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(COD System) Subject: COD System Implementation for 2010-2011 Award Year (Updated May 20, 2010)

Posted Date:March 19, 2010

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

Subject: COD System Implementation for 2010-2011 Award Year (Updated May 20, 2010)

Note: The Pell Grant funding and disbursement dates provided in the attachment to this Electronic Announcement titled “Funding Authorization and Disbursement Processing Information for 2010-2011” have been superseded by information provided in a subsequent Electronic Announcement. Please refer to the Pell Grant Initial Authorization Electronic Announcement posted on May 13, 2010 for the most up-to-date information.

During the period March 26-27, 2010, we plan to implement additional Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality that supports the processing of Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant), Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) awards for the 2010-2011 Award Year.

In this announcement, we provide the following important information related to the implementation:

  • Future Guidance
  • Important Reminders
  • 2010-2011 Authorization and Disbursement Processing Information (multiple subsections)
  • COD Batch Processing Suspension and Web Site Outage Information
  • COD System Processing Function Enhancements and Modifications for 2010-2011
  • Contact Information
  • Attachments/Enclosures

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete this important activity.

Future Guidance

This implementation will not include functionality needed to support:

  • Iraq and Afghanistan Service (IAS) Grants for children of deceased members of the military who are not Pell-eligible. IAS Grants are effective with the 2010-2011 Award Year, but will be implemented in the COD System later this year.

We will communicate the details about future system implementations, as well as all necessary operational implementation guidance, through Electronic Announcements on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.

Note: The March 26-27, 2010 implementation includes COD System functionality to support potential changes to the Federal Perkins Loan Program proposed in pending legislation. However, operational guidance is not included as part of this announcement. If the pending legislation is enacted, we will communicate operational guidance about the implementation of Perkins changes.

Important Reminders

All schools must send and receive 2010-2011 origination and disbursement data for the ACG, National SMART Grant, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and Direct Loan programs to the COD System using the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Common Record. Prior to submitting 2010-2011 records to the COD System, a school should ensure that its software/system is ready to process 2010-2011 records using the XML Common Record.

  • For the 2010-2011 Award Year, a school must send and the COD System will acknowledge Common Record documents with ACG, National SMART Grant, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and/or Direct Loan origination and disbursement information using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 3.0c.

    For complete information about the schema version, refer to "COD Common Record XML Schema Version 3.0c" on the IFAP Web site. In addition, we have updated the 2010-2011 COD Technical Reference.

  • Any school that erence.

  • Any school that MART Grant, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, or Direct Loan program for the first time in the 2010-2011 Award Year must complete school testing with the COD System before sending data into production. The only exception to this is a new school using software from a software provider or third party servicer, or EDExpress.

    For more information about testing, refer to the "COD School Testing for the 2010-2011 Award Year" Electronic Announcement on the IFAP Web site. Or refer to Volume V, Section 1 of the 2010-2011 COD Technical Reference.

If a school uses a third party software provider, it should check with the provider regarding the availability of the provider's 2010-2011 software release.

Note for EDExpress Users: EDExpress for Windows 2010-2011, Release 2.0, scheduled for release on March 29, 2010, will add Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and Direct Loan functionality for the 2010-2011 Award Year. The Pell module will include 2010-2011 origination and disbursement functionality for the ACG and National SMART Grant programs. Release 2.0 will also include functionality needed to support the 2010-2011 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules.

Beginning March 27, 2010, the following will be in place:

  • All 2010-2011 Award Year-specific message classes will include "11" as the award year indicator. All message classes are listed in Volume II, Section 2 of the 2010-2011 COD Technical Reference.

  • The Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) ID will include "11" as the award year indicator.

  • The TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (ATS) ID will include "11" as the award year indicator if the ATS is completed for the 2010-2011 Award Year.

  • The default award year will be 2010-2011 on all COD Web site screens except the Request Post Deadline Processing screen. (The Request Post Deadline Processing screen defaults to the award year for which processing has most recently ended.)

With the implementation of the COD System for the 2010-2011 Award Year, a school's selected report format will default to the format specified by the school's current report options.

If desired, COD Web site School User Levels 3-5 and Third Party Servicer User Levels 3-5 can change their schools' report options by accessing the Report Selection screen for the 2010-2011 Award Year after March 27, 2010.

  • To access the Report Selection screen, click on the Report Selection link under the COD Web site's School Information Options screen. Updates to report formats for reports that are not award-year specific will be applied to all award years. Updates to report formats for reports that are award-year specific will be applied only to the award year selected in the Award Year drop down menu on the Report Selection screen.

  • Complete details on report formats are available in Volume VI, Section 8 of the 2010-2011 COD Technical Reference.

2010-2011 Authorization and Disbursement Processing Information

In an attachment to this announcement titled "Funding Authorization and Disbursement Processing Information for 2010-2011," we provide a table of key dates for funding authorizations and disbursement processing for all programs.

Information for Pell Grant Program

Initial Pell Grant Authorizations for the 2010-2011 Award Year for schools receiving Pell Award Year for schools receiving Pell r for schools receiving Pell Grant funds under the advanced funding method will be determined in April 2010. Initial Current Funding Levels (CFLs) will be established in the COD System at that time, and a will be sent to each school's Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) mailbox.

Schools that receive funds under the Reimbursement, Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 (HCM1), or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 (HCM2) funding method will not receive an Initial CFL. These schools will receive a CFL once the COD System has accepted and posted actual disbursement records. A new ESOA will be sent to a school's SAIG mailbox each time its Pell Grant CFL amount changes.

Note: Dear Colleague Letter P-10-01 provides the Payment and Disbursement Schedules for determining Pell Grant awards for the 2010-2011 Award Year.

Information for ACG and National SMART Grant Programs

There will be no Initial Authorizations for the ACG and National SMART Grant programs for the 2010-2011 Award Year. Schools will receive a CFL under one or both of these programs based on the accepted and posted actual disbursement records that they submit to the COD System, but no earlier than April 19, 2010. A new ESOA will be sent to a school's SAIG mailbox each time its ACG or National SMART Grant CFL amount changes.

Information for TEACH Grant Program

There will be no Initial Authorization for the TEACH Grant Program for the 2010-2011 Award Year. Schools will receive a CFL based on the accepted and posted actual disbursement records that they submit to the COD System.

Information for Direct Loan Program

Schools receiving funds under the advanced or HCM1 funding method will receive a CFL in April 2010. Schools under the Reimbursement or HCM2 funding method will receive a CFL based on accepted and posted actual disbursement records that they submit to the COD System.

Note: As noted in a January 15, 2010 Electronic Announcement, the Pushed Cash funding method is no longer a funding option for the 2010-2011 Award Year.

COD Batch Processing Suspension and Web Site Outage Information

In order to install the system changes that will allow the COD System to receive and process 2010-2011 records-

  • We will suspend COD batch processing beginning at 1:00 A.M. (ET) on Friday, March 26, 2010. Records submitted after this time will be held and processed after 9:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, March 27, 2010.

    Note: All actual disbursements with a disbursement date from March 26, 2010 through March 27, 2010 must be received by the COD System no later than Noon (ET) on Thursday, March 25, 2010, and subsequently accepted by the COD System, in order for them to be included in the drawdown prior to the outage. Disbursements submitted by the deadline but not subsequently accepted, disbursements submitted after the deadline, and disbursements with a disbursement date after March 27, 2010 will be processed and funded after the outage.

  • The COD Web site will be unavailable from 3:30 A.M. (ET) on Friday, March 26, 2010 until 9:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, March 27, 2010.

  • The Direct Loan Electronic Master Promissory Note (MPN) Web site will be unavailable from 3:30 A.M. (ET) on Friday, March 26, 2010 until 9:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, March 27, 2010.

    Individuals starting the process by 2:30 A.M. (ET) on March 26, 2010 will be able to complete their MPNs before the Web site becomes unavailable. Individuals attempting to access the Web site after the cutoff time will see a Web site maintenance message and will not be able to start the process or retrieve an exito start the process or retrieve an exihe process or retrieve an existing MPN.

  • The TEACH Grant Web site will be unavailable from 3:30 A.M. (ET) on Friday, March 26, 2010 unarting the process by 2:30 A.M. (ET) on March 26, 2010 will be able to complete their ATS before the Web site becomes unavailable. Individuals attempting to access the Web site after the cutoff time will see a Web site maintenance message and will not be able to start the process or retrieve an existing ATS.

Note Regarding COD School Relations Center on March 26, 2010: The COD School Relations Center will be open from 8:00 A.M. until 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, March 26, 2010. However, due to the COD System and Web site outages, customer service representatives will be limited in the assistance they will be able to provide on that day. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

COD System Processing Function Enhancements and Modifications for 2010-2011

We have posted or will soon post communications on the IFAP Web site that further explain the processing function enhancements and modifications we will implement during the March 26-27, 2010 period. These include:

Additional information is also included in the attachment to this announcement titled "COD System Processing Function Enhancements and Modifications for 2010-2011."

Contact Information

If you have questions about this announcement or its attachments, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268 for Grants or 800/848-0978 for Direct Loans. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.