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(Direct Loans) Subject: July 2011 Retirement of Direct Loan and TEACH Grant Counseling Modules on Direct Loan Servicing Web Site

Posted Date:June 3, 2011

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

Subject: July 2011 Retirement of Direct Loan and TEACH Grant Counseling Modules on Direct Loan Servicing Web Site

Last year, we implemented online Direct Loan Entrance counseling on the StudentLoans.gov Web site and online Exit counseling on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Student Access Web site (see the May 28, 2010 and March 29, 2010 electronic announcements posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site). In those announcements, we explained that we would eventually retire similar online counseling modules available on the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site.

During the period July 23-24, 2011, we plan to retire the Direct Loan Entrance counseling, Direct Loan Exit counseling, and TEACH Grant Exit counseling modules from the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site. Accordingly, any school that still uses the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site for counseling information will need to transition to these other Web sites by July 22, 2011:

If a school uses the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site for…

It should transition to counseling on the…
Direct Loan Entrance counseling StudentLoans.gov Web site
Direct Loan Exit counseling NSLDS Student Access Web site
TEACH Grant Exit counseling NSLDS Student Access Web site

Note: We will provide complete information about the TEACH Grant Exit counseling transition to the NSLDS Student Access Web site (also planned for July 2011), including new reporting options, report layouts, and Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) message classes, in forthcoming communications. As a reminder, TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling is currently available on the TEACH Grant Web site.

Due to the availability of the other online counseling options we offer, this retirement should have minimal impact on schools and borrowers. After July 24, 2011, the current URLs for the online counseling modules on the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site will have a message that directs Direct Loan borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients to the StudentLoans.gov Web site or the NSLDS Student Access Web site. However, any saved browser bookmarks must be changed. In addition, if a school provides links to the counseling pages of the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site on any of its school Web sites, or in communications to staff and borrowers, the bookmarks and links must be updated to the Web sites listed above.

As a reminder, a school also has a number of other non-Web based options, such as in-person sessions or printed guides, for meeting the regulatory requirement to ensure that entrance or exit counseling is provided. These options are not impacted by the retirement explained in this announcement.

Impact to Reports from the Direct Loan Servicing for Schools Web Site

With the retirement of the counseling modules, the associated report functionality will also end.

If a school receives Direct Loan Servicing Center Entrance and Exit Counseling reports via its SAIG mailbox, the school will receive one final report based on its current subscription frequency (daily, weekly, monthly) following the July 22, 2011 end date.

After the retirement of the counseling modules, we will remove the following report message classes from the SAIG message class table:

  • Entrance Counseling: DECFENOP, DECCENOP, or DECPENOP

  • Exit Counseling: DLCMEXOP, DLFFEXOP, or DLPMEXOP

If a school requests reports via the “on-demand” feature of the Direct Loan Servicing for Schools Web site, it will be able to do so until July 22, 2011.

Contact Information

We appreciate the community’s patience and understanding as we complete the streamlining of our online counseling options. Shortly before we retire the Direct Loan Entrance counseling, Direct Loan Exit counseling, and TEACH Grant Exit counseling modules from the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site in July, we will post a reminder on the IFAP Web site.

If you have questions about entrance counseling on the StudentLoans.gov Web site, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/848-0978. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.

If you have questions about exit counseling on the NSLDS Student Access Web site, contact the NSLDS Customer Support Center at 800/999-8219. You may also contact Customer Support by e-mail at nslds@ed.gov.