Posted Date:April 19, 2011
| Author: | William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Important Reminder for EDExpress for Windows 2011-2012, Release 2.0 Packaging and Pell Module Users
As we announced in the March 28, 2011 electronic announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, EDExpress for Windows 2011-2012, Release 2.0, is now available on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site. Release 2.0 adds Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant), and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) functionality for the 2011-2012 award cycle. Release 2.0 also includes functionality originally provided in Release 1.0, such as the Packaging module.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind EDExpress users that the Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules used by the Release 2.0 Packaging and Pell modules are based on the 2010-2011 maximum Pell Grant award of $5,550 and the maximum Pell-eligible Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of 5273.
EDExpress 2011-2012 Release 3.0, scheduled for release on June 17, 2011, will update the Packaging and Pell Grant modules to use the 2011-2012 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules that were posted on February 1, 2011 in Dear Colleague Letter P-11-01. When Release 3.0 is available we will provide detailed information for users on the IFAP and FSAdownload Web sites.
In the meantime, refer to the guidance below when using Release 2.0 to package and originate 2011-2012 Pell Grants.
2011-2012 Pell Grant Payment and Disbursements Schedules
As noted above, the 2011-2012 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules were posted on February 1, 2011 in Dear Colleague Letter P-11-01. The Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System updated its 2011-2012 Award Year functionality to process Pell Grant origination and disbursement records according to the published 2011-2012 schedules, as noted in the February 11, 2011 electronic announcement.
Although the maximum and minimum Pell Grant awards are unchanged from 2010-2011 in the 2011-2012 schedules published in Dear Colleague Letter P-11-01, a limited and identifiable number of specific award amounts have decreased. Until an update is provided, EDExpress Packaging and Pell users must compare calculated 2011-2012 Pell Grant awards in Release 2.0 against the published 2011-2012 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules in Dear Colleague Letter P-11-01 and correct, if necessary, any instances where there are differences.
The instances where the 2011-2012 payment schedules published in Dear Colleague Letter P-11-01 result in awards that are less than the amount used in Release 2.0 are when the student’s Pell Grant cost of attendance is $5,550 or higher and when an award is determined using the:
Full-time Payment Schedule and the student’s EFC is 4401 to 4700;
Three-Quarter Time Disbursement Schedule and the student’s EFC is 4201-4500;
- Half-Time Disbursement Schedule and the student’s EFC is 3901-4400; and
- Less than Half-Time Disbursement Schedule and the student’s EFC is 2901-3900.
EDExpress Packaging and Pell Guidance
The EDExpress Packaging module allows you to manually decrease Pell Grant award amounts on packaged student records if you identify records requiring changes based on the 2011-2012 Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules provided in Dear Colleague Letter P-11-01. We recommend that you use selection criteria when running the Repackage process globally (outside of student records) to ensure Pell Grant awards you manually adjust are not recalculated according to 2010-2011 amounts. You may also need to print new award letters for your students if the Pell Grant award amount decreases (and other fund award changes occur as a result).
The EDExpress Pell module's Calculate Award Amount for Entire School Year function in Release 2.0 also calculates Pell Grant awards according to the 2010-2011 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules. If the 2011-2012 award amount in Dear Colleague Letter P-11-01 is lower than what EDExpress has calculated, you can decrease the Award Amount for Entire School Year field value on the origination record in Release 2.0 without impediment.
For complete Release 2.0 information, refer to the following EDExpress 2011-2012 documents available on the FSAdownload Web site:
The EDExpress for Windows 2011-2012, Release 2.0 Cover Letter (provides information regarding enhancements and other updates in Release 2.0)
The EDExpress for Windows 2011-2012, Release 2.0 Desk Reference (includes step-by-step guidance regarding Pell Grant and Direct Loan EDExpress functionality)
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding downloading, installing, or using EDExpress 2011-2012, Release 2.0, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.
You can also post questions regarding EDExpress on FSATECH. FSATECH is an electronic mailing list for technical questions about Federal Student Aid systems, software, and mainframe products. For more information on subscribing to FSATECH, go to http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/services/fsatechsubscribe.html.
If you have any questions about the COD System, 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.