Posted Date:April 11, 2011
| Author: | William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Issue Alert Update: Reprocessing Plan for 2011-2012 SAR/ISIR Transactions With Student/Parent IRS Request Flag Values Not Carried Forward for Real-Time Corrections
As described in the March 18, 2011 electronic announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, we resolved an issue on the Central Processing System (CPS) on March 18, 2011 with real-time corrections and the Student and Parent IRS Request Flag values used in the IRS data retrieval process. This issue affected a relatively small number of applicants.
Prior to resolution of this issue, the IRS Request Flag values were not being carried forward from the applicant’s Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) transaction to subsequent transactions when a real-time correction was submitted using FAFSA on the Web, FAA Access to CPS Online, or other real-time interfaces. The flags were also not being carried forward on Student Aid Reports (SARs) generated prior to March 18, 2011.
The absent flag values affect schools that query their systems for a Student IRS Request Flag or Parent IRS Request Flag value of "02." A flag value of "02" indicates that the student and/or parent transferred financial information from the IRS Web site into their FAFSA on the Web application or correction and did not modify it. If a flag value of "02" is present on an ISIR, schools may choose to use the income data transferred from the IRS as documentation for verification purposes.
Reprocessing for Existing 2011-2012 Transactions
As stated above, the issue was resolved on March 18, 2011 for new 2011-2012 real-time corrections. We now must reprocess affected 2011-2012 SAR/ISIR transactions that were processed before the March 18, 2011 resolution was implemented. This CPS reprocessing will occur on April 13-15, 2011 and will only apply to records that do not have the Student IRS Request Flag or Parent IRS Request Flag value of "02" properly set on the most current transaction.
Note: Due to the fact that it is late in the 2010-2011 processing cycle, a system update or reprocessing is not planned for 2010-2011 SAR/ISIR transactions affected by this issue.
Identifying Reprocessed Records
Several methods exist for identifying records resulting from this reprocessing:
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Reprocessed ISIRs will be sent under the IGSG12OP message class.
- Paper SARs and ISIRs will include SAR comment code 172, which states "This SAR was produced because we have processed a change to your information based on information reported to us by another agency or as a result of a processing system change. Please review your SAR to see what effect, if any, this change has had on your application."
- ISIRs produced as a result of the reprocessing will include a value of "03" for the Reprocessed Reason Code (ISIR field #219). The Reprocessed Reason Code value of "03" will also be displayed on the FAA Info page in Student Inquiry on the FAA Access to CPS Online Web site.
Contact Information
If you have questions, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.
If your students have questions, ask them to contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800/4-FEDAID (800/433-3243) or by e-mail at FederalStudentAidCustomerService@ed.gov. TDD/TTY service is also available at 800/730-8913.