later	in	this	chapter.	Another	example	is	that	a	student9s	satisfactory	academic	progress	(SAP)	evaluation	must
correspond	with	the	end	of	a	payment	period.
The	definition	of	a	payment	period	depends	on	the	kind	of	academic	calendar	your	school	uses	and	the	Title	IV	program
for	which	you	are	disbursing	funds.	For	reference,	the	payment	period	definitions	described	in	detail	below	are
summarized	in	in	the	table	titled	<Payment	Period	Summary=	at	the	end	of	this	section.
Payment	Periods	for	Programs	Using	Standard	Terms	or	Substantially	Equal	Nonstandard	Terms
For	credit-hour	programs	with	standard	terms	or	with	nonstandard	terms	that	are	substantially	equal	in	length,	the
payment	period	is	the	term.	Nonstandard	terms	are	considered	to	be	substantially	equal	in	length	if	no	term	in	a	program
is	more	than	two	weeks	of	instructional	time	longer	than	any	other	term	in	the	program.
Payment	Periods	for	Programs	With	Nonstandard	Terms	Not	Substantially	Equal	in	Length
Nonstandard	terms	are	considered	to	be	not	substantially	equal	in	length	if	any	nonstandard	term	in	a	program	is	more
than	two	weeks	of	instructional	time	longer	than	another	term	in	the	same	program.
For	the	Pell	Grant,	TEACH	Grant,	and	Federal	Supplemental	Educational	Opportunity	Grant	(FSEOG)	programs,	the
payment	period	for	a	credit-hour	program	with	nonstandard	terms	that	are	not	substantially	equal	in	length	is	the	term.
For	the	Direct	Loan	Program,	if	a	program	has	nonstandard	terms	that	are	not	substantially	equal	in	length,	the	payment
period	is	the	same	as	described	below	under	<Payment	Periods	for	Clock-Hour	and	Non-Term	Programs.=
Payment	Periods
34	CFR	668.4
Substantially	Equal	in	Length
34	CFR	668.4(h)(1)
Volume	3,	Chapter	1,	Example	4:	Payment	Periods	for	Programs	With	Nonstandard	Terms	Not	Substantially	Equal	in
Length
For	a	nonstandard	term	program,	a	school	may	have	to	use	different	payment	periods	for	Direct	Loans	than	the
payment	periods	used	for	Title	IV	grants.	In	this	example,	we	show	how	the	payment	periods	for	a	Pell	Grant	and
a	Direct	Loan	can	differ	in	a	program	with	nonstandard	terms	that	are	not	substantially	equal	in	length.	In	this
program,	the	payment	periods	for	Pell	Grants	are	the	terms,	while	the	payment	periods	for	the	Direct	Loan	are
the	non-term	payment	periods.	This	means	that	the	Direct	Loan	payment	periods	will	not	match	up	with	the
payment	periods	used	for	the	Title	IV	grant	programs.	For	example,	the	first	Direct	Loan	payment	period	shown
below	may	not	end	until	the	end	of	the	second	Pell	Grant	payment	period,	depending	on	when	the	student
successfully	completes	the	credit	hours	and	weeks	of	instructional	time	in	the	payment	period.
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