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(Application Processing) Subject: Availability of 2012-2013 CPS Web Demonstration (Demo) Site and 2012-2013 CPS Mainframe Test System

Posted Date:December 19, 2011

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

Subject: Availability of 2012-2013 CPS Web Demonstration (Demo) Site and 2012-2013 CPS Mainframe Test System

We are pleased to announce that the 2012-2013 Central Processing System (CPS) Web Demonstration (demo) site, located at http://fafsademo.test.ed.gov, and the mainframe portion of the 2012-2013 CPS Test System are now available for your use.

Most of the features of the production versions of 2012-2013 FAFSA on the Web and FAA Access to CPS Online (including Return of Title IV Funds) are available on the demo site. The mainframe portion of the CPS Test System is designed to test application and correction data processing between your system and the CPS outside the production environment.

For additional information regarding the CPS Web demo site and CPS Test System, see the sections below and the 2012-2013 CPS Test System User Guide, which is available in PDF format on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site, located at https://www.fsadownload.ed.gov, under “Technical References and Guides.”

2012-2013 Web Demo Site

The 2012-2013 CPS Web demo site, which is preloaded with test data, can be used to demonstrate electronic applications to parents and students or as an aid in training financial aid administrators to assist applicants. Financial aid administrators can also use the Web site to become familiar with FAA Access to CPS Online functionality and train their staff to use the system.

You can access the 2012-2013 version of the demo site at http://fafsademo.test.ed.gov using the following user name and password:

User Name: eddemo
Password: fafsatest

The user name and password fields are case-sensitive.

Note: The Web demo site version of the 2012-2013 ISIR Analysis Tool will be made available in June 2012 when the production version of the 2012-2013 ISIR Analysis Tool is released. Users of the demo version of the ISIR Analysis Tool must provide their Federal School Code during login.

2012-2013 CPS Mainframe Test System

The mainframe portion of the CPS Test System is designed to test application and correction data processing between your system and the CPS outside the production environment.

You can use CPS test files of application records and matching Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) or you can create and submit your own application records. CPS test application and ISIR data files for 2012-2013 are available under the “2012-2013” link for the “CPS Test System” in the “Technical References and Guides” section of the FSAdownload Web site, located at https://www.fsadownload.ed.gov.

In particular, we encourage schools and servicers to test the 2012-2013 correction process. To submit only test correction records you have created, you must contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support to request record IDs that will process successfully in the CPS Test System.

We encourage all schools and servicers interested in using the CPS Test System to download and review the 2012-2013 CPS Test System User Guide for more information. The guide is available under the “2012-2013” link for the “CPS Test System” in the “Technical References and Guides” section of the FSAdownload Web site.

Note: If changes to the CPS occur between the date the 2012-2013 CPS Test System becomes available and January 3, 2012 (the date the CPS begins processing 2012-2013 data), the changes will be incorporated into the mainframe test system as they are identified and resolved. We will post an Issues Log in Microsoft Excel format to the FSAdownload Web site listing issues or changes to the mainframe test system. Each entry in the log will include the date the item was identified, resolved, or resulted in a change, and will include the status of resolved and unresolved issues so that you can easily determine if and when previously identified issues were resolved. It will also indicate whether the specifications or test cases have been updated for 2012-2013.

Contact Information

If you encounter any issues or have questions regarding the FAFSA on the Web demo site, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800/4-FED-AID (800/433-3243) or by e-mail at FederalStudentAidCustomerService@ed.gov. TDD/TTY service is also available at 800/730-8913.

If you encounter any issues or have questions regarding the FAA Access to CPS Online demo site, or if you have questions regarding the 2012-2013 CPS Test System, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806), or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.