1 / 34

Claiming SSACI Awards Guide

Table of Contents. Subject

sandra_john
Download Presentation

Claiming SSACI Awards Guide

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


    1. Claiming SSACI Awards Guide State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana April 28, 2009

    3. xGrads File Processing New guide Claiming SSACI Awards will be available on xGrads Information Files Two Types of Grants/File Processing Reconciliation Files for these grants: Frank O’Bannon: Higher Ed Award and Freedom of Choice Twenty-first Century Scholars and National Guard grants Part-time grants Abbreviated: HEA, FOC, 21st, NGS, PT Billed Awards Files for these grants: Children of Veterans and Officers (CVO) Nursing and Minority Teacher grants (NURS, MINT) Hoosier Scholar (HOOS)

    4. Reconciled Awards: Three Cycles Applications – get FAFSAs, check and clean Notifications – tell colleges/students of awards Reconciliation – claim payments each term

    5. Why do I care about…. APPL files – to attract students, package awards, help clean FAFSAs for awards NOTF files – to confirm FAFSA data, award offers; correct errors before claiming funds RECN files – to file for payment $$$ Results files – to confirm 21st, National Guard status, Academic Honors or Core 40 status - updated week-daily not weekly like APPL files Use all files to fix WAITS, clear PJs

    6. File Names ######APPLmmddyyyy.dat Where: ###### is your college’s Title IV number, APPL means it’s an application file, mmddyyyy is the month, day and year that the file was created, .dat is the extension for a data file.

    7. File Names and Meanings, 1 APPL is the main application file name. APRJ contains only application records rejected by SSACI; they have details on rejected records. Reject files are only provided when rejected records exist. NOTF is the main notification file name; NORJ contains only rejected notification records. Reject files cannot be returned to SSACI for processing; they are for college’s information only.

    8. File Names and Meanings, 2 RECN is the main reconciliation file name. REJT contains only reconciliation records rejected by SSACI; these files have details on rejected records. RUPD contains only reconciliation records updated by SSACI. Like reject files, these files are only given to colleges when there are updated records.

    9. File Names and Meanings, 3 ResultsAHDC40-yyyy-yyyymmdd.dat Is created 5 times per week all year; reflects the latest data on Core 40 and Academic Honors status Results21CSCH-yyyy-yyyymmdd.dat Is created 5 times per week all year; reflects the latest data on 21st affirmation status ResultsNATGRD-yyyy-yyyymmdd.dat Is created 5 times per week; reflects the latest data on National Guard recertification status as it comes in…. Use Results_ReadMe, on xGrads, Information Files for codes.

    11. Downloading Files Now that we have seen what types of files SSACI has available at what times of year, how do you get at them? In xGrads, File Transfer menu, you can choose Download from SSACI to pick up a file from your “mailbox,” and choose Upload to SSACI, to leave it in your “mailbox” for us to pick up.

    12. Mailbox? Each college only sends and receives its own files from SSACI, but SSACI processing staff picks up files from all participating colleges and gives back only the correct files for each college. In a sense, SSACI’s file exchange procedure acts like a mail carrier working with a set of clients, making sure that each client only gets the proper deliveries, and timely, scheduled pickups, too.

    13. File Transfer Weekly Deadlines SSACI will notify colleges when each cycle of file transfers begins and ends, but generally the schedule is known a year in advance. It can be found in the SSACI Processing Schedule on xGrads, Information Files. The 2009-2010 schedule is now available. It is posted with the relevant year in the title, describes the scheduled dates files are picked up, processed and returned to colleges, and it describes which schedule fits each type of college partner, by the type of term that college follows.

    14. SSACI Processing Schedule During the usual term cycle SSACI will: Process on Thursday all files uploaded via xGrads by 10 PM Wednesdays. Put new files to xGrads’ file transfers link by noon Fridays (NOTE: APPL files are put on xGrads’ file transfers link only on Mondays) During the intensive processing cycle when SSACI processes files twice a week for the end-of-term and end-of-year (the cycle begins 2 weeks before the last date to receive a term file) SSACI will: Process on Tuesdays files uploaded via xGrads by 10PM Mondays. Process on Thursdays files uploaded via xGrads by 10PM Wednesdays. Put new files to xGrads’ file transfers link by noon Wednesdays and Fridays. (NOTE: APPL files are put on xGrads’ file transfers link only on Mondays. Intensive processing does not apply to APPL or NOTF files.)

    15. Processing Schedule Calendar 2009-10

    16. Processing Tips You can’t send two files with the same name back to SSACI. When in doubt, change the date in the name of the file so it’s not the same as the last one you sent. (You can send back one file with the same date as one you downloaded; many of you know to do that already.) SSACI won’t process seemingly unchanged files. If no records have been updated with the proper code in the first slot, our system looks through each record, and finding no change code at the beginning of each, it says not to process that file. We’re done when we say we’re done, both on file transfer and on xGrads. We have to have one term end before we can start the next, and at the end of the year, we need to close out when the state fiscal year ends. We’ll give you plenty of warning through The End is Near/Here broadcast emails. Start the “final” reconciliation at least two cycles before the end. This will give you plenty of time to correct mistakes, check and recheck that all awards are being claimed, and necessary refunds can be made. If you don’t claim what a student is owed in a timely fashion, SSACI expects the college to make good on the award to the student!

    17. More Processing Tips Keep any files you will want to have after the end of the term - copy them to your local storage; we won’t have them available. The one exception is that in later terms, you will have earlier terms’ RECN files available in case you need to refund. After the end of the year, there will be no more files of that year. Work with a file and get it back to us quickly, or download the most recent file, if you have not modified a file for a week or more. New data comes to us all the time; you will not have the latest data if you work with an old file. Clearing WAITS is a two step process. The WAIT is cleared in one file and the award is reconciled in a next file.

    18. Even More Processing Tips What if you put a file in the “mailbox” Upload to SSACI, and later decide you didn’t want to do that? Before the mail collection time, say Wed. night at 10PM, you can take it out and put the correct one in and we’ll never know. After the collection date/time, you can upload another (correct) file, but it won’t be processed until the next scheduled processing date/time. At that point it is better to get a fresh file and start again, because changes may have occurred over that week. If and only if a dire end-of-term emergency (!!!) contact SSACI xGrads email, xgrads@ssaci.in.gov for help in processing a file sooner than the schedule. If you have trouble with xGrads, use that email for those technical questions. Sometimes SSACI will need to deviate from the processing schedule. We will attempt to announce these times in advance via broadcast email.

    19. Inside the files…. Now that we know the schedule, and how to download a file, what do they look like? APPL, NOTF, RECN, etc. are all flat files, see below: Open with the Viewer to modify. They could be opened in Notepad or even Excel, just to look at. Without the viewer, in Notepad, they look like this:

    20. With the viewer… The viewer provides separations between columns, column labels, a brief data dictionary, the ability to sort and select, and most importantly for SSACI, the ability of college staff to update records in a compatible format to return files to SSACI for processing.

    21. After the Viewer: the Converter Colleges have been using a version of the viewer for years now. (We are on the 14th viewer.) The viewer is based on old (PowerBuilder) technology; the Converter will allow college staff to use Excel to view, store and update files, and still get them back to SSACI for successful processing. It is called the Converter because it will convert the various flat files from SSACI to Excel, and then before college staff upload a file for SSACI, the Converter will convert it back to a flat file type that SSACI can process. Don’t expect to use Excel to edit files without using the Converter. More information will be available on the Converter over the next months. It is still “under construction.”

    22. Preview of the Converter

    23. What to do with the APPL file: Now that you have downloaded an APPL file, and opened it with the Viewer, (or as a flat file, or with the Converter eventually), what now? Do you see the same students here that you have seen in your records? Extra students may be going to a SSACI ineligible school; yours is their first SSACI eligible college; you could package for them. Missing students may have listed your college too far down the list to make SSACI’s top institution. If your school is in the top 6, you can find that student on eStudent. If your college is not in the top 6, you will need to contact that student to get them to move your college up or add your college to the list, so you can package for them. Matches: you can package with a SSACI component, to attract that student to your college.

    24. What to do, APPL file, part 2 What is the student’s status? They are clean, APCL; you can package. They are in edit status, APED. Do they have a chance of cleaning on-time, or Are their edits uncorrectable? They are in WAIT status – they need to clear a default overpayment or have a Professional Judgment (PJ) resolved. Once the college has created a PJ for a student, the student can receive an award offer, but the PJ will need to be cleared before the student can be reconciled (claim payment). SSACI does not accept all PJs; SSACI must accept a PJ before the student can be reconciled. They need SSACI help as they have duplicate records, APPD – check to see if they would get an offer (what is the student’s PC/EFC?) before contacting SSACI to fix duplicates.

    25. A Note about Clearing PJs In spring (while SSACI is processing APPL files), you can only resolve PJs through the file transfer process. Since two academic years overlap at this time, and xGrads was not designed to allow two years’ worth of PJs to be resolved, xGrads does not make the more recent year PJ students available to be resolved. This may not always be the case; check for updates in future years. Later in the year, after awards are produced,PJs can be resolved using the xGrads function.

    26. What to do, APPL file, part 3 Student is in Edit status: APED Help student get correct FAFSA if possible: If student is not late, has not already used four years, is not a grad student, and has no other uncorrectable issues, then you can help that student clean the app before the deadline. How would I know whether the student can or can’t be helped? You need to look in the guide to this type of file, called FTP200X, on Information Files, xGrads.

    27. FTP200X You will need to refer to the FTP200X file for the appropriate year to make sense of all of the various APPL, NOTF, and RECN files. It is an Excel file. The FTP200X file is updated each year. It has all the relevant codes and file layouts to help you navigate the APPL, NOTF, RECN and reject files. The most recent one is FTP2009; it is found on xGrads, Information Files.

    28. FTP2009 It has 6 tabs: An Introduction Application layout/fields Notification layout/fields Reconciliation layout/fields A Data Dictionary of codes Notes on other files, such as reject files

    29. FTP2009’s Data Dictionary On the second to last tab in this file, the Data Dictionary has many useful codes to interpret what SSACI has sent in an APPL, NOTF, or RECN file, and codes that colleges are expected to use to send information back to SSACI. These codes are also found in the Data Dictionary offering in the Viewer, and will be part of the Converter template as well.

    30. Compare FTP2009 Application tab to the data in an APPL file: I2009001813123456789MAREE CHASON AAPCL 4801D3030320093030320093NIN31220033NIN31220033N2323003NN01

    31. Edits, Later in APPL file: 1 Filed FAFSA Late, Edit 01 Y, N Y – caused an edit for SSACI N – no edit created 1 Not IN resident, Edit 02 Y, N Y – caused an edit for SSACI N – no edit created 1 Graduate student, Edit 03 Y, N Y – caused an edit for SSACI N – no edit created The APPL file includes all edits, listing yes or no for each one for each student. Use the APPL tab in the FTP2009 file to find the location and proper codes for each one.

    32. Edits put aside, Packaging There is information in the APPL file to help you package for each student. AH or Core40 status - Y or N 21st Century Scholar, Affirmed – Y or N National Guard, Recertified – Y or N Also use the Results files discussed earlier for these programs: these files are updated on a “week-daily” basis – 5 times per week.

    33. Notification (NOTF) Files When awards go out, around the start of June, colleges receive their first NOTF files. No more APPL files are sent for the year and SSACI will not process any more APPL files uploaded by colleges. Students will receive postcards directing them to eStudent to view award offers. These first NOTF files will include students with awards (APAC status) and no awards (APNA status) and you will see which students are in WAIT status. Any NOTF files after the first ones will not contain students in APNA status. However, in later NOTF files, there will be students in WAIT status, who would be APNA, but the college has created a PJ for them. Many students will not be attending the college SSACI has listed for them as their first choice and to which they received their award offer. – Direct them to eStudent to change their college choice.

    34. NOTF files The first field in the first NOTF file will have I - to indicate this is an initial offer. Subsequent NOTF files will have codes indicating: A – student has been added to your college C – student has changes to their offer D – student has transferred away from your college Subsequent NOTF files will have codes indicating: U – update provided by college to this student’s record

    35. NOTF Files – Award Amounts $ These will include HEA, FOC, 21st, and NGS $ in fields 27 through 30. There are flags indicating Core 40/AH, 21st, NGS in fields 31-34. (status, not dollar amounts) There are no part-time award offers. You will receive and send NOTF files until about mid- September. Continue to clear WAITs as possible.

    36. Award Offers Tips Award offers are based on 30 credit hours, prior year tuition rates for HEA/FOC; present year tuition 21st, all with caps. Students may not make any changes to the FAFSA which lower contribution (PC/EFC) after award offers have gone out. Colleges may make these changes; SSACI may not accept them, depending on the reasons. Please verify all students selected for verification as soon as you can; do not reconcile for a student until verification is complete. Check to make sure your college and SSACI are working off of the same transaction number; discuss with SSACI as necessary to resolve these issues.

    37. Hold Students Harmless The Deal between most colleges and SSACI: SSACI will get you upfront money, about 60-65% of the money your college is expected to use (not offers), near the start of term. You will reconcile all students as you are able, holding harmless from late fees all of the ones whose bills come due before you have claimed the SSACI aid for which they are eligible. If your college ends up refunding out of the initial payment, indicating that you are not claiming funds as SSACI has projected, you may not receive further upfront payments until SSACI understands where the mismatch in expectations and reality lies.

    38. How to Get Payment: Reconciliation Files Reconciliation implies a settling up of tabs on both sides. Colleges claim students’ awards and also refund any necessary amounts using these files. Please be careful reconciling. The worst thing that happens is that a college claims too much for a student, near the end of term, and needs to refund completely, so that a new award can be offered and claimed, with too little time to complete the set of transactions. [Custom refunds] Colleges can only reconcile once for each student in a term. This causes the refund-reaward-reclaim process also.

    39. Reconciliation Files, continued The reconciliation cycle happens once each term, instead of once each year. This is because students are very fluid, moving among colleges, full-time and part-time, credit hours, and programs such as National Guard. Make sure each student has been “in their seat” long enough to claim an award. Census Date Refund Date

    40. Dates Census Date - Make sure the student is full-time at the census date. Refund Date – SSACI’s is four weeks, or the college’s published refund date, whichever is shorter. SSACI does not determine any of these dates; we expect colleges to stick with what they have published. Sliding Refunds – you are on your own with this calculation; there are too many colleges with different policies for SSACI to help with this, but if you are refunding, and the student has claimed SSACI aid, you must refund to SSACI as well.

    41. Responsibilities of Each Partner 1 SSACI does not determine SAP, grades, withdrawals, incompletes, fails, refund and census dates, attendance-taking issues, majors, minors, or switching, what courses suffice for which majors, graduation, or other academic matters. When we receive calls on these issues, we will refer them to the college website or financial aid office.

    42. Responsibilities of Each Partner 2 SSACI residency is based on the FAFSA, not on college determinations. All other tuition-and-fee-based aid is applied before SSACI aid, including institutional aid arrangements with subsets of students. All credit hour colleges are expected to reduce aid to reflect actual student credit hours: Below 12 credit hours per term, student is part-time. 12-14, reduce tuition and fees to those levels Above 15, no additions or adjustments can be made.

    43. Responsibilities of Each Partner 3 The maximum amount that can be claimed is the award offer. IT processing code prevents the claiming of greater amounts. Done is done, except: SSACI will accept refunds for any prior terms, but will never pay after a term has been completed. Good faith and early notice of issues makes us each good partners. Thank you for everything you do to help us and help students.

    44. Back to FTP200X for RECN Files As with NOTF and APPL files, you will need to refer to FTP200X for file formats, codes, and other useful information for RECN files. Payment fields are 42-45; refunds: 47-50. Payment status codes: ACTV = active, ready to be claimed ADRC = reconciled but not yet paid ADPD = claimed and paid ADRF = refunded WAIT = needs your attention before payment can be claimed

    45. An Easier Way? xGrads Small colleges, and large colleges dealing with small numbers of students/issues, may wish to use xGrads to reconcile, refund, clear PJs, etc. one student at a time. No time for xGrads tutorial here, however: xGrads Help link in upper right xGrads, Information Files: Grads External Helpv9.pdf xGradsModifications.doc for updates

    46. Briefly, Billed Awards: FRBI Files Large volume: CVO, public colleges only This is where you need FRBI files the most. Small volume: NURS, MINT, HOOS awards If possible, conduct these through xGrads Billed Awards. Again, FRBI files are flat files, but not for use with the viewer, as they are created by colleges, not SSACI. Use Notepad, or other simple text program. FRBISystem.zip is your guide here.

    47. FRBI Files With FRBI files/billed awards you can do more than one billing per student per term These files can be hard to create – use xGrads billing if at all possible The files which guide the creation of FRBI files are old, need updating and may not be as useful as the other types of guide files, such as FTP2009 Direct any questions on FRBI files to xGrads@ssaci.in.gov

    48. FRBISystem.zip Unzip – you must have a program such as WinZip, ask your IT staff about downloading it for you (free). Inside the zipped file: four files, Key file: FRBI Record Layout 2005A.xls – it is old, like the other files here, but is still the proper layout for files you create for SSACI to process. It has 4 tabs: Input to SSACI: variable contents, positions and programs Output from SSACI: variable contents and types Reject Codes: what SSACI is trying to tell you with each code we send back; why we aren’t just paying the bill at this time…. Valid Codes: what you need to tell SSACI to make us understand, to get your college paid.

    49. Contact SSACI grants@ssaci.in.gov – ONLY for students collegefa@ssaci.in.gov – for college financial aid staff, to ask questions about grants, SSACI rules, eligibility xgrads@ssaci.in.gov – for questions of a technical nature; tech support Individual emails – most emails should be directed to the above two boxes; we’ll get them to the right people to answer the question, especially if multiple people are needed to answer a question

    50. Winding up: Other Useful Things You can use the xGrads Reports link to find summaries of things for internal use: reconciled awards, billed awards, student payments, school payments, etc. Check it out. xGrads Information Files has other great files: Calculating Awards, for calculating different types of student award combinations Calculators for PT and credit hour changes Forms to be returned to SSACI, for GEARUP, tuition reporting, xGrads user agreements, payment requests Information for 21st Scholar recruitment, SSACI deadlines, all schools’ approved tuitions Guides for return of funds, part-time grants, distance learning, order of application of aid And from time to time other information, such as: Claiming SSACI Awards Guide

    51. Index Subject………………………………………………………………Page Files for helping students clean FAFSAs….……………… 5-9, 27-31 SSACI processing schedules……………………………… 10, 14-15 Processing tips/guidelines…………………………………. 11-13, 16-18 ………………………………………………………. 23-24, 26-35 Professional Judgments (PJs)……………………………. 17, 24-25, 33 SSACI rules of business…………………………………… 16-18, 36-43 File Transfer Protocol (FTP200X)......................................... 27-31 Billed Awards File Structure (FRBI2005.xls)……………….. 46-48 Viewing Files: viewer and converter………………………… 19-22 Getting SSACI info for internal college use………………… 50

More Related