This Electronic Announcement provides institutions with important information about the system, web, and software modifications we are making to reflect the 2023–24 Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) payment and disbursement schedules, including changes we must implement to the Central Processing System (CPS), the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System, and the EDExpress for Windows software.
In Dear Colleague Letter GEN-23-02, posted to the Knowledge Center website on Jan. 26, 2023, we provided schools with payment and disbursement schedules for determining Pell Grant awards for the 2023–24 award year. These schedules must be used for all 2023–24 Pell Grant award calculations.
As noted in the Dear Colleague Letter, the maximum Pell Grant award for the 2023–24 award year is $7,395, an increase of $500 from the $6,895 maximum Pell Grant award for the 2022–23 award year. The maximum expected family contribution (EFC) eligible for a Pell Grant for the 2023–24 award year is 6656 as compared to 6206 for the 2022–23 award year.
We have started the work needed to modify our systems, web and software products, technical documents, training materials, and publications to reflect the 2023–24 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules. In the sections below, we describe the impact to the following systems and software products, as well as provide the anticipated completion date for each update:
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Impact on the CPS and Upcoming Reprocessing
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Impact on the COD System
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Impact on EDExpress
Impact on the CPS and Upcoming Reprocessing
When we began processing the 2023–24 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form on Oct. 1, 2022, we used the 2022–23 maximum EFC of 6206 to establish Pell Grant eligibility and reported that eligibility on Student Aid Reports (SARs) and Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs). As a result of the maximum EFC increase for 2023–24, some applicants (those with EFCs greater than or equal to 6207 and less than or equal to 6656) who were not Pell Grant eligible using the 2022–23 schedules are now Pell Grant eligible for the 2023–24 award year.
On April 23, 2023, we will update the CPS to use the 2023–24 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules (and maximum eligible EFC) to determine Pell Grant eligibility and estimated Pell Grant Scheduled Award amounts for all newly-submitted 2023–24 FAFSA forms, as well as for all newly-submitted corrections to previously-filed FAFSA forms.
As part of the CPS system update, we will update our SAR print operations to display estimated Pell Grant Scheduled Award amounts based on the 2023–24 schedules. Similar updates will be implemented on the FAFSA confirmation pages. Help text will also be updated at this time.
After we implement the changes to the CPS, we will need to identify and reprocess records for those students who completed a 2023–24 FAFSA form or submitted a correction before April 23, 2023, and who are now newly eligible for a 2023–24 Pell Grant, based upon the 2023–24 schedules and maximum EFC.
The CPS will identify the impacted 2023–24 transactions on April 24, 2023, and reprocess them on April 25, 2023, to properly indicate Pell Grant eligibility. The April 25 reprocessing will create a new SAR and ISIR transaction for any student with an EFC that is greater than 6206 (the previous maximum Pell-eligible EFC) and less than or equal to 6656 (the new maximum Pell-eligible EFC) to reflect the addition of Pell Grant eligibility.
Note that student records that had been Pell Grant-eligible based on the 2022–23 schedules and maximum EFC do not need to be reprocessed even though the estimated Pell Grant award amount presented to the student has changed. Schools should simply use the 2023–24 schedules published in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-23-02 when awarding and disbursing 2023–24 Pell Grants.
Several methods will exist for schools to identify records resulting from the April 25 reprocessing:
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Reprocessed ISIRs will be sent under the IGSG24OP message class.
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Paper SARs and ISIRs will include SAR comment code 172, which states “This SAR was produced because we processed a change to your information based on information reported to us by another agency or as a result of a processing system change. Review your SAR to see what effect, if any, this change has had on your application, and call 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) if you have any questions.”
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ISIRs produced as a result of the April 25 reprocessing will include a value of “01” for the Reprocessed Reason Code (ISIR field #241).
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The FAA Information page in Student Inquiry on the FAA Access to CPS Online website will display “01 – Reprocessed due to change in the Pell Maximum EFC” for the Reprocessing Code for the transaction resulting from the April 25 reprocessing.
Note: On April 2, 2023, we will update the ISIR Request edits that enable FAA Access to CPS Online users to request Pell-eligible ISIRs with EFCs in the range of 6207 to 6656. We will also update help text in FAA Access to CPS Online to reference the maximum Pell Grant award and/or new maximum Pell-eligible EFC for 2023–24. This will ensure that the reprocessed ISIRs are available for school download from FAA Access to CPS Online on April 26.
Impact on the COD System
On April 2, 2023, we plan to implement COD System functionality that supports processing for the 2023–24 award year. We will implement the 2023–24 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules in the COD System at that time. Detailed information about the April 2023 COD System update will be provided in an Electronic Announcement posted to the Knowledge Center website prior to the COD System release.
The COD System will implement the 2023–24 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules before the CPS reprocessing for certain applicants (those with an EFC greater than 6206 and less than or equal to 6656). As a result, for students who are newly Pell-eligible based on the CPS reprocessing, schools must wait until after the April 25th CPS reprocessing to send these Pell Grant origination records to the COD System; this will ensure schools can use the new, Pell-eligible CPS transaction number for the reprocessed records. If a school submits the Pell Grant record with an ineligible CPS transaction number before the April 25th CPS reprocessing, it will be rejected.
Impact on EDExpress
EDExpress 2023–2024, Release 1.0, posted on Sept. 28, 2022, does not include the 2023–24 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules, and instead carries over the schedules from the 2022–23 award year. Release 2.0, scheduled for release in late April, will update the Packaging and Pell Grant modules to use the 2023–24 schedules. If you use the Packaging or Pell Grant modules to calculate Pell Grant awards, be aware that you may need to recalculate and adjust 2023–24 award amounts for impacted students created in EDExpress Release 1.0.
Contact Information
If you have questions regarding the updates to the CPS or EDExpress, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 1-800-330-5947 or by email at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.
If you have questions regarding the updates to the COD System, contact the FSA Partner and School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978 or by email at CODSupport@ed.gov.