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Summary: COD System Acceptance of 2007-2008 Pell Grant Origination and Anticipated Disbursement Records

Publication Date: March 6, 2007

Author: G. Kay Jacks, General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: COD System Acceptance of 2007-2008 Pell Grant Origination and Anticipated Disbursement Records

Posted on 03-06-2007

In an Electronic Announcement posted on February 27, 2007, we informed schools that we had begun the work needed to modify our systems, Web and software products, technical documents, training materials, and publications to reflect the minimum and maximum Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) amounts for the 2007-2008 Award Year. These amounts were established in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, (P.L. 110-5). We provided schools with high-level information about the impact on the Central Processing System (CPS) and the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System and our anticipated implementation dates related to these systems.

As explained in the earlier announcement, we plan to update the 2007-2008 COD System with the Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules during the period May 11-12, 2007. We decided to perform this update through a separate release to avoid delaying the April 13-14, 2007 implementation of COD System functionality that supports 2007-2008 award-year processing. At the time we posted the earlier announcement, we were evaluating options related to the acceptance of 2007-2008 Pell Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records during the interim period between the April and May releases.

We have now completed our evaluation of the options related to the acceptance of 2007-2008 Pell Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records during the interim period and have determined that the COD System will begin accepting 2007-2008 Pell Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records after we complete the May 11-12, 2007 update to the 2007-2008 COD System. This approach will allow us to begin accepting and processing all 2007-2008 Pell Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records after we have updated the 2007-2008 COD System with the Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules. In addition, this approach will eliminate the need for schools to resubmit Pell Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records to the COD System.

We will continue to communicate with schools about the acceptance of 2007-2008 Pell Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records by the COD System through forthcoming release-related Electronic Announcements on the Information for Financial Aid Professional (IFAP) Web site. In the meantime, we want to highlight the following key points:

  • After we implement COD System functionality that supports 2007-2008 award-year processing during the period April 13-14, 2007, the COD System will accept origination and anticipated disbursement records for 2007-2008 Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant) awards. The COD System will also accept origination, anticipated disbursement, and actual disbursement records for William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) awards.
  • After we implement COD System functionality that supports 2007-2008 award-year processing during the period April 13-14, 2007 and before we update the 2007-2008 COD System with the Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules during the period May 11-12, 2007, the COD System will reject origination and anticipated disbursement records for 2007-2008 Pell Grant awards.
  • It is not necessary for the COD System to accept a 2007-2008 Pell Grant record for a student before it can accept a 2007-2008 ACG or National SMART Grant record for that student. (We will perform this check later in the award year.) Therefore, a school that wishes to submit 2007-2008 ACG and/or National SMART Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records to the COD System before the COD System begins accepting 2007-2008 Pell Grant origination and anticipated disbursement records may do so.
  • When a school submits a 2007-2008 Pell Grant origination or anticipated disbursement record to the COD System after May 12, 2007, the record must include a CPS transaction number for a transaction that has been designated as "Pell Grant Eligible." If the record does not include a CPS transaction number for a transaction that has been designated as "Pell Grant Eligible," the COD System will reject the record.

Note for EDExpress Users: As we explained in the February 27th Electronic Announcement, we will need to update the appropriate modules in EDExpress with the new Pell Grant amounts through a future release. We are still evaluating options for the updated EDExpress software release and will communicate the details through a forthcoming Electronic Announcement on the IFAP Web site.

We appreciate your continued patience and understanding of our ongoing evaluation activities and communication efforts. If you have questions regarding the implementation of the Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules in the COD System, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/4PGRANT (800/474-7268) for ACG, National SMART Grant, and Pell Grant or by e-mail at CODSupport@acs-inc.com.