Recent key announcements from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) have critical information pertinent to your compliant and successful Title IV Federal Student Aid operations.
- Gainful Employment (GE) Draft Completers List – Institutions must submit any corrections to their GE Draft Completers List by Wednesday, June 13, 2018. Please see our prior Regulatory Bulletin, “Completed or Not? (The Draft GE Completers List),” which was posted on our Blog page on May 3, 2018 on the FAME Web site. Also, see ED’s reminder about the due date posted on IFAP. It appeared in their Electronic Announcement on June 6, 2018.
- Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’) Systematic Alien Verification Entitlement (SAVE) system – The new SAVE system is experiencing issues that prevent schools from verifying students’ immigration status. (The DHS’ new electronic “three-step” process for confirming noncitizens’ potential eligibility for Federal Student Aid was discussed in more detail in FAME’s Regulatory Bulletin posted on April 12, 2018.)
ED’s Electronic Announcement on June 8, 2018, informs the community that some school users are receiving a “No Records Found” message even though the DHS Verification number is valid. While DHS is resolving this issue, ED has instructed institutions to hold all third step verification requests, including submitting records to SAVE and requesting new DHS Verification numbers, until the SAVE system issue is resolved. ED will post another announcement on IFAP when DHS has implemented a “fix” to address the issue.
- ED Ends the Availability of Paper Direct Loan Counseling Guides and Direct Loan Master Promissory Notes. ED previously announced that it will no longer print or deliver Federal Student Aid (FSA) publications after August 30, 2018. (See ED’s Electronic Announcement on May 23, 2018.) However, there are changes to that date as it pertains to paper Direct Loan Counseling Guides.
Now ED states in its June 6, 2018, Electronic Announcement, that “after June 30, 2018, schools will no longer be able to order Direct Loan Entrance Counseling or Direct Loan Exit Counseling Guides in paper form via the FSA Publications portal.” Institutions may still order these forms by June 30, 2018, and such orders will be fulfilled—as inventory levels allow.
After June 30, 2018, institutions will be able to download and print a Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the Direct Loan Entrance Counseling Guide and/or Direct Loan Exit Counseling Guide from the StudentAid.gov Website. ED also encourages schools to have students complete entrance counseling and exit counseling electronically, via the StudentLoans.gov Website.After August 30, 2018, the current paper version of the Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) will no longer be available for institutions to order. ED instructs those institutions that want to continue use of only paper MPNs that they may print blank MPNs. This may be done from the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Web site, or via the IFAP Web site tab for Direct Loans and selecting the “Sample MPNs and Communications” tab on that page. [Note: Borrowers still may continue to view online—and/or print out—a “preview” of the electronic process for the Direct Loan MPN at StudentLoans.gov. This “sample” of the MPN information is accessed by selecting the “Complete Loan Agreement (MPN)” tab at StudentLoans.gov. But, that view, or printout version at StudentLoans.gov, cannot be submitted by the borrower for processing.]
As always, it is crucial to stay current in the announcements and guidance provided by ED via IFAP. You always want to be “in the know” when someone asks you, “Did you know?”
(Should you have any questions regarding the information in this edition of our DYK, please feel free to contact FAME Customer Service through the Client Solution Center.)
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This material is presented for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered to be giving legal advice.