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(General) Subject: FINAL DEADLINE EXTENSION: SAIG Upgrade - All EDconnect and TDClient Users Must Upgrade to EDconnect 8.1 or TDClient 3.2 by August 5, 2012

Posted Date:June 22, 2012

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

Subject: FINAL DEADLINE EXTENSION: SAIG Upgrade - All EDconnect and TDClient Users Must Upgrade to EDconnect 8.1 or TDClient 3.2 by August 5, 2012

In November 2011, we began to inform the community of our plans to upgrade all components of the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). In early March 2012, we posted new versions of EDconnect and TDClient to the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site and announced the original, May 27, 2012, deadline to upgrade to EDconnect 8.1 or TDClient 3.2. Because some schools experienced issues while attempting to upgrade their software and needed more time to meet the requirement, we extended the deadline to June 24, 2012.

We appreciate the efforts of all schools (and their third party servicers, if applicable) that have upgraded to the new EDconnect 8.1 or TDClient 3.2 software products. At this time, however, there are still over 1,000 schools that have not yet completed the upgrade. This is a significant number of schools that will soon be unable to connect to their SAIG mailboxes for the completion of important electronic activities, including the submission of records that support the receipt of funds. To assist this cohort of schools in avoiding negative impact, we are extending the deadline by which the upgrade must be completed one final time.

Important Instructions and Final Deadline! All schools that use EDconnect or any version of the “Client” software to connect to the SAIG and have not yet completed the upgrade are required to download and begin using one of the two upgraded software products – EDconnect 8.1 or TDClient 3.2 – by August 5, 2012. As previously communicated, the upgrade should take approximately two hours.

If your school has not yet upgraded, please read this announcement in its entirety and move forward with completing the upgrade. If your school uses a third party servicer, it is your school’s responsibility to communicate with your third party servicer about the required upgrade. To ensure uninterrupted connectivity to the SAIG, it is critical for your school to act immediately.

Upgrade Information

After August 5, 2012, schools that have not upgraded will no longer be able to use previous versions of the EDconnect or “Client” software to connect to their SAIG mailboxes for the completion of important electronic activities. These activities include the retrieval of ISIRs, completion of COD batch processing (and, therefore, the draw down of funds), and the receipt of NSLDS reports.

Important Reminder Regarding TFA Tokens: All schools that use EDconnect, whether they have received a Two Factor Authentication (TFA) token or not, must complete the software upgrade by the deadline. A token is not required to access the software despite the “Security Code” field on the login screen. You will be able to log in even if tokens have not yet been distributed to your school. To log in to EDconnect 8.1, enter your TG number on the EDconnect login screen, including the letters “TG” (example: TG12345). If you have received your token, enter the 6-digit code displayed on your TFA token in the Security Code field. If you do not have a TFA token, leave the Security Code field blank.

Notes for EDconnect Users:

  • All EDconnect users must also be enrolled for the new EDconnect Entitlement service and have an FSA User ID and password to access and use the new software. For information about enrolling for the EDconnect Entitlement service and obtaining an FSA User ID, please see the February 10, 2012 Electronic Announcement on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.

  • As explained in the March 15, 2012 Electronic Announcement, EDconnect 8.0 was replaced by EDconnect 8.1 and should no longer be used. EDconnect 8.1 is not an upgrade to earlier versions of EDconnect. All EDconnect users must perform a local or network installation of EDconnect 8.1.

  • As noted above, a TFA token is not required to access the software despite the “Security Code” field on the login screen. To log in to EDconnect 8.1, enter your TG number on the EDconnect login screen, including the letters “TG” (example: TG12345). If you have received your token, enter the 6-digit code displayed on your TFA token in the Security Code field. If you do not have a TFA token, leave the Security Code field blank.

Notes for TDClient Users:

  • Schools that are currently using a previous version of the "Client" software (for example, EAClient), must download and begin using the TDClient 3.2 software by the deadline or risk losing access to the SAIG.

  • The TDClient 3.2 software is not compatible with AIX 5.3. AIX users must upgrade to AIX 6.1 or higher, in order to use TDClient 3.2. We posted an updated SAIG Host Communication Guide on the FSAdownload Web site to reflect the update to supported platforms.

  • A TFA token is not required for TDClient 3.2.

Contact Information

We appreciate your school’s assistance in completing this critical upgrade as soon as possible before the August 5, 2012 deadline.

For complete information about the SAIG system enhancements and related requirements that were included in the March 2012 release, refer to the February 23, 2012 Electronic Announcement.

If you have questions about this information, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov. After you have chosen to continue in either English or Spanish, select Option 1 for EDconnect 8.1 assistance, Option 2 for FSA User ID/password and EDconnect password assistance, or Option 3 for TDClient 3.2 assistance. (Note that Option 3 will be identified as covering all other questions.)