Posted Date:February 9, 2010
| Author: | Katrina Turner, Director, Portfolio Performance Division, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Availability of Electronic Cohort Default Rate Appeals (eCDR Appeals) Release 3.0
We are pleased to announce the availability of Release 3.0 of the Electronic Cohort Default Rate Appeals process (eCDR Appeals) for the fiscal year (FY) 2008 draft season. The eCDR Appeals is a web-based application that provides schools with the opportunity to submit and process certain cohort default rate challenges and adjustment requests electronically.
The eCDR Appeals application facilitates the exchange of information between parties for three of the challenge and adjustment request processes. These processes are the Incorrect Data Challenge (IDC) during the draft cycle, and the Uncorrected Data Adjustment (UDA) and New Data Adjustment (NDA) during the official cycle. The application allows schools to electronically submit these challenges and adjustment requests during a cohort default rate cycle and allows data managers and Federal Student Aid personnel to electronically view and respond to these challenges and adjustment requests. The application tracks the entire life cycle of each challenge and adjustment request from the time the case is submitted until the time a decision is made and the case is closed.
With this release, we made the following changes:
For all users, we modified the e-mail notifications to include a link to the applicable case or adjustment. When following the link, a user will log in to the system and will then be taken directly to the page on which the user needs to take an action.
We modified the quick search capability on the Case Detail page so users no longer have to specify the search type when locating a given borrower or adjustment.
In past cycles, we have found that many schools were often missing all of the applicable loans affected by an adjustment. When a school user prepares an adjustment for a given borrower, the system default setting will now include all loans in the adjustment. The school user must purposefully deselect any loan that is not affected by the adjustment. Additionally, we have added a review step between case certification and case submission. This will allow a school user to make sure he or she has uploaded the correct certification letter before the case is submitted.
Design changes have been made to enhance the data managers' user experience. Individual data managers are typically responsible for addressing only a portion of a school's case. The system now allows data managers to work on adjustments for those loans they hold while having access to full loan information about a given borrower on the same screen. We have also added the response due date on the Current Cases page and at the adjustment level if the school requests clarification.
If a school submits its FY 2008 IDC electronically via eCDR Appeals, it will be able to submit its UDA and/or NDA electronically during the FY 2008 official cycle. If a school submits its FY 2008 IDC via paper, it will not be able to submit an electronic UDA or NDA. It must submit its UDA or NDA via the paper process for the entire FY 2008 cycle.
Note: While use of eCDR Appeals remains optional for schools at this time, we plan to require the electronic process beginning with the release of the FY 2009 cohort default rates in February 2011. We strongly encourage every school to begin participating in the electronic process.
Contact Information
Please visit the eCDR Appeals Web site for a listing of frequently asked questions. You will also find the User Guides for each of the challenge and adjustment processes, as well as a User Guide for the registration process. Additionally, you will find links to recordings of eCDR Appeals demonstration sessions to assist first-time users.
If your school has questions regarding eCDR Appeals, contact us by e-mailing fsa.schools.default.management@ed.gov or by calling the Portfolio Performance Division Hotline at 202/377-4259.