| Publication Date: November 10, 2005 Author: G. Kay Jacks, General Manager, FSA Application, School Eligibility and Delivery Services Summary: Temporary Unavailability of Pell Grant and Direct Loan Funding Increases November 22-27, 2005 Posted on 11-10-2005 Federal Student Aid's Financial Management System (FMS) will be shut down and unavailable Tuesday, November 22, 2005 through Sunday, November 27, 2005 (Thanksgiving week and weekend) while a system upgrade is completed. During this period, the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System will accept and process data from schools and send back responses/acknowledgments. However, the shutdown will impact how the COD System processes financial data and when schools can obtain new Pell Grant and Direct Loan funding. Specifically, the COD System will accept Pell Grant and Direct Loan disbursements during the November 22nd through 27th period, but Current Funding Level (CFL) changes and funding will not be processed until Monday, November 28, 2005. Actual disbursements must be received and accepted by the COD System no later than 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Monday, November 21, 2005, in order for them to be included in the drawdown prior to the shutdown. Disbursements submitted after this time will be funded beginning on November 28th. Note: The Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS) will not be affected by the shutdown. This means that schools can draw down cash from any existing available balance during the November 22nd through 27th period. Refer to the Hours of Operation link on the GAPS e-Payments Web site (http://e-grants.ed.gov/gapsweb/) for schedule information. Please share this information with the appropriate staff at your school or organization. We will include this same information in a later announcement that provides processing information and customer service hours related to the Thanksgiving Day Federal holiday. We appreciate your patience and understanding as Federal Student Aid completes this important activity. We expect financial processing to be caught up by Tuesday, November 29, 2005. If you have any questions about this announcement, 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. |