| PublicationDate: 4/1/96 Summary: 1996-97 FAFSA Processing - Announcement #23 Author: ODAS - Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary - SFA Announcement # 23-- April 1, 1996 1996-97 FAFSA Processing This is announcement number 23 in our series of daily FAFSA updates for financial aid administrators. For information on individual applications, parents and students should contact 319-337-5665. 1996-97 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Processing Status Report A. Status of Applications as of No./Percent. Expected FAFSA No. of Paper of Paper Apps. Date to Receipt Date Apps. Rec'd. Processed Complete =============================================== Jan 1 - Jan 31 438,509 438,509 (100%) Completed Feb 1 - Feb 15 697,530 678,180 (97%) Apr 5 Feb 16 - Feb 29 882,977 664,190 (73%) Apr 5 SUBTOTAL: 2,019,016 1,780,889 (87%) Mar 1 - Mar 15 976,122 307,906 (32%) Apr 15 Mar 16 - Mar 31 577,531 44,351 (8%) Apr 15 TOTAL 3,572,669 2,133,146 (60%) Note: Expected Date to Complete reflects the date that the Department expects all paper applications with these receipt dates to have been entered and processed by the Central Processing System. B. School listed on SAR, but can't draw down ISIR The Department has received several inquiries and has noticed several list postings that schools have seen paper SARs for students where their school is listed, but they are unable to draw down an ISIR for the student. It appears that this problem may be related to a school's Title IV WAN participation. Schools that have already signed up for Title IV WAN should note that they will receive only automatic ISIRs that were processed after the date they became productional for automatic ISIRs. Therefore, any school that became productional in the middle of the processing cycle will have to make a Year-To-Date request to receive ISIRs that were processed before the school became productional. C. Institution student selects to receive data doesn't appear on student's SAR The Department has received several inquiries from institutions asking why their school doesn't appear on a student's SAR even though the student included their school on the FAFSA. The Department has determined that this most often occurs when students write in the institution's name differently from the way it appears on the Department's file. When this happens, the MDE sometimes is not able to determine the specific school the student has designated to receive his or her data and therefore the MDE cannot code the institution number on the student's record. Below are examples of this type of mistake: 1. The city name listed on the application is different from the way it is listed on the file: - the student reported on the application the city where the branch campus is located, but the city name on the file is that of the central financial aid office, or - the city name listed on the file is for the main campus, and the student is going to a branch campus (which is not listed in the file) 2. The institution name is abbreviated with a common abbreviation: - USC: University of South Carolina University of Southern California University of Southern Connecticut - U of M: University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of Maryland When an MDE is unable to determine the institution to which the student wishes to release the applicant data, the Department's procedures require that zeros be coded in the student's record in lieu of a Title IV institution number. These zeros trigger one of the following comments on the SAR: 103 The Department of Education was unable to find one or more of the schools you listed on your application on its school file. We therefore could not determine if each school participates in Federal student aid programs. To receive Federal student aid, you must attend a school that participates in these programs. Check with each school you listed on your application that does not appear on your SAR/ISIR to find out if it participates in these programs. It may be necessary to make corrections to your SAR/ISIR. 104 ATTENTION: We were unable to find any schools you listed on your school file, or you did not list any schools on your application, or did not verify any schools on your renewal application. To receive Federal student aid, you must attend a school that participates in the Federal student aid programs. Check with each school you are considering in 1996-97 to find out if it participates in these programs. Contact your FAA for assistance to make the necessary corrections to your SAR/ISIR. In the event that a student receives either one of these comments, the student will either have to make a correction to the SAR to have the institutions added, or an institution must perform an electronic correction to add schools to the students record. This can be accomplished by initiating an electronic history correction whereby the school adds their school code and provides the student's PIN. In order to minimize problems that MDEs face in identifying students' institution choices, the Department encourages institutions to follow the steps outlined below: - Stamp or write your school's name and school number (either the Pell Institution Number or the number that ED has assigned your school) in one of the six school choice lines on the FAFSA. - Tell students not to abbreviate the school's name. - Tell students to list the school's full address: street, city, and state. Sometimes two schools will have the same name, city, and state but different street addresses, or will have the same name but are in different cities. - Display posters in strategic locations that showcase the correct way to list your school. Distribute flyers with the FAFSA that show exactly how to list your school's name and address properly. - Ask students to write legibly and stay within the lines. Sometimes the key entry personnel simply cannot read the entry. - Enter applicant data through EDE: electronically entered applications will automatically have your school coded as the first choice school. Thank you for your continued understanding and support. |