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(Campus-Based) Subject: FISAP Data Entry Issues

Posted Date:September 23, 2009

Author: William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid

Subject: FISAP Data Entry Issues

With the deadline of October 1, 2009 approaching for the submission of the Fiscal Operations Report for 2008-2009 and the Application to Participate for 2010-2011 (FISAP) for the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), and Federal Work-Study (FWS) programs, it has come to our attention that some schools are receiving edits in error when completing the current FISAP in the eCampus-Based system (eCB). The two identified errors and the related work-around solutions are described below:

Error 1: Part III. Federal Perkins Loan Program, Section A. Line 26b and 26d – Loan principal adjustments - other
If a school attempts to enter an amount in 26d that is less than the amount in 26b, eCB returns an error message that says, “Error in Data Field Entry. In Part III, Section A, if Field 26b is greater than zero, Field 26d must be greater than Field 26b.”

Work-around Solution to Error 1
Enter zero (0) in both 26b and 26d. Then, enter the dollar amount that would have been entered into 26d into line 57.

When the FISAP is validated or submitted, the new amount on line 57 will trigger validation error 04640 which says, “Warning! In Part III. Section A. the data in Field 57d has changed since last year. You must explain the change on the “Additional Information” screen in enough detail for the Department to assess the entry’s validity. You will NOT be able to submit your data until this is corrected.”

Check the box in the “Log” column to the right of the error description. Then click the “Log” button at the bottom of the screen. Enter the explanation in the notes box to the right of the edit number. The explanation should note that an entry edit was received for line 26. Specify the number of borrowers intended to be reported in 26b and the dollar amount intended to be reported in 26d.

This work-around allows the amounts to balance and the FISAP to be validated and submitted without triggering this error.

Error 2: Part V. Federal Work Study, Section D. Line 16 – Federal share of Job Location and Development (JLD) Program expenditures
A school may report a maximum of $75,000 of JLD expenditures or up to 10% of the total allocation including any supplemental funds, whichever is less. (This is a change from last year in which $50,000 or 10% was the maximum.)

It has been discovered that if an amount between $50,000 and $75,000 is entered, validation error 09270 will be returned when attempting to save or submit the FISAP. The error says, “In Part V. Section D. Field 16 must not exceed either 10 percent of your 2008-2009 original plus supplemental FWS allocations, or $75,000 whichever is less.”

Work-around Solution to Error 2
Please review the amount. The number reported on this line should meet these qualifications:

  1. No more than $75,000 or 10% of total allocation including any supplemental funds, whichever is less.
  2. No more than 80% of line 20.

If the amount is correct, select the “Log” button at the bottom of the FISAP-Validation Error screen to go to the Additional Information screen. Choose edit number 09270 from the first empty dropdown box and enter a corresponding note, indicating that the amount reported in Part V. Section D. Line 16 is within regulatory requirements.

Provided any other edit requirements are satisfied, this work-around allows the completed FISAP to be submitted.

Additional Hints and Tips
Be sure to Click "Submit”-- Remember that saving data into the FISAP online is not the same as submitting the FISAP. To meet the deadline requirement, the FISAP must be submitted by 11:59 P.M. (ET) on October 1, 2009. Transmissions must be completed and accepted by 12:00 midnight. Data can be entered and saved as a school works through the form, but it is not actually submitted until the school user clicks on "Submit" located on the left side of the page.

Mail combined certification and signature pages-- Remember to mail the hard copy of the combined certification and signature pages in Part I Sections A and B by the deadline noted above to:

FISAP Administrator
3110 Fairview Park Drive
Suite 950
Falls Church, VA 22042

Contact Information

For questions about the eCB system or FISAP process, contact the Campus-Based Call Center at 877/801-7168. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. until 8:00 P.M. (ET). You may also e-mail CBFOB@ed.gov.