(EDESUITE-22-01) Availability of EDExpress for Windows, 2022–2023, Release 2.0

Author
Federal Student Aid
Electronic Announcement ID
EDESUITE-22-01
Subject
Availability of EDExpress for Windows, 2022–2023, Release 2.0

We are pleased to announce the posting of EDExpress for Windows 2022–2023, Release 2.0, on the Software and Other Tools page of Federal Student Aid’s Knowledge Center website (https://Knowledge Center.ed.gov/software-and-other-tools). Release 2.0 adds full Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan), and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant functionality for the 2022–2023 award cycle.

In addition to the software, the following EDExpress 2022–2023 documents are available for download from the Knowledge Center website:

  • Installation Guide for EDExpress for Windows 2022–2023 (provides technical and installation guidance)

  • The EDExpress for Windows 2022–2023, Release 2.0 Cover Letter (provides critical information regarding enhancements and other updates in Release 2.0)

  • The EDExpress for Windows 2022–2023, Release 2.0 Desk Reference (includes step-by-step guidance regarding EDExpress Pell Grant and Direct Loan functionality in Release 2.0)

Volume III of the 2022–2023 COD Technical Reference, which provides technical guidance and record layouts for use with the EDExpress 2022–2023 Pell Grant, Direct Loan, and TEACH Grant modules, is also available on the Knowledge Center website.

Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules in Release 2.0 and Upcoming Release 3.0

EDExpress 2022–2023, Release 2.0, calculates Pell Grant awards according to the 2022–2023 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules published originally in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-22-03, posted on January 31, 2022 to the Knowledge Center Web site. 

The Pell schedules in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-22-03, which match the maximum Pell award amounts and maximum Pell-eligible EFC for 2021–22, have since been superseded by Dear Colleague Letter 22-04, published on March 24, 2022.  Dear Colleague Letter 22-04 establishes the maximum 2022–23 Pell Grant award as $6,895 and the maximum Pell-eligible EFC as 6206.

We are currently developing EDExpress 2022–2023, Release 3.0 for posting in June 2022, which will update the Packaging and Pell modules to follow the updated 2022–2023 Pell schedules published in Dear Colleage Letter GEN 22-04.

If you calculate Pell Grant awards in Release 2.0, be aware that you may need to recalculate and adjust 2022–2023 award amounts for impacted students after installing the upcoming Release 3.0.

EDExpress 2022–2023 Installation Notes

Note the following guidance during the installation of EDExpress 2022–2023, Release 2.0:

  • When you initiate the EDExpress 2022–2023 installation process, you will be prompted to install the ACE Access Database Engine. This functionality is required to install EDExpress 2022–2023. Click Install to allow the process to determine if the ACE Access Database Engine is already on the workstation and install it if not; after which the installation will proceed.

  • EDExpress 2022–2023 requires Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.6.2. You will be prompted to install this software if the EDExpress 2022–2023 installation process determines it is not available on your workstation.

For more information on installing EDExpress 2022–2023, see the EDExpress for Windows 2022–2023 Installation Guide.

EDExpress 2022–2023 Initial Login Information

If you upgrade from EDExpress 2022–2023, Release 1.0 to Release 2.0, your User IDs, passwords, and other security settings are carried forward to Release 2.0 and do not need to be recreated.

If you have not installed EDExpress 2022–2023 prior to Release 2.0, when you first access the software after installation, the default User ID is SYSADMIN and the default password is $y$tem Adm1n. Be sure to include the space between $y$tem and Adm1n (the two parts of the default password).

After you enter the default user ID and password, EDExpress 2022–2023 requires that you immediately define a new password for the SYSADMIN. New passwords must be a minimum of 12 characters and must include at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one keyboard character that is not a letter or number (such as an exclamation mark or other punctuation symbol). You can adjust the minimum password length and other requirements in the Password Setup dialog box (Tools, Setup, Global, Password Setup).

The SYSADMIN user ID only provides access to critical administrative functions in order to limit its use for routine software tasks and improve your ability to trace actions taken in the software to specific users. EDExpress administrators at your school should create unique user IDs in Security Users setup with the necessary access (based on the associated Security Group) and log into the software under those IDs for most software tasks they perform.

For more information on security setup, see EDExpress Help in the software and the EDExpress for Windows 2022–2023, Release 2.0 Desk Reference.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding downloading, installing, or using EDExpress 2022–2023, Release 2.0, 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://listserv.ed.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=FSATECH&A=1.

If you have any questions about the COD System, contact the COD School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978. You may also email CODSupport@ed.gov.