Department of Education Q&A
By Kevin Campbell, DOE, Region VI Training Officer

Q. Does one have to receive ACG in order to then receive a National SMART grant?

A. No. There is no connection between the two separate programs reflecting the receipt of one in order to receive the other. Further, there is no requirement to receive the ACG in the first academic year (AY) in order to be eligible to receive ACG in the second AY. Likewise, there is no requirement to receive a National SMART grant in the third AY in order to be eligible to receive it in the fourth AY.

Q. Does a student have to have had a 3.0 GPA in High School in order to receive an ACG at the postsecondary level?

A. No. There is no requirement for any specific GPA associated with high school. The student, in order to be eligible to receive an ACG, must have graduated from a secondary academic program that had rigor. There are several ways for a student to demonstrate compliance with this requirement but none involve earning a specific GPA. There IS a 3.0 GPA requirement to receive a second AY ACG but the GPA used for that is from the first AY at the postsecondary program not from the high school academic program.

Q. The student's parent is a teacher. The parent used Form 1040 to file her 2006 Federal income taxes. The parent filed a 1040 so that she could claim "educator expenses" as a tax deduction. Is the student ineligible to be considered for the simplified needs test (SNT) or the auto zero EFC test?

A. The student is eligible to be considered for the SNT and the auto zero EFC test. Normally, one of the requirements that must be met in order to be considered for these two EFC calculations, is to not be required to file a 1040. Taxpayers who wish to claim the educator expense tax deduction (or the tuition and fees deduction) must file a 1040. ED has determined that if the only reason that required the taxpayer to use Form 1040 was to include either of these two deductions, that act will not make the student ineligible to be considered for the SNT or auto zero EFC test. (See 2007-08 AVG page 37).