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<TITLE>2008-2009 OTAG Awarding Information</TITLE>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">The OTAG Award Payment Schedule for 2008-09 is attached for your information.</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Eligible students meeting the awarding criteria listed below can be claimed for payment of their OTAG awards upon the institution's submission of a successful and timely award claim:</FONT></P>
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<LI><FONT FACE="Arial">EFC is<B> 1700</B> or lower (be sure to note that this is a higher EFC cutoff than was in place for fall 2007)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Arial">FAFSA receipt date is 4/30/08 or earlier </FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">The Award Payment Schedule reflects 4,531 as the maximum<I> eligible</I> EFC, which is consistent with Pell in 2008-09. The maximum EFC primarily serves as a means to identify the total number of eligible students who could be awarded if sufficient funds were provided. With no increase in OTAG funding having been provided, we expect the EFC cutoff for awards to remain 1700 for the entire 2008-09 award year.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Also attached is a list of institutions that participate in the OTAG program and their flat-rate award amounts for 2008-09 (one amount for full-time undergraduates and one amount for part-time undergraduates). The amounts shown are for the full award year, and one-half can be paid in each the fall and spring disbursement cycles.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Important dates/deadlines that institutions and the State Regents' office must meet are listed in the attached Timelines and Procedures for 2008-09. These have been established in an effort to maximize the efficiency of the administration of the OTAG program to best benefit students statewide. All institutions are expected to adhere to the schedule, and everyone's cooperation will be appreciated.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">We are in the process of making these same documents available in the OTAG information section of the Financial Aid Resources for Institutions website </FONT><A HREF="http://www.okhighered.org/admin-fac/FinAidResources/"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial">http://www.okhighered.org/admin-fac/FinAidResources/</FONT></U></A><FONT FACE="Arial">.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Award Claim Forms for use by campus financial aid staff as "work copies only" are available upon request. Please send your request to</FONT> <A HREF="mailto:reports@otag.org"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">reports@otag.org</FONT></U></A><FONT FACE="Arial">. The Award Claim Form process for fall semester disbursements will begin closer to the beginning of the fall semester, and more information in this regard will be forthcoming.</FONT></P>
<P><U><B><FONT FACE="Arial">Important Reminder:</FONT></B></U><B></B>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Based on encouragement by the financial aid community, OTAG does not send award notices to students. We are relying on institutions to include OTAG award information in their student award notices. Please realize that if institutions do not include OTAG awards in their student award notification process, the students will have no confirmation that they are receiving an OTAG award. We're counting on institutions to be the messengers.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Other than OTAG's Oklahoma residency requirement and the statutory limitations on the types of institutions that are eligible to participate, student eligibility requirements for OTAG are the same as student eligibility requirements for Pell. If you cannot award a student Pell funds, you cannot award them OTAG funds.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial"> </FONT>
<BR><U><B><FONT FACE="Arial">Confidentiality of Student Data:</FONT></B></U>
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<LI><B><FONT FACE="Arial">All Award Claim Forms, Disbursement Reports, Award Reconciliation Reports, and any other lists containing a student's identifying information (name, SSN, birth date) MUST be transmitted using O-SAFE. </FONT></B> </LI>
<LI><B><FONT FACE="Arial">Any e-mail messages or attachments to e-mail messages that contain confidential student data will</FONT></B><B><U> <FONT FACE="Arial">not</FONT></U><FONT FACE="Arial"> be accepted by our office and will be immediately deleted from our e-mail system.</FONT></B></LI>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">As always we appreciate your assistance in delivering OTAG funds to Oklahoma's students. If you have questions regarding the OTAG program or the attached documents, please contact our office.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2 COLOR="#000000"> <<OTAG Award Payment Schedule_2008-09.doc>> </FONT> <FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2 COLOR="#000000"> <<08-09 Award Flat Rate_061208.xls>> </FONT> <FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2 COLOR="#000000"> <<2008-2009 OTAG Timelines & Procedures.doc>> </FONT><FONT FACE="Arial"> </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=6 FACE="Script MT Bold">Shiela Joyner</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">Director, Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant Program</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">PO Box 108850</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">Oklahoma City, OK 73101-8850</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">Internet: sjoyner@otag.org</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Arial">Voice: 405.225.9378 or Toll Free 877.662.6231</FONT>
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