The Direct Loan established data submission (closeout) deadline for the 2019–20 Program Year is Friday, July 30, 2021. This is the last processing day of the program year, so all school data must be received and accepted by this date to be included in a school’s final Ending Cash Balance for the year.
Note: Exceptions to the established data submission deadline may be made on a case-by-case basis, if the school’s processing period extends beyond the deadline. Schools falling within this category should contact the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) School Relations Center at the number provided below for further assistance. Once the closeout deadline has passed, a school may seek relief from the deadline via the Request Reopen/Extended Processing function on the COD website.
As a reminder, all cash management, disbursement reporting, and monthly reconciliation regulatory requirements supersede the closeout deadline. If a school is meeting these regulatory requirements, the final closeout stage should begin no later than the last award end date (also known as the loan period end date) at the school for a given program and year. In other words, a school should be able to reconcile to a zero Ending Cash Balance and close out soon after its final disbursements and should not wait until the closeout deadline.
To be considered successfully closed out, a school must—
- Have an Ending Cash Balance of $0 and Total Net Unbooked Disbursements of $0 internally, and as reflected on the School Account Statement (SAS), and
- Complete the School Balance Confirmation form on the COD website.
As part of the closeout process, we will send ongoing notices via Zero Balance or Remaining Balance emails. In addition, we will distribute a Notification/Warning Letter via email to schools in early May 2021. This letter will go to the Financial Aid Administrator and President at each school that has not confirmed closeout on the COD website (including any schools with a zero balance that have not confirmed closeout). It will serve as a reminder to finish processing and confirm closeout before the established data submission deadline. After the closeout deadline, the school will be notified of its remaining balance through a Demand Letter or Negative Balance Letter. Any remaining positive balance will result in a final liability for the school.
A school must be aware of its closeout status even if its Direct Loan processing is handled by a third-party servicer. We encourage each school to communicate regularly with its third-party servicer to ensure closeout is completed. It is the school’s responsibility to ensure that it finishes processing and confirms closeout on time.
A key factor to an easy reconciliation and closeout is staying on top of the process. We encourage schools to review the following information:
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Complete required monthly reconciliation. This should include:
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Internal reconciliation - compare internal student accounts and Business Office/Bursar records with Financial Aid Office records. Also, a part of the reconciliation should include ensuring that the school’s internal records match the third-party servicer’s records as well as what is in the COD System.
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External reconciliation - compare internal records to your Direct Loan School Account Statement sent via your SAIG mailbox.
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Resolution of any discrepancies and documentation of any outstanding timing issues.
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Ensure that all drawdowns and refunds of cash are accounted for and applied to the correct program and award year.
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Ensure that all batches have been sent to and accepted by the COD System, all disbursements and adjustments are accurately reflected on the COD System, and all responses are imported into the school’s system.
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Review all pending disbursements and determine whether the disbursements need to be reported as actuals (Disbursement Release Indicator (DRI) = TRUE) or, if not, reduce them to $0 and make changes to loan period dates and loan amounts, if needed. This will ensure that all disbursement data has been correctly reported to the COD System and will ensure subsidized usage limit calculations are correct for your borrowers. For more information on Subsidized Usage Limit Applies (SULA) reductions, see Attachment Q6.
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Ensure that all unbooked loans are booked or inactivated (reduced to $0).
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Resolve all outstanding rejected records.
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Return all refunds of cash. All refunds for the Direct Loan Program must be returned electronically via G5.
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Request any remaining funds owed to the school based on actual disbursements accepted by the COD System.
Contact Information
We appreciate your cooperation as we work to close out the 2019–20 Direct Loan Program Year. If you have questions about this announcement or need assistance with closeout, contact the COD School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978. You may also email CODSupport@ed.gov.
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