Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #29 - Upcoming Public Comment Period for NSLDS Enrollment and Gainful Employment Reporting Data Standards

Posted Date: December 2, 2011

Author:  Pamela Eliadis, Service Director, System Operations & Aid Delivery Management, Federal Student Aid

Subject: Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #29 - Upcoming Public Comment Period for NSLDS Enrollment and Gainful Employment Reporting Data Standards

We would like to alert the community to an upcoming public comment period on proposed National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) reporting data standards, including Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema for enrollment reporting and gainful employment reporting.

In the coming year we will offer XML as an NSLDS reporting option for schools to exchange enrollment and gainful employment data with the Department. We are pleased to be working with the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) to develop these new XML standards.

As noted in a November 10, 2011 PESC press release, final drafts of the XML schema for enrollment reporting will be issued shortly by PESC for a 30-day public comment period, followed by corresponding materials for gainful employment in the near future. We encourage all interested parties to monitor the PESC Web site for issuance of these documents for public comment.

Use of XML for reporting to NSLDS will be optional for schools. However, the XML schemas contain several new data elements that are under consideration for addition to all existing NSLDS enrollment reporting and gainful employment reporting methods.

Following the public comment period, additional information and final reporting record layouts and XML schemas will be posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site as soon as they are available.

Contact Information

If you have questions about using NSLDS to report enrollment or gainful employment information, contact the NSLDS Customer Support Center at 800/999-8219. You can also contact Customer Support by e-mail at nslds@ed.gov.

The Gainful Employment Information Page on the IFAP Web site contains publications and resources on gainful employment as well as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Policy questions that have not already been addressed in the FAQ section of the Gainful Employment Information Page may be submitted to ge-questions@ed.gov.