It is time to ensure that all verification status codes are appropriately and accurately reported for 2012-2013. ED has sent out a reminder via an Electronic Announcement on April 9, 2013 (updated on April 10, 2013) to encourage all schools to review any Pell Grant records submitted for 2012-2013 to confirm that all records have a valid verification status code of “V” or “S”. At this point, there should not be any records that have been submitted via the Common Record document submitted to COD that still have a “W” status on file. (The “W” status should have only been used when an institution made an interim Pell Grant disbursement before completing verification, i.e., made a payment “Without” verification being completed, and thus, the “W” status.)
On April 8, 2013, ED began sending messages to schools that have one or more student records showing a “W” status. The warning message indicates that disbursements to all students with a verification status code of “W” will be considered overawards and reduced to a zero dollar amount ($0.00), even though the disbursements were previously accepted in the COD System. The reduction of the affected disbursements is scheduled to occur on April 22, 2013.
Schools should be alert to messages arriving in their SAIG mailboxes with the message class of PGTX13OP(the warning message that your school has 2012-2013 records with “W” status) or PGRC13OP (a file listing the 2012-2013 students showing a “W” status). Schools should make any appropriate changes before April 22, 2013.
Note that there may be some students who still fall within the allowable timeframe for submitting verification documents and having their application data verified. After the April 22, 2013 reduction, schools that need additional time to complete verification on individual students may still re-submit the applicable students’ records to COD with a disbursement amount greater than zero ($0.00) until September 30, 2013. After that date, no “W” statuses will be accepted.
For additional information regarding this process, schools should review the more specific details outlined in the April 9, 2013 Electronic Announcement. If you have any questions regarding the information in this Did You Know, please contact your FAME Customer Service Representatives by calling 800.327.5772 x 5 or the COD School Relations Center at (800) 474-7268. You may also e-mail CODSupport@ed.gov.
