Publication Date: April 2002
Section: GA-2002-03
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United States Department of Education
Federal Student Aid
National Student Loan Data System
| DCS Assignment/NSLDS Submittal Data Field Mapping This information is intended for the person in your organization who is responsible for working with NSLDS. Please forward this update to the appropriate person. |
Guaranty Agency DCS Assignment/NSLDS Submittal Mapping
To better assist Guaranty Agencies (GAs) in reporting to NSLDS and making sure loans subrogated to Debt Collection Services (DCS) are in sync with what was submitted to NSLDS, we have designed the enclosed document that maps the GA DCS Assignment Format to the GA NSLDS Submittal file. This document includes the field titles used by both formats and the specific positions and field lengths used in each file. Comments also are inserted where appropriate.
There are two key points to keep in mind: First, loan identifier fields reported to DCS and to NSLDS must be identical. We have seen loans that do not match up, in part because fields were missing and in part because different data was reported to DCS than to NSLDS. The mapping addresses these issues, which include name standards, loan type changes, and new fields, such as Indicator of Separate Loan and OPE ID. Second, loans must be reported at the loan level. In the past, we have seen loans subrogated either rolled-up or at the disbursement level, which causes problems in matching between NSLDS and DCS loans. Multiple loans contained in a Master Promissory Note must be reported separately to both DCS and NSLDS.
Please note that for some GA Assignment fields there are two or more possible NSLDS fields. If the loan is a PLUS loan, for example, the borrower's identifying information in the DCS assignment format does not map to the student's information fields in the NSLDS submittal, but to the PLUS borrower fields. And for Amount Collected by GA in the assignment format, GAs must separate out the Principal and Interest Collections and TOP Principal and Interest Collections when reporting to NSLDS. Similarly, some DCS Assignment fields are combined when GAs submit to NSLDS. The Amount of Ending Balance on Claim of Other Fees reported to NSLDS, for example, should be the sum of five different fields reported to DCS.
Finally, GAs should take special precaution to use the same name standards in the DCS assignment format as they use in the NSLDS submittal. For example, if the student has no first name, the value 'NFN' should be used in both formats, and GAs should not use personal titles in student's or PLUS borrower's name fields.
If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Parmerlee by phone at (317) 291-9501 or by e-mail at mparmerlee--nr@raytheon.com.
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