Posted Date:August 26, 2011
| Author: | William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Direct Loan Processing Information - Master Promissory Note Print Option and Promissory Print Code Tag in Common Records
Over the past several months, Federal Student Aid has observed that many schools are routinely requesting that the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System print and mail paper Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) to each borrower by including the <PromissoryPrintCode> tag with Direct Loan award information in the Common Record. This tag is being included even when the school has its borrowers complete the MPN electronically via the StudentLoans.gov Web site. As a result, most paper MPNs are being generated and sent to borrowers unnecessarily.
To reduce the number of paper MPNs printed unnecessarily, we remind schools of the following business rules:
The <PromissoryPrintCode> tag (included in the Common Record) should be used to request that a paper MPN be printed and mailed to a borrower only for cases when the borrower asks for paper MPN and the school does not print paper MPNs or does not have the paper form available. The <PromissoryPrintCode> tag is not intended to be used routinely.
The Promissory Print Option (set by a school on the COD Web site’s School Option Information page) should be used to indicate when the COD System prints MPNs. Specifically, if a school –
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Wants the COD System to automatically print an MPN for all of its borrowers, it should set the Promissory Print Option to “Y”. The school should not include the <PromissoryPrintCode> tag with the Direct Loan award information in the Common Record. If the school’s software must include the tag, it should send one of the following values: “S,” “R,” “Z,” or “V”.
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Does not want the COD System to automatically print an MPN, it should set the Promissory Print Option to “N”. The school should not include the <PromissoryPrintCode> tag with the Direct Loan award information in the Common Record. If the school’s software must include the tag, it should send the value of “O” to indicate that the school will print the MPN (or the borrower will complete the MPN electronically).
The Promissory Print Option can be changed at any time. Schools should consult with their software provider with questions about changing the use or value of the <PromissoryPrintCode> tag.
Additional information about MPN processing is provided in the COD Technical Reference. We will also post a more detailed announcement about Direct Loan MPNs as part of our Direct Loan Processing Information series. Please monitor the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site for this announcement.
Contact Information
If you have additional questions about paper MPN print options, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/848-0978 for Direct Loans. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.