Maintained for Historical Purposes

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

(ANN-98-07) (ANN-98-07) The Student Financial Assistance electronic Bulletin Board Service (BBS), which has served the financial aid community since spring 1995, will be retired as of July 1, 1998.

DCLPublicationDate: 6/1/98
DCLID: ANN-98-7
AwardYear:
Summary: The Student Financial Assistance electronic Bulletin Board Service (BBS), which has served the financial aid community since spring 1995, will be retired as of July 1, 1998.


June 1998

ANN-98-7

Dear Colleague:

The Student Financial Assistance electronic Bulletin Board Service (BBS), which has served the financial aid community since spring 1995, will be retired as of July 1, 1998. Its replacement, the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, has been operating successfully since March 5, 1998. IFAP has all the features of the BBS, and is more user-friendly, easier to access, incorporates graphics, has a more sophisticated search capability, and provides a number of direct links to other ED web sites of interest to financial aid professionals. IFAP can be accessed at
http://ifap.ed.gov


The IFAP web site is divided into four sections:

The IFAP Bookshelf contains an extensive and continuously updated collection of documents from 1995 to the present, including Dear Colleague letters, Action Letters, publications (including the FSFA Handbook, Verification Guide, and Counselor's Handbook), Regulations Compilations, Federal Registers, and other SFA documents large and small.

The IFAP Display Case highlights items of immediate interest, such as new Dear Colleague letters, regulations, and publications.

The IFAP Catalog is the complete index to IFAP. It is under development and we expect to complete it within the next two months. It will enable you to locate SFA policy, procedures and regulations related to a specific program or topic.

The IFAP Reference Desk will include a listing of all SFAP-supported service centers and will offer the ability to communicate with most of them by e-mail. In addition, the Reference Desk will act as a forum for discussion groups on specific topics, both current and proposed. It, too, is in the final stages of development and will be ready for use within the next several months.

We hope the BBS has been useful to you. We believe that its successor, the IFAP web site, will offer you even more convenience and better service. Please feel free to send your comments, questions, and suggestions about IFAP to the SFA Customer Support Branch at: csb@ed.gov or by fax to (202) 260-4199.

Sincerely,



Diane E. Rogers
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary
Student Financial Assistance Programs