Minnesota Administrative Rules

4830.0700 METHOD OF PAYMENT.

Subpart 1.

Payments to schools.

After a grant award is determined, the award amount shall be sent by the commissioner to the school chosen by the recipient or the school shall withdraw the award amount from its state grant account. The school shall apply the award to the recipient's educational costs in the following order: tuition, fees, books, supplies, and other expenses. The costs must be prorated for each term of the academic year. The school shall notify each recipient that the award is ready for disbursement.

Subp. 2.

Refunds.

A grant is awarded for full-time attendance at a specified school for up to four quarters or three semesters within the state fiscal year. If a recipient fails to enroll or reduces enrollment, the school must refund the unused portion of the award. If the commissioner determines that a school has fraudulently handled grant money, the refund of the unused portion of the award is immediately due, and the office may institute a civil action for recovery if necessary. Refunds to the office are determined as follows:

A.

calculate the percentage the state grant award represents of the student's total financial aid package for the applicable term, excluding funds received from federal Title IV programs, United States Code, title 20, sections 1070-1099;

B.

calculate the total tuition refund amount using the refund calculation required of schools participating in federal Title IV programs;

C.

subtract the federal aid programs' refund amount from item B to determine the remaining tuition refund amount; and

D.

multiply the percentage in item A by the amount calculated in item C to determine the amount to be refunded to the state grant program.

Refunded money to the state grant program is available for awards to eligible students.

Subp. 3.

School accounting requirements.

Schools shall maintain separate accounts for grant funds. Refunds to the state grant program must be accompanied with a list stating the social security number, name, award type, amount of refund, term, and refund code for each student included in the refund. The refund must be made to the program within 30 days from the end of the academic term, or 30 days from the date the school is notified of a student's withdrawal, whichever is less. Schools must provide evidence, prepared according to generally accepted accounting principles, that all awards have either been distributed or refunded to the program.

Subp. 4.

Recovery of overpayments.

An overpayment occurs when a grant recipient receives more money than the recipient is eligible to receive under the award calculation. A grant recipient shall reimburse the state grant program for overpayment regardless of the cause. The overpayment amount is the difference between the amount received and the calculated award eligibility. The reimbursement amount includes any costs or expenses incurred by the office in collecting the debt, including reasonable attorney fees. The reimbursement is recoverable from the recipient or the recipient's estate. The office may institute a civil action for recovery if necessary.

The recipient must not receive additional awards until the overpayment is recovered or the recipient is making payments under an approved plan. Additional awards for which the recipient is eligible may be used to recover an unreimbursed overpayment.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 136A.01; 136A.04; 136A.111; 136A.134; 136A.16; 136A.234; 136A.70; 147.30

History:

8 SR 196; 9 SR 991; 10 SR 2319; 13 SR 128; 15 SR 1780; 18 SR 2482; L 1995 c 212 art 3 s 59; 20 SR 2284; L 2013 c 99 art 2 s 29

Published Electronically:

July 1, 2013