Posted Date:May 4, 2012
| Author: | William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Issue Alert: EDExpress 2012-2013, Release 2.0 Program File Available to Resolve Direct Loan External Import of Loan Records with 0% Interest Rebate Calculation
We have identified an issue in EDExpress for Windows 2012-2013, Release 2.0 that prevents William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) module users from importing loan data into EDExpress from an external system if the interest rebate is calculated at 0%. This issue can be resolved by loading a software program file that is now available for download from the Department’s Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site, located at https://www.fsadownload.ed.gov.
Refer to the sections below for more information on the background of this issue and how to resolve it by loading the program file.
Issue Background
The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 stipulated that all Direct Loans (including subsidized, unsubsidized, PLUS, and Grad PLUS loan types) must be calculated with a 0% interest rebate percentage if the earliest disbursement occurs on or after July 1, 2012. As we described in the March 29, 2012 electronic announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, no software changes were made to EDExpress 2012-2013, Release 2.0 to accommodate this change, as the software currently allows users to adjust the default rebate percentage value in setup.
After posting EDExpress 2012-2013, Release 2.0 to the FSAdownload Web site in late March 2012, we determined that the import function for Direct Loan External Import Loan Origination Add files (message class DIEA13OP) was limiting imports to records with an Interest Rebate Percentage value greater than 0%. The Interest Rebate Percentage is required for each loan and must be provided in field #54 (positions 405-409) for each record in import files.
This issue, which is resolved with this program file update posting, is limited to the external import function and does not affect other methods of creating loan records in EDExpress 2012-2013, Release 2.0, including manual entry, ISIR import, or Packaging import.
While resolving this issue, we identified additional enhancements related to Direct Loan external import functionality that we are also implementing in the program file posted to the FSAdownload Web site. See the next section for more information on these updates.
Loading the EDExpress Program File to Your System
You can resolve the external add import issue in Release 2.0 by downloading and saving a dynamic link library (DLL) file called DImportExportDLL13.dll to your EDExpress workstation(s).
After you load the DImportExportDLL13.dll file to your system, the following updates will be available in Release 2.0:
- EDExpress will allow you to import Direct Loan External Import Loan Origination Add files that include loan records with an Interest Rebate Percentage value of 0%.
- EDExpress will allow you to provide a blank value for the rebate percentage, in which case EDExpress uses the Interest Rebate Percentage value defined in COD School (Direct Loan) setup for the imported record.
- The Direct Loan External Import Loan Origination Change (message class DIEC13OP) import function in EDExpress will no longer allow you to update the Interest Rebate Percentage or Loan Fee percentage values on an existing loan record unless the Origination Status is N (Not ready to send to COD) or E (Origination reject received from COD) or the Loan Amount Approved value is zero. This change applies to all loan types.
The program file should be copied into the EDExpress for Windows 2012-2013 program directory of all PC workstations in your office that have Release 2.0 installed. You will need to overwrite the existing version of the DImportExportDLL13.dll file installed with Release 2.0 with the newer version posted to the FSAdownload Web site.
To download the DImportExportDLL13.dll program file, go to https://www.fsadownload.ed.gov, click the “Software and Associated Documents” link, and select “EDExpress for Windows 2012-2013, Release 2.0.” On the “EDExpress 2012-2013” page, you can initiate the download of the program file by clicking the “DImportExportDLL13.dll” link under the “Software” section.
You will receive a message asking if you want to open the file or save it to your computer. You should choose to save the file to your computer. Save the DImportExportDLL13.dll to the program directory for EDExpress for Windows 2012-2013 on each PC running Release 2.0. For most users, this is the default directory of C:\Program Files\EDESuite\EDExpress for Windows 2012-2013 (unless you changed this location during the installation process).
You do not need to reboot your PC(s) once the copy procedure is complete in order to resume using EDExpress 2012-2013.
Additional Tips for Loading EDExpress Program File
Note the following additional tips when loading the DImportExportDLL13.dll program file to your PC workstation(s):
- Be sure to close EDExpress 2012-2013 on your PC(s) before performing the download and copy procedure.
- Microsoft Vista and Windows 7 users must have admin rights to the PC workstation(s) running EDExpress 2012-2013 in order to overwrite the existing program file.
- During the copy procedure, you will receive a prompt asking if you want to replace the existing DImportExportDLL13.dll file with the new version you are downloading. You should click “Yes” and allow Windows to overwrite the file.
- If you receive a message indicating you cannot overwrite the file (usually due to a “sharing violation”), restart your computer and try again. Windows may think the file is in use until you restart.
- If your EDExpress 2012-2013 database is installed on a network drive, and you have multiple PC workstations accessing that database, you must load the appropriate program file to EACH workstation.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this message, 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.