OCTOBER 2012 NEWSLETTER

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1 W Kellogg Drive Wichita, KS IMPORTANT DATES: October 1 Deadline for electronic submission of the FISAP October 3 DJA Monthly Webinar Enrollment Reporting using NSLDS 11:00 a.m. CDT October CCST Dallas, TX October CAPPS Pasadena, CA October AACS Orlando, FL IN THIS ISSUE: Columbus Day Cohort Default Rates Program Integrity Q & A NSLDS Enhancements MyData Button Studentloans.gov Compliance & Training Calendar OCTOBER 2012 NEWSLETTER I would like to remind you that DJA utilizes a Document Management portal called SchoolDocs. SchoolDocs is used to send, receive, store and track student file information and other documents between DJA and your school. Our clients also have the ability to access their own database to track students, view and print ISIRs, view originations and even run pending reports. In addition, DJA has the technology to allow your disbursements to be imported from our accounting software directly into data management systems commonly used by institutions. These school management programs include Diamond D, Premier and Top School. DJA has the unique ability to integrate with your system. If your school currently uses an internal management system and you would like to utilize this option, please contact me. I am excited about these initiatives that will allow DJA to not only personalize our service to you, but process your Title IV aid more efficiently. If you have questions about any of the above, please contact us. Deborah John, President COLUMBUS DAY FEDERAL HOLIDAY DJA will be open; however the USDE offices, as well as some Title IV processors and call centers will be closed on Monday, October 8, 2012 to observe the Columbus Day federal holiday. The Central Processing System (CPS) will accept data on Monday, October 8, 2012 but will not process new Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) until Tuesday, October 9, The Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System will accept and process data from schools and send back responses/acknowledgments on Monday, October 8, 2012, but schools will not be able to receive any federal funds on that day as banks will also be closed. Requests for changes in funding levels and for funds will not be processed by COD until Tuesday, October 9, For a full list of various centers holiday closures/hours, please go to this link: h.pdf.

2 October OFFICIAL COHORT DEFAULT RATES DISTRIBUTED On September 17, 2012, USDE distributed the FY 2010 official cohort default rate (CDR) notification packages to all eligible schools. This release is for the 2-Year Cohort Default Rates. The 3-Year Cohort Default Rates were released separately on Monday, September 24, Packages were not sent to any school not enrolled in ecdr. These schools may download their cohort default rate and accompanying Loan Record Detail Reports from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) via the NSLDS Professional Access Web site. Note: Any school that did not have a borrower in repayment, during the current or any of the past cohort default rate periods, will not receive an official cohort default rate notification package. These schools are considered to have no cohort default rate data and no cohort default rate. Begin Dates for Appealing Official Cohort Default Rates During the official cycle, you may request a New Data Adjustment or an Uncorrected Data Adjustment based on your review of the LRDR (Loan Record Detail Report). You may also appeal the rate based on loan servicing errors that you are able to identify from lender and Data Manager records. If your school is subject to sanctions for a high default rate, it may be eligible to file other appeals. The time period for appealing the FY 2010 Official Cohort Default Rates began on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 for all schools. For the FY year cohort default rates, the timeframe begin date was Tuesday, October 2. All Uncorrected Data Adjustments (UDA) and New Data Adjustments (NDA) must be made through the ecdr Appeals application. All other adjustments/appeals will continue to be submitted via hard copy. ecdr Appeals is a web-based application, at that allows schools to electronically submit certain adjustments/appeals requests during the specified timeframes. The application tracks the entire life cycle of each request from the time the case is submitted until the time a decision is made and the case is closed. In order to complete an adjustment or appeal, you may need data manager s (guaranty agency or Federal Loan Servicer) contact information. Click on the link labeled, Data Manager Information from the home page of the Cohort Default Rate Guide at For specific information regarding ecdr Appeals, visit the ecdr Appeals Web site, where you will find user guides for each of the challenge and adjustment processes, as well as a user guide for the registration process. Additionally, you will find links to recordings of ecdr Appeals demonstration sessions to assist first-time users. pt17andsept2412.html

3 October NEW GUIDANCE RELEASED - PROGRAM INTEGRITY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Q&A) WEB SITE UPDATE The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) recently updated the Q&As on their web site with regard to the following topics: Return of Title IV Funds: Guidance is provided for students who withdrew from a non-term credit hour program offered in modules and failed hours in the payment period. Detailed information for extending the payment period to reflect the number of days in the failed courses that the student did not successfully complete is outlined. Verification: Documentation that must be collected from an applicant who was selected for verification if the applicant or the applicant s parent(s) filed an amended tax return with the IRS has been updated. Individuals who originally utilized the IRS DRT to complete their FAFSA may not rely on that tax information to complete and satisfy the verification requirements if an amended tax return was filed. When you are aware that an amended tax return was filed, you must also obtain both documents listed below in order to complete and satisfy the verification requirements: a signed copy of the original tax return that was filed with the IRS or an IRS Tax Return Transcript (which does not have to be signed), and a signed copy of the IRS Form 1040X that was filed with the IRS. In order to view these updates in extensive detail, please visit the web site click on the applicable topics, and look for the "New" icon next to the Q&As that have been added or modified. NSLDS ENROLLMENT REPORTING ENHANCEMENTS DLC-GEN-12-06: posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web Site on March 30, 2012, provided important reminders about your Enrollment Reporting responsibilities and provided information regarding enhancements to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting Process. On April 6, 2012, FSA posted an Electronic Announcement to provide schools with details regarding the changes and links to the new enrollment reporting file formats. NSLDS Newsletter 39 discusses enhanced Web pages and new reporting functionality that are now available on the NSLDS Professional Access Web site and the NSLDS Student Access Web site. Enhancements covered in this newsletter include: New Enrollment Reporting File Format Choices Enrollment Administrator Options

4 October New Move to School Location Functionality Enrollment Reporting of Pell Grant and Perkins Loan Recipients New Enrollment Reporting Data Reporting Student Address Enhancements to the NSLDS Student Access Web Site Additional Information The newsletter does not cover the step by step functionality of enrollment reporting. That will be available in a new version of the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide that was scheduled to be released over the summer. Please monitor the IFAP website for the new Guide to be posted. You can find the NSLDS Newsletters on the IFAP Web site by selecting ''Processing Resources'' from the home page, followed by the ''NSLDS Reference Materials'' link from the Processing Resources page and the ''NSLDS Newsletters'' link from the ilibrary - NSLDS Reference Materials page. Or you may use this link to get there. MYSTUDENTDATA BUTTON ON NSLDS The new MyStudentData Download button is now available on the NSLDS Student Access Web site which allows students to download their loan, grant, enrollment, and overpayment information from NSLDS. Using the MyStudentData Button To access the MyStudentData Button, the student must first log in to the NSLDS Student Access Web site using his or her identifiers and Federal Student Aid PIN. After logging in, the MyStudentData Button will be available from the following four NSLDS Student Access Web pages: Financial Aid Review, Loan Detail, Grant Detail, and Overpayment Detail. Students who click any one of the four buttons will receive, as a download, a machine-readable file in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. The simple text file will include their loan information (e.g., loan amount, disbursement amount), grant information (e.g., award amount, disbursement amount), as well as enrollment and overpayment information, regardless of the Web page the student is on when clicking the button. The downloaded file can then be viewed, printed, and saved to a hard drive. In the future, online tools, mobile apps, and other resources will be available for students to upload their data and receive customized information relating to their educational goals. Details are available at the following link: In addition you may refer to the August 16, 2012 electronic announcement at for a complete description of this initiative.

5 October ELECTRONIC INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT APPLICATION AVAILABLE ON STUDENTLOANS.GOV WEB SITE Be prepared for borrowers with questions about the newly available Electronic IBR Application that has been posted to the StudentLoans.gov web site. Through interfaces with NSLDS and the IRS, the Electronic IBR Application streamlines the application process for the majority of borrowers who choose to repay their eligible Federal loans under the IBR Plan. Borrowers will use the application to initially apply to repay under the IBR Plan and to subsequently meet the plan s annual income documentation requirement. FSA provides a high-level summary of the application and its associated process in the Electronic Announcement at the link below. You will find it very helpful in providing assistance to borrowers who may contact you. COMPLIANCE AND TRAINING To stay in compliance, institutions need to review their internal policies and procedures on an ongoing basis to guarantee proper administration of the federal student aid programs and ensure that the requirements of institutional eligibility, financial responsibility and administrative capability are met. Developing policies and procedures is a daunting task, but essential to form the foundation for assessing whether or not you are in compliance. Once developed, continue to monitor where adjustments may need to be made when new regulations are released. Continually evaluate if you need to revise your policies and procedures or retrain staff. And, never underestimate the value of quality training. Make sure that your staff is given the opportunity to attend webinars, training sessions, and conferences that are sponsored by knowledgeable professionals throughout the industry. Keep in mind that this should include all departments and your institutions administration. In addition to the training events lists in the DJA calendar, you may want to take advantage of the opportunities listed below: Fundamentals of Federal Student Aid Administration These in-person training workshops scheduled for October 2012 through September 2013 are four and one-half days in length and conducted at one of the Department of Education s regional training facilities If your school meets either of the following criteria, you must attend the Fundamentals of Federal Student Aid training: Your school is applying to participate in the Title IV Federal Student Aid programs for the first time, and needs to fulfill the Fundamentals training requirement to complete your certification, or Your school is undergoing a change of ownership (in some instances).

6 October Questions about these requirements should be directed to your school s regional School Participation Team. If your school meets one of the criteria above, you must ensure that the Owner/President/CEO (or their highlevel school official designee) and Financial Aid Administrator attend Fundamentals of Federal Student Aid Administration training. Both the Owner/President/CEO (and their high-level school official designee) AND the Financial Aid Administrator must attend all four and one-half days to fulfill the requirement. Individuals who do not meet the criteria as outlined above but wish to attend as a refresher or as basic training on the Title IV programs may also attend. There is a new, two-step process to register for the Fundamentals of Federal Student Aid Administration workshops that occur after October 1, 2012: 1. Participants must first successfully complete the online, self-paced tutorial, Introduction to Federal Student Aid. Most people will take at least 20 hours to complete this tutorial, so please plan ahead so that you can register for the in-person workshop you want to attend. 2. After successfully completing the online tutorial, participants will be provided a link to register for one of the in-person Fundamentals of Federal Student Aid Administration training workshops. You will find details regarding schedules, location and registration in DCL ID: ANN at FSA 2012 Fall Webinar Training Series FSA is also offering a series of instructor-led webinars this fall that will provide information on the Campus- Based programs, R2T4 calculations in clock-hour withdrawal situations, R2T4 calculations for modules, and clock-hour program requirements. To register for one or more training modules, click on this link: COD Computer-Based Training FSA also announced the availability of the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Computer Based Training (CBT). The components of the COD CBT include a variety of COD System simulations. You may be interested in the StudentLoans.gov Web Site Simulations These five separate simulations offer a step-by-step walk through of the various functions available on the StudentLoans.gov Web site. Three simulations demonstrate electronically completing a Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN), based on loan type, and entrance counseling. The other two simulations demonstrate completing a credit check or credit appeal online and completing an endorser Addendum online. To get a full list and description of available training follow this link:

7 October DJA CALENDAR & EXHIBITION SCHEDULE Next Month DJA Webinar: Program Integrity (Audits, Program Review) Wednesday Nov. 7 th at 11 a.m. CDT NOTE: There may be a difference between DJA local time and your time zone. To determine your time zone equivalent, click on this link to view a time zone map: Webinars are free so please join us for these presentations. All participants for these sessions must register by sending an to Julie Kerr at jkerr@gotodja.com. After registering, you will receive the log-in information. Questions can be directed to Julie by or by calling toll free Be sure to check out our booths and/or presentations at the following conferences and conventions coming up this fall. We hope to see you there! Career Colleges and Schools of Texas (CCST) 2012 Annual Conference October in Dallas, TX DJA will be an exhibitor at the 2012 Annual CCST Conference. The convention will be held at the Westin Galleria in Dallas, TX. The annual conference is intended to serve as an exchange for ideas, information and technology related to career colleges and schools and higher education. For additional information about this conference, visit the CCST website at or call CCST at The California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) 28 th Annual Conference October in Pasadena, CA DJA will be an exhibitor at CAPPS. CAPPS is the only California State Association representing the many diverse kinds of Private Postsecondary Schools in California. CAPPS has a membership of over three hundred institutions including for-profit, non-profit, religious exempt and approved only Institutions. For additional information about this conference, visit the CAPPS website at or call CAPPS at American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS) Annual Convention October in Orlando, FL AACS is a national nonprofit education association open to all privately owned schools of cosmetology. This year s Convention will be held in Orlando, FL at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort. For additional information about this conference visit the AACS website at Accrediting Counsel for Continuing Education & Training (ACCET) Annual Conference November 5-7 in Lake Tahoe, NV DJA will be an exhibitor at the ACCET Annual Conference. This year s conference will be held in Lake Tahoe, NV at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe. ACCET provides institutional accreditation for organizations whose primary function is for educational purposes and also for organizations offering continuing education as a clearly identified institutional objective within the operational entity. Additional information can be found here: Federal Student Aid Conference November in Orlando, FL The FSA annual conference is designed to provide the most up-to-date information on Title IV programs and the evolving federal policies and procedures. Topics ranging from the technologies associated with FSA information systems to improved practices for supporting aid applicants and recipients will be covered. The FSA Conference is the largest financial aid conference offered to the financial aid community, hosting almost 7,000 in For further information regarding the upcoming 2012 FSA Conference, please visit the website at