Financial Aid Set Asides from Tuition Revenue

Purpose/Scope

This guideline establishes procedures to ensure compliance with the financial accounting requirements for mandatory financial aid set asides from student tuition revenues. This guideline covers two separate financial aid revenue sources and provisions mandated by the Texas Education Code:

  • Texas Public Educational Grants (TPEG)
  • Designated Tuition Set-Asides

Authority

TexEd.Ch56f
  • Subchapter B. Financial Assistance Funded From Designated Tuition
  • Subchapter C. Texas Public Educational Grants

University Guidelines

Table of Contents
  1. Background
  2. Responsibilities
  3. Set Aside Requirements: Establishing Financial Aid Budgets
    1. Statutory Tuition Set Asides
    2. Designated Tuition Set Asides
  4. Source of Enrollment Data
  5. Financial Aid Budget Reconciliation

A. Background

TexEd.Ch54.0513 authorizes the governing board of an institution of higher education, under the terms the governing board considers appropriate, to charge any student “an amount designated as tuition that the governing board considers necessary for the effective operation of the institution.” Changes to this tuition rate, known as designated tuition, are authorized by the UT System Board of Regents.

Prior to the changes authorized by the 78th Legislature, governing boards were given authority to set the designated tuition rate at an amount not to exceed the statutory tuition rate. Constrained by relatively flat state funding and facing significant enrollment growth, most UT academic institutions were at or near the limit of $46 per semester credit hour (SCH) in FY 2003. With the changes by the 78th Legislature, institutions were allowed to exceed the statutory tuition rate. To help ensure affordability for all Texans, the 78th Legislature mandated financial aid set asides through TexEd.Ch56a.011 and TexEd.Ch56a.012.

B. Responsibilities

The UTSA Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships within the division of Strategic Enrollment under Academic Affairs is responsible for establishing policies and procedures for awarding financial aid to students in compliance with the TEC. 

Various departments and administrators reporting to the vice president for business affairs are responsible for the budgeting, accounting, financial control and related monitoring activities for the financial aid programs covered by this guideline:

Assistant Vice President for Budget and Financial Planning (Budget Office):
  • Recommends the budget target for each financial aid program based on projected revenues by student level and residency.
  • Evaluates actual enrollment and coordinates reconciliation to ensure budget adjustments are made in the financial accounting system.
  • Provides data to the Office of Financial Services and the University Bursar by December of each year for annual reporting to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Integrated Fiscal Reporting System (IFRS).
Student Information System Financial Accounting Manager (Office of Financial Services and the University Bursar):
  • Sets up the Banner tables to ensure students are accurately assessed tuition and fees. Enables, monitors and ensures waivers and exemptions are correctly processed and authorized.
  • Provides, coordinates, analyzes and interprets student information reports. Reconciles the feed of student financial data from Banner to the UTShare/PeopleSoft financial system.
  • Prepares various reports including the annual IFRS report to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

C. Set Aside Requirements: Establishing Financial Aid Budgets

Enrollment projections determined during the budget development cycle are used to establish the budget requirements for the next fiscal year. The Budget Office creates a spreadsheet to document the assumptions and allocation details.

Once the budgets are set up for the new fiscal year, responsibility for use of the funding in compliance with the TEC requirements is the purview of the senior vice provost for strategic enrollment.

1. Statutory Tuition Set Asides
  1. TexEd.Ch56x.033-1 — 15% of each resident student’s statutory tuition charge under Section 54.051 as provided by the General Appropriations Act for the applicable academic year. This does not include graduate incremental tuition authorized per Section 54.008.

    Cost Centers: Undergraduate Resident DZX024; Graduate Resident DZX032

  2. TexEd.Ch56x.033-2 — 3% of each nonresident student’s statutory tuition charge under Section 54.051. 

    Cost Centers:  Undergraduate Non Resident DZX026; Graduate Non Resident DZX029

  3. TexEd.Ch56x.033-4b — Of the funds set aside from statutory tuition revenue, not less than 90% shall be used for Texas Public Education Grants and not more than 10% shall be used for emergency loans under Subchapter D of Chapter 56.

    Short Term Loan Fund Cost Center: TPEGRS

2. Designated Tuition Set Asides
  1. TexEd.Ch56x.011 — 15% of any amount of designated tuition charged to undergraduate resident students in excess of $46 per semester credit hour is set aside for financial aid.

    Cost Centers: DAX073 and DZX074 (Workstudy)

  2. TexEd.Ch56x.012 — 15% of any amount of designated tuition charged to resident students enrolled in a graduate program in excess of $46 per semester credit hour is set aside for financial aid.

    Cost Center: DZX079

D. Source of Enrollment Data

The Budget Office evaluates set asides using a report (CBM001_budget.sql) created by University  Technology Solutions with enrollment data by student level and residency status. The Budget Office has detailed procedures for processing, interpreting and analyzing the raw data.

E. Financial Aid Budget Reconciliation

  1. By the month-end close following each semester’s census date and prior to the fiscal year end closing process (in September, February and August), the Budget Office obtains, analyzes and compares actual enrollment results to the budgeted allocations for required financial aid programs detailed in this guideline.
  2. The Budget Office completes a detailed reconciliation of the amounts of required set asides based on actual as compared to budgeted enrollment data and provides this reconciliation to both the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships and the Accounting Services Office.
  3. The Budget Office is responsible for making all entries in UTShare/PeopleSoft to reflect the changes in budgeted set aside allocations for:
    1. TPEG and TPEG Loan Program transfers
    2. Designated Tuition Set Asides
  4. The Accounting Services Office records the TPEG transfers to the general ledger along with the other monthly budget transfers. At that time, Accounting Services also adjusts the tuition remittance file for TPEG amounts before sending up that week’s funds to the state.

The adjustments should be made as soon as possible during the months of November, March and August.

The Budget Office is responsible for communicating the above budgetary changes with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships to ensure UTSA does not over-or-under allocate financial aid awards for a given academic year.

Related Forms 

None at this time.

Revision History

Date Description
03/29/21 Updates to processes (sections B and E). Updates to department and position titles throughout.