| DCLPublicationDate: 9/1/94 DCLID: GEN-94-39 AwardYear: 1995-1996 Summary: Additional Information Pertaining to 1995-96 Renewal Applications requested through the Department's Electronic Data Exchange (EDE). (Follow-up to 1995-96 Action Letter # 1). Historical Record September 1994 ACTION LETTER #3 GEN-94-39 SUMMARY: Additional Information Pertaining to 1995-96 Renewal Applications requested through the Department's Electronic Data Exchange (EDE). (Follow-up to 1995-96 Action Letter # 1). Dear Colleague: This letter provides additional information to institutions that are interested in requesting 1995-96 Renewal Applications through EDE. Institutions may request electronic Renewal Application records as follows: - Request that records be sent to the institution to be printed by the institution - Request that records be sent to the Department's FAFSA processor (American College Testing [ACT]) to be printed, along with the electronic Renewal Application file to be sent to the institution The FAFSA processor will print the Renewal Applications for the records sent there and mail them in bulk to the institutions. ALL REMAINING STUDENTS' RENEWAL APPLICATION RECORDS WILL BE SENT TO THE MDES FOR PRINTING AND MAILING DIRECTLY TO THE STUDENTS. We want to thank all those institutions that responded to Action Letter #1. We appreciate the many comments and suggestions which ultimately shaped the Renewal Application process for 1995-96 and which will further help us in our development for 1996-97. Many institutions were very glad to see the additional option for 1995-96 of having the printed Renewal Applications mailed to the institution. Also, we hope you will be pleased to see we have changed the timing of the Renewal Application mailings (see pages 3 and 4). [[Page 2]] Please be aware that your response to the Action Letter #1 attachment represents INTEREST ONLY in the bulk mailing of EDE-requested Renewal Applications. Response to that attachment does not commit you to participate in the bulk mailing of EDE- requested Renewal Applications to institutions. Each interested institution must request its 1995-96 Renewal Applications through EDE as described on the following pages. Schedule SUBMITTING HISTORY CORRECTIONS -- All changes/corrections, whether through SAR submissions, address change forms, letters or electronic transmissions must be processed by the Central Processing System (CPS) by November 1 in order for those transactions to be included within the 1995-96 Renewal Application database. For hard-copy changes made through the MDEs, students should mail their changes no later than October 15 in order to ensure that the changes are processed by November 1. Institutions should complete their EDE transmissions by noon Central time on October 27 in order to ensure that the CPS processes the changes by November 1. Institutions do not need to get a student's signature on a SAR in order to submit a change of address electronically. However, for 1995-96 the institution must obtain the student's signature on some type of documentation (for example a change of address form used by the school to update a student's record within the institution's financial aid, registrar's or bursar's office). ED prefers, but does not require, that you include a notice on the standard change of address form to advise the student that this address change will also be used to update his/her FAFSA record, if the institution is going to submit such a change electronically to the CPS. In this manner, the student is aware that his/her address on his/her FAFSA record will be updated. When a change of address is the only change made to an individual's record, the institution is required to obtain only the student's signature, not parental signatures. An address change, like any other history correction, will result in a new transaction. DEADLINE FOR REQUESTING RENEWAL APPLICATIONS THROUGH EDE --Institutions will have from October 3 until November 15 to request Renewal Applications through EDE. Records not selected by institutions will automatically be printed by the MDE processors and will be mailed directly to students. Information pertaining to how institutions request Renewal Applications through EDE is provided later in this letter. Institutions may continue to request Renewal Applications through EDE after November 15 (except bulk mail requests); however, one of the MDEs will also have printed and mailed Renewal Applications to students who were not selected by any school prior to that date. [[Page 3]] CREATION OF THE RENEWAL APPLICATION FILES -- The process for sorting/building the 1995-96 Renewal Application file is similar to that used for 1994-95. For example, records which were void, rejected, or were returned as undeliverable, had a professional judgment adjustment or dependency override will be deleted from the Renewal Application file. The CPS will run the remaining records through the default matches as well as through the Social Security Administration match. Any student's record which has been flagged as being in default or that does not contain a valid SSN will also be deleted from the Renewal Application file. RENEWAL APPLICATION RECORDS PROVIDED TO INSTITUTIONS AND MDES -- Between November 18 and 25, the CPS will send the Renewal Application records to the MDEs and an electronic file of EDE-requested Renewal Applications to institutions. Institutions that requested Renewal Applications through EDE can receive two types of records. The first type includes those that the institution requested the FAFSA PROCESSOR (ACT) TO PRINT. They will have a "Y" flag in the batch header print indicator field. The FAFSA processor will print the Renewal Applications and send them directly to the institutions via first class mail. The second type will be those Renewal Application records which the institutions requested through EDE but which the INSTITUTIONS MUST PRINT themselves. PRINTING AND MAILING OF RENEWAL APPLICATIONS BY THE MDES -- Upon receipt of the non-EDE-requested Renewal Application records, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) and the College Scholarship Service (CSS) will begin printing individual Renewal Applications. These applications will be mailed directly to students beginning on November 28 and the mailing is expected to be completed by December 19. Due to the volume of records that ACT as the FAFSA processor and also as an MDE processor must handle, the work must be staggered. ACT will print the Renewal Applications as follows: - The EDE-requested Renewal Applications will be printed first. The bulk mailing will begin on November 30 and is expected to be completed by December 12. - On December 2, ACT will begin printing the Renewal Applications that were not selected through EDE: first those with the FFFFF designation and then those with the AAAAA designation in the upper right hand corner of the Renewal Application. ACT will mail them directly to students and expects to complete the individual mailings by January 3, 1995. [[Page 4]] Procedures to Request Renewal Applications through EDE Only institutions that can send and receive Renewal Applications electronically will be able to make requests through EDE. To become operational, a destination point must be certified to receive electronic Institutional Student Information Records (formerly called ESARS). The last date for an institution to become operational is November 11. If you have questions about your certification status, please call GES Customer Service at (319) 339-6642. See Enclosure A for a list of options available and procedures required for requesting Renewal Applications through EDE. Questions and Comments Enclosure B contains answers to many of the commonly asked questions and comments received as a result of Action Letter #1. Again, please be aware that submission of the Action Letter #1 attachment constituted an institution's INTEREST ONLY in the bulk mailing of EDE-requested Renewal Applications. Each interested institution must request its 1995-96 Renewal Applications through EDE as described above by November 15. In order to keep assessing the volume of Renewal Applications that will be bulk-mailed to institutions, we are still accepting notices from institutions which are interested in the bulk Renewal Application mailing. Again, we appreciate that so many institutions took the time to send questions and comments in response to Action Letter #l. The Department will continue to work with its institutional consultants as well as with financial aid administrators who have comments or suggestions for the processing of students' Federal student aid applications. If you have any questions or comments regarding the application processing system, please contact the Applicant Systems Division at (202) 260-9988 or fax your inquiries to (202) 401-1637. If you are interested in signing up to participate in EDE, please call NCS User Services at (800) 553-2159. Sincerely, William L. Moran, Director Student Financial Assistance Programs Enclosures |