Publication Date: November 18, 2005
Author: G. Kay Jacks, General Manager, FSA Application, School Eligibility and Delivery Services
Summary: Thanksgiving Federal Holiday Processing and Customer Service Hours
Posted on 11-18-2005
Our Federal offices as well as our Title IV processors and call centers will be closed on Thursday, November 24, 2005 to observe the Thanksgiving Day Federal Holiday. In addition, some of the Title IV processors and call centers will be closed on Friday, November 25, 2005.
The Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) School Relations Center will close at 3:00 P.M. (ET) on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 and reopen at 8:00 A.M. (ET) on Friday, November 25, 2005.
As posted in an earlier Electronic Announcement, 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 COD System will accept and process data from schools and send back responses/acknowledgements. 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, and all financial processing should be caught up by November 29th.
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.
The Central Processing System (CPS) will accept data on Thursday, November 24, 2005 and Friday, November 25, 2005 but will not process new Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) until Monday, November 28, 2005.
The Loan Servicing system will be unavailable for three days, from Thursday, November 24, 2005 to Monday, November 28, 2008 at 6:00am. The impact to borrowers during the times stated is as follows:
The Websites will not be available (messages are already posted on the sites) from Wednesday, November 23, 10:00pm to Sunday, November 27, 2005 at 12:00pm:
- No access to DLS Website and to any Borrower Account Information Function
- No access to DLS Online School Website
No borrower information access to DLS-VRU system. (A maintenance message has already been placed for advance notification)
The Customer Service Representatives at the Utica and Bakersfield call centers will not have access to borrower information on November 25th and 26th. They will, however, be answering the phone and addressing general questions. For specific information the caller will be asked to call back on Monday, November 28th.
Files will be accepted from all trading partners but the DLS batch processing will be halted during this outage affecting account payments updates and any booking transactions updates.
All Federal Student Aid Web sites will remain operational over the holidays.
Federal Student Aid Customer Service or Processing Center | Telephone Number | Status on Thanksgiving Day - Thursday,November 24, 2005 | Status on Friday, November 25, 2005 (the day after Thanksgiving Day) |
Campus-Based Call Center | (877) 801-7168 | Closed | Open |
Common Origination & Disbursement (COD) School Relations Center | DL -- (800) 848-0978 Pell -- (800) 4PGRANT Applicant Services -- (800) 557-7394 | Closed | Open |
Central Processing System (CPS)/ SAIG Technical Support | (800) 330-5947 | Closed | Closed |
Common Services for Borrowers Debt Collection Service Info. Center Direct Loan ConsolidationDirect Loan Servicing Center Conditional Disability Discharge Unit | (800) 621-3115 (888) 877-7658 (888) 869-4169 | Closed
Closed | Closed
Open |
Research and Customer Care Center for Schools | (800) 433-7327 | Closed | Open |
eZ- Audit | (877) 263-0780 | Closed | Closed |
Federal Student Aid Information Center | 4FED-AID | Closed | Closed |
Grant Administration & Payment system (GAPS) Hotline | (888) 336-8930 | Closed | Open |
NSLDS Customer Service | (800) 999-8219 | Closed | Closed |
Ombudsman | (877) 557-2575 | Closed | Closed |