| Publication Date: September 1, 2006 Author: G. Kay Jacks, General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid Summary: HERA Operational Implementation Guidance (CPS, COD System, EDExpress Suite) Availability of DL Tools Release 6.0 Enhancement Release Adding Functionality for Direct PLUS Loans for Graduate/Professional Students Posted on 09-01-2006 Federal Student Aid is pleased to announce we have posted an enhancement release for Direct Loan (DL) Tools, Release 6.0 to the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site, located at http://fsadownload.ed.gov. This enhancement release will enable DL Tools users to rebuild Federal Direct PLUS Loan (Direct PLUS Loan) data for graduate or professional students (identified as "Grad PLUS loans" in the EDExpress software) in EDExpress for Windows 2006-2007 and display and print Grad PLUS totals separately in the Disbursement Measurement Tool report. 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. DL Tools is a multi-year, Windows-based application designed to provide the following functionality related to all Direct Loan schools' software:
Release 6.0 contains functionality for the 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 cycles. Schools that do not use the DL Tools software, or who do not plan to use EDExpress 2006-2007 for Grad PLUS loan processing, do not need to install the September 2006 DL Tools enhancement release. Functionality Added in DL Tools Release 6.0 September Enhancement Release The September 2006 enhancement release for DL Tools Release 6.0 includes two program files, ImportExport6.dll and Report6.dll, that must be copied to the program directory of all PCs accessing your DL Tools Release 6.0 database. To take advantage of the functionality added in the September 2006 enhancement release for DL Tools Release 6.0, you must also install EDExpress 2006-2007, Release 3.0 (also available at http://fsadownload.ed.gov/). The September 2006 enhancement release for DL Tools Release 6.0 implements the following functionality: 1) DL Tools Rebuild functionality is updated to recreate Grad PLUS loan records in your EDExpress 2006-2007 database. The rebuilt records will be identified specifically as Grad PLUS loans in EDExpress 2006-2007, Release 3.0. 2) The DL Tools Measurement Tool report now displays and prints calculated totals for Grad PLUS loans separately from other loan types. 3) Existing DL Tools Release 6.0 reports (excluding the Measurement Tool report) now display Grad PLUS data under existing PLUS report fields, calculations, and statistics. Installing the Enhancement Release on your System To use the September 2006 enhancement release for DL Tools Release 6.0, you must download and copy two program files, ImportExport6.dll and Report6.dll, into the DL Tools program directory of all PC workstations in your office that have Release 6.0 installed. NOTE: Be sure to close the Release 6.0 program on your PC(s) before performing this download and copy procedure. To download the ImportExport6.dll and Report6.dll program files, go to http://fsadownload.ed.gov/, click the "Software and Associated Documents" link, and select "Direct Loan Tools Version 6.0." On the "Direct Loan Tools Release 6.0" page, you can initiate the download of the programs file by clicking the "ImportExport6.dll" and "Report6.dll" links under the "Software" heading. You will receive a message asking if you want 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 ImportExport6.dll and Report6.dll files to the program directory for DL Tools on each PC running Release 6.0. For most users, this is the default directory of C:\Program Files\EDESuite\DL Tools for Windows (unless you changed this location during the installation process). 2) During the copy procedure, you will receive a prompt asking if you want to replace the existing ImportExport6.dll or Report6.dll file with the new version you are downloading. You should click "Yes" to this prompt each time you receive it and allow the existing file to be overwritten. 3) You do not need to reboot your PC(s) once the copy procedure is complete in order to resume using Release 6.0. 4) Remember-you must download and copy both program files to your Release 6.0 program directory to take advantage of the enhanced functionality included with this release. REMINDER! If your DL Tools, Release 6.0 database is installed on a local area network (LAN), and you have multiple PC workstations accessing that database, you must copy the ImportExport6.dll and Report6.dll files to ALL affected workstations. If You Have Questions If you have any questions regarding downloading, installing, or using the DL Tools, Release 6.0 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. |