Departmental Correspondence

Financial Aid Services (FAS) announces the release of a new resource for public institutions: Exemption for Blind or Deaf Students - Fact Sheet. FAS developed the fact sheet to help institutions assist students who are blind or deaf that qualify for an exemption of tuition under Texas Education Code, Section 54.364, and are attending a public college or university in the state of Texas. 

The Texas Comptroller’s office payment system USAS, will be down from Aug. 31 – Sept. 1, 2020 for year-end processing. Note: Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020 is the last day for borrowers to accept a Loan Approval Disclosure (LAD) in order for funds to arrive at the institution prior to Aug. 28, 2020.  

Title III Eligibility Letter Survey Memo 2019-20

Tuition Equalization Grant (TEG) Award Amounts for 2020-2021 (FY 2021) Memo

Toward EXcellence, Access and Success Grant and Texas Educational Opportunity Grant (TEOG) Award Amounts for FY 2020-2021 Memo 

State Campus-Based Programs Annual Report FY 2019 Memo 

Work-Study Student Mentorship Program (WSMP) Updates Memo

B-On-Time (BOT) Loan Reallocation Process for FY 2020 Memo 

The award history database now includes 2017-18 information for the TEXAS Grant, TEOG, and TEG programs. The award history output is populated using data from the Financial Aid Database (FAD) and the end-of-year (EOY).

Each institution participating in the Bilingual Education Scholarship Program during the 2018- 19 biennium is required to submit a report that collects the program’s performance measures. The 2018-19 biennium includes the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years.

The Kenneth H. Ashworth Fellowship Program was established in 1997 by the members of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to honor Dr. Ashworth for his 21 years of service as Commissioner of Higher Education. The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance to students with financial need enrolled in a graduate program leading to a career in public affairs, public service or public administration.

This is a friendly reminder that the deadline to review the User Access spreadsheet, complete the Verification Survey Form, and to submit necessary updates is December 21, 2018.

Financial Aid Services (FAS) requires an annual User Access Review for the secure web portals used to transmit information between institutions and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The three main financial aid portals include: Higher Education Loan Management System (HelmNet), Coordinating Board Pass (CBPASS) and MOVEit DMZ.

This is a friendly reminder of upcoming deadline dates that occur during the November and December months:

 • State-Funded Campus-Based Programs

• B-On-Time (BOT) Reallocation

• Top Ten (Top 10%) Percent

• FY 2018 Financial Aid Database Certification  

• User Access Portal Review

Frequently Asked Questions Now Available on the Student Financial Aid Programs Webpage! November 1, 2018 A Little History From 2011-2015, the Grants and Special Programs team (now called Financial Aid Services) regularly published a compilation of questions and answers to provide guidance to the institutions participating in the state’s financial aid programs. The THECB Q&A’s, as they were known, were posted on our website in a PDF format. Over the years, changes to statute, rules, and program administration have made some of the answers within the documents outdated. In March 2018, the documents were removed after the announcement of a complete redesign of the Q&A’s. Feedback from the financial aid community requesting the return of the Q&A’s has prompted FAS to move in a new direction, with a more standard structure that is easily accessible and provides a simplified directory online. Student Financial Aid Programs is excited to announce the launch of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) webpage! 

Financial Aid Services has identified two errors in the 2018-19 Texas B-On-Time (BOT) and Texas Opportunity Educational Grant (TEOG) Program Guidelines that were posted on the Student Financial Aid Programs webpage on August 22, 2018.

The B-On-Time (BOT) Counseling Completion Report has been restored and is now available through the Higher Education Loan Management (HelmNet) portal under the Allocation Lookup link.

The 2019-20 TASFA (English and Spanish version) is now available on the College For All Texans website and Student Financial Aid Programs Information webpage located under Program Resources.