Publication Date: September 2, 2004
Author: General Manager, FSA Application, School Eligibility and Delivery Services
Summary: Pell Grant Processing Deadline for the 2003-2004 Award Year
Posted on 09-02-2004
To: All Destination Points
From: General Manager, FSA ASEDS
Summary: Pell Grant Processing Deadline for the 2003-2004 Award Year
Pell Grant Processing Deadline for 2003-2004 Award Year
The Federal Pell Grant Program regulations at 34 CFR 690.83(a) establish the deadline by which a school must submit student payment data each award year. The data must be submitted to the Department by September 30 following the end of the award year in which the Pell Grant is made.
As required by these regulations, and consistent with the notice published in the Federal Register on March 10, 2004 (http://www.ifap.ed.gov/fregisters/FR031020041.html), the deadline for electronically transmitting Pell Grant records for the 2003-2004 Award Year to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System is Thursday, September 30, 2004.
To meet this deadline, a school's transmissions must be completed by midnight (in the school's local time zone) on September 30, 2004.
Tools to Assist Schools with Reconciliation Prior to Deadline
There are two Pell Grant Data Requests available to assist a school as it completes both the year end and ongoing reconciliation processes. The Year-to-Date Record contains detailed origination, disbursement, and summary information at a transaction level on all Pell Grant recipients at the school. In addition, the school (or its servicer) may request a Reconciliation Report.
The school can request these reports on the COD web site or by submitting the batch data request for the appropriate award year message class (PGRQ04IN) to the COD System via SAIG. The school will then receive a data request acknowledgement and the requested report in the corresponding award year message class via SAIG (Year-to-Date Record = PGYR04OP and Reconciliation Report = PGRC04OP).
Additionally, a school can use the COD web site, www.cod.ed.gov, to view current award origination and disbursement information in the COD System. If the school has a student in a Pell Overpayment Project (POP) situation, the Pell Person Information screen on the COD web site allows the school to view the activities of other schools with respect to originations and disbursements for that student. For information about accessing the COD web site, refer to the electronic announcement posted on the IFAP web site at http://ifap.ed.gov/cod/0318Schoolaccess.html/.
Acceptance and Rejection of 2003-2004 Award Year Data After September 30, 2004
After September 30, 2004, the COD System will-
- Accept and process decreases to previously accepted 2003-2004 award originations and decreases to previously accepted 2003-2004 disbursements; and
- Accept and process originations and disbursements of new 2003-2004 awards or 2003-2004 award amount increases only if 1) the student was in a POP situation during the 2003-2004 Award Year or 2) the Department has granted Administrative Relief or Extended Processing for the 2003-2004 Award Year.
Note: Unless one of these situations applies, the COD System will reject originations and disbursements of new 2003-2004 awards or 2003-2004 award amount increases and return Full Participant Edit 43/Phase-In Edit 399 (New Award Amount or Award Increase Received After End of Processing Year and Institution has Not Been Granted Administrative Relief) or Full Participant Edit 71/ Phase-In Edit 417 (New Disbursement Increase, or Payment Trigger to "Y" Received After End of Processing Year and Institution Has Not Been Granted Administrative Relief).
Requesting Administrative Relief or Extended Processing for 2003-2004 Award Year
A school can request Administrative Relief or Extended Processing for the 2003-2004 Award Year through May 2, 2005. If necessary, a school also can request additional extensions of the initially approved period through May 2, 2005.
Upon request, the Department may grant-
- Administrative Relief if an administrative or processing error made by the Department or one of its operating partners or an event, such as a natural disaster or other unusual circumstance beyond the school's control, prevented the school from meeting the deadline; or
- Extended Processing if the school may make a late disbursement in accordance with 34 CFR 668.164(g) or may request unreported funds based upon a program review or initial audit finding in accordance with 34 CFR 690.83(d).
A school can request Administrative Relief or Extended Processing via the COD web site or via e-mail as follows:
- Via COD Web Site
o Log in to the COD web site, www.cod.ed.gov, and go to the School Information screen;
o Click on "Request Post Deadline Processing" located in the menu on the left side of the screen;
o Complete all required fields-including choosing the reason for the request from a dropdown menu and providing a detailed description of the problem; and
o Click on the "Submit" button below the data fields. - Via E-mail
o E-mail the following information to the Department at fsa.administrative.relief@ed.gov:
- School's Name and 6-Digit Pell Institution Number;
- Affected Award Year (i.e., 2003-2004);
- Requestor's Name, E-mail Address, and Phone Number;
- Reason for the request and a detailed description of the problem; and
- Date by which records will be submitted to the COD System.
Following receipt and review of a request for Administrative Relief or Extended Processing, the Department will e-mail the requestor that the request has been approved or denied. The school may not submit 2003-2004 data to the COD System until it has received the Department's e-mail approving the request.
Upon receipt of the Department's approval, the school can submit data through its normal batch/document process or can create awards/originations and disbursements via the COD web site. Full Participants and Phase-In Participants will receive acknowledgements for 2003-2004 post-deadline processing data entered via the COD web site.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about this announcement, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/4PGRANT. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.