Posted Date:June 14, 2012
| Author: | William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Pell Grant LEU Information - Additional 2012-2013 COD System Update
As explained in a February 17, 2012 Electronic Announcement and an April 6, 2012 Electronic Announcement on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, one of the changes made by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 is a provision that limits the duration of a student’s eligibility to receive a Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) to the equivalent of six years. In April 2012, we implemented an interim process related to the Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) change. Now, we will implement an enhancement to the interim Pell Grant LEU process.
We began reporting a Pell Grant LEU for all Pell-eligible applicants in April 2012, using the historical Pell Grant data that was available to our systems at the time. This allowed us to provide schools with as much reliable information as possible as quickly as possible. The information included only Pell Grant awards from the 1993-1994 through the 2011-2012 award years. Consistent with the new law that includes all Pell Grant years (including the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant years), we now have access to historical Pell Grant data for award years prior to 1993-1994. On June 15, 2012, we will add these additional Pell Grant data to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System and use that information to recalculate the Pell Grant LEU for all 2012-2013 Pell-eligible applicants. The recalculation may impact students who received a Pell Grant award prior to 1993-1994.
Additional Historical Pell Grant Data Added to COD System to Calculate Pell Grant LEU
On June 15, 2012, we will update the COD System with the additional historical Pell Grant data noted above and recalculate the Pell Grant LEU percentages for all 2012-2013 Pell-eligible applicants. The additional data will impact the Pell Grant LEU Report for schools and Pell Grant LEU e-mails to students as explained below.
Note: Although the COD System will be updated with the additional historical Pell Grant data, it will not be viewable on the COD Web site or the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) until July 2012. This also means the COD System will include Pell Grant data for years earlier than 1993-1994, the first year Pell Grant data is reflected in the NSLDS. As a result, an applicant’s Pell Grant LEU from the Pell Grant LEU Report derived from COD System data may differ from the applicant’s Pell Grant disbursement information in the NSLDS. The COD System should be considered the system of record for all Pell Grant LEU data.
Impacts to Pell Grant LEU Reports for Schools
Because of the additional Pell Grant data, more students may appear on a school’s weekly Pell Grant LEU Report. And, some students who were included on earlier reports will have increased LEUs as a result of the new data.
In addition, based on suggestions from schools, we will make three changes to the Pell Grant LEU Report:
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Students with a Pell Grant LEU greater than 450 percent who included on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) a Federal School Code for a school that is not Pell-eligible (does not have a Pell ID), but is associated with a main campus that is Pell-eligible will now appear in the Pell Grant LEU Report of the main campus. Previously these students did not appear on any Pell Grant LEU Report.
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The Federal School Code will be added as a data element on the Pell Grant LEU Report. This will allow schools with more than one location to sort student information by the location where the student attends or will attend.
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The COD System will continue to produce and send the weekly Pell Grant LEU Report for the entire 2012-2013 Award Year (through June 30, 2013). Previously, the production of the weekly report was scheduled to end on July 1, 2012.
Impacts to Pell Grant LEU E-mails to Students
The text of the e-mails and the COD System logic used to determine which students are sent these e-mails will not change. However, more students may receive an e-mail because the additional Pell Grant data increases their LEU to meet the existing thresholds (greater than 500 but less than 600 percent, or greater than or equal to 600 percent).Note: While the Pell Grant LEU Report will continue to be produced and sent until June 30, 2013, the student e-mails will end on July 1, 2012.
See the April 6, 2012 Electronic Announcement for complete details about the Pell Grant LEU E-mails.
Future Enhancements
As explained in our earlier announcements, additional system enhancements for the Pell Grant LEU change, including COD System edits and the ability to view a student’s entire Pell Grant history, will be made in July 2012. We will provide information about those July 2012 system enhancements in a forthcoming Electronic Announcement.
Contact Information
If you have questions about this announcement, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268 for Grants. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.