Summary: HERA Operational Implementation Guidance (CPS, COD System, EDExpress Suite) -- Availability of EDExpress for Windows 2006-2007 Enhancement Release Adding Ability to Create Direct PLUS Loans for Graduate/Professional Students

The Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (the HERA), Pub. L. 109-171, provides for eligible graduate and professional students to receive Direct PLUS Loans on or after July 1, 2006. The HERA provision does not create a new loan program, but rather, allows a new type of borrower-an eligible graduate or professional student-to borrow under the existing Direct PLUS Loan Program. Effective July 1, 2006, we have parent PLUS borrowers and graduate or professional student PLUS borrowers (Grad PLUS borrowers).

EDExpress 2006-2007, August Enhancement Release

The EDExpress 2006-2007 enhancement release loads two program files, COD7.dll and Directloan7.dll, that will update data edits in the Direct Loan module to allow for the creation of Direct PLUS loan records for independent students with a college grade level equal to or greater than "6" (1st year graduate/professional). These records can then be exported for transmission to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System.

Note: For this enhancement release, when you create a Direct PLUS loan record for a graduate or professional student, you must provide the Grad PLUS borrower information as both student borrower information (on the Demo tab) and as parent borrower information (on the PLUS Info tab on the origination record). After you install EDExpress 2006-2007, Release 3.0 (available September 1, 2006), the PLUS Info tab will be disabled on the Direct Loan origination record for Grad PLUS loan records, and you will only be required to provide student borrower information on the Demo tab.

You can print Master Promissory Notes (MPNs), MPN Manifests, and Disclosure Statements for Direct PLUS records for graduate or professional students in this enhancement release using existing Direct Loan PLUS print options. Separate Grad PLUS print options for these documents will be added to the Direct Loan module in Release 3.0.

Note: Direct Loan schools that do not have an immediate need to begin processing Direct PLUS loans for graduate or professional students can choose to disregard this enhancement release and instead upgrade directly from Release 2.0 to Release 3.0 (available September 1, 2006).

EDExpress 2006-2007, Release 3.0

EDExpress 2006-2007, Release 3.0, available September 1, 2006, will update Direct Loan functionality to uniquely identify Grad PLUS loan records on entry tabs, reports, and in other software features.

After installing Release 3.0, a database update process will modify Direct PLUS loan records with a college grade level equal to or greater than "6" that you created using the August 2006 enhancement release to be uniquely identified as Grad PLUS loan records within EDExpress.

As noted in the previous section of this message, Direct Loan schools that do not have an immediate need to begin processing Direct PLUS loans for graduate or professional students can disregard this enhancement release and instead upgrade directly from Release 2.0 to Release 3.0.

Installing the Enhancement Release on your System

This enhancement release is comprised of two program files, COD7.dll and Directloan7.dll. You must download and copy both files into the EDExpress 2006-2007 program directory of all PC workstations in your office that have Release 2.0 installed.

NOTE: Be sure to close the Release 2.0 program on your PC(s) before performing
this download and copy procedure.

To download the COD7.dll and Directloan7.dll program files, go to http://fsadownload.ed.gov/, click the "Software and Associated Documents" link, and select "EDExpress for Windows 2006-2007, Release 2.0." On the "EDExpress 2006-2007" page, you can initiate the download of the programs file by clicking the "COD7.dll" and "Directloan7.dll" links under the "Software" section. You will receive a message asking if you wish to open the file or save it to your computer. You should choose to save the file to your computer.

Please note the following additional tips regarding this process:

1) Save the COD7.dll and Directloan7.dll files to the program directory for EDExpress 2006-2007 on each PC running Release 2.0. For most users, this is the default directory of C:\Program Files\EDESuite\EDExpress for Windows 2006-2007 (unless you changed this location during the installation process).

2) During the copy procedure, you will receive a prompt asking if you wish to replace the existing COD7.dll or Directloan7.dll file with the new version you are downloading. You should click "Yes" to this prompt and allow Windows to overwrite the file.

3) You do not need to reboot your PC(s) once the copy procedure is complete in order to resume using Release 2.0.

4) Remember - you must download and copy both program files to your Release 2.0 program directory to take advantage of the enhanced Direct Loan functionality included with this release.

REMINDER! If your EDExpress 2006-2007, Release 2.0 database is installed on a local area network (LAN), and you have multiple PC workstations accessing that database, you must install the COD7.dll and Directloan7.dll files on each affected workstation.

If You Have Questions

If you have any questions regarding downloading, installing, or using the EDExpress 2006-2007 software, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.

For other questions about the HERA, contact the Federal Research and Customer Care Center (RCCC) at 800/433-7327, 202/275-5532 (fax), or by e-mail at fsa.customer.support@ed.gov.