Posted Date: January 02, 2009
Author: William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid
Subject: Availability of EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010, Release 1.0
Federal Student Aid is pleased to announce the posting of EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010, Release 1.0, on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) Web site, located at https://www.fsadownload.ed.gov. This release contains Global, Application Processing, and Packaging functionality for the 2009-2010 cycle.
In addition, the following EDExpress 2009-2010 documents are available on the FSAdownload Web site:
- Installation Guide for EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010
- EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010, Release 1.0 Cover Letter
- EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010, Release 1.0 Desk Reference (covers Global, Application Processing, and Packaging functionality) and Addendum (covers changes related to the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 [the HERA], Pub. L. 109-171, such as Academic Competitiveness Grant [ACG] and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant [National SMART Grant] processing)
- 2009-2010 Packaging Technical Reference
These documents contain important information regarding EDExpress 2009-2010 installation, functionality, and enhancements that you should review.
Federal Pell Grant and Direct Loan Award Limits in Release 1.0 Packaging
At this time, the U.S. Department of Education’s Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriation has not been approved. Therefore, the 2009-2010 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedule used by the Release 1.0 Packaging module is based on the current $4,731 maximum Pell Grant award. After ED’s Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriation is finalized, we will update the Pell Grant Payment Schedule, if necessary, through a future release of EDExpress. If you use the EDExpress Packaging module to award Pell Grants, you may want to wait until it is known if the Pell Payment Schedule changes.
Also, during 2009-2010, we will implement changes to EDExpress to accommodate provisions of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (ECASLA), Pub. L. 110-227. This includes the implementation of revised William D. Ford Direct Loan (Direct Loan) award limits in the EDExpress 2009-2010 Packaging and Direct Loan modules and revised eligibility rules for the ACG and National SMART Grant programs in the Pell Grant module. Note: The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA), Pub. L. 110-35, changed the effective date for implementation of the revised ACG and National SMART Grant eligibility rules from the 2008-2009 award year to the 2009-2010 award year.
All ECASLA-related changes will be implemented in EDExpress 2009-2010, Release 2.0, scheduled for release in late March 2009. Packaging functionality in EDExpress 2009-2010, Release 1.0, calculates subsidized and unsubsidized loan awards (aid types S, U, and D) according to the loan limits defined prior to the enactment of the ECASLA.
EDExpress 2009-2010, Release 1.0, Packaging users can manually adjust subsidized and unsubsidized Direct Loan awards to the increased loan limits defined by the ECASLA. This can be accomplished by increasing loan award amount(s) on the Awarded Funds dialog box (accessible from the Awards tab within a student record) or by importing an external Add Funds file.
Alternatively, you can run the Repackage process (by selecting Process, Repackage on the main EDExpress menu or from a student’s Awards tab) after installing Release 2.0 to adjust the loan awards on your packaging records to ECASLA limits. Be aware that repackaging records in Release 2.0 may result in different award packages for your students (due to increased loan awards) than they receive when packaged in Release 1.0, depending on your Packaging setup.
Release 1.0 Download/Installation Process
Release 1.0 is available on the FSAdownload Web site in two formats. You can download the entire software in one file, called express90r1.exe, or you can download the software in separate "disk" installment files, which can be copied to a local area network (LAN) drive or CDs. Review the download and installation instructions in the Installation Guide for EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010 for further information.
You are required to have Windows 2000 or Windows XP as your PC workstation operating system to run Release 1.0.
Note: We tested Microsoft Windows Vista as an operating system for our EDESuite PC products earlier this year. EDExpress 2009-2010 includes modifications that will allow you to install and run it on Vista workstations. For more information on our Vista testing results and the issues we discovered, see the September 18, 2008 electronic announcement posted to Federal Student Aid’s Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site, located at http//ifap.ed.gov.
Important Installation Note: You must be an Administrator on your workstation to install EDExpress 2009-2010 in the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating systems. If you are not an Administrator, you will receive a warning when you try to install EDExpress. After an Administrator has installed EDExpress, you can run it as a member of the Power Users group. If your database is on a network server, you must be a Power User or higher on the network (or "domain") as well as on your workstation. There are no workarounds for these Windows rights issues. Consult with your school’s technical department if you receive a warning that an Administrator must install the EDExpress software.
Release 1.0 can be installed in a standalone or LAN environment. In a standalone installation, all program files, including the EDExpress database, are installed and stored on the hard drive of a single PC.
If you want to run EDExpress for Windows in a LAN environment, you must first run a network server installation and designate a location on your LAN for your EDExpress database. After the network server installation is complete, you must run network workstation installations on all PCs that will access the EDExpress database on your LAN, designating the correct LAN drive and folder for your database during each workstation installation.
If you receive any prompts during the Release 1.0 installation indicating an existing file was found and asking if you want to overwrite it, click Yes.
Other system and network requirements are outlined in the Installation Guide for EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010, available now on the FSAdownload Web site, located at https://www.fsadownload.ed.gov.
If You Have Questions
If you have any questions regarding downloading, installing, or using EDExpress 2009-2010, Release 1.0, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by e-mail at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.
You can also post questions regarding EDExpress on FSATECH. FSATECH is an electronic mailing list for technical questions about Federal Student Aid systems, software, and mainframe products. For more information on subscribing to FSATECH, go to ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/services/fsatechsubscribe.html.
