[SE-Dir] Ability to Benefit Assessment Eliminated

Mon Mar 19 15:54:42 PDT 2012

TO:  All District and ESD Special Education Directors

The message below is being sent to you on behalf of:

Nancy Latini, Ph.D.
Assistant Superintendent
Student Learning & Partnerships
______________________________________________
March 19, 2012

RE:  Ability to Benefit Assessment Eliminated

Ability to Benefit Policy Change:

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently received information from the US Department of Education, Office of Post Secondary Education, regarding eligibility for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  Specifically, qualifying for FASFA by passing an "Ability to Benefit" Assessment has been eliminated as of July 1, 2012.  As of July 1, 2012, in order for a student to be eligible for FAFSA, the student must have a:
*       Regular high school diploma (a diploma that meets the criteria of an Oregon Diploma as delineated in OAR 581-022-1130); or,
*       General Educational Development certificate (GED).

In July 2009, David A. Bergeron, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation, Office of Postsecondary Education, USDE stated that the Oregon Modified Diploma does not meet the high school diploma requirement for FAFSA eligibility. At that time, Oregon was notified that students receiving a modified diploma may be exempted from the FAFSA restrictions by taking an Ability to Benefit test. Those students successful at this assessment were permitted to apply for FAFSA.

This most recent change, effective July 1, 2012 will now have implications for all students who receive a modified diploma. As noted in the January 2012 letter provided following this notice, students with IEPs (with the exception of students with Intellectual Disabilities) will no longer be given the option to take an Ability to Benefit test.

As a result of the removal of the Ability to Benefit test, leaders are urged to inform educational decision-makers of the implications, specifically, that students graduating with a modified diploma will no longer have the option to apply for federal student aid for assistance with their college tuition. This does not impact student ability to apply for state aid, private grants, or scholarships; however, this reduction in financial aid options is a critical piece of information that should be shared with parents at the time diploma decisions are being discussed.

ODE Informational Pathway on this issue:

The first notice from the US Department of Education regarding the modified diploma not being a regular diploma was shared with the field in 2009, and has been on the ODE website since 2009 at http://www.ode.state.or.us/gradelevel/hs/transition/ormoddipfedfinaid.pdf. This information has also been in the Frequently Asked Questions document on Oregon's Modified Diploma since 2009 http://www.ode.state.or.us/gradelevel/hs/transition/moddipfaq-final.pdf. In addition, it was in Oregon's 2009-2010 Secondary Transition Booklets. This most recent change impacting the Ability to Benefit test was signed into law by President Obama on December 23, 2011 and a letter from the White House went out to all the community colleges in January 2012. The community colleges communicated this information directly to school districts and the information was first provided to ODE in February 2012.

Publication Date: January 18, 2012

On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-74).  The new law significantly impacts the Federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA).  This letter provides information on the changes made to the Title IV student aid programs by Public Law 112-74 and the effective date of those changes.
*       Ability-to-Benefit - Public Law 112-74 amended HEA section 484(d) to eliminate Federal student aid eligibility for students without a "certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate."  The law makes an exception for students who have completed a secondary school education in a home school setting that is treated as a home school or private school under State law.

Therefore, students who do not have a high school diploma or a recognized equivalent (e.g. GED), or do not meet the home school requirements, and who first enroll in a program of study on or after July 1, 2012, will not be eligible to receive Title IV student aid.  Students will qualify for Title IV student aid under one of the ability-to-benefit (ATB) alternatives if the student was enrolled in a Title IV eligible program prior to July 1, 2012.  Those alternatives include the student passing an independently administered, approved ATB test or successfully completing at least six credit hours or 225 clock hours of postsecondary education.
 We note that this change does not affect students with intellectual disabilities who are enrolled in approved Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs. Students who enroll in such programs remain eligible for Title IV assistance from the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and Federal Work Study programs even if they do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent.{The Model Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) provides grants to institutions of higher education or consortia of institutions of higher education to enable them to create or expand high quality, inclusive model comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities.}
As noted, the elimination of ATB alternatives to a high school diploma (or recognized equivalent) applies to students who first enroll in a program of study on or after July 1, 2012.  Therefore, a student who does not possess a high school diploma, or a recognized equivalent, but who is, or was, enrolled in a Title IV eligible program any time prior to July 1, 2012, may be eligible to receive Title IV student assistance under the ATB alternatives.

GEN-12-01: Changes Made To The Title IV Student Aid Programs By The Recently Enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 in PDF Format, 150KB, 3 Pages <http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/GEN1201.pdf>
For further information, contact Jackie Burr at 503-947-5638, or jackie.burr at state.or.us<mailto:jackie.burr at state.or.us>

Ruby Sandberg, Executive Assistant
Office of Student Learning & Partnerships
Oregon Department of Education
503-947-5738   FAX: 503-378-5156
ruby.sandberg at state.or.us

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