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May 6, 2024
To: Directors of Special Education and Business Managers
From: Division of School Finance
The final calculation for SFY 2023 state aids with tuition adjustments have been completed. The federal funds have been applied to the non-reimbursed costs. Resident districts that requested to use their federal finance 419 funds for tuition have been applied to the districts serving the resident districts’ students. The federal funds are anticipated to be paid to the serving district at about the same time the negative adjustments will be made in the Integrated Department of Education Aids System (IDEAS).
Note: All entities need a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) for federal award purposes. On April 4, 2022, the identifier was changed from the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number to the UEI, issued by SAM.gov. If you do not have an active entity registration on SAM.gov, you may not be able to receive federal payments or apply for federal grants. If you have questions on how to verify your UEI number in the MDE District and School Site Verification system, send an email to mde.school-verify@state.mn.us.
The federal funds tuition payment revenue should be coded to the original code that the district receiving the funds set up as a year-end receivable. Some districts used Source Code 360, State Aid for Special Education. Other districts used Source Code 400, Federal Aids Received through Minnesota Department of Education with Finance Code 419, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B Section 611.
The resident district and serving districts should also go to the Minnesota Funding Reports (MFR) to print their tuition district summary. The summary is located at:
Data Center > Data Reports and Analytics – Minnesota Funding Reports > District, Fiscal Year – 22-23, Special Education Tuition Billing > “Special Education Tuition Billing District Calculation” Report.
The total Federal Portion under Expenditures – Column E will be the total funds paid out on behalf of the resident district. The total Federal Portion under Revenues – Column E will be the total funds that will be received by the district serving non-resident students. This report should be printed and made available to the district auditors.
If you have any questions, send an email to mde.spedfunding@state.mn.us.
UFARS Procedures – Using Federal Funds for Tuition Bill Costs
For SFY 2023, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) withheld the amount declared from their final federal Part B, Section 611 Allocation (FIN 419) for use towards tuition bill expenses. The amount is currently not reflected in the amount of the Part B, Section 611 Allocations in SERVS. The Uniform Financial Accounting and Reporting Standards (UFARS) Object Code 308 should be used for the first $25,000 of tuition bill payment and UFARS Object Code 309 should be used for the remaining portion of the tuition bill (amount in excess of $25,000).
The following entries are used to record the amount declared to be used for tuition bills at the end of SFY 2023.
Debit – 01-XXX-XXX-419-308/309-000
Credit – 01-122-XX
This expense is not reported in SEDRA.
In April or May of the following year, MDE will calculate final tuition bills and make payments to the non-resident local educational agency (LEA). In the following year, adjust the object codes 308/309 for the difference between the estimated tuition payments and actual payments. The adjustment should take into account the amount of federal funds used as well as the split between 308/309. In the example used above, the UFARS Course Code 010 will identify that it is a prior year adjustment not reflected in SERVS.
For assistance with questions on UFARS coding of federal funds for tuition bill costs, contact Deb Meier.
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