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(EDESuite) Subject: Beta Test Volunteers Needed for EDExpress 2013-2014, Release 2.0

Posted Date:January 8, 2013

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

Subject: Beta Test Volunteers Needed for EDExpress 2013-2014, Release 2.0

We are recruiting schools and servicers to participate in the beta test of EDExpress for Windows 2013-2014, Release 2.0. Beta testing is scheduled to run from January 28 through February 8, 2013.

During this beta test, participants will focus primarily on testing functionality in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) module, including interest rebate calculations and the now-required entry of the Ability to Benefit Code. Participants will also have the option of exploring and testing Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant functionality, if time allows.

During the beta test, participants download an in-development version of the EDExpress software and test documentation from an FTP site, replicate typical usage of the software in a mock-production environment, report any problems encountered, and submit a summary report detailing test findings and software suggestions for our analysis.

If you are interested in being considered as a beta test participant for grant and/or loan functionality, please send an e-mail to CPSSAIG@ed.gov with the subject line “Attention: EDExpress 2013-2014 Release 2.0 Beta Testing” and provide the following information:

1) School name and TG number
2) Primary and secondary testing contact names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses
3) Windows operating system version(s) for PC workstations accessing EDExpress
4) EDExpress operating environment (network/standalone). If your EDExpress database is stored on a network, please identify the network type and version (Novell 5.1, Windows 2003 Server, etc.).
5) Do you use EDExpress in combination with a mainframe system or 3rd party software to process grant or loan data? If so, what type of mainframe system and/or 3rd party software do you use?
6) FTP download capability (i.e., can you upload and download files from an FTP server?)

We will select participants from a wide variety of processing environments to ensure a diverse and thorough testing of the software is performed.

We will contact all Release 2.0 beta test volunteers by January 23, 2013. If your school is selected for participation, further information will be provided by e-mail at that time.

We appreciate your interest in EDExpress 2013-2014, Release 2.0 and look forward to hearing from you.