Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

(GEN-94-26) (GEN-94-26) Schools may choose to have 1995-96 Renewal Applications mailed to them instead of to their students.

IFAP
SFA Information for Financial Aid Professionals
U.S. Department of Education
DCLPublicationDate: 8/1/94
DCLID: GEN-94-26
AwardYear: 1995-1996
Summary: Schools may choose to have 1995-96 Renewal Applications mailed to them instead of to their students.


August 1994
ACTION LETTER #1

GEN-94-26


SUMMARY: Schools may choose to have 1995-96 Renewal
Applications mailed to them instead of to their
students.

Dear Colleague:

The Department of Education(ED) has revised the 1995-96
Electronic Data Exchange(EDE) procedures and software to
allow institutions an additional option for printing
EDE-requested Renewal Applications for the 1995-96 processing
cycle.

The changes made will give EDE institutions the option of
having 1995-96 Renewal Applications for designated
students printed by the FAFSA processor, American College
Testing(ACT). The FAFSA processor will perform the following
functions:

- Print EDE-requested Renewal Applications

- Insert Renewal Applications, instructions, and a return envelope
into unsealed window envelopes

- Package the Renewal Applications securely in boxes and mail
them in bulk to a school address designated by the institution

- Perform data entry on completed EDE Renewal Applications.


HOW THE REVISED PROCEDURES WILL BENEFIT EDE
SCHOOLS

ED will provide an interactive system via General Electronic
Support(GES) query that will give schools the opportunity to
request 1995-96 EDE Renewal Applications in a manner similar to
that used for 1994-95, but with the additional choice of
designating that the FAFSA processor print and forward them to the
schools in bulk.

[[Page 2]]
Schools may request, on a batch by batch basis, that Renewal
Applications be printed for selected students or groups of
students and be mailed to a designated school address. If a school
designates that the FAFSA processor print and bulk mail the
Renewal Applications, the software will REQUIRE the school to
provide a complete and accurate mailing address for each batch.
Once the address has been provided for each batch, it cannot be
changed.

Schools or their servicers will be able to distribute the
EDE-requested Renewal Applications according to their
time schedule and include other institutional information if
they choose to do so. When students complete these applications,
they will be able to submit them to the FAFSA processor for
processing. This new process will relieve institutions from
having to perform the data entry for the EDE-requested Renewal
Applications printed by the FAFSA processor. The FAFSA
processor will print ED's identifiers (FFFFF) at the top of the EDE-
requested Renewal Applications as they currently do on the
regular Renewal Applications.


BULK PACKAGING AND MAILING

The FAFSA processor will insert each EDE-requested Renewal
Application along with an instruction booklet (approximately 12
pages), and a #10 size return envelope into a 9" x 12" size window
envelope which will contain no return address, no postage, and the
envelope will be left unsealed. The postage expense to mail the
Renewal Application packets will be borne by the schools. For
1994-95, the weight of the package was just under 2 ounces.
Schools may choose to utilize their campus mail to distribute
Renewal Application packets. It will be the school's
responsibility to annotate or stamp its appropriate return address
on each of the window envelopes and to receive and make proper
disposition of all mail that is undeliverable.

The FAFSA processor will insert the EDE-requested Renewal
Application packets for each batch into appropriately sized
box(es). Each box will contain a label which denotes how many
boxes were mailed for each batch (Example: Box l of 5, Box 2 of
5, etc.). The boxes will be sent to the address designated by the
school via first class mail. The packets inside the boxes will be
sorted in Social Security Number(SSN) order UNLESS the school
has elected its batches by individual SSN. In this case, the
envelopes will be in the order selected by the school.

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DAMAGED OR LOST EDE-REQUESTED RENEWAL
APPLICATIONS

ED has instructed the FAFSA processor to print each batch only
ONCE. Therefore, neither schools nor students will be able to
request a duplicate EDE-requested Renewal Application.
Additionally, the FAFSA processor will not reprint or replace any
lost or damaged forms, whether they are lost in the mail or by
students/schools after being mailed.

If it is determined that some of the EDE-requested Renewal
Applications have actually been lost or damaged, a FAFSA processor
customer service representative will be available to direct
schools to the affected records on their file so that the schools
can determine whether they want to print a Renewal Application at
the school or provide the student with a FAFSA. A customer
service phone number will be provided to participating
institutions.

RETURNED EDE-REQUESTED RENEWAL APPLICATIONS

If a box is returned to the FAFSA processor by the postal service,
the processor will research the problem with the school to the
extent possible, with assistance from ED if necessary. If an
updated address is provided for returned boxes, they will be
remailed to the corrected address.

In order to reduce the possibility of returned boxes, it is
critical for schools to initially provide ED with a complete
and correct mailing address for delivery of the Renewal
Application boxes, including a specific person's name if
necessary.

In the unlikely event that the mailing is never received by the
school and is not returned to the FAFSA processor, the school will
be responsible for providing the affected students with 1995-96
FAFSAs or printing Renewal Applications at the school. Any
Renewal Applications printed by the school MUST be returned to the
school for data entry and cannot be submitted to the FAFSA
processor.

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DEADLINES

Schools can begin requesting EDE-requested Renewal Applications
on October 3, 1994. The cutoff date for accepting the requests is
November 15, 1994. The FAFSA processor will begin mailing the
printed EDE-requested Renewal Applications on or before January 3,
1995 and will complete the mailing by January 17, 1995. After
November 15, schools may request Renewal Applications through
EDE, but the school will be responsible for printing them and for
performing the data entry. Students whose Renewal Applications are
not requested by the school will receive them from one of the MDE
processors and they will be mailed to the address provided on their
last valid 1994-95 application transaction.

In order to obtain an estimate of the number of schools who
are interested in this new option and to make projections
for the 1995-96 Renewal Application processing requirements,
we request that schools complete the enclosed attachment and
return it to the designated address by August 26, 1994. This
attachment gives schools the opportunity to ask questions or make
comments regarding the EDE-requested Renewal Application
printing option that ED will implement for the 1995-96 award year.

In addition to our continuing efforts to improve the delivery
system and processing procedures, these changes have been made
in response to your concerns and recommendations. We will assess
the comments and questions that are received as a result of this
letter, and we will be providing additional information on this
process in the near future. We welcome your continued assistance
in helping us to improve the delivery system and thank you for
your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Leo Kornfeld
Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Student Financial Assistance

Enclosure