DCLPublicationDate: 1/1/95 DCLID: GEN-95-2 AwardYear: 1995-1996 Summary: 1995-96 INSTITUTION APPLICANT DATA SERVICE FOR FEDERAL TITLE IV STUDENT AID PROGRAMS. JANUARY 1995 ACTION LETTER # 7 GEN-95-2 SUMMARY: 1995-96 INSTITUTION APPLICANT DATA SERVICE FOR FEDERAL TITLE IV STUDENT AID PROGRAMS Dear Colleague: The Department of Education makes applicant data from the Central Processing System (CPS) available to your institution free of charge. An institution may receive applicant data through this service as well as through the Electronic Data Exchange. The service available for 1995-96 is similar to that provided for 1994-95, with minor changes. This letter and the enclosures describe the applicant data service and serves as a user's guide. Please review this document in its entirety as it contains updated information and instructions. All institutions eligible to participate in any Title IV Federal student aid program may request and receive applicant data through this service. Three output formats are available for your use: abbreviated format paper roster, full format paper roster, and full format magnetic media on tape or cartridge. An attractive feature of this service is that the full format paper roster and the magnetic media data can qualify under the Department's regulations as an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) on which an award may be made. Please refer to Enclosure A for more information. To assist you in using the full roster and tape/cartridge data for award purposes, specifications (format and guidelines) are included in Enclosure F for printing hard copy output on which to obtain valid signatures. Institutions which did not receive applicant data output for award year 1994-95 and want to start receiving applicant data with award year 1995-96 must submit an Option Request Form (Enclosure B). If your institution currently receives applicant data output for 1994-95, the format, media, and frequency of that output will be "rolled" forward for 1995-96. You are not required to resubmit a request for the 1995-96 award cycle, unless you wish to alter your selection. Enclosure A provides more detailed information concerning the applicant data service, including the dates on which output will be produced and mailed. So as not to schedule two mailouts on the same calendar date, the 1995-96 production dates, in comparison to the 1994-95 dates, have been shifted by one week. Your first 1995-96 roster or tape/cartridge will be cumulative: it will contain all applicants specifying your institution on their latest official transaction since processing start up. Each subsequent production will not be cumulative, but rather will provide data only for those applicants who indicated your institution and have submitted a transaction to the CPS since your last roster or tape/cartridge was produced. Enclosure A summarizes fields that have been added or deleted in 1995-96. A complete description of the data tape/cartridge record format is given in Enclosure C. Please review Enclosure C carefully for all specific field and data changes. Changes have been made through-out the record layout. Note that the tape/cartridge layout is very similar to the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) layout received by Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) users. Fields that are defined differently on the two layouts are notated in Enclosure C. Current EDE users will receive full specifications for the ESAR layout in early January 1995. Sample abbreviated and full rosters are provided in Enclosures G and H, respectively. A significant addition to the applicant data service makes data from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) available for your use. The Title IV and Guaranty Agency matches performed in the past will now be incorporated into the NSLDS, and thus have been eliminated from the 1995-96 record format. The full format paper roster includes a page of NSLDS information for every applicant with this data. The magnetic media tape/ cartridge output provides 1,582 bytes of NSLDS data. A second significant addition provides data tape/cartridge users with Highlight Flag fields. Each byte in this field corresponds to a question on the Student Aid Report (SAR). In a correction transaction, this field tells you which data elements were highlighted on the SAR. To assist institutions in the use of the roster and tape/cartridge output, we have included detailed background information in several enclosures. Enclosure D provides you with detailed information about several fields; Degree/Certificate, Course of Study, State Abbreviated Codes, Reject Reasons, Correction/Highlight Flags, and NSLDS Loan Information. Note that the applicant data service, EDE, and the Federal Pell Grant Recipient Data Exchange (RDE) are separate and distinct processes. The applicant data service provides you information about applicants from the CPS via hard copy or tape/cartridge media. RDE allows you to submit payment voucher data to the Department on magnetic tape. EDE gives you the ability to receive and transmit both applicant and payment information electronically via a communication network. While you may use the applicant data tapes/cartridges to build a database for use in the RDE or EDE processes, a request to receive the applicant data tapes/cartridges does not allow, nor prohibit, you to participate in the RDE or EDE processes. Please note that 1995-96 is the last processing cycle for which you can request hardcopy rosters. Beginning in 1996-97 institutions can receive applicant information via electronic transmission, tape, or cartridge, only! If you have any questions concerning the applicant data service, please contact the Customer Service Department for Applicant Data Service, Federal Student Aid Programs, at (319) 339-6444. Sincerely, Leo Kornfeld Senior Advisor to the Secretary Enclosures [[ The enclosures A through H are currently unavailable for viewing. Please reference your paper document for additional information.]] |