Posted Date:October 15, 2015
| Author: | Sue O'Flaherty, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Preliminary Information about COD System Implementation for 2016-2017 Award Year
Early each year, we implement Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality that supports processing for the upcoming award year. Our planning for the 2016-2017 Award Year is underway. In this announcement, we provide the following important information about our implementation plans:
High-Level Schedule and Summary of Changes
Final Closeout of ACG and National SMART Grant Data
Technical Information and Document Availability
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Contact Information
When appropriate, we will communicate further details about the 2016-2017 Award Year system implementations, as well as all necessary operational implementation guidance, through Electronic Announcements on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.
High-Level Schedule and Summary of Changes
We plan to implement COD System functionality to support 2016-2017 Award Year processing in two phases:
March 2016 – This phase is scheduled to include:
Initial Setup for the 2016-2017 Award Year
COD Receipts will no longer be returned to schools
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Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant) information will no longer be processed in the COD System, and all ACG and National SMART Grant data will be archived from the COD System (See more detailed information below.)
July 2016 – This phase is scheduled to include:
Modifications to the StudentLoans.gov Web site, to include additional self-service functionality for users, and re-designed features to improve functionality on mobile devices
Note: We expect to have a third implementation in the fall of 2016, but we have not completed our analysis and planning to provide details at this time.
Final Closeout of ACG and National SMART Grant Data
With the initial implementation of the COD System for the 2016-2017 Award Year planned for March 2016, we will archive all ACG and National SMART Grant data. This means:
ACG and National SMART Grant references and options will be removed from all web pages and dropdown boxes on the COD Web site.
ACG and National SMART Grant award and disbursement data, including downward disbursement adjustments, will no longer be accepted by the COD System.
Funding increases for ACG and National SMART Grants will no longer be made. Refunds will still be accepted in G5.
ACG and National SMART Grant reports will no longer be produced and sent to schools.
Extended processing requests will not be granted for ACG and National SMART Grant processing.
Note: The official deadline for funds availability for the 2010-2011 Award Year for the ACG and National SMART Grant programs remains September 30, 2016, and schools will be able to request final drawdowns or refund cash until that date if necessary. However, after March 2016, ACG and National SMART Grant data will no longer be available in the COD System, and no student level records may be updated.
Accordingly, we encourage schools to complete all final reconciliation activities and close out these programs as soon as possible, but no later than March 1, 2016.
Technical Information and Document Availability
Over the course of the next several months, we will post additional technical information and documents and other operational guidance on the IFAP Web site.
COD Common Record XML Schema
There are no changes to the COD Common Record XML Schema for the 2016-2017 Award Year. A school will continue to send and the COD System will acknowledge Common Record documents using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 4.0b.
2016-2017 COD Technical Reference
We plan to post the final version of the 2016-2017 COD Technical Reference in mid-November 2015. We will post the COD Technical Reference on the IFAP Web site and on FSADownload.
COD School Testing for 2016-2017
Schools and software vendors will have the ability to complete school testing with the COD System before sending data into production. Additional testing information will be provided in future Electronic Announcements on the IFAP Web site.
Contact Information
If you have questions about this announcement, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268 for Grants or 800/848-0978 for Direct Loans. You may also e-mail CODSupport@ed.gov.