Bulletin ID
DLB - 99 - 30
| PublicationDate: 6/1/99 BulletinID: DLB - 99 - 30 June 1999 DLB 99-30 Subject: Information for Closing Out the 1997-98 Direct Loan Program Year Dear Partner: The closeout process for the 1997-98 Direct Loan program year is underway. To assist you with the process, we are providing the following information: Processing Deadline for 1997-98 Direct Loan Program Year The deadline for submitting all 1997-98 Direct Loan records to the Loan Origination Center (LOC) is July 31, 1999. You must ensure that ALL 1997-98 records are transmitted to, and accepted by, the LOC no later than July 31, 1999. We consider a school to have successfully closed the 1997-98 Direct Loan program year when a school has an ending cash balance of zero. A zero balance indicates that a school has accounted for all 1997-98 funds received from the Department by either submitting to the Department all records necessary to book 1997-98 loans originated by the school or returning undisbursed 1997-98 funds to the Department. If a school is unable to reconcile to a zero ending cash balance with submission of all 1997-98 loan records, the school will be expected to return those funds immediately to the Department as excess cash. Waiver of the Monthly Submission of Data Match (#L) Batches As with last yearÂ’s closeout, the Department of Education is waiving the requirement that schools submit monthly data match files (#L reconciliation batches) to the (LOC). Instead, schools should use the 732-LOS file for 1997-98 in order to meet the Direct Loan reconciliation requirement. 732-LOS File The Department is again providing schools with their current 1997-98 ending cash balance using the 732-LOS report. The LOC calculates this ending cash by subtracting all booked disbursements from drawdowns (less returns of excess cash) as of the date the LOC processed the 732-LOS file. The 732-LOS is sent as two text files: a summary file and a detail file at the loan level (not disbursement level). The message class for the 732-LOS Summary file is DIS498OP. The message class for the 732-LOS Detail File is DIS598OP. Schools needing assistance with importing these message classes and/or assistance in preparing a report from these files should contact their LOC Customer Service Representative at 800/848-0978 or their regional Direct Loan Client Account Manager. The file layouts for the 732-LOS Summary and Detail Files are attached to this bulletin. The report is currently run on a monthly basis, but it will be run and sent every two weeks beginning June 2. Schools should reconcile the 732-LOS loan and cash data to their internal records.Loan data is provided at the loan level in order to reduce the size of the file and to make the comparison process easier for schools. If in comparing at the loan level, schools find discrepancies with total loan amounts, schools should contact their LOC Customer Service Representative at 800/848-0978 for detailed disbursement information. Notification of Successful Closeout Schools that successfully close the 1997-1998 Direct Loan Program year will receive an official notice from the Department. This may not occur until after the deadline date of July 31, 1999, even if your school finishes the process prior to this date. 30-Day Reporting Requirement The annual processing deadline for closing out a Direct Loan program year does not relieve a school from compliance with the regulatory 30-day requirement. Under this requirement a school must submit: the promissory note, loan origination record and initial and subsequent disbursements to the Department no later than 30 days following the date of disbursement the disbursement record for each subsequent disbursement, including adjustments and cancellations of disbursements, to the Department no later than 30 days following the date of each subsequent disbursement or disbursement adjustment and cancellation. The Department expects all schools to comply with the 30-day reporting requirement as part of their normal monthly Direct Loan processing. As a result, most schools will close out well before the 1997-98 processing deadline. There are, however, infrequent cases in which a 1997-98 loan disbursement could appropriately be made as late as July 1999. In these cases, the July 31 processing deadline takes precedence over the normal 30-day submission requirement or the 90-day late disbursement window (for instance, if a school makes a 1997-1998 disbursement on July 15, 1999, it does not have the normal 30 days to submit the disbursement record). If you have any questions about the close out process for 1997-98 or have questions concerning your 1997-98 Direct Loan ending cash balance, please contact the Accounting and Financial Management Service's Direct Loan Operations Team at 202/205-6466. Thank you for your continued support of the Direct Loan Program. Sincerely, Margaret E. White, Acting Chair Direct Loan Task Force Attachment [[This file contains the "Layout of 732 Report" in Portable Document Format (PDF). It can be viewed with version 3.0 or greater of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.]] |