Maintained for Historical Purposes

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

(GEN-96-12) (GEN-96-12) SFAP Customer Support Branch Inquiry Service. Your direct help line for questions and information on administering the Title IV Student Financial Assistance Programs at your institution. Call 1-800-4ED-SFAP (1-800-433-7327).

DCLPublicationDate: 7/1/96
DCLID: GEN-96-12
AwardYear:
Summary: SFAP Customer Support Branch Inquiry Service. Your direct help line for questions and information on administering the Title IV Student Financial Assistance Programs at your institution. Call 1-800-4ED-SFAP (1-800-433-7327).

July 1996

GEN-96-12

SUMMARY: SFAP Customer Support Branch Inquiry Service.
Your direct help line for questions and information on
administering the Title IV Student Financial Assistance
Programs at your institution. Call 1-800-4ED-SFAP
(1-800-433-7327).


Dear Colleague:

We are proud to announce the national availability of toll-free
information services for financial aid professionals provided by our
new Customer Support Branch. Its mission is to answer questions
from student financial aid professionals about Title IV policy and
other issues such as application processing and SAR corrections. We
will also help with contacting other staffs in the U.S. Department of
Education (ED). This service is intended to complement the Federal
Student Aid Information Center (1-800-4FED-AID, or
1-800-433-3243), which answers questions from students and
parents, and which handles ED publication orders.

A Service that Cuts through the Red Tape

Customer Support's goal is high quality service incorporating both
accuracy and timeliness. Our representatives are well versed in all
the SFA program and operational areas and have access to experts to
assist with your more difficult inquiries. Some inquiries may take
longer because we need to wait for a decision on a new policy issue.
When we can, we will give general guidance as to what the decision
will be or when it will be expected. In most cases, however,
Customer Support is able to answer your inquiries within three
days*1*.

Contacting Customer Support

You may contact Customer Support by a variety of means. Please
use whichever is most convenient for you.

BY TELEPHONE

Call 1-800-433-7327 (1-800-4ED-SFAP). Customer Support
representatives are on hand to answer your policy related questions
from 9 am - 5 pm, Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. (After
hours you may leave a message and we will gladly return your call
the next day.)

BY FAX

Fax your questions to 202-260-4199. You may want to send your
more complicated inquiries this way. You may also request that we
fax forms, such as the Federal Perkins Loan Promissory Note, to
your organization if you need them immediately to meet an
impending deadline.


BY E-MAIL

Send your questions via electronic mail to csb@sfa.ope.ed.gov. In
addition to a detailed question, please be sure to include your name,
the name of your institution, and your phone number.

BY THE STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE BULLETIN
BOARD SERVICE

The Student Financial Assistance Bulletin Board Service (SFA BBS)
is an on-line service that the Department of Education has developed
to disseminate documents to the education community via the
Internet.

1. Telnet address: sfa.ope.ed.gov.

2. Modem: 1-800-429-9933.

If you do not already have it, you can call us at 1-800-433-7327,
fax us at 202-260-4199, or e-mail us at csb@sfa.ope.ed.gov for a
free copy of the SFA BBS software.

Feedback to the Department

If you have suggestions, we encourage you to call and let us know
what we can do to improve our services. As our customer and a
member of the student financial aid community, your suggestions
will help us save time and money while delivering better service.
We will be glad to forward your suggestions for improving the Title
IV Delivery System or program regulations to the appropriate
decision makers. Also, let us know what SFA is doing right if it has
eased your life or workload. Only through feedback can we continue
making improvements to better serve you.

Sincerely,


Elizabeth M. Hicks
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Student Financial Assistance Programs

*1* Please note, however, that Customer Support is unable to assist
with ongoing program review issues. For these issues you must
contact the regional reviewer in charge of your review.