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Summary: CCRAA Operational Implementation Guidance (CPS, COD System, and EDESuite) - Additional/Updated TEACH Grant Operational Implementation Information (Supersedes 4/9/2008 Posting)

Publication Date: June 19, 2008

Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: CCRAA Operational Implementation Guidance (CPS, COD System, and EDESuite) - Additional/Updated TEACH Grant Operational Implementation Information (Supersedes 4/9/2008 Posting)

Posted on 06-19-2008

In an April 9, 2008 Electronic Announcement posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, we provided a high-level overview of how we will implement functionality for processing Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant awards. The purpose of this communication is to provide additional and, in some cases, updated information about the operational implementation of the TEACH Grant Program. For consistency and ease in reference, we are providing updated versions of all information we initially provided in the April 9th Electronic Announcement, including the attachments to that announcement.

As explained in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-08-01 posted on the IFAP Web site, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (the CCRAA), Pub. L. 110-84, authorized the TEACH Grant Program for implementation beginning with the 2008-2009 Award Year. The TEACH Grant Program provides up to $4,000 a year in grant assistance to a student who agrees to serve for at least four years as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. A TEACH Grant recipient who does not complete the required teaching within a specified timeframe, or fails to meet certain other requirements of the TEACH Grant Program, will be required to repay the TEACH Grant as a Direct Unsubsidized Loan under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program.

Note: In a June 17, 2008 Electronic Announcement posted on the IFAP Web site, the Department of Education (the Department) informed the community of the posting of a draft of the Final Rule for the TEACH Grant Program. This draft was transmitted to the Federal Register for official publication and will be effective July 1, 2008 for the 2008-2009 Award Year. The draft of the Final Rule for the TEACH Grant Program is available in the "What’s New" box at http://www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2008/index2008.html.

This communication is one of many communications that we are posting to support the operational implementation of the TEACH Grant Program. As explained above, we will provide additions and, in some cases, updates to the operational implementation information provided in the April 9th Electronic Announcement. To assist readers in easily identifying the additional/updated information, all sections that contain additional/updated information are marked as "UPDATED". However, we encourage everyone to read this announcement and its attachments in their entirety.

We cover information in the following order:

  • Basic Components of TEACH Grant Processing

  • Availability of TEACH Grant Functionality

  • Explanation of Attachments

  • Contact Information

  • Attachments/Enclosures

As the TEACH Grant Program’s July 1, 2008 effective date draws near, we look forward to working together with schools to provide TEACH Grant funds to eligible students and appreciate the extra effort, patience, and understanding that will be required of schools. Thank you in advance for the assistance you will provide in serving our students who will receive TEACH Grant awards.

UPDATED – Basic Components of TEACH Grant Processing

The basic components of TEACH Grant processing are as follows:

  1. A student applies for a TEACH Grant.

    2. For the 2008-2009 Award Year, the application for a TEACH Grant is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). We have added a question to the 2008-2009 FAFSA on the Web application to assist in identifying potentially eligible TEACH Grant recipients. For the 2008-2009 Award Year, this question will only appear on FAFSA on the Web and not on the paper FAFSA, or on an application generated by a school in FAA Access to CPS Online or through the Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) process.

  2. An eligible school determines a student’s eligibility.

    3. A school has the option to participate in the TEACH Grant Program. A school that chooses to participate in the TEACH Grant Program will respond to a request from a student to determine eligibility for a TEACH Grant award using information the school has and confirmation of intent provided by the student. Dear Colleague Letter GEN-08-07 posted on the IFAP Web site clarifies how a school establishes eligibility to participate in the TEACH Grant Program.

  3. A student completes an Agreement to Serve.

    4. A student completes an Agreement to Serve (ATS) electronically via the ATS Web site each year that he or she is scheduled to receive a TEACH Grant award. The ATS will explain the service obligation that must be fulfilled, the circumstances that will result in the TEACH Grant being converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, and, if the TEACH Grant is converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, the terms and conditions associated with repaying the loan. The school receives a response regarding the student’s ATS completion.

    A TEACH Grant fact sheet will be available on the ATS Web site.

    Note: A student must also complete counseling before receiving each TEACH Grant award. The Department will advise schools of counseling requirements related to the TEACH Grant Program through final regulations and sub-regulatory guidance.

  4. A school reports award information.

    5. A school provides origination and disbursement information for a TEACH Grant award via submission of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) COD Common Record to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System or via the COD Web site. Upon processing an award’s origination record and disbursement records, the COD System returns the applicable response to the school.

    Upon acceptance of an origination record that includes, at a minimum, anticipated disbursement information, the COD System generates a TEACH Grant Disclosure Statement for the student.

    The COD System accepts actual disbursement records for a TEACH Grant award only after an ATS for the applicable year has been accepted by the COD System. The school reports additional actual disbursements as they occur.

  5. An award is sent to the Direct Loan Servicing System (DLSS).

    6. Once the COD System has an accepted ATS (completed by the student via the ATS Web site), an accepted origination record, and an accepted actual disbursement record for the initial disbursement, the TEACH Grant award is sent to the DLSS. The student receives a TEACH Grant Notice of Disbursement(s) Made generated by the DLSS.

    On a quarterly basis, the DLSS generates a statement about the TEACH Grant for the student. The student’s completion of the required teaching or conversion of the TEACH Grant to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, as applicable, is recorded and monitored via the DLSS.

  6. Award information is available in the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).

    7. The DLSS sends TEACH Grant award information to the NSLDS. Both individual award information and aggregate award information are available for view by a school and the student.

  7. A school provides student enrollment status information.

    8. A school updates a student’s enrollment status as part of normal enrollment reporting to the NSLDS via the Enrollment Reporting Roster.

  8. A student provides agreement fulfillment status information.

    9. After a student is no longer enrolled in the program for which a TEACH Grant was awarded, he or she reports on the completion of the required teaching. The student updates his or her agreement fulfillment status, including confirmation of each year’s qualified teaching service, in response to notifications generated by the DLSS.

  9. A student repays if the agreement is not fulfilled.

    10. A student who does not complete the required teaching, or who otherwise fails to meet the requirements of the TEACH Grant Program, must repay the award as a Direct Unsubsidized Loan according to the terms and conditions of the ATS. Repayment and servicing of the Direct Unsubsidized Loan is recorded and monitored via the DLSS.

Availability of TEACH Grant Functionality

We are on schedule to implement Teach Grant functionality that supports the basic components outlined above. The implementation schedule, which includes additional and updated information, is as follows:

  • On January 1, 2008, we began presenting FAFSA on the Web filers with a question relating to the TEACH Grant Program.

  • On February 11, 2008, we began adding comment code 281 to Student Aid Report (SAR) and Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) transactions for students who submit a new FAFSA on the Web application and answer “Yes” to the TEACH Grant question.

  • On February 15, 2008, we reprocessed 2008-2009 ISIRs to add comment code 281 to records for students who answered “Yes” to the TEACH Grant question during the period January 1, 2008 to February 10, 2008.

  • UPDATED – On May 5, 2008, we began adding comment code 282 to SAR and ISIR transactions for applicants who have not been given the opportunity to answer the TEACH Grant question. This includes applicants who file a paper FAFSA, as well as those students for whom the application is generated by a school in FAA Access to CPS Online or through the EDE process.

  • UPDATED – On May 5, 2008, we began offering schools, software providers, and third party servicers a two-phase opportunity to test TEACH Grant functionality with the COD System.

  • UPDATED – On June 4, 2008, we superseded the most recent (March 11, 2008) posting of COD Common Record XML Schema Version 3.0a. COD Common Record XML Schema incorporates 1) a new block for TEACH Grant awards and 2) other changes throughout the schema to comply with standards established by the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC).

    Note: The June 4, 2008 posting is the authoritative posting of schema version 3.0a.

  • UPDATED – Beginning June 28, 2008, we will implement the Agreement to Serve (ATS) Web site through which students will electronically complete and submit an ATS. A TEACH Grant fact sheet will be available on this Web site.

    Note: The URL for the ATS Web site will be www.teach-ats.ed.gov. Although we are providing the URL at this time, it is important to note that the ATS Web site will not be functional until June 28, 2008. We will communicate additional information about ATS completion in a forthcoming Electronic Announcement posted on the IFAP Web site.

  • UPDATED – Beginning June 28, 2008, we will implement COD System functionality that supports TEACH Grant origination and disbursement processing functions. This will include processing TEACH Grant origination and disbursement records submitted by schools, generating TEACH Grant Disclosure Statements for students, and sending award information to the DLSS. We will also implement functionality that results in the DLSS generating TEACH Grant Notice of Disbursement(s) Made for students and sending award information to the NSLDS.

    Note for EDExpress Users: On June 30, 2008, we will post an updated version of the EDExpress software (EDExpress for Windows 2008-2009, Release 3.0) that supports TEACH Grant origination and disbursement processing functions. The updated EDExpress software will allow a school to enter, store, and export/import TEACH Grant origination, disbursement, and response information.

  • UPDATED – Beginning July 1, 2008, a school will be able to draw down funds via G5 (formerly GAPS) for TEACH Grant awards for which actual disbursement records have been accepted by the COD System.

    Note: The COD System will accept actual disbursement records for a TEACH Grant award 1) after an ATS for the applicable year has been accepted by the COD System and 2) no earlier than 7 days before the disbursement date.

  • UPDATED – Beginning September 27, 2008, we will implement COD System functionality that supports TEACH Grant reporting and reconciliation functions for schools.

    Note for EDExpress Users: In early January 2009, we will post an updated version of the EDExpress software that supports TEACH Grant reporting functions. The updated EDExpress software will allow a school to import available TEACH Grant reports.

  • UPDATED – On September 28, 2008, we will update Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) on the Web to include TEACH Grants.

    Note: We will provide guidance on using the updated R2T4 worksheets (available on the IFAP Web site) in place of R2T4 on the Web from July 1, 2008 until September 28, 2008. We will post this guidance in a forthcoming communication on the IFAP Web site.

  • Beginning January 1, 2009, we will present the TEACH Grant question to all 2009-2010 applicants, including those who file a paper FAFSA as well as those for whom the application is generated by a school in FAA Access to CPS Online or through the EDE process. We will also include TEACH Grant information on 2009-2010 SARs and ISIRs and add TEACH Grant information to NSLDS Transfer Student Monitoring.

  • In March 2009, we will implement COD System functionality that supports additional TEACH Grant reporting functions for schools.

UPDATED – Explanation of Attachments

In two attachments to this announcement, we provide additional information about the availability of TEACH Grant processing functions. As explained at the beginning of this announcement, we are providing updated versions of the attachments we initially provided on April 9, 2008. To assist readers in easily identifying the new/updated information, all sections that contain new/updated information are marked as "NEW" or "UPDATED". However, we encourage you to read both attachments in their entirety.

  • The attachment titled “TEACH Grant High-Level Implementation Schedule” provides the high-level implementation information outlined above in table format.

  • The attachment titled “TEACH Grant Processing Function Availability” provides the following information about the availability of TEACH Grant processing functions:

    • Processing Functions Related to TEACH Grant Question Available January – May 2008

    • Processing Functions for TEACH Grant Available July 2008

    • Processing Functions for TEACH Grant Available September 2008

    • Processing Functions for TEACH Grant Available January 2009

    • Processing Functions for TEACH Grant Available March 2009

Contact Information

Once again, we appreciate your partnership in serving TEACH Grant recipients.

If you have questions about the TEACH Grant question on FAFSA on the Web and its related SAR/ISIR comment codes or the EDExpress software, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806). You may also e-mail CPSSAIG@ed.gov.

If you have questions about the COD System’s TEACH Grant functionality, including Agreement to Serve (ATS) completion, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.