Publication Date: March 7, 2002
Author: General Manager: SFA Student Channel
Summary: FAFSA on the Web/ PIN Site Information
Posted on March 7, 2002
To: All Financial Aid Administrators
From: The Department of Education
RE: FAFSA on the Web/ PIN Site Information
During the week of February 25 - March 3, the Central Processing System received a record number of web applications. In that timeframe, a total of 349,270 2002-2003 web applications were submitted, with more than 85,000 applications received on February 28. As of March 3, we have received almost 1.3 million web applications; well over 500,000 more web applications than were received by that date for the 2001-2002 cycle.
We believe this dramatic increase in the usage of web applications can be attributed to the efforts made by schools to promote the use of the web for filing the FAFSA and we commend you for those efforts.
Unfortunately, there were some periods of unscheduled downtime that may have made it difficult for some students to file a web application. In an effort to assist you in determining the impact of the service interruptions, listed below are the dates and times where the site(s) experienced issues, beginning on 02/20/02:
02/20/02
FAFSA on the Web site experienced slow response times throughout the day with an unscheduled outage from 10:05 p.m. to 10:27 p.m.
02/26/02
FAFSA on the Web and PIN sites had slow response times from 2:45 p.m. (EDT) to 8:45 p.m. (EDT).
The PIN site continued to have intermittent service interruptions and slow response times throughout the day and evening of 02/26; service was restored at 5:00 a.m. (EDT) on 02/27/02.
02/27/02
Some students may have been unable to access the FAFSA on the Web site from 10:57 p.m. (EDT) to 11:11 p.m. (EDT).
In all instances, corrective actions were taken to eliminate the service interruptions as quickly as possible. A network message was also posted on 02/28/02 to keep you apprised of the issues and to offer alternatives. We apologize for any inconvenience the issues may have caused for you or your students.
If you have questions regarding FAFSA on the Web, please contact FAFSA on the Web Customer Service at 1-800/4FEDAID.