We are pleased to announce the posting of an EDExpress for Windows 2020–2021, Release 2.0, service release that resolves an issue with Direct Loan disbursement entry functionality. The service release is available for download on the Software and Other Tools page of Federal Student Aid’s Knowledge Center website (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/topics/software-and-other-tools).
This service release resolves an issue we recently identified in the EDExpress Direct Loan module that impacts some student records that have more than one Direct Loan record. The software incorrectly generates a data entry edit that prevents users from saving changes on the Disburse (Direct Loan) tab if the student has a separate loan record with a different loan period or payment period start date. The incorrect data edit generated is Direct Loan edit 1230, which states “The Payment Period Start Date must be within the Loan Period when the Origination Status is A or B and the Actual Disbursement Amount is greater than zero OR the Origination Status is E or R.”
You must have EDExpress 2020–2021, Release 2.0 installed on your PC before running the service release. You can download Release 2.0 from the Software and Other Tools page of the Knowledge Center website.
Note: If you do not use the EDExpress Direct Loan module, you do not need to load the service release described in this message.
See the sections below for guidance and tips on downloading and installing the service release on PC workstations running EDExpress 2020–2021, Release 2.0.
Downloading and Running the EDExpress Service Release
The EDExpress 2020–2021, Release 2.0 service release file (EDE_Apr2021_ServiceRelease.exe) is posted to the Software and Other Tools page of the Knowledge Center website. You should run the service release installation on all PC workstations in your office that have Release 2.0 installed.
To download the service release, go to the Software and Other Tools page, click the “EDExpress” link, then select “2020–2021” under the By Award Year section of the page. Click the date-specific link under Software that is labeled “EDExpress 2020–2021 Release 2.0 Service Release.” On the subsequent page, you can initiate the download of the service release file by clicking the link under the “Attachments” section.
When you run the EDE_Apr2021_ServiceRelease.exe file, you are prompted to select the program directory for EDExpress 2020–2021, Release 2.0 on the PC workstation. For most users, this is the default directory of C:\Program Files (x86)\EDESuite\EDExpress for Windows 2020–2021 (unless you changed this location during the installation process). If you do not have a Program Files (x86) directory, the default is C:\Program Files\EDESuite\EDExpress for Windows 2020–2021. Click OK to initiate and run the service release installation.
You do not need to reboot your PC(s) once the copy procedure is complete in order to resume using EDExpress 2020–2021, Release 2.0.
Additional Tips and Guidance
Note the following additional tips when running the service release file on your PC workstation(s):
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Be sure to close EDExpress on your PC(s) before performing the download and copy procedure.
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Microsoft Windows users must have admin rights to the PC workstation(s) running EDExpress in order to run the service release installation.
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If you receive a message indicating you cannot overwrite the file (usually due to a “sharing violation”), restart your computer and try again. Windows may think the file overwritten by the service release installation is in use until you restart.
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If your EDExpress database is installed on a network drive, and you have multiple PC workstations accessing that database, you must run the service release installation on EACH workstation.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding loading the EDExpress 2020–2021, Release 2.0 service release to your system, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 1-800-330-5947 or by email at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.
You can also post questions regarding EDExpress on FSATECH. FSATECH is an electronic mailing list for technical questions about Federal Student Aid systems, software, and mainframe products. For more information on subscribing to FSATECH, go to https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/services/fsatechsubscribe.html.