(b) The corporation shall notify lenders and schools after the establishment of the new rate. Such notification shall include publication on the corporation’s website. The requirements set forth in section 2213.5(g) of this Part shall be satisfied prior to the sale of any fixed rate program loan to the agency.

1. (1) Available amounts. The corporation, in consultation with the agency, shall determine, on an annual basis, the amount of funding that will be available for fixed rate program loans eligible for sale to the agency based on the agency’s determination as to available bond proceeds and based on projected statewide demand for fixed rate program loans. Such amount shall be publicly available on the corporation’s website.

2. (2) Funding pools. Upon the determination of the available amounts of fixed rate program loans as set forth above, the corporation shall establish multiple fixed rate program loan funding pools to promote equitable distribution of fixed rate program loan funds to students throughout the state (region-based pools) and to ensure the availability of fixed rate program loan funds to students demonstrating financial need (income-based pool):

   1. (i) in establishing the income-based pool for the initial academic year, the corporation shall project demand for fixed rate program loans using tuition assistance program (TAP) data from the prior academic year and other available data that would reasonably demonstrate financial need;
   2. (ii) for subsequent academic years, the corporation shall project demand for the income-based pool using actual program loan experience and any other available data that would reasonably demonstrate financial need;
   3. (iii) the available amounts of funding, based on projected demand, for the income-based pool shall be subtracted from the total available amounts of fixed rate program loan funding for the academic year;
   4. (iv) the remainder of available amounts of funding for the region-based pool shall be allocated based on a formula to be determined by the corporation, in consultation with the agency. Such allocation shall ensure, to the extent practicable, distribution among students statewide based on factors including college type and level of study. The corporation may consider other factors as necessary to ensure equitable distribution of fixed rate program loans;
   5. (v) during each application period, the corporation may adjust initial pool allocations based on fixed rate program loan application approvals within the region-based and income-based pools as necessary to maximize the use of total available amounts for fixed rate program loans for the academic year. Otherwise qualifying borrowers demonstrating financial need, as defined by the corporation in subdivision (c) of this section, shall receive fixed rate program loans from the income-based pool. If actual demand for loans from the income-based pool exceeds the allocated amount, such otherwise qualifying borrowers shall be eligible to receive fixed rate program loans from any remaining available funds in the borrower’s region-based pool. A borrower’s eligibility for available amounts from a region-based pool shall be based on the borrower’s place of residence within New York State. If actual demand for fixed rate program loans from the income-based pool is less than the available amounts allocated to or for such pool, the corporation may reallocate fixed rate program loan funds for the academic year to one or more region-based pools to maximize the use of total funds available for fixed rate program loans. If actual demand for fixed rate program loans in a region-based pool is less than the available amounts allocated for that region, the corporation may reallocate fixed rate program loan funds for the academic year to the income-based pool or another region-based pool to maximize the use of total funds available for fixed rate program loans.

(c) Allocation of fixed rate program loans.