Publication Date: March 31, 2005
Author: G. Kay Jacks, General Manager, FSA Application, School Eligibility and Delivery Services
Summary: 2004-2005 Verification Reporting and Verification Status Code "W" Warning Message
Posted on 03-31-2005
Verification Reporting and Status Codes
The verification of student aid application information regulations are in 34 CFR Part 668 Subpart E (34 CFR 668.51-668.61). In accordance with these regulations, schools are required to complete verification of the information submitted by an applicant for student financial assistance in connection with the calculation of the applicant's expected family contribution (EFC) for the Federal Pell Grant, campus-based, Federal Stafford Loan, and Federal Direct Stafford/Ford Loan programs.
Additionally, for the Federal Pell Grant Program, schools are expected to report a verification status code to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System that reflects the appropriate verification status for each student selected for verification for whom a disbursement has been made.
The Verification Status Codes for the 2004-2005 Award Year are as follows:
- "V" (The school has completed verification.)
- "S" or "Blank" (The school has not completed verification because it was not required to do so in accordance with exclusions from verification provided for in 34 CFR 668.54(b).)
- "W" (The school has made an interim disbursement as provided for in 34 CFR 668.58 to a student selected for verification.)
2004-2005 Verification Status Code "W" Warning Message Processed on March 30, 2005
Schools that have made an interim Pell Grant disbursement to a student selected for verification should be concluding verification activities and changing a student's verification status code from "W" to either "V", "S", or "Blank", as appropriate. On March 30, 2005, we began processing a message to schools that have one or more student records still reported with a verification status code of "W". The message is a warning that these disbursements will be considered overawards and reduced to a zero dollar amount ($0.00), even if the disbursements were previously accepted in the COD System. The reduction of the affected disbursements is scheduled to occur on April 21, 2005.
This week, we will send the March 30, 2005 warning message to schools' SAIG mailboxes in the message class PGTX05OP. Additionally, we will send a file of student records reported to the COD System with a verification status code of "W" in the Reconciliation Records message class PGRC05OP. Schools that receive the warning message should review the accompanying Reconciliation Records file and report appropriate changes to the verification status codes for affected students before April 21, 2005.
Reminder for EDExpress Schools
In December 2004, we informed schools of an issue that resulted in EDExpress-reported verification status codes not being reflected in the COD System. From August 10, 2004 until a school successfully downloads and installs the Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file named CODImport/Export5.dll, using EDExpress for Windows 2004-2005, Release 2.0 to export a Pell Grant record with disbursement data only may have incorrectly resulted in the export of a "Blank" verification status code to the COD System. All schools using EDExpress to export Pell Grant records to the COD System must reconcile the verification status recorded in their EDExpress databases for each Pell Grant award with the verification status accepted in the COD System. To complete this reconciliation, a school must:
1. Validate that the verification status for all values recorded in EDExpress is correctly reflected in the COD System;
2. If the verification status is not correct in the COD System, resend Pell Grant award data that includes the student's verification status to the COD System; and
3. Install the CODImport/Export5.dll file posted on our Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site.
If an EDExpress school has not yet completed this reconciliation, it should refer to the electronic announcement posted on the IFAP Web site at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/1220EDExpressPellCODVerifStatus.html for detailed step-by-step instructions. This reconciliation should be completed before April 21, 2005.
Contact Information
If you have questions about the warning message or about reporting verification status codes to the COD System, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/4PGRANT. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.