Publication Date: September 28, 2005
Author: G. Kay Jacks, General Manager, FSA Application, School Eligibility and Delivery Services
Summary: End of Federal Fiscal Year 2005--Updated Impact on Campus-Based, Pell Grant, and Direct Loan Funds Availability (GAPS, EDCAPS, and COD)
Posted on 09-28-2005
As we previously reminded the community, September 30, 2005 marks the end of the Federal fiscal year for the Department of Education (the Department). Some of the Department's core financial systems, including the Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS), are on a modified processing schedule while the Department finalizes its processing and accounting for Fiscal Year 2005. The Department has determined that additional time is needed to complete this necessary work. Accordingly, we are updating the impact information that we provided earlier this month. Please review the updated information below and share with the appropriate staff at your school or organization.
Updated Impact Information
The Department's end of the Federal fiscal year work impacts how the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System processes financial data and when schools can obtain funds for their Federal Student Aid programs as follows:
- Monday, September 19, 2005 through Thursday, September 29, 2005-Financial processing between the COD System and EDCAPS/GAPS will be reduced to only once every evening (instead of the normal twice-a-day, morning/evening processing). As a result, early morning processing will be completed in the evening. Current Funding Level (CFL) changes and funding could be delayed by a day.
- Friday, September 30, 2005 through Monday, October 3, 2005-The COD System will accept Pell Grant and Direct Loan disbursements, but CFL changes and funding will not be processed by EDCAPS/GAPS until Tuesday, October 4, 2005.
All actual disbursements with a disbursement date from September 30, 2005 through October 4, 2005 must be received and accepted by the COD System no later than 10:00 A.M. (ET) on Thursday, September 29, 2005, in order for them to be included in the drawdown prior to the shutdown. Disbursements submitted after this time and disbursements with a disbursement date after October 4, 2005 will be funded after EDCAPS/GAPS re-opens on October 4, 2005.
- 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, September 30, 2005 through 6:00 A.M. (ET) on Monday, October 3, 2005-The GAPS e-Payments system (the GAPS Web site) will not be available. Schools will not be able to draw down Campus-Based, Pell Grant, or Direct Loan funds during this period.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete the required activities. We expect financial processing to be caught up by Friday, October 7, 2005.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about this announcement, contact one of the following help desks:
- For questions related to the GAPS, contact the GAPS hotline at 888/336-8930 or go to the e-Payments web site at https://e-grants.ed.gov/gapsweb/ephome.asp/.
- For questions related to the Campus-Based programs, contact the Campus-Based Call Center at 877/801-7168.
- For questions related to the COD System, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/4PGRANT for Pell Grant or 800/848-0978 for Direct Loan. You may also e mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.