session 53

Session 53

Financial Aid For

Techies

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Presented by…

Wood Mason

U.S. Department of Education

Federal Student Aid

COD Systems Operations Branch

COD Customer Service

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Objective

• What is Financial Aid, where did it come from

and how does it work…

• How do I make the Financial Aid folks like

me…

• What in Sam Hill do all those acronyms stand

for anywho…

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But First…

It’s Picture Time!

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History…

• U.S. Department of Education

– 1867

– Later became part of the U.S. Department of

Health, Education and Welfare

– Latest iteration PL 96-88 Department of

Education Organization Act

– In business May, 1980

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History…

• Harvard University

– May 9, 1648

• Lady Ann Radcliffe Mowlson endowed

Harvard’s first scholarship fund

– 1840

• Harvard’s first loan program

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History…

• GI Bill

– June 22, 1944

• Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944

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History…

• 1950’s

– Sputnik

– PL 85-864 created Nat’l Defense Education

Act

• Nat’l Defense Student Loan Program (morphed

into Perkins Loan Program)

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History…

• Higher Education Act of 1965

– PL 89-329

– Guaranteed Student Loan Program

(Stafford Loan Program – Direct and

FFELP)

– Educational Opportunity Grant (Pell Grant)

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In a Nutshell…• Student applies

• We figure out how much the family should

contribute to the effort

• School calculates how much he or she is eligible

for and builds the award package

• Student benefits

– As do all of us…an educated citizenry

• Loans repaid by borrower

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Application

• Aid Eligibility Determination

– FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student

Aid)

– HS Diploma or GED

– ATB (Ability to Benefit)

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Application

NOTE: All COD interfaces routed through EAI except DCS.

SAIGSchools

EFC Calc DB Matches

Central Processing System

Students *

*FOTW – FAFSA on the web

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Application

• Aid Eligibility Determination - CPS

– EFC (Expected Family Contribution)

– NSLDS (National Student Loan Database

System)

– Immigration, SSA, SSS, IRS, State Agencies

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Application

• Output Documentation from CPS to School

– ISIR (Institution Student Information Record)

• contains EFC and other data

– SAR (Student Aid Report)

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Awarding

• Aid Eligibility Determination at School

– COA (Cost of Attendance)

– EFA (Estimated Financial Assistance)

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Awarding

• Grant Programs– Pell Grant Program– ACG (Academic Competitiveness Grant)– National SMART Grant (Science and

Mathematics Assistance to Retain Talent)

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Awarding

• Campus Based Programs– FSEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational

Opportunity Grant)– FWS (Federal-Work Study Program)– Perkins Loan Program

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Awarding

• Loan Programs– William D. Ford Federal Student Direct Loan

Program– Federal Family Education Loan Program– Alternative loans

• MPN (Master Promissory Note)– paper– e-MPN (Electronic Master Promissory Note)

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Awarding

• Loan Documents– Disclosure Statement

• Plain Language Disclosure• Borrower’s Rights & Responsibilities

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Awarding

• Loan Types– Subsidized Loan (undergraduate/graduate)– Unsubsidized Loan (undergraduate/graduate)– PLUS (Parent Loan Undergraduate Students)

• parent borrowers• graduate and professional student borrowers

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Awarding

• Award Package on Award Letter– Grants– Loans– Work– Scholarships– Other

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The COD Boogie

NOTE: All COD interfaces routed through EAI except DCS.

SAIG

Financial Mgt

System(FMS)

Loan Servicing System(DLSS)

ACG, SMART, Direct Loan and Pell Origination, Change and Disbursement data

Batch and web-generated Responses

CentralProcessing

System(CPS)

Loan Bookings & Disbursements

School

Eligibility

Data

Funding Transactions

Payment Transactions

Student Level Pell Data

Student Level Direct Loan Data

FMSS / GAPS

Schools

Drawdowns

Post Secondary Education Participant

System(PEPS)

Student

Applicant

Data

Payment Transactions

Student Data

Storage(NSLDS)

Common Origination & Disbursement (COD)

TransactionProcessing

Web Reports

Customer Service Center

Applicant Services

Debt Collection Services (DCS)

Student

Pell

Payment

Data

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Origination & Disbursement

• Common Origination & Disbursement (COD)– Pell– ACG– National SMART Grants– Direct Loans

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• On-Line• Batch

– Common Record– Origination data– Disbursement Data

• pending and actual

– Individual or the whole 9 yards

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• Routing ID Number (RID)– Static ID across all COD programs– School, 3rd Party Servicers, Corporate Office– Used in Entity ID tag

• Source• Destination• Reporting• Attending

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• Acknowledgements• Response

– Batch• full• standard

– Web-generated

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• GAPS - Grant Administration and Payment System

• Current Funding Level (CFL)– Advance Pay– Pushed Cash

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• Booking Notification– Data sent to Direct Loan Servicing System

and becomes Department of Education liability

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Friends For Life

• Laugh at their jokes• Appear sympathetic at their puzzled look and

acute inability to speak coherently when you ask “what’s the matter?”

• Don’t boast about your “week-end to remember” as they as likely as not spent their week-end at their desk processing aid to get caught up…all the while cussing at the IT system for running at what appears to them to be pre-1960 clock speeds

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Friends For Life

• Remember this phrase when talking to the Financial Aid Office folks…”Silly computer system…really, it’s not your fault…I’ll get right on it and you’ll be back up and running in no time”

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Other Systems…

• Common Services for Borrowers

– DCS (Debt Collection Services)

– DLSC (Direct Loan Servicing Center)

– DLCS (Direct Loan Consolidation Center)

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Other Systems…

• PEPS (Postsecondary Education Participation System)

• NSLDS (National Student Loan Data System)• CPS (Central Processing System)

– R2T4

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Other Systems…

• GAPS (Grant and Administrative Payment System)

• E-Apps (Eligcert)

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Other Terms…

• POP (Potential Overaward Process)• MRR (Multiple Reporting Record)• FISAP (Fiscal Operations Report and Application

to Participate)

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Other Terms…

• ACA (Administrative Cost Allowance)

• CDR (Cohort Default Rate)

• School Participation Team

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Other Terms…

• CSC (Customer Service Center)

• CSR (Customer Service Representative)

• SRC (School Relations Center)

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Other Terms…

• FAA (Financial Aid Administrator)• FAO (Financial Aid Office or Officer)• FAD (Financial Aid Director)

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Other Terms…

• IFAP (Information for Student Aid Professionals…www.ifap.ed.gov)

And Finally…

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Other Terms…

• ISYAGTIO (I’m Sure Y’all Are Glad This Is Over)

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Questions?

I appreciate your feedback and comments. I can

be reached at:

Name: Wood Mason

Phone: 404.562.6270

Email: [email protected]