Publication Date: January 7, 2004
Author: General Manager, Students Channel, FSA ASEDS
Summary: SSN Corrections in CPS
Posted on 01-07-2004
TO: All Financial Aid Administrators
FROM: Students and Schools Channels, FSA
RE: SSN Corrections in CPS
In response to recent school inquiries, the Department would like to reiterate some basic information about the Social Security Number (SSN) correction process with the Central Processing System (CPS). Also, we would like to remind schools how SSN changes affect the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system and when a student should refile a FAFSA. In addition, we have added functionality to FAA Access to CPS Online that allows schools to make changes to SSNs under certain circumstances.
Changes to SSN in CPS
Currently, when a FAFSA is submitted to CPS, the SSN and first two letters of the applicant's last name on that FAFSA become the CPS identifier for the entire processing year. For example, if John Smith applies using an SSN of 123-12-1234, his identifier for the entire processing cycle will be 123121234SM.
There are two SSN fields in a student's CPS record --- one is the original SSN submitted with the FAFSA (which becomes part of 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 the SSN. If a SAR/ISIR correction is made to correct the SSN, the correction is accepted in the current SSN field, but the CPS identifier (with original SSN) remains unchanged throughout the cycle.
Changes to SSN related to COD
The Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system always uses the current SSN when processing records, whether it is the same as the original SSN or not. Therefore, schools should only submit the corrected/current SSN to COD for processing of Pell and/or Direct Loan data, and only after the SAR/ISIR correction to the SSN has been successfully processed by CPS. CPS will send both the CPS identifier and the corrected/current SSN 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.
New in FAA Access to CPS Online Web site
We have added functionality to the Department's FAA Access to CPS Online Web site (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FAA/faa.htm) for the 2004-2005 cycle which enables schools to modify a student's SSN, provided the record does not have an SSN Match Flag of "4" (which indicates a successful SSN match).
When to Refile a FAFSA
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 their correct original SSN instead of submitting a SAR/ISIR correction.
The student whose SSN was incorrectly used by another student will likely need to submit a Correction FAFSA in order for their data to be processed properly at CPS. A Correction FAFSA is available only by calling (785) 838-2141.
If you have any questions, please contact FSA's Customer Service Call Center at 800/433-7327. Staff is available Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, Eastern Time.