Publication Date: November 5, 2008

Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: Reminder: Submit 2008-2009 SAR and ISIR Corrections by January 11, 2009 in Preparation for 2009-2010 Renewal Reminder Distribution

Posted on 11-05-2008

In preparation for the 2009-2010 Renewal Reminder distribution, Federal Student Aid is reminding all schools to update 2008-2009 Student Aid Report (SAR) and Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) transactions for their students with current e-mail and mailing addresses by January 11, 2009. Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements for a 2009-2010 renewal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by January 11, 2009, will be sent a Renewal Reminder e-mail or a Renewal Reminder letter between January 15 and February 16, 2009.

 What is the Renewal Reminder?

The Renewal Reminder is an important alert for renewal-eligible students, reminding them that they can use FAFSA on the Web to reapply for aid. Federal Student Aid encourages schools to work with students to ensure the most current e-mail and mailing address information is present on 2008-2009 transactions and to submit any other pending corrections that may be preventing the student from being renewal-eligible for 2009-2010, such as resolving rejected transactions.

 Who is eligible for a Renewal Reminder?

Renewal-eligible students must have a "good" match with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to qualify for a Renewal Reminder. A "good" match occurs when the student's Social Security Number (SSN), name, and date of birth all match SSA's records and the student received a match flag of "4." A successful match result indicates that the student has previously been sent a Federal Student Aid PIN, which is required to access renewal data on FAFSA on the Web, and the student should therefore be sent a Renewal Reminder.

Also, students who submit a FAFSA4caster record prior to January 11, 2009 and are age 16 or older as of January 1, 2009 will be eligible to submit a 2009-2010 renewal application using FAFSA on the Web and will be sent a Renewal Reminder with customized text.

 What type of Renewal Reminder will a student receive?

Renewal-eligible students who provide valid e-mail addresses on their 2008-2009 records will be sent 2009-2010 Renewal Reminder e-mails.

Renewal-eligible students whose 2008-2009 records do not have e-mail addresses, or whose Renewal Reminder e-mails have been returned as undeliverable, will be mailed 2009-2010 Renewal Reminder letters, provided there is a deliverable mailing address.

Note: Students will receive Spanish 2009-2010 Renewal Reminders if the 2008-2009 transaction that is renewal-eligible was created from a Spanish application.

Where can I get more information?

For further information on the 2009-2010 renewal application process, see the 2009-2010 Student Web Application Products Process Guide, which will be available in November 2008 on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, located at http://www.ifap.ed.gov, and the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site, located at https://www.fsadownload.ed.gov.

If you have any questions, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.