Publication Date: April 18, 2002
Author: General Manager: SFA Student Channel
Summary: SSN Corrections in CPS
Posted on April 18, 2002
To: Financial Aid Administrators
From: Students and Schools Channels, FSA
Subj: SSN Corrections in CPS
It has come to our attention that there is confusion about SSN corrections in CPS. Currently, when a FAFSA is submitted to CPS, the SSN and first two letters of the last name on that FAFSA become the student identifier in CPS for the processing year. There are two fields in the CPS record for SSN. One is the SSN submitted with the original FAFSA (the identifier) and the other is the current SSN, which remains the same as the original SSN if there is no SAR/ISIR correction to SSN. If a SAR/ISIR correction is made to correct SSN, the correction is accepted in the current SSN field, but the identifier SSN remains unchanged. This process will not change in CPS with the implementation of COD.
As you know, when operational, COD will replace DL and RFMS reporting for schools. COD will use current SSN when processing records whether it is the same as the original SSN or not. So, full participating COD schools can submit only the corrected/current SSN to COD for processing as long as the SAR/ISIR correction was made in CPS. CPS will send both the student identifier and the corrected/current SSNs to COD. For more information on COD, please visit http://ifap.ed.gov and select Common Origination and Disbursement from the Current Publications by Title area.
There are some interface systems such as EDExpress and possibly some mainframe and Servicer systems, which require the CPS original identifier to identify records when selecting, transmitting and consolidating them. These systems can still be used to interface with COD, but the CPS original identifier must be used to process the records successfully.
In addition, if a student becomes aware that they have used another student's SSN and a CPS identifier has been created incorrectly, the student with the incorrect SSN must refile a new FAFSA to create a CPS identifier with the correct SSN instead of submitting a SAR/ISIR correction. The student whose SSN was used incorrectly will need to submit a correction FAFSA, available only through (202)377-3243.
If you have any questions, please contact SFA's Customer Service Call Center at (800) 433-7327. Staff is available Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, Eastern Time.