Common Origination and Disbursement System. Update for Award Year

Transcription

1 Common Origination and Disbursement System Update for Award Year

2 Wood Mason U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Atlanta, GA

3 AGENDA New Award Year Setup (NAYS) Phase 2 of the Direct Subsidized Loan 150% Limitation New schema 4.0a 100% schema validation 150% Phase 2 SULA tags and data Enforcement of the 150% threshold Sequestration enhancements Pell Grant Dispute Portal Program Year Closeout Still to come 3

4 New Award Year Setup (NAYS)

5 The NAYS will include the normal changes from one award year to the next AGENDA Funding method will remain Advance Funded System generated files are returned with the message class award year designator 15 Common record response files returned in the schema of submission Award year designator changed to 15 elsewhere as appropriate Master Promissory Note (MPN) ID Direct Loan Award ID Agreement to Serve ID 5

6 The funding method remains Advance Funded Pell Grant and TEACH Grant programs remain records first and no initial authorization will be generated Accepted actual disbursement data will establish a Current Funding Level (CFL) for the school in COD and an available balance in G5 Increases to the CFL are accomplished ONLY by reporting actual disbursement data to, and being accepted by, COD Can report actual disbursement data up to 7 days prior to the actual disbursement date 6

7 Advance Funded Direct Loan schools with a history of early disbursement activity received an initial CFL shortly after COD Release 13.0 implementation Second assignment of CFLs will be generated in June for remaining Advance Funded schools Third assignment of CFLs will be generated in November Increases to your CFL can be generated by reporting actual disbursement data to, and being accepted by, COD Internal Controls Division (ICD) staff will monitor CFLs and bump a CFL if necessary 7

8 For award years , as in years past, Direct Loan schools operating under Heightened Cash Monitoring Level 1 (HCM 1) will not receive an initial CFL Submission of actual disbursement data to, and accepted by, COD will establish a CFL in the COD system and a corresponding available balance in G5 Must submit, and COD must accept, actual disbursement data for a bump in your CFL and a corresponding bump in your G5 available balance 8

9 A couple of your processing options should be double checked Report formats from award year have been carried over to award year Valid dates of participation in the PLUS Request process via the StudentLoans.gov website have been incremented one (1) year It s a good idea to double check ALL of your processing options with each NAYS 9

10 Phase 2 of the 150% Direct Subsidized Loan Limit

11 Phase 2 of the 150% Direct Subsidized Loan Limitation (SULA) brought 150% SULA tags and data New edits Real-Time processing New system generated response New Schema 4.0a Full XML Common Record Schema validation 11

12 150% limit is met and further eligibility is lost when Remaining Eligibility Period is zero (or less) 12

13 Maximum Eligibility Period (MEP) of the published length of your borrower s current, or upcoming, academic program Varies by program Multiply published program length by 1.5 Measured in academic years or portions of academic years If your published program length is reported in months or weeks COD will convert it to years or portions thereof 13

14 14

15 A Subsidized Usage Period (SUP) is the period of time for which a borrower receives a Direct Subsidized Loan Calculated on a loan-by-loan basis Measured in academic years or portions thereof Rounded up or down to the nearest tenth of a year Included ONLY periods when a Direct Subsidized Loan is received COD will calculate using school-reported data There are two exceptions Enrollment Status Single-term, full annual loan limit 15

16 # days in the loan period # days in the academic year Subsidized Usage Period 16

17 Accurate reporting of academic year and award start/end dates is vital to the accurate calculation of a SUP Award Year and forward All loans and all borrowers Schools MUST change the anticipated dates if they differ from actual attendance Loan periods should include ONLY those terms/payment periods in which the borrower receives funds Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN posted May 10, 2013, has the particulars 17

18 Example Scheduled academic year Fall/Spring September 10, 2014-May 10, 2015 and a corresponding loan period 242 days in the loan period and 242 days in the academic year = 1.0 YEARS But what is the borrower doesn t return for the Spring Term? The school updates the loan period to Fall only Does NOT adjust the academic year 91 days for the Fall Term Still 242 days in the academic year The SUP is now 0.4 YEARS! 18

19 Exception #1 Calculated subsidized usage period is prorated by enrollment status Full-time = 1.00 ½-time = 0.50 ¾-time = 0.75 Proration occurs before rounding Prorate Subsidized Usage Period based on enrollment status 19

20 Exception #2 Only circumstance where dollars are considered is when a student receives a Direct Subsidized Loan in the amount of the annual loan limit Exception #2 can only occur for standard-term programs or for non-standard-term programs that are substantially equal and are each at least nine weeks in length 20

21 When both Exception #1 and Exception #2 apply Result is always the same as the proration factor used in the enrollment status exception or

22 New data tags for Award Year Award Block <PublishedPgmtLentghYears> <PublishedPgmtLengthMonths> <Published PgmtLengthWeeks> <WeeksProgramAcademicYear> <SpecialPrograms> <ProgramCredentialLevel> Disbursement Block <PaymentPeriodStartDate> <ProgramCIPCode> <EnrollmentStatus> 22

23 Reporting your Published Program Length in weeks or months COD will convert weeks and months to years or portions You can report ONLY one Published Program Length tag in the award block of your Common Record # days in the Program # days in the Title IV Academic Year Program Length Month = 30 days Week = 7 days 23

24 Reporting your CIP Code and Academic Year Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) Code Provides a taxonomic scheme, or classification into ordered categories, that supports the accurate tracking and reporting of fields of study Your Academic Year is school-defined Minimum of 30-weeks of instruction and 24 semester (36 quarter) credit hours for a credit-hour based program No hour minimum for a graduate level program Minimum of 26 weeks and 900 clock-hours of instruction for a program measured in clock-hours 24

25 The new <SpecialPrograms> tag will identify borrowers in those programs Value A B N P T Description Selective Admission Associate Program Bachelor s Degree Completion Program Not applicable Preparatory Coursework Graduate Professional Program Non-Credential Teacher Certification Program U Preparatory Coursework Undergraduate Program 25

26 COD will validate the <SpecialPrograms> tag against Grade Level on an incoming Loan Origination Record Special Programs Tag Value Valid Grade Levels Sel Adm Assoc Prgm A TBD Bach Deg Completion Prgm B TBD Not Applicable N No G/L Validation Tag Not Submitted N/A No GL Validation Prep Graduate Prgm P 5 Non Cred Tchr Cert T 5 Prep Undergraduate U 1 & 0 26

27 The <ProgramCredentialLevel> tag will be validated against Grade Level as well Description Program Credential Level Student Level Code Undergraduate certificate or diploma (Undergraduate) Associate s degree (Undergraduate) Bachelor s degree (Undergraduate) Post Baccalaureate certificate (Undergraduate) Master s degree (Graduate) Doctoral degree (Graduate) First Professional degree (Graduate) Graduate/Professional certificate (Graduate) Non-credential programs (preparatory coursework/teacher certification) (Undergraduate) 27

28 New award level edits Edit Program Trigger Reject 202 DL Cannot submit more than one tag for Published Program Length (Years, Months or Weeks) Reject 203 DL Incorrect Special Program submitted Reject 206 DL Sub Remaining Subsidized Eligibility Period is less than zero for this award Warning 207 DL Sub Maintenance to this tag may have caused the Remaining Subsidized Eligibility Period to drop below zero for this award Reject 208 DL Incorrect Student Level Code submitted Reject 209 DL Invalid value submitted for Weeks Programs Academic Year Note: Maintenance Record and Change Record are synonymous 28

29 New disbursement edits Edit Program Trigger Reject 204 DL & TEACH Incorrect Program CIP Code submitted Reject 205 DL Payment Period Start Date is outside the Award Begin and End dates Reject 207 DL Sub For HCM/Reimbursement schools, sequence issues Existing Edit 994 and Edit 996 will be triggered if a value is missing or not valid 29

30 Phase 2 will also bring real-time processing to COD Subsidized Usage Period calculations SUP will be returned per award via the Common Record Response Normal and routine program and COD editing The Subsidized Usage Limit Applies (SULA) tag will be returned at the Person level for award year Warning Edit #200 will continue to be returned on award year awards The COD website will continue to display the SULA date on the View Person Information screen 30

31 Phase 2 will also bring a new SULA notification via a new system generated response Generated each night after daily SULA processing is complete Sent to schools reflecting a student s changed SULA data and the change was NOT initiated by the receiving school Schools cannot opt out COD sent a blast to all attendant schools after the implementation of Cod Release

32 Schema 4.0a

33 For award year and forward COD will perform 100% (Full) XML Common Record Schema validation Based on the published Common Record XML schema COD will enforce 100% full schema validation on schemas 3.0d, 3.0e, and 4.0a COD will retire schemas 2.0e, 3.0a, 3.0b, and 3.0c An electronic announcement (EA) dated October 29, 2013, provides schema 4.0a details Examples of errors has been provided to software vendors and IT shops 33

34 A new temporary Warning Edit #211 will be triggered and returned to indicate a schema validation issue On inbound XML Common Records that do not meet 100% schema validation but would have been accepted under prior year rules Tags out of order Blank tag that cannot be blank Will be discontinued at a yet-to-be-determined later date Warning Edit #211 will be discontinued at a yet-to-bedetermined date 34

35 A new Reject Edit #210 will be triggered and returned for malformed XML documents Failed 100% schema validation Missing value Invalid value The edit is returned at the <DocumentID> tag Batch level reject COD School Relations Center will communicate with the school via an when malformed XML is submitted 35

36 Phase 2 COD Website Enhancements

37 Phase 2 of the 150% Direct Loan Limit modifications to COD will include enhancements to the COD website A new SULA report The COD website will be updated to include, and display, all of the new SULA data New SULA Request and SULA Information screens will be implemented on the COD website 37

38 The currently produced Direct Subsidized Loan Usage Limit School Report will be discontinued A new Direct Loan Subsidized Usage Change report will be created and implemented Posted weekly in your school NewsBox CSV format Option to receive the report of not 38

39 The currently produced Direct Subsidized Loan Usage Limit School Report will be discontinued A new Direct Loan Subsidized Usage Change report will be created and implemented The new report will display subsidized loans when a change to a calculated SULA value occurs The new report will be posted in your school NewsBox Weekly CSV format Option to receive the report of not 39

40 COD will update screens to display SULA data View Person Information screen Redesigned Pop-up on Personal History events give additional information Disbursement History Information screen will display additional SULA data Enrollment Status Program CIP Code Payment Period Start Date 40

41 41

42 42

43 43

44 COD will implement and display two (2) new website screens Subsidized Usage Information Screen Accessible via a hyperlink on the Person Direct Loan Information screen Subsidized Usage Request Allows a user to request the most recent SULA data via the new system generated response Accessed via the Batch tab Search by SSN or Entity ID 44

45 45

46 46

47 StudentLoans.gov

48 StudentLoans.gov modified the Direct PLUS Loan endorsement process To endorse a credit-denied Direct PLUS Loan The endorser will need to provide the new Direct PLUS Loan Endorser Code and the borrower s last name OR The Direct Loan ID AND the Direct PLUS Loan Request borrower s last name Borrowers receive a PLUS Endorser Code and unique URL via their confirmation to provide to their endorser If a borrower does NOT have an address on the system the Endorser Code can be obtained from his or her completed Direct PLUS Loan Request on the StudentLoans.gov website 48

49 Just a heads-up StudentLoans.gov will require existing users to reconfirm their e-correspondence preferences when they first log on after the COD Release 13.0 implementation 49

50 Pell Grant Modifications

51 The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) field length on all COD website screens, and on the Pell Grand documents noted below, will be expanded from 5 to 6 bytes to conform to a CPS change The Pell Grant Reconciliation Report The Pell Grant Multiple Reporting Record (MRR) The Pell Grant Year-To-Date File The Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) Report 51

52 COD 13.0 Release will further streamline the Pell Grant LEU dispute process with a new Pell Grant LEU Dispute portal on the COD Web The Portal provides the ability to create, view, update, and even upload documentation for a Pell LEU dispute Pell LEU History page will display the Pell LEU dispute status Schools will no longer have an option to escalate a Pell Grant LEU dispute via the COD School Relations Center 52

53 The Pell LEU Dispute portal allows schools to enter dispute information for Department of Education review 53

54 The new Create Pell LEU Dispute page will collect information about the current and former schools, reason for the dispute, documentation, comments, and much more 54

55 On the Create Pell LEU Dispute page, the user must upload the required dispute documentation directly to the COD Web 55

56 After a dispute has been approved, the student s Pell LEU History page will provide details of the dispute and adjustment 56

57 COD Release 13.1

58 COD Release 13.1 is scheduled for early Summer, 2014 The plan is to Update Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) Expiration date and SULA text Add a bit more SULA information to the StudentLoans.gov website Implement a central communication portal on the COD website for uploading school specific documents to eliminate the transmission of customized attachments to schools Update the TEACH Grant guide to include the SULA information 58

59 Sequester Changes FY 2015

60 Sequester required changes for TEACH Grant and Iraq- Afghanistan Service Grant from the award amount for which the student would otherwise have been eligible First disbursement takes place on or after October 1, 2014 and before October 1, 2015 A TEACH Grant requires a reduction of 7.3% An Iraq-Afghanistan Service Grant requires a reduction of 7.3% Maximum Federal Pell Grant award amount for the relevant award year 60

61 Direct Loan origination fees will increase for loans with an Earliest Disbursement Date (EDD) on or after October 1, 2014 and before October 1, 2015 Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loan origination fees will rise from 1.072% to 1.073% Direct PLUS Loans for parent and graduate/professional students will rise from 4.288% to 4.292% COD has been modified to validate the EDD against the loan origination fee on incoming loan origination records (LORs) Loans with an EDD on or after October 1, 2014 and before October 1, 2015 with an origination fee other than 1.073% are rejected 61

62 If you have already originated a Direct Loan with an incorrect origination fee you need to correct it now Much easier to do with anticipated disbursement data than with actual disbursement data Dear Colleague Letter DCL GEN posted May 2, 2014 has the particulars 62

63 Reminders

64 In late January, 2014, FSA posted to the COD website report readers An Excel spreadsheet utility that provides a simplified way to import and view Pell Grant Year-To-Date File Pell Grant Reconciliation file Direct Loan Disbursement Detail on Demand Report Reconciliation aid Request the files in a fixed-length format No need to login access via the Today s Update link EA posted January 28, 2014 has the particulars 64

65 EdExpress Software Release v3.0 that will transmit 150% subsidized loan limit data to COD will not be available until June 23, 2014 EdExpress v. 2.0 will be released April 14, 2014 and will have full functionality, but you should NOT originate Direct Loan awards in v. 2.0 If you MUST originate and disburse prior to the release of EdExpress v. 3.0 you can do so via the COD website Enter borrowers and awards individually or via the Direct Loan Origination Tool, a utility embedded in the COD website Direct Loan Tools will be released in late June and will allow you to build a resident EdExpress database with a Direct Loan Rebuild File 65

66 The Program Year Closeout deadline for is Thursday, July 31, 2014 You ll receive Remaining Balance and Zero Balance communications via beginning 30-days after your last disbursement date for that program year After your last SAS reflecting an Ending Cash Balance (ECB) of $0, you ll shortly thereafter receive your Zero Balance communication at which time the Balance Confirmation screen will become active on the COD website Electronic closeout 66

67 Beginning January 1, 2015, you will no longer be able to return or refund Direct Loan funds via paper check You should begin to update your processes to enable you to refund cash electronically via the G5 website Prior to January 1, 2015, the COD School Relations Center will process paper checks for Direct Loan refunds of cash Beginning January 1, 2015, the COD School Relations Center will not process paper checks for Direct Loan refunds of cash and will return them to the sender This change will NOT impact the funding information screens on the COD Web site or the G5 Web site Note: If a school is required to refund cash as part of a liability assessed in an audit or program review, it must follow the instructions provided by the issuing office 67

68 68

69 69