[Oasfaa] GEAR UP/OHLAP-Plus Summer Award

[Alexander, Carol]

The GEAR UP/OHLAP-Plus funds that were made available for the Spring 2006 semester will also be available for the Summer 2006 term.  At this time we do not know if funds will be available for the fall 2006 term.  We will try to make a final decision as we receive and process more spring and summer claims.  If you have not submitted your spring 2006 claim, please do so as soon as possible.  (Below is the original email from Bryce Fair regarding the Gear Up/OHLAP-Plus funds and the stipulations for awarding.)

Also, this is just an early reminder that it is not necessary for students to call our office to report that they are attending for the summer term.  As long as the institution has been notified and you submit them on your summer claim, they will receive their disbursement. Please pass this information on to the people filling in at your front desks.  Thank you in advance.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Carol Alexander
Oklahoma's Promise - OHLAP

-----Original Message-----
From: oasfaa-bounces at lists.onenet.net
[mailto:oasfaa-bounces at lists.onenet.net]On Behalf Of Fair, Bryce
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 1:52 PM
To: OASFAA-L Server (E-mail)
Subject: [Oasfaa] GEAR UP/OHLAP-Plus Spring Award


To financial aid officers:
Our GEAR UP division has recently completed their final fiscal reconciliation of the 6-year federal GEAR UP grant they received beginning in 1999.  They have informed us that there is a limited one-time source of residual scholarship funds available to be awarded to students immediately for the spring 2006 semester.  These funds are required to be awarded under criteria similar to the OHLAP-Plus award of previous years.  We realize the timing of this announcement is not convenient and that it will require additional work on your part to re-package the eligible students.  We apologize for this inconvenience.  However the funds are available now, and we want to get them to eligible students as soon as possible.
 
The funds are available to students under the following stipulations:
*	The student must be receiving an OHLAP award
*	The student must have graduated from high school in 2002 or before
*	The student must be eligible for a Pell Grant of any amount (EFC of $3,850 or less, which is a higher EFC than the $1,000 EFC cut-off limit on the last OHLAP-Plus awards in spring 2005)
*	The amount of the award will be equivalent to the student's OHLAP award
*	The award must not create an overaward situation; however, because these funds are federal GEAR UP funds, the award can be used to replace EFC
 
At this time, we anticipate that these funds will be available for only the spring 2006 semester.  Our records indicate that roughly 800 students statewide could be eligible for the award.
 
Carol Alexander is working quickly to get claim forms available for you to use for this spring semester.  They will be available on the OneNet server where you access the eligibility report.  Our records show that the majority of eligible students will be enrolled in the regional and research universities, so she will be making the claim updates only for those institutions.  However, if you are a two-year college or career technology center and find one or more of these students on your campus, please email Carol at calexander at osrhe.edu.  She will get the information you need as quickly as possible.

Again, we apologize for the timing of this announcement and greatly appreciate your efforts to get these funds to the appropriate students.  If you have further questions, please contact me (contact info shown below) or Carol Alexander at calexander at osrhe.edu or 405-225-9160.

Bryce Fair 
Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants 
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education 
Phone:  (405) 225-9162 
Fax:  (405) 225-9230 
E-mail:  bfair at osrhe.edu 

Mailing Address: 
P.O. Box 108850 
Oklahoma City, OK  73101-8850 

Street Address: 
655 Research Parkway, Suite 200 
Oklahoma City, OK  73104