Posted Date: December 10, 2008
Author: William Leith, Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid
Subject: Operational Implementation Guidance - Direct Unsubsidized Loans to Dependent Students Without Parental FAFSA Information After COD System Implementation
The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), Public Law 110-315, provides a financial aid administrator with the authority to use his or her professional judgment to award an unsubsidized loan under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program to a dependent student when that student's parent or parents have stopped providing financial support for the student and refuse to provide parental information on a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In such a case, the financial aid administrator may exercise this authority after receiving a signed statement from the parent and confirming the student's submission of a FAFSA.
Note: The Department of Education (the Department) will soon issue a Dear Colleague Letter that provides complete policy guidance related to the new authority. Please monitor the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site for this guidance.
During the period December 12-13, 2008, we plan to implement Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality that will support the new authority for the Direct Loan Program. In this announcement, we provide batch processing suspension and Web site outage information for the implementation period. In the attachment to this announcement, we provide detailed guidance about operational processing after implementation of the new COD System functionality. Schools that will approve students for Direct Unsubsidized Loans under the new authority must read this announcement, the attachment to this announcement, and the forthcoming Dear Colleague Letter in their entirety.
We cover information in the following order:
COD Batch Processing Suspension and Web Site Outage Information for December 12-13, 2008
Explanation of Attachment
Contact Information
Attachments/Enclosures
COD Batch Processing Suspension and Web Site Outage Information
During the period December 12-13, 2008, the following suspensions and outages will occur while we install the new COD System functionality:
Batch Processing
COD batch processing will be suspended from 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, December 12, 2008 until 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, December 13, 2008. Records submitted during this period will be held and processed after 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, December 13, 2008.
Web Sites
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The COD Web site will be unavailable from 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, December 12, 2008 until 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, December 13, 2008.
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The Direct Loan Electronic Master Promissory Note (MPN) Web site will be unavailable from 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, December 12, 2008 until 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, December 13, 2008.
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The TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (ATS) Web site will be unavailable from 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, December 12, 2008 until 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, December 13, 2008.
An individual starting the process by 7:00 P.M. (ET) on December 12, 2008 will be able to complete his or her MPN before the Web site becomes unavailable. An individual attempting to access the Web site after the cutoff time will see a Web site maintenance message and will not be able to start the process or retrieve an existing MPN.
An individual starting the process by 7:00 P.M. (ET) on December 12, 2008 will be able to complete his or her ATS before the Web site becomes unavailable. An individual attempting to access the Web site after the cutoff time will see a Web site maintenance message and will not be able to start the process or retrieve an existing ATS.
Note: The COD System will undergo extended routine maintenance on Sunday, December 14, 2008 from 1:30 A.M. until 11:00 A.M. (ET). During this period, batch processing and Web site availability will again be impacted.
Explanation of Attachment
In the attachment to this announcement titled "Operational Processing - Direct Unsubsidized Loans to Dependent Students Without Parental FAFSA Information," we provide detailed guidance about operational processing after implementation of the new COD System functionality. Schools that will approve students for Direct Unsubsidized Loans under the new authority must read the attachment to this announcement and the forthcoming Dear Colleague Letter in their entirety.
Contact Information
If you have questions about this announcement, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/848-0978. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.
Attachments/Enclosures:
