Define financial aid awards

Create financial aid for each award type (e.g., PELL Grant, President's List).

Once financial aid awards are defined, Billing clerks can award financial aid to students to payoff charges within the corresponding billing years. Financial aid is used in calculations rendered throughout tax forms.

Once complete, Billing clerks can award financial aid to students. Note that these settings are simply for defining the default configuration for each financial aid award; billing clerks can override any default setting at the time of assigning a new award.

To get started, log in to Billing management, select Billing from the navigation, and then select Billing years. Finally, select Financial aid from the in-page navigation.

To define financial aid:

1. Select Add financial aid.

2. Select an unused Financial aid type from the drop-down.

   The available list entries are created first under Candidate profile settings in Blackbaud Enrollment management.

3. Enter a Description that refers to the financial aid.

4. Enter the Default amount the award grants.

5. Determine the default school decision for the financial aid.

6. Determine whether the financial aid is included in tax form calculations, such as under Scholarships/grants for 1098-Ts.

   Note: Changing this option mid-year causes unpublished tax forms to recalculate.

7. Determine when and how to Disburse awarded money:

   • Based on student's payment plan:
     

     The total financial aid award is divided by the number of payments in a payment plan, and the quotient is credited toward each installment.
     

   • Based on these specific dates:
     

     The financial aid is awarded at specific times throughout the school year in percentage-based installments that must total 100%.

8. Determine which of The following fees can be paid using this financial aid:

   • Any charges included in the student's payment plan:
     

     The financial aid pays off fees included in the payment plan, applying to charges chronologically based on charge date; if the charge date between multiple charges is the same, the award prioritizes tuition charges first.
     

   • Any charge:

     The financial aid pays off any charge, applying to charges chronologically based on charge date; if the charge date between multiple charges is the same, the award prioritizes tuition charges first.
     

   • These specific fees:

     The financial aid pays off specific charges, applying to charges chronologically based on charge date; if the charge date between multiple charges is the same, the award prioritizes tuition charges first.

   If the total financial award exceeds the total charges for the corresponding billing year, the remainder of the aid is rendered as unapplied credit.
   

9. Determine how tuition should distributes in the general ledger:

   1. a single set of GL accounts

      Define the GL accounts that tuition posts to for all grade levels. Enter the account number, description, and the percentage of the allocation.

   2. different GL accounts based on grade level
      If selected, choose the grade range to impact. For example, if you want certain transactions to posts to the accounts for lower school tuition, you could differentiate between school-level specific accounts.

10. Enter the Account number, Description, and CR percentage or select the x to delete a GL Distribution

11. Optional: Select Add another distribution. Ensure that the distributions total 100%.