Federal Register, Volume 75, Number 35, February 23, 2010, Pages 7927-8238 Page: 8,017

                                
Federal Register/Vol. 75, No. 35/Tuesday, February 23, 2010/Proposed Rules

AmeriCorps NCCC member agreement
on any date between October 1, 2009,
and September 10, 2010, will receive an
award based on a full-time award
amount of $5,350-the amount of the
Pell Grant as of October 1, 2009.
For AmeriCorps State and National,
by law, a position is considered to be
approved at the time the Corporation
executes a grant used to support the
AmeriCorps member-not the date an
AmeriCorps member takes an oath,
signs an agreement, or begins service.
As discussed above, the day an
individual enters service in AmeriCorps
NCCC or AmeriCorps VISTA may make
a significant difference in the amount of
the education award, as the award for a
position will likely be larger if the
individual takes an oath of office or
signs an agreement on October 1, as
opposed to September 30. The same will
not be true for AmeriCorps State and
National members. AmeriCorps State
and National grants are generally made
during the Spring and Summer, i.e., in
the latter half of a fiscal year. As a
result, unlike AmeriCorps NCCC and
AmeriCorps VISTA members who are
eligible for the new amount of the award
as of October 1, the earliest point at
which an AmeriCorps member may
begin serving in a position funded by
those grants may be closer to the end of
a fiscal year.
As an example, if an AmeriCorps
State program receives a grant on
August 1, 2010, and enrolls a member
using fiscal year 2010 grant funds on
August 3, 2010, that member will
receive an education award based on a
full-time amount of $5,350-the amount
of the Pell Grant on October 1, 2009, the
first day of the fiscal year in which the
August 2010 grant was made. If the
program then enrolls another member
on October 10, 2010, that member will
also receive an education award based
on the $5,350 amount-even though at
that point a new fiscal year has begun,
and the Pell Grant for fiscal year 2011
may have increased as of October 1,
2010. The determining factor is that the
member position was approved by the
Corporation in fiscal year 2010.
Further, unlike an AmeriCorps NCCC
or AmeriCorps VISTA member, whose
approval date will closely correlate with
the day the individual begins service, it
is possible for an AmeriCorps State and
National member beginning service in
one fiscal year to be supported with
funds from a grant made in a prior fiscal
year. Therefore, it is possible for two
AmeriCorps members starting service on
the same day to be supported by two
different grant awards made in two

different fiscal years, resulting in two

different approval dates and two
different education award amounts.
For example, a program might receive
a continuation grant on August 1, 2011,
but still have grant funds carried over
from a grant made in 2010. If the
program enrolls two members on
August 1, 2011-one supported with the
2010 grant and one supported with the
2011 grant-the one supported with the
2010 grant will be eligible for an award
based on a full-time award of $5,350-
the amount of the Pell Grant on October
1, 2009, the first day of the fiscal year
in which the 2010 grant was made. The
member who is being supported with
2011 funds will be eligible for an award
based on whatever the amount of the
Pell Grant is on October 1, 2010.
The Corporation recognizes the
possibility for confusion among
AmeriCorps State and National
members, who, unlike AmeriCorps
NCCC and AmeriCorps VISTA
members, will not be able to rely on
their service start dates to figure out the
amount of the award they are eligible to
receive. To reduce confusion, it is
essential for AmeriCorps programs-
particularly those with AmeriCorps
State and National members-to clearly
communicate to each member, prior to
the commencement of service, the
amount of the education award the
individual will receive upon successful
completion of the term of service.
Beginning with grants made in 2010,
AmeriCorps State and National grant
provisions will direct grantees to specify
the amount of the education award of
the funds being used to support the
position in the member service
agreement.
It is important to remember that the
Serve America Act went into effect on
October 1, 2009. All positions approved
prior to that date are eligible for awards
based on a full-time amount of $4,725.
This includes all AmeriCorps State and
National positions, even those that
began after October 1, 2009, since no
AmeriCorps State and National
positions have been approved with
fiscal year 2010 funds to date.
To learn more about the amount of the
education award and how it is
determined, visit the AmeriCorps Web
site at http://www.americorps.gov/
for individuals/benefits/
benefitsedaward.asp.
Amount of Silver Scholar and Summer
of Service Education Awards ( 2527.10)
As previously discussed, the Serve
America Act created two new types of
education awards: Silver Scholar
education awards and Summer of
Service education awards. This

proposed rule amends  2527.10 to

include the Silver Scholar education
award of $1000, available upon
successful completion of a term of
service of at least 350 hours in a Silver
Scholar position.
This proposed rule also amends
 2527.10 to include the Summer of
Service education award of $500,
available upon successful completion of
at least 100 hours in a Summer of
Service position. The Corporation may
authorize a Summer of Service
education award of $750 if the
participant is economically
disadvantaged. In order to authorize the
increased award, the Corporation must
receive a certification from the school
with which the participant served that
the participant meets the definition of
"economically disadvantaged," defined
in this rule as a child that is eligible for
a free lunch and breakfast under the
Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)).
Pro-rated education awards for an
early release for compelling personal
circumstances from a Silver Scholar or
Summer of Service position are not
available. If an individual fails to
complete either type of term for any
reason, the individual will not receive
any award. And unlike the AmeriCorps
education award described in the
previous section, Silver Scholar and
Summer of Service education awards
will not vary in amount from one year
to the next.
Limitation on Value of Education
Awards Received ( 2526.50-55)
Prior to the passage of the Serve
America Act, the national service laws
limited individuals to receiving an
education award "only on the basis of
the first and second * * * terms of
service." A term of service includes full-
time, part-time, or less-than-part-time
terms, terms in which the person served
at least 15 percent of the term of service,
and terms for which an individual was
released for misconduct regardless of
the amount of time served. Terms range
in service hour requirements from 300
hours to more than 1,700 hours, but
despite the contrast in the level of
commitment required or the service
opportunity presented, all terms were
previously considered of equal value for
the purposes of limiting the receipt of
education awards.
The Serve America Act amended the
national service laws to no longer limit
the receipt of education awards based
upon the number of terms served, but
rather place the limit on the value of
education awards received. Sec. 146(c)
now states: "An individual may not
receive, through national service

educational awards and silver scholar

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