Posted Date:March 2, 2016
| Author: | Katrina Turner, Service Director, Operations Performance Management Services, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: FY 2013 3-Year Draft Cohort Default Rates Distributed March 1, 2016
In a February 29, 2016 Electronic Announcement posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, the Department of Education (the Department) announced that the reader-friendly Loan Record Detail Report (LRDR) and the extract-type LRDR that schools received mistakenly included the FY 2012 3-Year Official cohort default rates and accompanying documentation, rather than the FY 2013 3-Year Draft cohort default rates and accompanying documentation. The cohort default rate (CDR) Cover Letter contained the accurate FY 2013 Draft cohort default rate information for schools.
On March 1, 2016, the Department re-distributed the FY 2013 3-Year Draft CDR notification packages to all eligible domestic and foreign schools.
Accordingly, schools will find both the Draft FY 2013 and Official FY 2012 LRDRs in their mailboxes.
In this announcement, we provide information about our distribution of the Draft rates and the begin dates for appealing the Draft rates.
Distribution of FY 2013 Draft Cohort Default Rates
For both eligible domestic and foreign schools enrolled in the Electronic Cohort Default Rate (eCDR) notification process, we sent FY 2013 3-Year Draft Cohort Default Rate and accompanying documentation via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). This information was sent to the SAIG mailbox for the destination point administrator designated by the school. Each eCDR package contained the following information:
Cover Letter (message class SHDRLROP)
Reader-Friendly Loan Record Detail Report (message class SHCDRROP)
Extract-Type Loan Record Detail Report (message class SHCDREOP)
We did not send eCDR notification packages to any school not enrolled in eCDR. These schools may download their cohort default rates and accompanying Loan Record Detail Reports from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS®) via the NSLDS Professional Access Web site.
Schools may now request the Cohort Default Rate History Report (DRC035) which mimics the electronically-transmitted eCDR LRDR in a comma-delimited; comma-separated values (CSV) format, as well as the current fixed-width format. The CSV format allows schools to import the report into an Excel spreadsheet. The report, which may be requested on the "Reports" tab, is delivered in message class CDRCSVOP to the SAIG mailbox associated with the NSLDS User ID that requested it.
Schools that are not signed up to receive the eCDR package via the SAIG Enrollment Web site or schools that want a replacement copy of their CDR Cover Letter can now request it from the "Reports" tab on the site. The new CDR Notification Letter Report (DRCNL1) allows school users to request their school's CDR Notification Letter by entering in the Cohort Year and selecting the Rate Type. The report (message class SHDRLROP) is sent to the SAIG mailbox associated with the NSLDS User ID that made the request.
Note: Any school that did not have a borrower in repayment, during the current or any of the past cohort default rate periods, will not receive a FY 2013 3-Year Draft cohort default rate notification package. These schools are considered to have no cohort default rate data and no cohort default rate.
Guaranty agency FY 2013 3-year Draft cohort default rates will be provided electronically and lender rates will be available for download from NSLDS.
Begin Dates for Appealing FY 2013 3-Year Draft Cohort Default Rates
The time period for appealing the FY 2013 3-Year Draft Cohort Default Rates under 34 C.F.R Part 668, Subpart N begins on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 for all schools and ends after 45 days on Friday, April 22, 2016.
All Incorrect Data Challenges (IDC) must be made through the eCDR Appeals Web site. Participation Rate Index Challenges (PRI) will continue to be submitted via hard copy. As a reminder, eCDR Appeals is a web-based application that allows schools to electronically submit certain challenge and adjustment requests during the specified timeframes. The application also allows data managers (guaranty agency or Federal Loan Servicer) and Federal Student Aid personnel to electronically view and respond to these challenge/adjustment requests. The application tracks the entire life cycle of each request from the time the case is submitted until the time a decision is made and the case is closed.
If a technical problem caused by the Department results in an inability to access the data, schools have five business days from the receipt of the eCDR notification package to notify Operations Performance Division at the e-mail address given below.
To further facilitate the review of cohort default rates schools may choose to utilize the LRDR Import Tool. The LRDR Import Tool can be used to easily load data generated from the LRDR into the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet application, and is designed to assist schools with reviewing and analyzing their LRDR extract files.
In order to complete an adjustment or appeal, you may need data manager's contact information. Click on the link labeled, "Data Manager Information" from the home page of the Cohort Default Rate Guide at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/DefaultManagement/finalcdrg.html. If the Department revises a school's cohort default rate based on its adjustment or appeal submission, the revised cohort default rate will be available on Operations Performance Division's Web site at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/DefaultManagement/DefaultManagement.html.
Contact Information
For specific information regarding eCDR Appeals, visit the eCDR Appeals Web site, where you will find user guides for each of the challenge and adjustment processes, as well as a user guide for the registration process. Additionally, you will find links to recordings of eCDR Appeals demonstration sessions to assist first-time users.
For additional information regarding the school cohort default rate calculation or the challenge processes, please refer to the Cohort Default Rate Guide at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/DefaultManagement/finalcdrg.html.
You may also contact us by e-mailing fsa.schools.default.management@ed.gov or by calling the Operations Performance Division's hotline at 202/377-4259.