Enclosure A SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO THE 1999-2000 APPLICATION PROCESSING SYSTEM FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) Information About Ordering and Distribution of Forms We began distributing 1999-2000 FAFSAs in early October 1998. Details about how to order FAFSAs were provided on the Department of Education's (ED’s) Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) web site in announcement ANN-98-13. Changes and Improvements to the FAFSA The 1999-2000 FAFSA has a new look and feel. Over the past two years, the Department of Education (ED) has worked in cooperation with families and the financial aid community to redesign the FAFSA. The result is a form that has fewer questions, contains simpler language, has a more logical format, and is easier for applicants to complete accurately. The following is a list of the major changes and improvements to the 1999-2000 FAFSA: The FAFSA, including instructions, has been reduced from sixteen to eight pages. The application itself is still four pages, but the instructions have been simplified and, in many cases, incorporated into the questions themselves. The FAFSA has a new format. The 1999-2000 FAFSA has six steps for the applicant to complete, rather than the eight sections used on earlier FAFSAs. Also, the questions have been rearranged into more logical groupings. The total number of questions on the form has been reduced from 108 to 99. Enclosure B, Data Element Changes to the 1999-2000 FAFSA, contains a chart of both deleted and new FAFSA data elements. The 1999-2000 FAFSA is a two-color form: yellow and purple. Usability tests showed that a two-color form improved applicants’ ability to complete the FAFSA accurately. Students complete the yellow areas of the FAFSA, and parents, if applicable, complete the purple areas. (The yellow color on the FAFSA is PANTONE 100 CVU and the purple color is PANTONE 263 CVU.) In our efforts to encourage students to apply for financial aid electronically, the first page of the FAFSA informs students that they can apply over the Internet instead of filing a paper form. State aid application deadlines have been moved to the front page of the FAFSA instructions to make them more prominent. The Simplified Needs Test (SNT) Worksheets, which have always been difficult for applicants to understand, have been eliminated from the paper FAFSA. 1999-2000 FAFSA filers should complete all items on the form, including asset information. Based on income and tax filing status, the CPS will determine if the applicant is eligible for the SNT. SNT-eligible applicants will have both a primary and secondary EFC calculated for them using the simplified and the regular formulas respectively. If for some reason an SNT-eligible student does not provide asset information, the CPS will calculate an EFC using only the simplified formula. Students and parents will report the net worth of their assets on the 1999-2000 FAFSA. The FAFSA explains how to calculate asset net worth by subtracting asset debt from asset value. In previous years, applicants were asked to report separately on the FAFSA the current market value and debt of their assets, and the CPS then calculated net worth. The questions about Social Security Benefits, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), child support, and other untaxed income and benefits have been moved to Worksheet A, with the other untaxed income items. Applicants use Worksheet A to calculate their total untaxed income and benefits and then report this amount on the FAFSA. The Earned Income Credit (EIC) remains a separate item on the FAFSA. Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Income Tax Credit information will be collected on Worksheet B along with other items that are excluded from total income such as child support paid and Federal Work-Study earnings. Totals from Worksheet B are then reported on the FAFSA. The Title IV School Code has been renamed the Federal School Code. The spouse's signature is no longer collected on the FAFSA because spouses are not required to sign the form. Only one parent signature space is provided in Step Six because for dependent students only one parent is required to sign the FAFSA. A new supplemental information page will be included with the FAFSA. The supplemental page entitled "More about student financial aid . . ." contains general information about applying for aid, the types of federal aid programs available, where to get more information about financial aid, how financial aid will be paid to students, and how to be a wise consumer. Schools can view the final version of the 1999-2000 FAFSA by going to ED's IFAP web site (http://ifap.ed.gov) and clicking on the "Bookshelf" icon. In the Bookshelf, scroll down and click on "FAFSA Instructions," and then follow the link to "By 1999-2000 Award Year" and "FAFSA Instructions." Schools will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view the file. Definition of Parent no Longer Includes Legal Guardian Another change to the 1999-2000 FAFSA is that legal guardians have been eliminated from the definition of "parent." When redesigning the FAFSA, a thorough analysis of Part F of the Higher Education Act was done to determine the statutory basis of each item on the FAFSA. Since the statute does not define parent, and since the Department is prohibited from regulating in this area, we determined that legal guardians cannot be considered a parent for the purpose of completing the FAFSA and calculating an EFC. Thus, the 1999-2000 FAFSA does not collect financial information from an applicant’s legal guardian, even if that guardian has been directed by a court to support the applicant. Applicants whose biological or adoptive parents are deceased are considered to be orphans and, therefore, independent for Title IV aid purposes. Beginning with the 1999-2000 application processing year, this is true even if the student has been appointed a legal guardian. For these types of students, parental information is not collected on the FAFSA; however, under professional judgment a Financial Aid Administrator could make an adjustment to items used in the calculation of the applicant’s EFC or cost of attendance to account for support the applicant receives from a guardian. Applicants who have legal guardians, but who also have at least one biological or adoptive parent still living, must include the parent’s information on the FAFSA, unless the applicant is independent based on one of the other dependency criteria. If warranted, however, the Financial Aid Administrator may use professional judgment to make the student independent. In addition, if the legal guardian provides support to the applicant, the aid administrator could also make an adjustment to items used in the calculation of the applicant’s EFC or cost of attendance. CENTRAL PROCESSING SYSTEM (CPS) Start-Up Information All systems development and testing activities are on schedule. The Central Processing System (CPS) will start up on January 15, 1999 for the 1999-2000 award year. Institutional Student Information Records (ISIR) In July 1998, the draft 1999-2000 ISIR layout was made available to schools on the Department’s IFAP web site (http://ifap.ed.gov). A revised draft ISIR layout was sent to schools in the 1999-2000 Technical Reference in early November 1998. The final ISIR layout will be available on the IFAP shortly after the system starts up on January 15, 1999. We do not anticipate that the final ISIR layout will differ from the layout that was included in the 1999-2000 Technical Reference. For the 1999-2000 application processing year, the option for schools to receive ISIRs on magnetic tape or cartridge has been discontinued due to the low use of these types of media. ISIRs will be provided to schools through the Title IV Wide Area Network (TIV WAN) only. In Spring 1999, ED will begin to transmit all ISIRs to schools over the Internet instead of through the proprietary network now used by the Title IV Wide Area Network (TIV WAN). Additional information about the migration from the TIV WAN to the Internet will be provided in an Action Letter scheduled to be released later this year. Separate Message Class for System-Generated Transactions: Based on suggestions from the financial aid community, we have improved the way CPS transactions are transmitted to schools. All 1999-2000 system-generated transactions will be sent to schools in a separate message class. System-generated transactions are transactions initiated by the CPS rather than as a result of the student or school submitting an application or correction to an application. Examples of CPS system-generated transactions include applicant records that are released from the drug abuse or verification hold file, or more commonly, transactions created as result of NSLDS post-screening. Changes to Edits Reject Codes 2 and 3: Because they are similar, we combined Reject Codes 2 and 3 into a single Reject Code 2, and eliminated Reject Code 3. In prior years, Reject Code 2 was used for FAFSA filers and Reject Code 3 was used for Renewal FAFSA filers who failed to provide enough income information on their applications for the CPS to calculate an Expected Family Contribution (EFC). In 1999-2000, Reject Code 2 will be used for both FAFSA and Renewal FAFSA filers who do not provide sufficient income information on their FAFSA. Reject Code N: Renewal FAFSA filers will no longer be subjected to Reject N when they leave their first or last name blank. In prior years, all applicants who left their first or last name blank on their FAFSA or Renewal FAFSA received a rejected SAR and were asked to verify that they use only one name by correcting the item to the same value and returning the SAR/ISIR for reprocessing. For 1999-2000, the CPS will assume that all Renewal FAFSA filers resolved this edit during the 1998-99 application processing year and will not subject students’ records to this edit again. Students using only one name who file a paper FAFSA will still be subjected to the Reject N process. New Match with Department of Veterans Affairs We have implemented a new match with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that will be in place when the 1999-2000 Central Processing System (CPS) starts up on January 15, 1999. The match will be performed to verify an aid applicant’s claim to be independent based on his or her veteran status (question # 57 on the FAFSA). When conducting the match, the VA will use ED’s definition of veteran. The following are the four possible VA match flag results: Match Flag = 1 Veteran Status Confirmed. No SAR "C" Code or comment will appear on the student's SAR/ISIR and no resolution is required. Match Flag = 2 Not a Qualifying Veteran. The VA does not consider the student to be a veteran; the CPS will assume the answer to the veteran's question on the FAFSA is "No." If being a veteran was the only criterion making the student independent, a SAR "C" Code and corresponding comment (Comment 162) will appear on the student's SAR/ISIR, and the applicant will be treated as a dependent student. If parental data, including a parent’s signature, were not provided on the FAFSA, the applicant’s record will be rejected (Reject 2 and/or 15) instead of having a SAR "C" Code. Students who believe the VA match results are in error should contact a regional VA office to have their records corrected or updated. Once the student's veteran status has been updated in the VA database, the student will need to correct the veteran's question (question #57) on the SAR/ISIR to "Yes." Another match with the VA will be performed and a new SAR/ISIR will be generated. While the student is resolving the discrepancy with the VA, the financial aid administrator may collect documentation from the applicant that clearly demonstrates that he or she is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. If the documentation confirms that the student is a veteran, the financial aid administrator will need to perform a dependency override, changing the student's dependency status from dependent to independent. Title IV aid may then be disbursed to the student. If the student is independent by virtue of one or more of the other dependency criteria, a comment (Comment 163) will appear on the student's SAR/ISIR. In these cases, however, the SAR will not contain a SAR "C" Code nor will the record be rejected if parental information was not provided on the FAFSA. No resolution by the financial aid administrator is required; however, students should work with the VA to have their records corrected or updated. Match Flag = 3 Not Found on Database. The VA did not find the student in its database; the CPS will assume the answer to the veteran's question on the FAFSA is "No." If being a veteran was the only criterion making the student independent, a SAR "C" Code and corresponding comment (Comment 173) will appear on the student's SAR/ISIR. Like Match Flag 2, the applicant will be treated as a dependent student. If parental data, including a parent’s signature, were not provided on the FAFSA, the applicant’s record will be rejected (Reject 2 and/or 15). Resolution of this match is the same as for Match Flag 2. If the student is independent by virtue of one or more of the other dependency criteria, a comment (Comment 174) will appear on the student's SAR/ISIR; however, the SAR will not contain a SAR "C" Code nor will the record be rejected if parental information was not provided on the FAFSA. No resolution by the financial aid administrator is required; however, students should work with the VA to have their records corrected or updated. Match Flag = 4 On Active Duty. The student is currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and, therefore, is not yet a veteran. There will be a SAR "C" Code on the SAR/ISIR and a comment (Comment 180) indicating that the student must provide documentation of his veteran status to the school before receiving Title IV aid. In these cases, students are responsible for providing documentation of their veteran status to the school before receiving Title IV aid. New Social Security Administration Matches By May of 1999, we will implement a new match with the Social Security Administration (SSA) and expand an existing match. These matches will be conducted on 1999-2000 financial aid applicant records and will be made against the SSA’s Date of Death field and Prisoner's File. These matches are intended to detect when someone might fraudulently be attempting to receive Title IV aid. Match with Date of Death Field: The current Social Security Number (SSN) match with the SSA will be expanded to include the SSA’s Date of Death field. This field is maintained by SSA and is updated when the SSA is notified of an individual's death. When a date of death is provided to ED through the SSA match, applicants will receive a rejected SAR/ISIR (Reject Code 8) and a comment (Comment 145) telling them that SSA records indicate their SSN belongs to a deceased person. The SSN Match Flag will be 5. If the SSA’s records are incorrect, the applicant must resolve the error with the SSA. Once the SSA corrects its records, the student must re-enter his or her SSN on the SAR/ISIR and have the CPS perform the match again so that a new SAR/ISIR can be generated with updated match results. As with other SSA match results, if a student entered an incorrect SSN on the FAFSA, the student must correct the SSN on his or her SAR or ISIR, or on a new FAFSA, as appropriate, and the CPS will run the match again. Match with Prisoner's File: ED will also implement a separate match against the Prisoner's File maintained by the SSA. While the details of this match are still being finalized, it is likely that ED will provide a comment on the student's SAR/ISIR about the type of prison facility the student is incarcerated in (i.e., federal, state, local) and the approximate date the inmate will be released from prison. A SAR "C" Code will also likely appear on the SAR/ISIR. Although students incarcerated in federal and state prisons are ineligible for Federal Pell Grants and Title IV loans, they may be eligible for state funding; therefore, a match with the SSA’s Prisoner's File will not result in a rejected record. When procedures for this match are finalized, ED will post them on the IFAP. RENEWAL FAFSA Relatively few changes have been made to the Renewal FAFSA this year. The most notable change is the rewording and reordering of the questions so that they correspond to the redesigned FAFSA. In addition, the Renewal FAFSA instructions have been revised and shortened to 12 pages (the 1998-99 Renewal FAFSA was 24 pages). Like last year, Renewal applicants can request an Electronic Access Code (EAC) to access and file their 1999-2000 Renewal FAFSA on the Web. EACs for some students will automatically be generated and mailed to students as explained in Action Letter #1, GEN-98-19. More information about EACs is provided below. FAFSA ON THE WEB AND RENEWAL FAFSA ON THE WEB Both FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web will be available to students on January 4, 1999. To encourage students to apply for financial aid electronically, ED has added several new features to these products. ED continues to offer a customer service line (1-800-801-0576) that applicants can call to check on the status of their electronic applications and receive assistance with hardware, software, and data transmission problems. In addition, ED recently introduced a new on-line application status checking feature that enables web applicants to verify that their web application data was transmitted successfully. Web applicants can use this feature 24 hours a day by going to: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov and selecting the tab labeled "Application Status Check." There is also a direct link to the Application Status Check on the Confirmation Page that is generated after an applicant transmits data through FAFSA on the Web or Renewal FAFSA on the Web. New Assumptions and Reject Overrides We have added to FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web many of the assumptions and reject overrides that currently exist in EDExpress. Although the process for setting the overrides differs somewhat from EDExpress, the outcome is the same. Assumptions: When transmitting 1999-2000 FAFSA data over the web, students will now be able to suppress certain assumptions that are made by the CPS. For example, in prior years, when an applicant indicated that four people lived in the household and four people would be in college, the CPS would assume that only one person would really be in college. To override the CPS assumption of only one family member in college, applicants had to correct household size to 4 on their SAR/ISIR and resubmit this data to the CPS. When transmitting data through 1999-2000 FAFSA on the Web or Renewal FAFSA on the Web, applicants can now prompt the system to override this--and other--CPS assumptions, if those assumptions are incorrect. This feature eliminates the need for students to submit a corrected SAR/ISIR to change our assumed values. Rejects: In addition, FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web will allow applicants essentially to override Rejects B and W when they transmit their FAFSA data to the CPS. Reject B occurs when students indicate they were born on or before 9/1/1983 and, therefore, might be too young to attend college. Reject W occurs when students indicate that they have an unusually large household size (15 people or more). When applicants attempt to transmit over the web FAFSA data that indicate they were born before 9/1/1983 and/or that their household size is 15 or greater, they will receive a warning message that this data may be incorrect. If the data is incorrect, the applicant can go back and change it. Or, applicants can verify that the items are correct and transmit the data to the CPS without having their application rejected. A comment will appear on the SAR/ISIR alerting the financial aid administrator that the student has overridden these rejects. Expanded Browser Options In response to recommendations from the financial aid community, ED expanded the browser options available to aid applicants who file through FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web. Since March of 1998, ED has allowed web filers to use browsers with 40-, 56-, and 128-bit encryption. When applying for financial aid over the web, ED advises students to use 56- or 128-bit encryption to protect and secure the privacy of their application data; however, aid applicants have the option to use browsers with less encryption, if that is their preference. EFC Estimator In mid-February 1999, we expect to implement a new feature called EFC Estimator on FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web. After transmitting their FAFSA/Renewal FAFSA on the Web data, applicants will be taken to a confirmation screen where their estimated EFC will appear. The confirmation screen will include links to other ED publications such as the Student Guide and Funding Your Education that will provide applicants with more information about what an EFC is and how it is used to determine a student's eligibility for federal student aid. New Banner Ad In 1999-2000, both FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web will include a Banner Ad, or graphic hyperlink, that schools, states, and other financial aid professionals can copy and paste onto their own web sites. This graphic hyperlink will provide students with a direct link from other financial aid web sites to the 1999-2000 FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web. FAFSA on the Web FAFSA on the Web continues to offer applicants distinct advantages. It is easy to use, there is no software to download or install, and students can use it on any type of platform (personal computer and Macintosh). Its advanced skip logic allows students to answer just those questions that apply to them and skip those that do not; FAFSA on the Web also allows applicants to override the built-in skip logic, when appropriate. For instance, when an independent student needs to provide parental data because a school or other agency such as Health and Human Services (HHS) requires it, the student can override the skip logic and FAFSA on the Web will accept the parental information. Parental data will be included on the SAR/ISIR; however, the EFC will be calculated using only the student's data. Perhaps most significantly, FAFSA on the Web's built-in edits help applicants detect and correct errors before transmitting data to the CPS. This feature significantly reduces the number of applications rejected by the CPS (less than half a percent of electronic FAFSAs are rejected compared to 12% of paper applications). Other than the new assumptions, overrides, and EFC Estimator, we have made minimal changes to FAFSA on the Web. Because it is so easy for applicants to use, we maintained the interview format of FAFSA on the Web. We revised the order and wording of the questions, however, so that they match the changes made to the paper FAFSA. The signature page process for FAFSA on the Web is the same as last year. When electronically submitting data using FAFSA on the Web, if the student indicates that he or she has an available printer, the CPS will hold the applicant’s record for 14 calendar days while awaiting the receipt of the student's signature page. If a valid signature page is not received from the student within 14 days, the CPS will print a rejected SAR (Reject 16 SAR) that the student (and parent of a dependent student) must sign and return to the FAFSA processor. If the applicant indicates that a printer is not available at the time he or she transmits applicant data, the CPS will immediately print and send a Reject 16 SAR to the student requesting the appropriate signatures. Once all appropriate signatures are received by the FAFSA processor, and assuming the application is complete and not rejected for any other reason, the CPS will calculate the student's EFC and produce a SAR and ISIR for the student. NOTE: To resolve a rejected record once a Reject 16 SAR has been generated, the student (and parent, if applicable) must sign and return the SAR, even if the student submitted a signed signature page from FAFSA on the Web in the meantime. Finally, in order to help schools promote FAFSA on the Web and encourage students to apply for aid electronically, ED will distribute new informational brochures to high schools, postsecondary schools, state financial aid agencies, libraries, Parent/Teacher Associations (PTA), and TRIO programs. Renewal FAFSA on the Web The procedures for reapplying for financial aid using Renewal FAFSA on the Web are similar to last year. Most students who meet certain eligibility criteria will automatically receive a 1999-2000 Renewal FAFSA in the mail, either from their school or from the Department. An instruction booklet encouraging students to apply for aid using Renewal FAFSA on the Web will accompany the paper Renewal FAFSA. See Action Letter #1, GEN-98-19, for details about the Renewal Application process. Like last year, students will need an Electronic Access Code (EAC) to access their 1999-2000 Renewal FASFA on the Web. Students may request EACs beginning November 23, 1998. Students who requested and obtained an EAC as part of the 1998-99 Renewal Application process can use that same EAC to access their 1999-2000 Renewal FAFSA on the Web. Applicants who do not already have an EAC, or do not remember their EAC from last year, can request one by going to ED’s web page (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov) and clicking on the "Fill out a FAFSA/Request an EAC" button. After January 3, 1999, students will also be able to request an EAC from ED’s new EAC web site (http://www.eac.ed.gov). Like last year, when requesting an EAC on the Web, students must confirm that they reside at the same address that is currently in the CPS database. An EAC will be mailed in a secure envelope to that address within 7 to 10 days from the date of the student's request. With an EAC, students can access their 1999-2000 Renewal FAFSA on the Web, complete the application on-line, and electronically transmit the information to the CPS. EAC Changes Beginning with the 1999-2000 application processing year, certain students will automatically be mailed Electronic Access Codes (EAC) without first having to go to the web to request one. These students will not receive a paper Renewal FAFSA from ED, but can use their EACs to access their Renewal FAFSA on the Web (see Action Letter #1, GEN-98-19, for more details on the EAC process for the 1999-2000 application processing cycle). EACs will automatically be mailed to the following two groups of students in the 1999-2000 Renewal Application (RAPP) database: (1) Those who filed a 1998-99 FAFSA on the Web or Renewal FAFSA on the Web; (2) Those who filed any type of 1998-99 FAFSA (paper or electronic) and indicated on their FAFSA that (a) their 1998-99 grade level in college was either 5th year/other undergraduate or graduate/professional and (b) they expected to complete their program after July 1999. The CPS will mail EACs at the same time paper Renewal FAFSAs are mailed to students (between November 23, 1998 and January 8, 1999). Signature Requirements Like last year, independent students using Renewal FAFSA on the Web do not have to submit a signed Certification Page to the CPS, because the EAC serves as their electronic signature. This is also true for dependent students; however, after completing the Renewal FAFSA on the Web, the system will prompt dependent students to print a Certification Page and obtain their parent’s signature. Before data can be transmitted over a web, the dependent applicant must specify whether or not they have printed the Certification Page. If the Certification Page was printed, the CPS will wait up to 14 days for the page to be received. If after 14 days it has not been received, a rejected SAR (Reject 15 SAR) will be produced and mailed to the dependent applicant. If at the time application data is transmitted, the student indicates that no signature page was printed, the CPS will immediately send the dependent applicant a Reject 15 SAR with the required signature page. When both the dependent student's Renewal FAFSA on the Web data and the signed Certification Page have been received, the CPS will process the student's application for aid. Again, note that once a Reject 15 SAR has been generated, the parent must sign the SAR to resolve the reject, even though the parent may have signed and submitted the printed signature page from Renewal FAFSA on the Web in the meantime. Future Uses of EAC In the future, ED plans to allow students to use their EACs to access their information in other financial aid systems, such as the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) and the Direct Loan Servicer system. FAFSA EXPRESS The 1999-2000 version of FAFSA Express will include the same new assumptions and reject overrides that were added to FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web. Before transmitting applicant data, students using FAFSA Express can suppress certain assumptions made by the CPS. Applicants can also override Rejects B (student was born before 9/1/83) and Reject W (15 people or more in household size). When applicants try to transmit FAFSA data, a message will appear warning them that certain data may be incorrect. If the information is incorrect, the applicant can go back and change it; however if the information is correct, applicants can override the reject messages and transmit their data without the CPS rejecting their application. The FAFSA Express software will be available for downloading from ED’s home page (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/express.html) by the time the CPS starts up in January 1999. SAR AND ISIR The number of changes made to the SAR this year are small, but significant. First, the 1999-2000 Student Aid Report (SAR) will be printed on yellow 8½- by 11-inch paper. The Instructions and Codes page that accompanies the SAR has been simplified so it is easier for students to understand and determine what to do next. The order of the questions on the SAR and ISIR has been revised to correspond to the extensive changes made to the FAFSA. Finally, the student's Data Release Number (DRN) will be printed on the front of every page of the SAR. Draft 1999-2000 SAR, ISIR, and SAR Acknowledgment comments were posted to IFAP in September 1998 as were draft copies of the 1999-2000 SAR, SAR Acknowledgment, and SAR Instructions. Changes to NSLDS Financial Aid History Page We added a few items to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Financial Aid History page so that it provides additional information to financial aid administrators and students. First, the Aggregate Amount for FFELP/Direct Loans section has been reorganized so that it is easier to read. In addition, the "Unsubsidized Loans" field has been deleted and replaced with a "Combined Loans" field. The "Combined Loans" field reflects the total amount of subsidized and unsubsidized loans the student has borrowed. This change is consistent with guidance provided in Dear Colleague Letter, GEN-97-3, which was published in May 1997. Finally, the "Consolidated Loans" field has been renamed "FFEL Consolidated Loans," and will only include amounts of FFEL Consolidated Loans. Direct Consolidation Loan amounts will be reported in the "Subsidized" and "Combined" fields based upon the underlying loans that were consolidated. Second, we added space in the Pell Grant Data section to show a third record of 1999-2000 award year Federal Pell Grant payment information as reported by schools to the Recipient and Financial Management System (RFMS). We also added the student's EFC and Verification Tracking Flag to this section. We added a new grade level field in the Loan Detail section. This new field indicates the grade level that was used by the financial aid administrator when the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) was certified or the Direct Loan was originated. In this section we also increased the Net Loan Amount and Outstanding Balance fields from five to six digits. Finally, if applicable, a comment will be provided on the SAR/ISIR when a student is within one annual loan limit of the aggregate loan limit for FFEL or Direct Loan (Comments 256-259, 262-265, and 268-271). Another comment (Comments 254-255, 260-261, and 266-267) will be provided when the student appears to have borrowed in excess of their aggregate loan limit for FFEL or Direct Loan. Students who appear to have borrowed in excess of their aggregate loan limits will also have a SAR "C" Code on their SAR/ISIR. EDEXPRESS We have made several improvements to the EDExpress software for 1999-2000. Like FAFSA on the Web and Renewal FAFSA on the Web, we have changed the edits in EDExpress so that they are more consistent with the CPS. We have also changed the early Analysis field so that it is correctable. In prior releases of EDExpress, once transmitted, this field could not be updated or corrected. As announced earlier, beginning with the 1999-2000 application processing year, institutions will be required to use Windows 95, 98, or NT to run EDExpress. Neither the Disk Operating System (DOS) nor earlier versions of Windows will be supported with the release of the 1999-2000 EDExpress software. Institutions were notified of this change in electronic processing requirements in a September 19, 1997 Federal Register Notice and in Action Letter #2, GEN-97-11, October 1997. The 1999-2000 version of EDExpress, which uses 32-bit software, offers numerous advantages over previous year’s 16-bit EDExpress. The 32-bit software executes much faster than the current product. Benchmarking results indicate file imports from a network execute approximately 50 times faster than the current EDExpress product. The software performs with greater speed in a standalone environment as well. Moving to the 32-bit environment has allowed for enhanced grid capability. Users can size grids, hide columns, sort or filter within grids, print grids, and export from grids. The query component has been completely redesigned to give users access to predefined queries and allow users to run parameter queries, to modify queries, and to build advanced parenthetical queries. SCHOOL NOTIFICATIONS We have eliminated two notification rosters that we previously sent to schools. Beginning with the 1999-2000 application processing year, we will no longer send the following notifications to schools: 1. Duplicate Social Security Number (SSN) Roster: In the past, ED notified schools when two students used the same SSN on their FAFSAs. Because the database match with the SSA assists in identifying students who use an incorrect SSN on their FAFSA, and thus reduces instances when two students would use the same SSN, this school notification roster has lost its usefulness and has, therefore, been discontinued for 1999-2000. The SSA database match has also allowed ED to eliminate SAR/ISIR comments 83 and 84, which were generated when a duplicate SSN occurred in the system. 2. Return Mail Roster: Because schools are required to receive electronic ISIRs, ED will no longer send Return Mail Rosters to schools informing them that a student's Student Aid Report (SAR) has been returned to the Central Processing System (CPS) as undeliverable. TITLE IV SCHOOL CODES Beginning with the 1999-2000 application processing year, Title IV School Codes have been renamed Federal School Codes. In early July 1998, the Department mailed a letter to schools asking them to review and, if necessary, update their institution's contact name, address, and Federal School Code. Updates were due back to the Department by July 15, 1998. A Federal School Code List will be published in November 1998 and mailed to postsecondary institutions, high schools, and libraries. Students and schools can also search for a specific school's Federal School Code from ED’s home page (http://www.ed.gov/BASISDB/TITLE4/search/SF) or they can go to the IFAP and click on the link called "Title IV School Codes." SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR PACIFIC ISLANDERS To be eligible to receive Title IV funds, students must provide a valid SSN on their FAFSA. As in previous years, an exception to this requirement is made for students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. Students from these areas who do not have SSNs may apply for Title IV aid, but they must send their FAFSAs to the following address for special handling: Federal Student Aid Programs P.O. Box 4010 Mt. Vernon, IL 62864-8610 Institutions should try to collect as many of these students’ completed FAFSAs as possible and send them together to this address. When received, the applications will be assigned an identification number and submitted to the CPS for regular processing. These applicants are exempt from the SSN match with SSA. Although Pacific Island applicants who do not have an SSN are not able to use FAFSA Express, FAFSA on the Web, or Renewal FAFSA on the Web, institutions can transmit application data for these students electronically using EDExpress. VERIFICATION WORKSHEETS Changes to the Verification Worksheets are still underway. As soon as the forms are finalized, ED will post them to the IFAP. Watch for the 1999-2000 Verification Worksheets on the IFAP later this fall.