its Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) funds (but not from FSEOG to FWS) during the period of the COVID-19 qualifying emergency. This includes unexpended initial and supplemental FWS fund allocations for the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 award years, and likely at least some portion of the 2022-23 award year. According to the August 1, 2022 Electronic Announcement, for the 2022-23 award year, a school can transfer FWS to FSEOG through the end of the payment period that includes the end date for the national emergency or June 30, 2023, whichever is earliest; the national emergency is now set to end May 11, 2023.
Institutions are then allowed to use any portion of their FSEOG allocation, including any funds transferred from FWS as noted above, to award regular FSEOG, Emergency FSEOG, or both. If the school awards the funds as regular FSEOG awards, regular FSEOG awarding rules in 34 CFR Part 676 and Volume 6 of the FSA Handbook continue to apply. If the school uses these funds to award Emergency FSEOG to students, special relaxed rules apply. See AskRegs Knowledgebase Q&A, How Can Schools Use Campus-Based Funds As Emergency Aid?
Unfortunately, according to guidance NASFAA previously received from ED, schools that are graduate or professional schools with no undergraduate programs (graduate-only schools), and that have an FWS allocation but no FSEOG allocation, cannot transfer unused FWS funds into FSEOG.
What does this mean, for example? If the qualifying emergency ends during the fall 2022 term/payment period, the school can continue to transfer FWS funds into FSEOG through the end of the fall 2022 term/payment period even after the qualifying emergency ends. In this example, this means the school can still make regular FSEOG or Emergency FSEOG awards for the entire fall term/payment period from those transferred funds.
If the qualifying emergency ends during the spring 2023 term/payment period, the school can still transfer FWS into FSEOG through the end of the spring 2023 term/payment period or June 30, 2023 (whichever is earlier) and still make regular FSEOG or Emergency FSEOG awards with those transferred funds through that same period. Etc. Remember however, it is premature to make Emergency FSEOG awards prior to the start of spring 2023 given the cash management timeframe restrictions and the uncertainty as to when the qualifying emergency will end.
Other Considerations: There are some other things to consider before exercising this option:
See AskRegs Q&A, Can a School Transfer 100 Percent Of Its Unspent FWS Funds Into FSEOG Due To COVID-19?, for important details about transferring funds.
Emergency FSEOG funds are FSEOG funds, and the rules for awarding funds from the appropriate award year's allocation have not changed. Likewise, any unspent FWS funds that you transferred into your FSEOG account become part of that FSEOG account only for the award year in which they are transferred to make Emergency FSEOG awards. You can make 2022-23 Emergency FSEOG awards out of your 2022-23 FSEOG funds within the qualifying emergency timeframe.
Under existing regulations, you cannot use your 2021-22 award year FSEOG allocation to make FSEOG awards for the 2022-23 award year. The CARES Act does not change that general rule when it comes to Emergency FSEOG awards. However, under 34 CFR 676.18(c), "An institution may carry forward and expend in the next award year up to 10 percent of the sum of its initial and supplemental FSEOG allocations for the current award year." Once the FSEOG funds are carried forward from 2021-22 to 2022-23, they become part of the 2022-23 award year funds and must be spent in the 2022-23 award year. The funds that are carried forward to 2022-23 can be spent on Emergency FSEOG in the 2022-23 award year within the qualifying emergency timeframe.
See also, What Is the Definition Of a Qualifying Emergency Under the CARES Act? When the qualifying emergency ends, we will post an announcement in Today's News.
Update Notes:
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