In spring 2026, we plan to implement Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality to support the processing of Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) awards for the 2026–27 award year. With this implementation, we will begin using a new version of the COD Common Record Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema. The new schema version is 5.0d.
After the spring 2026 COD System implementation—
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Schools must send all 2026–27 Common Record documents using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d. The COD System will send all 2026–27 Common Record responses using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d.
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The COD System will send unsolicited system-generated responses for all award years using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d.
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The COD System will send COD Web Activity responses for all award years using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d.
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All available school reports, including data requests, will remain in formats other than XML.
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We will continue to fully validate all Common Record files against the published COD Common Record XML Schema.
We updated the COD Common Record XML Schema to support upcoming COD System changes and FSA system-wide changes related to the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub. L. 119–21). In summary, we added—
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one new tag, <WorkforcePellEligible> to the Award Response block for Federal Pell Grants;
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one new tag, <WorkforcePellTuitionAndFees> to the Disbursement block in the <CIP> complex element for Federal Pell Grants;
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one new tag, <LoanLimitException> to the Person Response block; and
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two new tags, <EnrollmentIntensity> and <InstitutionalLimitApplied> to the Disbursement block for Direct Loans.
In addition, we updated the maximum length for the <StudentLevelCode> to two characters.
We will provide more detailed information about the valid values and business rules for these tags and other planned 2026–27 COD System changes in upcoming Electronic Announcements and technical documentation planned for late 2025 and early 2026.
All incorporated changes are outlined in the attachment titled “Common Record Change Log.” Schools or third-party software providers must carefully review the COD Common Record XML Schema changes, including the new tags and valid values, in conjunction with the Common Record Layout. When planning the update to COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d, schools or third-party software providers should consider the following impact areas:
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Common Record Documents
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Unsolicited System-Generated Responses
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COD Web Activity Responses
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School Reports and Data Requests
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Full COD Schema Validation
Note to EDExpress Users: We plan to post EDExpress for Windows 2026–27, Release 2.0 in spring 2026. This release will incorporate schema version 5.0d for 2026–27 records.
Information about each of the impact areas follows below.
Common Record Documents
Schools must send all 2026–27 Common Record documents using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d. The COD System will send all 2026–27 Common Record responses using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d.
Unsolicited System-Generated Responses
The COD System will send unsolicited system-generated responses for all award years using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d.
A full list of unsolicited system-generated responses is in Volume 2, Section 2 of the COD Technical Reference.
COD Web Activity Responses (CRWB)
The COD System will send COD Web Activity responses for all award years using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d.
Schools that are unable to import COD Web Activity responses have two options:
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Submit new records or update existing ones for an impacted award year via batch processing. The COD System will acknowledge the schema version used by the school for Common Record documents.
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Change its “Web Activity Response Option” for each applicable program/award year to avoid COD Web Activity responses. The school will make these changes on the COD website’s “School Options Information” screen. To change the “Web Activity Response Option” from “Y” to “N:”
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From the School tab on the COD website’s main menu bar, select the “School Information” link, and then “Options.” The “School Options Information” screen will open.
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Select the applicable program and the applicable award year, then scroll to the “Program Relations Information” section and change “Web Activity Response Option” from “Y” to “N.”
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Select "Update."
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School Reports and Data Requests
We will continue to send all available school reports, including data requests, in formats other than XML.
Full COD Schema Validation
We will continue to fully validate all Common Record batches against the published COD Common Record XML Schema. If a school submits a Common Record that does not conform to the published schema format, the COD System will not process student, award, and disbursement information within the batch.
To help schools and software providers identify XML errors, we continue to send COD System edits as follows:
COD Reject Edit 210 – This reject edit is returned for batches that fail XML validation. The reject edit is returned at the document level and indicates that a batch contains invalid XML. The COD System will not process student, award, and disbursement information within the batch.
We provide two additional resources below. The first resource is a file that schools and third-party software providers can use to prepare for using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 5.0d. The second resource is a change log that identifies the changes made to the current version of the COD Common Record XML Schema. In addition, the initial posting of the 2026–27 COD Technical Reference (planned for February 2026) will include information about the COD Common Record XML Schema.
If you have questions, contact the FSA Partner and School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978. The contact center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. You may also email CODSupport@ed.gov.
*The U.S. Department of Education strives to make all content accessible to everyone. While this document does not currently meet the standards of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, Federal Student Aid is working to create an accessible version. If you need access to this document before the accessible version is available, please contact the Information Technology Accessibility Program Help Desk at ITAPSupport@ed.gov to help facilitate.