Posted Date:March 1, 2011
Foreign School Update ID: FS-2011-01
| Author: | William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: COD System Implementation for 2011-2012 Award Year: Direct Loan Origination Tool Changes
During the period February 18-19, 2011, we implemented Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality that supports processing for the 2011-2012 Award Year. The functionality included in this COD System release was explained in a February 11, 2011 Electronic Announcement posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.
In this update, we explain changes to the Direct Loan Origination Tool (DLOT) that were also implemented with this COD System release.
Direct Loan Origination Tool Changes
The following changes were made to the DLOT. Unless otherwise noted, the changes apply to the processing of Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, and Direct PLUS Loan awards and for all award years.
The DLOT has been updated to:
- Allow users to update the student’s dependency and citizenship status after the student’s information has been added to a draft batch. The items are updated within the draft batch only and will be reflected in the loan record submitted to the COD System.
- Allow users to select the applicable award year while working in the DLOT. When beginning a session in the DLOT, the award year will default to the most current award year. A user can change the award year on the Home page or the Select Students page.
- Default disbursements to anticipated disbursements [Disbursement Release Indicator (DRI) = “False”] when creating a new school profile. Users may update the disbursements to actual disbursements (DRI = “True”) when appropriate before submission or when creating an award profile.
- Automatically assign an Award ID and, if the borrower already has an award on file, automatically assign the subsequent award with the next sequence number. For example, if an 001 award is already on the COD System, the next award will be assigned as an 002 award. Users will no longer have to manually enter the Award ID or Award Number. As a result, both fields have been removed from the DLOT.
- Allow users to apply an Alternate Primary Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) processed for the 2011-2012 Award Year and forward. Once a user selects the type of EFC to be used, he or she can apply it to one or more students on the Assign Cost of Attendance page.
- Automatically determine borrower type for Direct PLUS Loans based upon grade level and dependency status.
In addition, the “Other Aid” field has been renamed “Estimated Financial Assistance”. We have also enhanced the award calculation functionality.
As a reminder, the COD System will reject an actual disbursement with a disbursement date more than 10 days prior to the Financial Award Year Begin Date. If a foreign school submits actual disbursements with a disbursement date more than 10 days prior, it will receive COD Reject Edit 50 (Disbursement Date Outside Allowable Window). Guidance on the earliest date a school may disburse was provided in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-10-18 posted on the IFAP Web site.
Contact Information
If you have questions or need assistance after you read this update, e-mail your school’s Direct Loan enrollment team specialist (Point of Contact) at the address he or she provided. Alternatively, you may contact the COD School Relations Center at 716/284-7575.