patrick kennedy | dec. 2014 u.s. department of education 2014 fsa training conference for financial...

Patrick Kennedy | Dec. 2014

U.S. Department of Education

2014 FSA Training Conference for Financial Aid Professionals

FSA Systems – The Big Picture

Session #12

Agenda

• High level overview of major FSA systems• Production systems• Administrative systems

• Relationships between systems• Self-service & online features• System Access• Support and Documentation

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Agenda

• High level overview of major FSA systems

• Central Processing System (CPS)• Common Origination and Disbursement (COD)• National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)

• Grant Management System (G5) • Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG)• Participation Management System (FSAwebenroll.ed.gov)

and the Access and Identity Management System• Postsecondary Education Participants System (E-App)

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Summary: Required electronic processes

To be in compliance with the administrative capability requirements of 34 CFR 668.16(o), a school must:

• use the E-App to submit and update the school’s eligibility information: www.eligcert.ed.gov

• enroll in the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG): https://fsawebenroll.ed.gov/

• use FAA Access or its SAIG mailbox to exchange FAFSA or ISIR data with the Department’s Central Processing System: https://faaaccess.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/faa/faa.jsp or www.saigportal.ed.gov

~ Source: FSA Handbook

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• use the COD website or its SAIG mailbox to exchange award and disbursement data for Pell Grants, TEACH Grants, and Direct Loans: cod.ed.gov or www.saigportal.ed.gov

• use the eCampus-Based (eCB) System to file the FISAP application and report www.cbfisap.ed.gov

• submit to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) the school’s Federal Perkins Loan data, student enrollment records, FSA program overpayments, NSLDS transfer student monitoring records, and Gainful Employment program records (if applicable): www.nsldsfap.ed.gov

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• electronically submit the school’s annual compliance and financial statement audits and any other required audits: www.ezaudit.ed.gov

• use the Default Management website to receive its draft and official cohort default rate data electronically: ifap.ed.gov/DefaultManagement

• use the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website: ifap.ed.gov

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• Exchanges data with students, schools, state and federal agencies, and other FSA systems

• Creates and updates student records from FAFSA applications & corrections

• Performs matches and edits to determine student eligibility and ensure accuracy

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Central Processing System


• Calculates the student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

• Selects certain applications for verification

• Sends processed FAFSA information to student and to designated schools • Student receives a Student Aid Report (SAR)• School receives an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR)

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Central Processing SystemUse FAA Access to CPS Online to:

• View students' SAR information • Compare two ISIR transactions for the same student • Submit a signature flag for an application in a signature hold status • Enter a FAFSA or Renewal FAFSA • Correct a processed FAFSA • Continue working on a saved FAFSA or Correction • Request ISIR data • Analyze ISIR data as a basis for improving your verification process • Calculate and manage the return of Title IV funds

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Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool

•A link to the IRS from FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) that allows the student and parent to request a transfer of some completed tax return line items (including AGI & Federal Taxes Paid)

•Increases accuracy of data submitted. Reduces time required to complete the application and verification

•FOTW contains edits to help determine if eligible to use IRS DRT•

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SSA Matches

•To confirm the validity of each student’s SSN and U.S. Citizenship status, &

•Dependent student’s mother’s and/or father’s SSN status with the SSA database, &

•To ensure that students and parents are not using deceased tax payer’s SSNs

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Department of Homeland Security Data Match

(DHS)

•Match performed with DHS for students who provide an Alien Registration Number

•Match verifies TIV eligibility of eligible noncitizens

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Veterans Affairs Data Match

• Applicants who indicate that they are a veteran of the Armed Services are matched against the Department of Veterans Affairs database

• Ensures that students who are independent due to veteran status are properly classified

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Selective Service System (SS) Match

•To confirm that male federal student aid applicants are in compliance with the Military Selective Service Act‘s registration requirement

•Enables unregistered males to check a box on the FAFSA to automatically register themselves at no additional cost to SS

•Prevents improper payments to ineligible applicants

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Department of Defense Data Match

• A student whose parent or guardian died as a result of U.S. military service in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001, may receive increased amounts of federal student aid (equal to the maximum Pell Grant)

• Ensures students in this category receive proper FSA funds

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DOJ Match

•This match identifies students who have received a drug conviction by a U.S. Court making them ineligible for Federal Student Aid

• Under subsections (a) and (b) of section 421 of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 862, an individual convicted of a Federal or State drug trafficking or possession offense may be denied, at the discretion of the court, certain Federal benefits, including those under the Student Financial Assistance Programs established by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA)

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National Student Loan Data System Data Match

•Applicants are matched with NSLDS• ED’s repository of loan and grant information

• Defaults• Overawards• Annual and aggregate loan limits

•Identifies students ineligible for FSA funds due to loan and/or grant issues

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NSLDS ~ Post screening Reason Code

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01 = Default added 15 = PLUS Master Promissory Note status change

02 = Overpayment added 16 = Grad PLUS Master Promissory Note status change

03 = Default resolved 17 = Fraud conviction added04 = Overpayment resolved 18 = Fraud conviction resolved05 = Master Promissory Note status change 19 = TEACH Grant converted to a loan06 = Loan went into disability discharged status 20 = Pell eligible and met or exceeded Pell lifetime

limit 07 = Loan out of disability discharged status 21 = No longer meeting or exceeding Pell lifetime

limit 08 = Closed school 22 = Pell eligible and close to Pell lifetime limit

09 = Exceeded subsidized loan limit 23 = No longer close to Pell lifetime limit 24 = Unusual enrollment history status change

10 = Exceeded combined loan limit 25 = Subsidized Usage Limit Applies Flag status change

11 = Exceeding subsidized loan limit resolved 26 = Confirmed loan subsidy status change

12 = Exceeding combined loan limit resolved 27 = Decrease in Subsidized usage period

13 = For Federal Student Aid use only 99 = Other 14 = Loan entered active bankruptcy Blank = Not an NSLDS post screening transaction

Source: October 2014 (2015-2016) EDE Technical Reference Record Layouts 3-49


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COD/NSLDS System ~ Demographic Data Exchange (DDE) File

•After each Compute, CPS extracts data and transmits it in a file to COD and NSLDS to update all transactions processed since the last file was received

PEPS Daily School Code File

•Each weekday, PEPS sends this file to CPS to update its Federal School Code (FSC) data which determines whether the schools listed on students’ FAFSAs are eligible for Title IV aid

Common Origination and Disbursement• Student Centric ~ origination and disbursement records for:

• Federal Pell Grants• Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grants• TEACH Grants• Federal Direct Loans

• Schools send and receive batches of student records via SAIG• processes and applies edits to accept, correct, or reject records• system generated responses• maintains funding

• COD website for reports and single record submissions • Direct Loan Origination Tool

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Common Origination and Disbursement

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COD ~ StudentLoans.gov

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COD sends to and/or receives data from:• Schools via SAIG• Credit Bureaus (Plus Loan Credit Check – real time)• G5 – funding authorizations & cash draws• NSLDS

• Grant Awards and Disbursement Information• Exit counseling results • SULA usage

• Federal Servicers• DMCS• CPS• PEPS


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National Student Loan Data System

• The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS®) contains disbursement data for Title IV loans, Federal Pell Grants, and TEACH Grants. Grant overpayment data, student enrollment status information, and exit counseling are also found in NSLDS

• NSLDS provides a centralized, integrated view of Title IV loans and grants during their complete life cycles

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• Financial Aid Administrators, students, lenders, guarantee agencies, and state agencies access the system

• Schools may communicate with NSLDS via the SAIG or via online access • Online access to NSLDS is given to individuals, not to

schools or organizations• All participating schools must have at least one staff member

with online access

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• NSLDS Professional Access

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www.nsldsfap.ed.gov


National Student Loan Data Systems (NSLDS) Online Service

• NSLDS online users CANNOT share their NSLDS access with anyone else

•SSN Lookup – enables users to retrieve borrower information

•Enrollment Update – enables users to update student enrollment data

•Overpayment Update – enables users to update overpayment data

•Transfer Monitoring

• Reports deliver via the SAIG ~ two of many reports• Delinquent Borrower Report & School Portfolio Report

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Student enrollment status is reported to National Student Loan Data System

• Establishes eligibility for in-school deferment of student loans

• Alerts loan servicers when student leaves school and must begin repayment

• Electronic Announcement ~ Subject: Reminder of Program-Level Enrollment Reporting Requirement; dated September 26, 2014

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Transfer monitoring applies to any student who attended a school (or schools), prior to coming to your school, in that award year.

• Identify students transferring to your school during award year

• Provide identifying information for those students to NSLDS

• NSLDS alerts you to any relevant changes in student’s financial aid history

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NSLDS Data flows

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Grant Management System (G5)• G5 is a delivery system that supports program award and

payment administration ~ central repository for payment transactions of schools that receive cash

• Schools may use G5 to request payments, adjust drawdowns, and return cash

• G5 provides continuous access to current grant and payment information, such as authorized amounts, cumulative drawdowns, current award balances, and payment histories

• G5 receives program funding level data from COD … and returns to COD cash draws and returns

~ www.g5.gov

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Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG)• SAIG is a private, wide area network (WAN) that serves

as a store-and-forward file transfer service between FSA systems and their many end users

• It is the secure mechanism used by FSA and the financial aid community to transfer files over the internet. PM uses SAIG to exchange batch files containing services enrollment and organizational information with other FSA systems

• Institutions wishing to sign up for an SAIG mailbox must do so via the Participation Management (PM) system at https://fsawebenroll.ed.gov

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Student Aid Internet Gateway

• Organizations enroll individuals as Destination Point Administrators (DPAs) in the SAIG

• DPAs are assigned Destination Points (TG numbers/mailboxes) that receive and transmit data for various Title IV student aid program systems such as NSLDS, CPS, and the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System

• Files are exchanged using message classes, which help to define and describe the contents of the file

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Software Products to facilitate electronic data exchange, FSA provides three software products ~ found at fsadownload.ed.gov.

• EDconnect •a Windows-based file transfer protocol (FTP) program that enables users to send and receive Federal Student Aid information electronically

• EDExpress for Windows •a financial aid management software package. With EDExpress, schools can manage Title IV student financial aid application data, package awards, and exchange origination and disbursement data with the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD)

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Student Aid Internet Gateway

Participation Management System

• PM - The primary system for enrolling, modifying, and terminating enrollment into batch and online services for Federal Student Aid (FSA) partner organizations and their users

~ fsawebenroll.ed.gov

• PM’s support of the FSA services enrollment process requires it to interface with no fewer than eight other FSA systems in order to exchange data related to organizational and user enrollments and ensure that users are able to access FSA systems in a timely manner

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Access and Identity Management System ~ AIMS

• AIMS is FSA’s security solution that manages access to the online elements of systems

• With AIMS, users of FSA systems are able to log into FSA systems using their FSA User ID, password, and (where applicable) their TG mailbox number

• While AIMS provides high level user authentication and protection of the URL for users of FSA online systems, Participation Management is the system of record for user services entitlements information

• PM interfaces regularly with AIMS to provide AIMS with high level entitlements data for individual users of online services that are authenticated through AIMS (e.g. NSLDS Online, COD Online, EDConnect, FAA Access, PM itself, etc.)

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Participation Management System

Postsecondary Education Participants System

~ PEPS

•FSA’s management information system of all organizations that have a role in administering student financial aid and other Higher Education Act programs

•PEPS maintains eligibility, certification, demographic, financial, review, audit, and default rate data about schools participating in the Title IV programs

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Electronic Application ~ E-App

• use the E-App to submit and update the school’s eligibility information: www.eligcert.ed.gov

• Check the status of your application• Display and print your Program Participation Agreement (PPA) and Eligibility and Certification Approval Report (ECAR)

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Postsecondary Education Participants System

E-ResourcesInformation for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP)•IFAP is your link to official guidance on FSA program requirements, including the annual FSA Handbook and ongoing updates in the form of Dear Colleague Letters and Electronic Announcements

~ifap.ed.gov

FSA Download •FSA Download is your source for all ED-developed software along with User Guides and Technical References for FSA systems and required file formats

~www.fsadownload.ed.gov/index.htm

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Information for Financial Aid Professionals

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QUESTIONS?

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Patrick KennedyPatrick Kennedy214-661-9480214-661-9480

[email protected]

Thank You!Thank You!

patrick kennedy | dec. 2014 u.s. department of education 2014 fsa training conference for financial...

Documents

schools student

student eligibility

student enrollment records

updates student records

disbursement data

exchanges data

student aid report sar

processed fafsa information