Important Dates:

Changes in Title IV Programs - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 - H.R. 2055

• Elimination of ATB Title IV Eligibility as of July 1, 2012
  Any student enrolling after July 1, 2012 will need either as high school diploma or a GED or need to have a completed a home schooling program conducted in accordance with any state law requirements in order to qualify for Title IV aid. All Title IV eligibility - grants and loans - for ALL ability to benefit (ATB) students (meaning those that pass ATB tests and those that complete 6 credit hours or the equivalent) at any institution has been eliminated. ATB students who are enrolled before July 1, 2012 will qualify for Title IV aid on the terms that currently exist in the HEA.



• Reduction in the maximum income that makes an applicant eligible for an automatic zero Expected Family Contribution (auto zero EFC). Prior to this change the income threshold for the 2012-2013 Award Year would have been $32,000. Under the amended law that amount will be $23,000.
  
  For the 2012-2013 Award Year the maximum Federal Pell Grant award amount of $5,550 has been maintained. However, there is a change to the calculation of eligibility for a student to receive the minimum Pell Grant award. This change results in 4995 being the maximum EFC for a 2012-2013 Pell Grant award. Details on the changed calculation for determining an applicant's eligibility for the minimum award, as well as the 2012-2013 Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement schedules will be provided within the next two weeks.
  
  While the January start-up for the 2012-2013 Award Year will include the revised auto-zero EFC income threshold, CPS will need to initially process 2012-2013 transactions using 2011-2012 Pell Grant amounts. Once the Pell Grant calculation details have been confirmed to reflect the changes, and the payment schedules finalized, USDE will inform the community of the schedule for reprocessing the expected small number of applicants whose EFC will change.



• Reduction in the number of semesters for Pell grant eligibility from the current 18 semesters to 12 semesters (6 years);



• Elimination of the minimum "bump up" for Pell grant recipients who qualify for more than 5%, but less than 10% of the maximum Pell grant ($550);



• Elimination of the interest subsidy grace period for 2 years for a student who "ceases to carry at least one-half the normal full time academic workload (as determined by the institution)"

2012-2013 FAFSA and FAFSA on the Web

FAFSA on the Web Worksheet

Summary of Major Changes for the Application Processing System

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Data Retrieval Tool Enhancements - For 2012-2013, the IRS Data Retrieval process will be implemented on February 1, 2012 -- A filtering question asks the applicant (and the applicant's parents, when applicable) when and how he or she filed a tax return to determine if he or she should transfer tax information from the IRS into the FAFSA. Based on the applicant's response to the filtering question, new messages recommend or prohibit the use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Messages to recommend the use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool include a link to the IRS Web site. To identify applicants and parents who appear to be eligible to transfer tax information from the IRS, but have not, FSA has enhanced tracking of applicant and parent eligibility to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and their responses when they are presented with an option to link to the IRS Web site.



• IRS Data Retrieval Notifications - To encourage use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool by students and parents who appear to be eligible to use the Tool, but have not, FSA modified the existing communications to applicants as follows:
  • Added new text to the comment in the Student Processed SAR e-mail notification to tax estimators to encourage use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool once they have filed their returns
  • SAR comment text now encourages an applicant who has made changes to his or her estimated tax information or the parents' estimated tax information to use the online IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer tax information
  • Added messages regarding the IRS Data Retrieval process to the Confirmation page in Student Application Entry and Student Correction Entry when the student or parent was eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and did not transfer IRS tax information; or student or parent was not eligible to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool due only to his or her status as a tax estimator.

• Tax Estimators - We will send e-mail notifications to students and parents who submitted a FAFSA before filing taxes and have not updated their filing status. The CPS database will be queried in mid-March, 2012 and we will send the first round of e-mail to tax estimators. The CPS database will be queried a final time in early-May 2012 for the second round of e-mail notifications.
• Tax Filers - From early April, 2012 through the end of the processing year, we will also periodically send one-time e-mail notifications to students and parents who submitted a FAFSA that indicated a tax filing status of "already filed" and who did not transfer tax information from the IRS.

• Enable FAAs to Override Rejects for Changes to Student Marital Status Date - As a result of the regulations effective July 1, 2012, FAAs have the discretion to ask an applicant to update marital status information for changes that occur after the initial application was submitted. If the FAA determines the update is necessary to address an inequity or to more accurately reflect the applicant's ability to pay, the FAA can override the resulting marital status reject edit.



• Enhanced Reporting for Applicants Not Required to Provide Asset Information - Added two new fields on the ISIR for 2012-2013: Student's Asset Threshold Exceeded and Parents' asset Threshold Exceeded. Valid values include:
  
  
  • 1 = Asset threshold was exceeded; must provide additional asset information
  
  
  
  • 2 = Asset threshold was not exceeded; no additional asset information is needed
  
  
  
  • Blank = Applicant filed on the Web and the asset threshold filtering question was not presented or the applicant filed using a paper FAFSA or an FAA used EDE



• Homeless Youth Determination Reporting Changes - Currently, there is no operational distinction between a dependency override request that was submitted to make a dependent applicant independent and one that was submitted as a way of reporting an FAA homeless youth determination that was not, in fact, a dependency override. A new value for a homeless youth determination of "4" in the Dependency Override field indicates the FAA has determined the applicant to be an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or self-supporting and at risk of becoming homeless and, therefore, wants the CPS to treat the applicant as an independent student. Students who are 22 or 23 years of age and determined to be unaccompanied and homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless should have a value of "1" as an FAA dependency override. For more detailed information on homeless youth determinations and dependency overrides, please consult the Application and Verification Guide on the IFAP Web site.



• Gender Question Changes - In an effort to encourage more applicants to answer the "Are you male or female" question, FSA added informational text to FAFSA on the Web. The answer to this question is important and should be provided, as most males must be registered with the Selective Service match to qualify for federal student aid. Female applicants are sent to Selective Service when a response is not provided and come back as not matched, which then requires the FAA to follow up.



• Enhanced High School and Federal School Code Search Features - FSA enhanced the high school and Federal School Code search tool for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 processing years.



• Need Analysis Income Threshold Increase - Automatic Zero EFC income threshold in needs analysis increased from $31,000 to $32,000. *See Consolidated Appropriations Act on page 1 of this newsletter for the amended amount*.



• Pacific Islander Social Security Number Changes - Social Security Administration (SSA) has new guidelines for assigning Social Security Numbers (SSNs). As a result, changes have been made to the way pseudo-SSNs are assigned to applicants from the Pacific Islands. After October 23, 2011, Pacific Islander students submitting new applications should enter "666" in the SSN field, and students submitting corrections should use the new "666" pseudo-SSN they receive as a result of the application being processed.



• Disabling the Verification Tool for the 2012-2013 Processing Cycle - Due to recent regulatory modifications, the verification process is undergoing change and we have suspended the Verification Tool for 2012-2013. The Verification Tool is still available for the 2011-2012 processing year.

Gainful Employment Deadline - GE Data Corrections & SSN Conflicts

• Corrections Submittals - To provide sufficient time for institutions to correct previously reported GE data, USDE is modifying their earlier guidance, which stated that institutions have only 10 days from receipt of an error file returned by NSLDS to make required corrections. Because some institutions may need more than 10 days to properly investigate and resolve the reported errors and to correct other previously reported GE information, the 10 day corrections deadline will not be enforced. However, while institutions must submit all corrections as soon as possible, in order for the Department to accurately calculate the first set of GE metrics (Informational Rates), corrections to data for the 2006-2007, 2007-2008, and 2008-2009 award years must be submitted to NSLDS no later than January 20, 2012.



• SSN Conflicts - In some instances NSLDS rejected an institution's GE record for a student because of a Social Security Number (SSN) conflict. In those instances, institutions must, by working with loan servicers, other institutions, and the former student, attempt to resolve the SSN conflict as promptly as possible. However, if after following the SSN conflict resolution guidance you are unable to resolve the SSN conflict, you do not need to report that student to NSLDS. USDE will consider the institution to have met the GE reporting requirement for that student if it maintains documentation of the steps the institution took to attempt to resolve the SSN conflict.

Gainful Employment Data Corrections - USDE Live Internet Webinar

Important Reminders

New Login Process for NSLDS Professional Access Web Site Users

Calendar

Regions VII & VIII Private Career Colleges and Schools (PCCS) Workshop