Posted Date:October 22, 2015
| Author: | Katrina Turner, Service Director, Operations Performance Management Services, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #64 - Upcoming Implementation of Data Challenges and Appeals Solution (DCAS)
We would like to provide the community with preliminary information about a Web-based application that we will implement later this year, to support the gainful employment (GE) challenges and appeals process. Initially, the new Data Challenges and Appeals Solution (DCAS) system will allow schools to submit challenges to data elements from the Draft GE Completers List. Future releases of DCAS related to GE will include functionality for challenging the information used to calculate the debt-to-earnings (D/E) rates.
Going forward, we will expand DCAS functionality in phases to include all appeals, requests for adjustments and challenges related to institutional cohort default rates (CDRs), and other student-level data initiatives. After we fully implement all phases of DCAS, we will retire the eCDR Appeals system.
In the following sections, we provide high-level information about obtaining access to DCAS, as well as upcoming training opportunities and resources for the new system. It will be important to monitor the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site in the coming weeks for additional information about DCAS, including the system’s implementation date.
Access to DCAS
The first step in obtaining access to DCAS will be to enroll authorized users at your school in the new service via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) Enrollment Web site. We will notify the community when the service is available for enrollment, and provide detailed instructions for your school’s Primary Destination Point Administrator (PDPA) to complete the process. Please note that submission of a signature page will be required, before access will be granted. Monitor the IFAP Web site for a forthcoming announcement that enrollment for DCAS is available on the SAIG Enrollment Web site.
Once enrollment is complete and the new system has been launched, authorized users will log in to DCAS using their FSA User ID, password, and the six-digit password generated by the user’s Two-Factor Authentication (TFA) token. This is the same set of credentials currently required to log in to many Federal Student Aid systems.
Training Opportunities and Resources
Later this fall we will offer a webinar on how to use DCAS, including how to create a challenge in the new system. In addition, we will post an online training module to the Federal Student Aid E-Training Web site, to provide a self-paced training opportunity to learn more about DCAS. Training Announcements with details about both training opportunities will be posted to the IFAP Web site.
A DCAS user guide will be available as a resource for the system, and information about DCAS will also be provided in future updates to the Gainful Employment Operations Manual.
Contact Information
Please monitor the IFAP Web site for forthcoming announcements about DCAS.
The Gainful Employment Information Page on the IFAP Web site contains publications and resources on GE as well as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If you have a question about the GE regulationse GE regulationsa question about the GE regulations that has not alref="http://ifap.ed.gov/gainful-employment-information/06-22-2014-subject-gainful-employment-information-page">Gainful Employment Information Page, please submit the question to ge-questions@ed.gov.