(a) An academic department makes a commitment to a fellow at any point in his or her graduate study for the length of time necessary for the fellow to complete the course of graduate study, but in no case longer than five years.

(b) An academic department shall not make a commitment under paragraph (a) of this section to provide stipend support unless the academic department has determined that adequate funds are available to fulfill the commitment either from funds received or anticipated under this part or from institutional funds.

The institution shall provide to fellows at least one academic year of supervised training in instruction at the graduate or undergraduate level at the schedule of at least one-half-time teaching assistant.

(a) The institutional payment must be first applied against a fellow's tuition and fees.

(b) After payment of a fellow's tuition and fees, the institutional payment may be applied against educational expenses of the fellow that are not covered by tuition and fees and are related to the academic program in which the fellow is enrolled. These expenses include the following:

(1) Costs for rental or purchase of any books, materials, or supplies required of students in the same course of study.

(2) Costs of computer hardware, project specific software, and other equipment prorated by the length of the student's fellowship over the reasonable life of the equipment.

(3) Membership fees of professional associations.

(4) Travel and per diem to professional association meetings and registration fees.

(5) International travel, per diem, and registration fees to participate in educational activities.

(6) Expenses incurred in research.

(7) Costs of reproducing and binding of educational products.

(c) The institutional payment must supplement and, to the extent practical, increase the funds that would otherwise be made available for the purpose of the program and, in no case, to supplant institutional funds currently available for fellowships.

(a) The institutional matching contribution may be used to—

(1) Provide additional fellowships to graduate students who are not already receiving fellowships under this part and who satisfy the requirements of § 648.40;

(2) Pay for tuition, fees, and the costs listed in § 648.62(b);

(3) Pay for costs of providing a fellow's instruction that are not included in the tuition or fees paid to the institution in which the fellow is enrolled; and

(4) Supplement the stipend received by a fellow under § 648.51 in an amount not to exceed a fellow's financial need.

(b) An institution may not use its institutional matching contribution to fund fellowships that were funded by the institution prior to the award of the grant.

Neither grant funds nor the institutional matching funds may be used to pay for general operational overhead costs of the academic department.

(a) An institution that receives a grant shall disburse a stipend to a fellow in accordance with its regular payment schedule, but shall not make less than one payment per academic term.

(b) If a fellow withdraws from an institution before completion of an academic term, the institution may award the fellowship to another individual who satisfies the requirements in § 648.40.

(c) If a fellowship is vacated or discontinued for any period of time, the institution shall return a prorated portion of the institutional payment and unexpended stipend funds to the Secretary, unless the Secretary authorizes the use of those funds for a subsequent project period. The institution shall return the prorated portion of the institutional payment and unexpended stipend funds at a time and in a manner determined by the Secretary.

(d) If a fellow withdraws from an institution before the completion of the academic term for which he or she received a stipend installment, the fellow shall return a prorated portion of the stipend installment to the institution at a time and in a manner determined by the Secretary.

(a) An institution of higher education that receives a grant shall provide to the Secretary, prior to the receipt of grant funds for disbursement to a fellow, a certification that the fellow is enrolled in, is making satisfactory progress in, and is devoting essentially full time to study in the academic field for which the grant was made.

(b) An institution of higher education that receives a grant shall keep records necessary to establish—

(1) That each student receiving a fellowship satisfies the eligibility requirements in § 648.40;

(2) The time and amount of all disbursements and return of stipend payments;

(3) The appropriate use of the institutional payment; and

(4) That assurances, policies, and procedures provided in its application have been satisfied.