Add Academic Year Sequences

You can use the Academic Years tab on the Awarding page to add the academic year sequences required to package financial aid. You can add the sequences manually or have Anthology Student automatically create the sequences using the configuration specified for the selected program version.

The grid shows the items for the program version of the current enrollment (if any). Use the Program Version drop-down to change the program version. You cannot select All Program Versions.

The tab also displays the CIP Code The Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code associated with the record. for the program version.

You should be familiar with the Background for Financial Aid.

Prerequisites

Access Method

Select the Students tile > select the name in the Students list > expand Financial Aid > select the Awarding tile > Academic Years tab.

Procedure to Add Academic Year Sequences

1. Verify that the program version is correct. If not, select the specific program version in the Program Version drop-down list.

2. Select the New button. Anthology Student displays a dialog asking you if you want to automatically or manually add the sequences (if configured).

3. If your institution: 

   • Configured academic year sequences for the program version and you want Anthology Student to create or complete the sequences using the configuration, select the Automatic button. You can also specify the number of transfer hours or credits so that Anthology Student can accurately complete the sequences.

     The automatic addition of academic year sequences requires that the program version is fully configured. Refer to Configure FA Information for Program Versions and Term Association.

     Examples:

     • A user attempts to add an academic year sequence via the automatic mechanism, and it does not build it out (error message: "Academic Year sequences have not been added for the program version."). This indicates that the academic year sequences have not been configured in the program version under Term Association.

     • If the "Full Academic Year – Credits" and "Full Academic Year – Weeks" fields are not populated, the following error is displayed: "A database error has occurred. The process could not complete."

   • Did not configure academic year sequences for the program version or you want to manually create the academic year sequences, select the Manual Entry button

4. Specify or edit the information for the academic year. The fields that are displayed will depend on the student and the configuration of the program version.

   Academic Year Definition The definition of the academic year configured by your institution. Award Year 1 The first award year in the academic year. Award Year 2 The second award year for the sequence. The field is optional. Anthology Student only requires a completed FAFSA for the first award year to package an academic year. In some cases, a student can submit documents for both award years 1 and 2 in the same academic year (crossover students). You can have 2 award years and packaging statuses, so that you can manage both in the same academic year. Counseling Complete Date The date when the student completed the FA Awareness Counseling on the https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/index.action website. Note: Financial Awareness Counseling does not satisfy the regulatory requirements for Entrance Counseling and cannot be required as a condition for disbursement of loan funds. Clock Hours or Credits Expected to Complete If the program was configured to use an academic calendar that uses credit hours without terms, the number of credits the student is expected to complete in this academic year. Credits in Academic Year If the program is configured with an academic calendar that uses clock or credit hours without terms, the number of credits in the sequence or period. The total of all sequences or periods must equal the credits for a full academic year or loan period. For non-term program versions, the credits in a final loan period can change from the definition configured on the program version based on student need. For example, a student transfers 10 credits. The credit transfer reduces the number of credits needed to complete the program version requirements. The final LP credits are reduced by 10. Anthology Student displays a message if the value you specify does not match the values Anthology Student determined are needed to complete the program. Dependent of Deceased Veteran For academic years with award years 2009-10 and later, select this check box if the student is the dependent of a veteran that perished in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. Anthology Student automatically selects this check box if the ISIR for award year 2011-2012 or later is imported and the ISIR indicated that the student is a dependent of a deceased veteran (DOD Match flag). Eligible students receive the maximum Pell award as well as all Title IV aid based on a zero estimated family contribution (EFC) and may also qualify for an Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG). Dependency Status Indicates whether a student is dependent, independent, or undetermined. The field displays the status from the student's FAFSA or ISIR. If you add a Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) as a fund source and the status is undetermined, Anthology Student displays a message asking you if you want to change the student to a dependent.    Read Note If the dependency model cannot be determined, the system displays the warning message: "Due to insufficient data, the dependency model cannot be determined nor SAI calculated. Refer to Help for additional information. Eligible Health Professional This field enables two levels of additional awarding available to eligible graduate/professional students enrolled in Health Profession programs. The options are "Not Eligible or Declined", "Eligible for up to $16,667 in additional Stafford Loan", and "Eligible for up to $26,667 in additional Stafford Loan". Only graduate/professional grade level students are eligible for the higher amounts. The selection for this field on the Academic Year form determines the value displayed on the Award form. For additional information, refer to Background for Financial Aid. End Date The end date of the sequence. For the first sequence, Anthology Student defaults to a date calculated from the enrollment date for the student plus the number of weeks in the academic year or loan period. The end date of the second and subsequent academic years are estimated using the number of weeks in the academic year or loan period and the number of weeks not enrolled. If your institution configured calendars, holidays are added to the calculation of the end date of the sequence. If needed, you can change the estimated date on the Academic Years tab. For loan periods in most cases, the date should not be after the graduation date. For loan periods, the end date must be between the start and end dates for the Borrower-Based Academic Year (BBAY). Enrollment Status This field displays the academic year enrollment status (using the FaStudentCredits.Enrollment status value) for the FA Terms based on FA Credits when the Advanced Feature flag "Enable FA Credits for Enrollment Status and Enrollment Intensity" is set to "Yes". Exclude AY from MTF Only Available when the SAP policy is configured for Maximum Time Frame (MTF). Select Include or Exclude on each academic year for SAP to use in the calculation for MTF. Exclude Summer Term from Packaging When selected, excludes the summer term from financial aid packaging. By default, students are included in summer term packaging if the program version is configured to package for the summer. Students can then choose to be excluded from summer packaging. First Time Borrower The First Time Borrower flag is automatically selected when a student is enrolled and the Grade Level set during enrollment is "1st year, never attended college". Otherwise, the flag is not automatically selected. When selected, specifies that the student is a first time borrower and that you want to delay the first loan disbursement by xx number of days from the start date of the academic year that your institution has configured for financial aid packaging. Financial Aid Advisor The last and then first name of the Financial Aid Advisor. Your institution can configure Anthology Student so that a Financial Aid Advisor is selected during enrollment. To edit this field, you must be in a staff group that is allowed to edit advisors for Contact Manager. FA Entrance Interview Date The date of the financial aid/loan entrance interview counseling. If the field contains a value, the source of this date depends on your institution. The date can be the date from the Direct Loan Entrance Counseling (CRECMYOP) or Direct Loan Plus Application Acknowledgment (CRSPyyOP) files imported from COD. If your institution has configured an entrance interview document, the date from the document can be used when the document has an approved and on file status. You can also specify the date. Anthology Student will use the date for all the student's enrollments.

   Grad Plus Counseling Date The date of the counseling for the Graduate PLUS loan. If the field contains a value, the source of this date depends on your institution. The date can be the date from Direct Loan Entrance Counseling Results (DECFENOP) file imported from COD. You can also manually specify the date. Grade Level The grade level for the student. Grade levels are configured by your institution and do not have to correspond to the option on the FAFSA or Stafford loan forms. The grade level is assigned to a student under Academic Records > Enrollment > Progress section. For a student to qualify for federal financial aid, a college grade level (1st year, 2nd year, etc.) must be assigned. For a Graduate PLUS loan, the grade level must be configured with the Department of Education ID 7 (Graduate/Professional or beyond). Read Note The grade level that initially populates the academic year sequence comes from Academic Records > Enrollment under the Progress section. The entering grade level should be a college grade level (1st year, 2nd year, etc.). Hours Expected to Complete If the program was configured to use an academic calendar that uses clock or credit hours, the number that the student is expected to complete in this sequence. Hours in Academic Year If the program was configured to use an academic calendar that uses clock or credit hours, the number of credits or hours in this sequence or payment period. It represents the number that the student should attend for the sequence that you selected. The total of all sequences must equal the credit or hours for a full academic year or loan period. Anthology Student displays a message if the value you specify does not match the values Anthology Student determined are needed to complete the program. Housing The housing for the student. The choices are On Campus, Off Campus, and With Parent. Your institution can configure budgets associated with the housing for a student so that the value for Room and Board is added when you select a value in the Budget list. If you change the value after calculating the budget, Anthology Student displays a message asking you if you want to recalculate the budget using the new housing status. Instructional Weeks in AY The number of instructional weeks (IW) that occur within the date range of the sequence. Anthology Student uses the value to calculate the value in the Instructional Months field. The field is displayed if the program version is configured to use an academic calendar that uses clock hours or credit hours without terms and the program is configured to auto recalculate budgets and the academic year is configured to use monthly amounts. The calculation method uses the amounts you specify here. It can be different from the calendar weeks for the sequence. It should never be less than Weeks in Academic Year field. For some patterns of course registration, it can be greater than the Weeks in Academic Year field, but it cannot be greater if the Student Pace Evaluation (SPE) tool is used projection is used for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Instructional Months The number of instructional months (IM) that occur within the date range of the sequence. Anthology Student divides the value by 4.333. If the result contains a decimal of .5 or higher, the months are rounded up. Otherwise, it is rounded down. The field is displayed if the program version is configured to use an academic calendar that uses clock hours or credit hours without terms and the program is configured to auto recalculate budgets and the academic year is configured to use monthly amounts and the calculation method uses the amounts entered here. If you change the value for Instructional Weeks in LP, the value is automatically recalculated, but you must select the Recalculate Budget to recalculate the budget using the new value. Months in Academic Year The number of months in the academic year. The default value is the value that your institution specified when they configured the value for the definition you select in the Academic Year Definition list. Anthology Student calculates the value using 4.33 weeks per month instead of 4. For example, an academic year defined with 36 weeks is 8 months instead of 9. You can change the value. If you calculated the budget and you change the value, Anthology Student will ask you if you also want to recalculate the budget. Plus Credit Decision Status If applicable, select the credit decision status for Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) loans for which the parents have applied. The field is only displayed if the value for Dependency Status is Dependent or Undetermined. If the loan is denied, a dependent student can replace the amount of a denied PLUS loan by borrowing additional unsubsidized loan amounts. If a credit decision has been set and the award is packaged, the value is read-only and cannot be changed. Blank indicates that a credit decision status has not been set. A indicates: credit accepted. N indicates: credit decision changed from Pending to Denied or Accepted. C indicates: credit was overridden and new info was provided. E indicates: credit was overridden and endorser okay. D indicates: credit denied and endorser not okay. P indicates pending. For a PLUS loan disbursement to be exported to COD, the value selected for this field must be A, C, or E. The MPN Link Indicator must also be Y. Re-entry > 180 Academic Year When selected, the student re-entered the program version after being out for more than 180 days from the NSLDS withdrawal date. When selected, Anthology Student sets the start date for the first sequence without estimated or approved financial aid to the re-entry date on the program version. If the student is enrolled in a program version that is configured to use an academic calendar that uses clock hours or credit hours without terms, the Student Pace Evaluation (SPE) tool will also then monitor the progress of the student through the remaining time in the program. Rights Responsibilities Ack. The accomplishment of rights and responsibilities. If you import the DECFyyOP file that contains entrance counseling results, the check box is selected or cleared based on the setting for the student in the file. Start Date The start date of the sequence. For the first sequence, Anthology Student defaults to the start date in the student's enrollment record. The start dates of the student's second and succeeding sequences are estimated using the number of weeks in the academic year or loan period and the number of weeks not enrolled. If needed, you can change the estimated date on the Academic Years tab. For loan periods, in most cases, the date should not be before the start date of the program version. For loan periods, the start date must be between the start and end dates for the Borrower-Based Academic Year (BBAY). TEACH Counseling Date The counseling date for TEACH grants. A value is displayed in this field if your institution has received a file (CRACyyOP) with the TEACH GRANT Initial and Subsequent Counseling Acknowledgment data type. Weeks Enrolled in Ac Yr The number of weeks in the academic year or loan period. For weeks in academic years, the value for this field and the value in the field for weeks non-enrolled should total 52 weeks. For weeks in an academic year, a provision in the Higher Education Reconciliation Act (HERA) reduces the minimum of 30 weeks of instructional time for programs measured in clock hours to 26 weeks. The minimum for term and non-term credit hour programs is still 30 weeks. Weeks in Academic Year The number of weeks that the student should attend for the selected sequence. If the program was configured to use an academic calendar that uses clock hours or credit hours without terms and you need to make manual adjustments for transfer credits, prior coursework, or test credits, those should be subtracted from the final sequence. Anthology Student displays a message if the value you specify does not match the values Anthology Student determined are needed to complete the program. Weeks Non-Enrolled The number of weeks the student is not expected to attend. The total of the values for this field and the field for specifying weeks enrolled should be 52 weeks. Anthology Student uses the total to estimate the time between the start of one academic year and the start of the next academic year.

5. Under Budget Information, if your institution: 

   • Does not use the Student Financial Aid Automated Awarding (SFAAA) feature, select the Calculate button and specify the values, or select a configured Budget Definition Specifies a predefined budget and values that your institution configured. If a student is enrolled in different program versions at multiple campuses, select the budget that is configured for the appropriate campus and program version. and change any needed values

   • Uses the SFAAA feature, select the Calculate button or select the Manual Budget check box and specify the values. When you select Manual Budget in the Academic Year form, you can manually edit a single budget fee or multiple budget fees which will then be summed as the Total Cost of Attendance. Only fees defined as Institutional within the Automated Budget/Cost of Attendance configuration will be summed for the Total Institutional Costs amount. Any fee that is not defined within the Automated Budget/Cost of Attendance configuration will be calculated as Non-Institutional.

   When you select the Calculate button and the Award Years are not within the AY start and end date, Financial Aid Automation provides the following message: ”This Academic Year Sequence is configured with an Award Year that is outside of the eligible date range." The system will not update the AY budget values when there is an error in the AY sequence dates. The student record will not be processed when an Auto Awarding job is run or the Auto Awarding button is invoked. The AWARDPOP0025 or REPACKAG0025 exceptions are displayed.

   The values displayed depend on whether or not your institution uses the SFAAA feature.

   Amount The amount in dollars. Bank Fees The action you can take depends on how your institution configured the option to add bank fees for loans. If the field is read-only, your institution automatically adds the fees. If the field is editable, you can manually add the fees. If your institution installed an earlier release of Anthology Student, a message can also be displayed that asks you whether you want to automatically add or manually add the fees. Books and Supplies The cost of books and supplies. If a fee schedule is entered for the student's enrollment, the books and supplies default to the value in the fee schedule (if any). If your institution configured a default budget for the program version or you select a budget in the Budget Definition list, Anthology Student displays the value from the budget. You can change the value. The Extended Budget allows for the books to be configured as Institutional or Non-Institutional. Institutional Amounts paid directly to the institution. They appear on the student ledger card and are counted as revenue for your institution. For example, tuition is an institutional charge. In most cases, travel is not an institutional charge. If your institution configured a default budget for the program version or you select a budget in the Budget Definition list, Anthology Student displays the values from the budget. If you select the check box, Anthology Student automatically updates the values for Total Budget and Total Institutional to include the amounts. For the definition of an institutional charge, refer to the FSA handbook. Other Charges Description of any other charges that are considered cost of attendance (COA). If your institution configured a default budget for the program version or you select a budget in the Budget Definition list, Anthology Student displays the value from the budget. You can change the value. Other (Direct) The total of the amounts paid directly to the institution (such as fees and on-campus room and board). Other (Indirect) The total of other educational costs that have an indirect link that are not direct costs (such as computers. books and supplies, and off-campus room and board).

   Personal The amount of personal expenses. Room The estimated room and board expense for the student for the academic year. If your institution configured a default budget for the program version or you select a budget in the Budget Definition list, Anthology Student displays the value from the budget. You can change the value.  Read Note According to the FAFSA Simplification Act for the 2023-24 award year, the Cost of Attendance (COA) item “Room and Board” is referred to as “Housing and Food” and grouped under living expenses. When Award Year 1 has a value of "2023-24" or later and no budget is assigned, the default label will be "Housing and Food" instead of "Room" or "Room and Board". The “Housing and Food” field label is editable on the Budgets page (refer to Budgets). Anthology Student will save the edited label and propagate it to the Academic Year and Loan Period pages. Total Budget Displays the total of values you have specified in the budget and represents the cost of attendance (COA) for this academic year or loan period. It includes tuition, books and supplies, room and board, travel, and all other charges. Total Institutional Total amount paid to the institution. It includes tuition, books and supplies, and other charges that have been configured as institutional. For the definition of an institutional charge, refer to the FSA handbook. Travel The estimated travel expense for the student. If your institution configured a default budget for the program version or you select a budget in the Budget Definition list, Anthology Student displays the value from the budget. You can change the value. Tuition The cost of tuition. If a fee schedule is entered for the student's enrollment, the default tuition is the Tuition value in the fee schedule. If your institution configured a default budget for the program version or you select a budget in the Budget Definition list, Anthology Student displays the value from the budget. You can change the value.

6. If your institution does not automatically promote packages to the next status or they do and the statuses allow manual changes, specify the status of packaging.

   Award Notice Printed The date when the award notice was printed manually or in batch mode. Award Notice Signed The date when the award letter was signed by the student. Award Year 1 Packaging Status The packaging status for the award year. If your institution has configured promotion levels for packages, the list contains levels that have been configured to allow manual changes. Your institution can also configure document schedules that automatically send documents when the packaging status changes. Anthology Student only requires a completed FAFSA for the first award year to package an academic year. In some cases, a student can submit documents for both award years 1 and 2 in the same academic year (crossover students). You can have 2 award years and packaging statuses so that you can manage both in the same academic year. Award Year 2 Packaging Status is only available if you specify a value for Award Year 2. Award Year 2 Packaging Status The packaging status for the award year. If your institution has configured promotion levels for packages, the list contains levels that have been configured to allow manual changes. Your institution can also configure document schedules that automatically send documents when the packaging status changes. Anthology Student only requires a completed FAFSA for the first award year to package an academic year. In some cases, a student can submit documents for both award years 1 and 2 in the same academic year (crossover students). You can have 2 award years and packaging statuses so that you can manage both in the same academic year. Award Year 2 Packaging Status is only available if you specify a value for Award Year 2.

   Enrollment Status The enrollment status for the student after the add and drop period. It is the status that determines whether a student is eligible to receive the federal aid that was packaged for the academic year. If a student has registered for a course but never attends that course, institutions can still charge the student for the course but might need to reduce federal aid. For an award, the default is the status on the enrollment record. If there is no status on the enrollment record, the default is Full Time. For a disbursement, the default is the value specified for the award. Package Date The date when the financial aid package was prepared. Package Revised Select this check box if the initial financial aid package for this academic year has been revised. Packaged To Status Assists institutions with the evaluation of aid that needs to be adjusted. The options are 3/4 Time, Full Time, Half Time, and Less Than Half Time. Anthology Student evaluates the term by comparing the packaged enrollment status with the current enrollment status and identifies discrepancies.

7. To add comments, select the New button under Notes.

   You can enter a maximum of 3,000 characters in this field. The comments entered here are tracked by author (Added By) with the Date Created and Date Last Edited. The Add and Edit options are only available to authorized users. In Settings > Campuses > select your campus > Financial Aid > COD & Packaging (tab) you can configure the option Only Allow Author to Edit Academic Year Comment Select the check box to only allow the author to edit comments in the Academic Year form. Any user will be able to read the complete note when clicking it, but only the author can edit it..

   When you add or edit notes, the system updates the DateAdded and DateLstMod fields in the FaStudentAYComment table with a date and time stamp on each note field, per the time zone of the server where the data is saved.

8. Select the Save button on the toolbar.

9. Select the lock icon () to prevent processes like Student Pace Evaluation (SPE) and Student Financial Aid Automated Awarding (SFAAA) from automatically adjusting the start and end dates when an event occurs that affects the credits or hours a student needs to complete a program.

   For more details, refer to

   • How SPE Calculates Dates
   • Prevent Updates to Academic Years or Awards