The online Fiscal Operations Report for 2022–23 and Application to Participate for 2024–25 (FISAP) will be available on the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) website on August 1 and is due on September 29, 2023. You can read this blog for more details about completing this annual requirement.
You may be asking, “Why are you telling me this now? It’s months away!” Well, here are five reasons why it may be beneficial to review the instructions today and start planning for how you’ll compile your data and collect the necessary signatures.
- August and September are busy on most campuses. This is the most common timeframe for students to arrive on campus and begin classes. It is also the time when the most challenging and complex tuition financing issues become apparent. Will you turn away students to complete an administrative task? Probably not, so the result will be a lot of late nights and weekends if you wait too long to start.
- Your president/CEO is involved in recruiting and travels extensively during the late summer and early fall…or maybe they just go on vacation a lot. Different departments work on different schedules, so while the financial aid office is in the thick of the enrollment process, the admissions office is starting the work needed to bring in the next class. Not to mention that summer is prime vacation time. Either way, since only the paper part of the application requires the chief executive’s signature, get in your requests in early so you’re not sweating at the end of September.
- You need to have other departments provide you with data. Whether it’s bank balances or the drawdown amount for your campus-based and Pell funds, you likely need to get the help of your colleagues in the comptroller/finance office. Be kind and give plenty of notice because they are busy at this time of year too.
- You’re not confident in your data. If your enrollment information is not updated reliably and in real time in your financial aid management system (FAMS), you should probably take the extra time to reconcile with the source data. Most systems today have canned reports specifically for FISAP reporting, but you know what they say, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
- You are a first timer or haven’t had to do this for awhile. Not only will it be totally worthwhile to review the current instructional materials, you should consider the training resources available in FSA’s Training Center. If the second resource doesn’t answer all your questions after reading the first, you’ll have plenty of time to ask your network or FSA for help.
Even if you are a very experienced FISAP filer, having some extra time or an extra set of hands around can make the difference. Check out our interim staffing solutions at www.heag.us or email info@heag.us to speak with one of our regulatory experts.