From: Rojtman, Marcello (Marcello_Rojtman@ed.gov)
Date: Thu Aug 03 2000 - 17:06:14 EDT
Dear Partners:
The following message was posted to the IFAP website (http://ifap.ed.gov).
It is being cross-posted to FINAID-L, FINNET-L, MEDAID-L and BURSAR-L for
your information.
SFA Customer Support Branch
Schools Channel
U.S. Department of Education
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Posted on August 3, 2000
TO: Financial Aid Administrators
FROM: Student Financial Assistance Customer Support Call Center
RE: 1999-2000 SAR/ISIR Correction Deadline and Pell Reject Codes
DATE: August 2, 2000
With the 1999-2000 SAR/ISIR history correction deadline approaching, we are
offering a helpful hint to our partners/customers who may be experiencing
some difficulty in resolving a Pell Reject Code situation.
The deadline for receipt of paper SAR corrections and duplicate requests is
August 16, 2000. The deadline for transmitting 1999-2000 ISIR corrections
and duplicate requests is August 25, 2000 at 7 P.M. Central Time.
With this in mind, each year there have been many students who incorrectly
answer question number 33 or 54 on the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA) form. By answering yes to these questions, it sends an
indication to the processor that the student is a graduate student,
therefore making them ineligible for Pell grants, even though their EFC is
below 2,925. In many cases, the student is not a graduate student and has
just answered the question incorrectly.
It is not until the Financial Aid Administrator submits a Pell Origination
Record that the mistake (the student incorrectly reporting his/her
"graduate" status on his/her FAFSA) is often caught. In some cases, the
error is not found until after the history correction deadline has already
passed.
When submitting a Pell Origination Record for a student who has incorrectly
stated that he/she is a graduate student, the institution will receive Pell
reject codes 303 [Invalid Original SSN or Name Code resulting in the
Recipient Financial Management System (RFMS) being unable to locate the
Applicant record], and usually 311 and 312 (Invalid transaction number and
Invalid Expected Family contribution) are also present. These Pell reject
codes should not be confused with the social security number match results
on the SAR/ISIR processed through the Central Processing System (CPS).
Because the student claimed to be a graduate student, his/her data cannot be
found in the Pell eligible database.
A key to determining a student's Pell eligibility is to look at the Pell
Indicator flag. If the student is eligible for Pell, there will be a "Y" in
this field. If the student is not eligible for Pell, it will be blank.
The 1999-2000 Student Financial Aid Handbook, Student Eligibility Section,
page 108, states: "Graduate and professional students aren't eligible for
Pell, so a student who answers 'Yes' to this question on the application
will be unable to receive a Pell. If the student incorrectly said he or she
was a graduate student, he or she must submit a correction before he or she
can get a Pell."
If a correction is made to the SAR/ISIR by the deadlines listed above,
indicating the student's proper graduate status, the issue will be resolved
and the institution will be able to submit a Pell Origination Record on the
student's behalf.
All deadlines for submitting 1999-2000 SAR/ISIR corrections and Pell
origination/disbursement records are contained in the July 30, 1999 Federal
Register
<http://ifap.ed.gov/dev_csb/new/fedlreg.nsf/872a67d6c15f7f62852566f00053cae8
/1c6eaf79d640750d852567c3006332e2?OpenDocument>.
We hope this information is helpful to those of you who are experiencing
difficulties in this area. If you have any questions, please contact one of
the following help desks:
Pell Grant Hotline
1-800-4PGRANT (1-800-474-7268)
pell_systems@ed.gov
or
Student Financial Assistance Customer Support Call Center
1-800-433-7327
SFA _Customer_Support@ed.gov
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