Application Processing System Update

Shamarli Kollock

&

Jody Sears

U.S. Department of Education

Agenda: Application Changes

• 2012-2013 Mid-Cycle Enhancements

• 2013-2014 Application Changes and Enhancements

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PIN Challenge question• Removal of case

sensitivity for PIN challenge question– The edit on the PIN

challenge question responses was relaxed to remove case sensitivity

FOTW Confirmation Page• Automatic confirmation

page e-mails– Updated to

automatically send an immediate confirmation e-mail to applicants when they successfully submit a Web transaction

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July 2012

2012-13 Mid-Cycle Enhancements

• Updating FOTW home page buttons/messaging– To better guide user actions, the “Start Here” button

will be removed and two new buttons will be added• New users will select the option to “Start A New

FAFSA”• Returning users will select the option to “Login”• Both will take the user to the Login page where

they will be able to start a new application, complete a renewal application, make corrections, complete a saved application, view the SAR, etc…

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September 2012

2012-13 Mid-Cycle Enhancements

2012-2013 Mid-Cycle Enhancements• Entry of e-mail address

–An applicant will now be encouraged to enter their e-mail address; this is currently not a required field

–Applicants that do not enter an e-mail address will receive an alert message advising them to enter their e-mail address

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September 2012

• FOTW - Browse Help & Contact Us– Merging of browse help and contact us Web

pages– Consolidating these two pages into one Help

page will make it easier for users to find answers to their questions online

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September 2012

2012-2013 Mid-Cycle Enhancements

Ability to Benefit (ATB)• Currently, by showing that they have the “ability

to benefit” from postsecondary education, students without a high school diploma or GED can qualify for federal student aid – By passing a federally-approved test or successfully

completing six credits toward a certificate or degree and receiving a “C” or higher

• ATB option eliminated effective July 1, 2012; the new rule does not affect students who were enrolled in a Title IV-eligible program prior to July 1, 2012

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2013-2014

Ability to Benefit (ATB)

• FOTW - – On the confirmation page and confirmation

page e-mail, new text will inform applicants that eligibility for federal aid is dependent on meeting eligibility guidelines

– A hyperlink to the “Am I eligible for student aid?” help topic will be included within the new text

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2013-2014

Increased Emphasis on PIN and Electronic Signatures

• We have seen an increase in signature rejects; to address this - – “Sign with my PIN” will be the default

signature option for most applicants – Users can choose another option for signing,

and when selected, the system will display options to print a signature page or submit without signatures, along with text explaining the benefits of electronic signatures

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2013-2014

PIN Mailers Discontinued• PIN mailers will no longer be generated. • All other PIN options will remain (e-mail, view

online, self-select, etc…)• PINs will no longer be automatically generated for

FAFSA filers if a valid e-mail address is not provided

• Users will continue to receive messaging about their PIN status on FAFSA on the Web that will instruct them to resolve issues with their PIN

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2013-2014

Site ImprovementsFOTW Browser Logic • Current & new browser

versions will be supported and the unsupported browser message will no longer display

• Browsers that have been tested and determined to be incompatible with the FOTW system will continue to be blocked

Social Media on FOTW • Facebook and Twitter

options will be presented at end of FOTW to allow users to share that they have completed the FAFSA

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2013-2014

Communication Enhancements

• Adding additional instructions on FOTW for individuals estimating their tax information.

• Changing the IRS Data Retrieval Tool eligibility filtering question to a set of individual dynamic questions

• Clarifying next steps on the FOTW confirmation page and adding answers to common questions, such as how to make corrections and the type of aid that is available

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2013-2014

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CPS Update Agenda

• Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) – Review updates implemented on July 1st for 2012-2013 – Updates for 2013-2014

• Overview of 2013-2014 Enhancements– Requiring High School Code on FAFSA on the Web

(FOTW) for all grade levels– Add IRS request flags as criteria for certain edits– Verification updates– New SAR C Flag for NSLDS Enrollment Pattern Flag– Important dates

2012-2013

• Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU)—Implementation for 2012-2013 on July 1, 2012– Added Pell Lifetime Limit Flag to NSLDS Pre-

screening – E = Met or Exceeded Pell limit– C = Close to Pell limit– H = High Pell percent– N = No problem

– Comment codes will be set for values of H, C, and E– SAR C Flag will be set for values of C and E– Pell Lifetime Limit Flag will not be added to the ISIR

until 2013-2014

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2012-2013

• Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU)—Implementation for 2012-2013 on July 1, 2012– New SAR comments will be generated when the Pell Lifetime

Limit Flag is set as follows:

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Comment # 345: Will be set if the NSLDS Pell Lifetime Limit Flag is H

A student may only receive a Federal Pell Grant for the equivalent of 12 semesters. Based on information from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), we have determined that you may have received a total amount of Federal Pell Grants that is at least 75% of the cumulative total you can receive.

Comment # 346: Will be set if the NSLDS Pell Lifetime Limit Flag is C

A student may only receive a Federal Pell Grant for the equivalent of 12 semesters. Based on information from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), we have determined that you may have received a total amount of Federal Pell Grants that is close to the cumulative total you can receive. Therefore, your eligibility for additional Pell Grant may be limited.

Comment # 347: Will be set if the NSLDS Pell Lifetime Limit Flag is E

A student may only receive a Federal Pell Grant for the equivalent of 12 semesters. Based on information from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), we have determined that you may have received a total amount of Federal Pell Grants that equals or exceeds the cumulative total you can receive.

2012-2013

• Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU)—Implementation for 2012-2013 on July 1, 2012– Added NSLDS Post-screening Reason Codes for

close to or exceeding Pell limit• 20 = Pell eligible and met or exceeded Pell lifetime limit• 21 = No longer meeting or exceeding Pell lifetime limit• 22 = Pell eligible and close to Pell lifetime limit• 23 = No longer close to Pell lifetime limit

– Values will appear in existing fields on the ISIR

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2012-2013

• Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU)—Implementation for 2012-2013 on July 1, 2012– The following SAR Comment will be set if the student’s Pell LEU

eligibility status changes as follows:

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Comment #348: If the post-screening Reason Code is 21 (No longer meeting or exceeding Pell Lifetime Limit) or 23 (No longer close to Pell Lifetime Limit)

Based on information from NSLDS, the total amount of Federal Pell Grants that you have received has changed, which may affect your eligibility for additional Pell Grants.

2013-2014

• Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU)—Implementation for 2013-2014 include:– Adding the Pell Lifetime Limit Flag from NSLDS to the ISIR– Adding the Pell LEU percentage to the NSLDS pre-screening data and

to the ISIR• The Pell LEU % will be a 7-character field with an implied decimal

(example: xxxx.xxx%)

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2013-2014

• Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU)—Implementation for 2013-2014 – If the Pell LEU percentage has been provided in the NSLDS data from

pre-screening, a SAR comment will be generated for Pell eligible transactions that includes the amount of eligibility used converted to the academic year equivalent

• For Example:

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Greater than 0% and less than or equal to 50% There is a limit to the total amount of Federal Pell Grants that a student may receive, which is the equivalent of 6 school years. Based on information reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) by the schools you have attended, you have received Pell Grants for the equivalent of up to one half of a school year.

Greater than 50% and less than or equal to 100% There is a limit to the total amount of Federal Pell Grants that a student may receive, which is the equivalent of 6 school years. Based on information reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) by the schools you have attended, you have received Pell Grants for the equivalent of between one-half and one school year.

2013-2014

• Requiring High School Code on FAFSA on the Web– The Web Data Entry edits related to the High School Name, High

School City, and High School State will be updated to require an answer if the applicant answers “High School Diploma” to the High School completion status question, regardless of Grade Level

– The logic for setting the High School Flag will be updated to remove the check for Grade Level equal to 0 or 1

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2013-2014

• Use IRS request flags as criteria for certain edits– The CPS will use the IRS Flag values as additional

criteria to determine whether a reject should be set– When the flag shows that the applicant transferred

the data from the IRS and did not change it, the CPS will not apply the following reject edits:• Parents: 12 & C• Student: 3, G, and C• AGI warning edit for dependent student

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Verification Approach and Process

2013-2014

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2013-2014

• For FAFSA information to be verified and acceptable documentation, refer to:– Federal Register Notice published on July 12, 2012– DCL GEN-12-11 posted on July 17, 2012

• FAFSA information to be verified by the applicant– include the same verification items that were in place for 2012-

13 for tax filers and non-tax filers

• New for 2013-14:– SNAP and Child Support Paid selection criteria process– Two additional verification selection items:

• High School Completion Status• Identity/Statement of Educational Purpose

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2013-2014

• Verification selection process– The CPS will continue to set a Verification Flag on the

applicant’s ISIR to indicate that the FAFSA was selected for verification

• New for 2013-14: Verification Tracking Groups– The CPS is adding a process that will place each applicant

selected for verification into one of five Verification Tracking Groups

– The applicant’s ISIR will use the Verification Tracking Flag field to indicate the applicant’s Verification Tracking Group: V1, V2, V3, V4, or V5

– The individual verification items that an applicant must verify is based upon the Verification Tracking Group to which the applicant is assigned

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2013-2014

Verification Tracking Flag Groups:

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Verification Tracking Flag

Verification Tracking Group Verification Description

V1 Standard Verification Record selected because conditions based on statitical analysis error-prone risk model were met

V2 SNAP Verification Record selected for receipt of SNAP criteria only

V3 Child Support Paid Verification Record selected for Child Support Paid criteria only

V4 Custom Verification Group Record selected for Identity criteria only

V5 Aggregate Verification Group Record selected for Identity criteria and “Standard Verification” criteria

Verification Flag and Verification Tracking Flag on the ISIR

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2013-2014

Y V1

Verification Flag and Verification Tracking Flag on FAA Access to CPS Online

Selected for Verification

Standard Verification

2013-2014

• Verification selection remains the same– Initial selection

• May occur on the original transaction or subsequent correction transaction if the record was not previously selected

– Subsequent Transactions After Selection• Transactions processed after selection will continue to be

flagged as selected

– Subsequent Transactions After Non-Selection• Records will be subjected to selection again based on

correction behavior

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2013-2014

• New SAR “C” Code condition for NSLDS match– Pre-Screening: NSLDS will add edits to identify records with

suspect enrollment patterns and set a new Enrollment Pattern Flag

• SAR comments and the SAR C Flag will be generated; resolution guidance will be provided to schools

• The flag will also be included on the ISIR record• The values and definitions for the Enrollment Pattern Flag set by NSLDS are

being determined

– Post-Screening: NSLDS will system-generate new transaction with Reason Code 24 for records that have a change in the Enrollment Pattern Flag value after the initial pre-screening

• The new transaction will include the new value for the Enrollment Pattern Flag and a SAR Comment or C Flag as appropriate

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2013-2014

For more information about Verification Updates:– Verification 2012-13 and Beyond

• Monday, July 23 at 9:00 in Crystal B• Tuesday, July 24 at 9:00 in Crystal B

– Federal Update• Wednesday, July 25 at 9:00 in the Grand Ballroom

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Important Dates

Important Dates

• August 2012– 2013-2014 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical

Reference draft (including the ISIR Record Layout and ISIR Cross-Reference)

• August 2012– 2013-2014 Application Processing System

Specifications for Software Developers

• August 2012 – 2013-2014 EFC Formula Guide on the IFAP Web site,

pending final 2012 IRS tax legislation

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Important Dates

• October 2012– 2013-2014 CPS Test System User Guide

• October 2012– 2013-2014 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE)

Technical Reference

• November 2012– 2013-2014 SAR Comment Codes and Text

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Important Dates

• October 2012– 2013-2014 ISIR Guide on the IFAP

• December 2012– The CPS Test System is made available.

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Important Dates

• January 1, 2013– 2013-2014 FAFSA on the Web site is available

to students and 2013-2014 FAA Access to CPS Online Web site

• January 2, 2013– The 2013-2014 CPS begins processing

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We appreciate your feedback and comments. We can be reached at:

Shamarli Kollock Jody Sears

Phone: 202-377-3483 Phone: 202-377-3604

shamarli.kollock@ed.gov joellen.sears@ed.gov

Contact Information

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