O D_Reqs_-_Sec_3_Submission_-_Final_v.3_UPDATED_2-18-14.pdf

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-1 O&D Submission

Section 3. O&D Submission Solicitation ED-FSA-14-R-0013

3.0 Overview

3.0.1 Purpose and Objectives

The O&D Submission function supports FSA’s requirement to enable schools and/or third-party providers operating on behalf of schools to submit and manage loan and grant award originations and disbursements for federal student aid Title IV Programs.

In addition, the O&D Submission function shall support federal student aid applicants in submitting the required documentation that supports the aid origination and disbursement process.

3.0.2 Scope

The O&D Submission function shall enable authorized users to submit O&D related data.

O&D users shall be able to submit data to O&D through SAIG or O&D Web.

• Schools, and or Third-Party Servicer users shall use:

1. The SAIG Interface, to send and receive common record documents containing origination and disbursement data for all Title IV Programs awards processed through O&D; or the

2. O&D Web Interface, to exchange origination and disbursement transactions in real-time with the O&D System and to create, save and submit common record documents with multiple records. Saved documents can be edited and submitted later. Users can also correct rejected data that was submitted via the SAIG interface.

• Customer Service users working on behalf of schools shall use the O&D Web Interface module to exchange origination and disbursement transactions in real-time with the O&D System and to create, save and submit common record documents with multiple records. Saved documents can be edited and submitted later. Users can also correct rejected data that was submitted via the SAIG interface.

• Borrowers shall submit O&D related material to the O&D System through:

1. Applicant Web interface, which shall allow authorized users to create and submit Master Promissory Notes (MPNs), Agreements to Serve (ATS) counseling, Endorser Addenda, PLUS Loans documents, repayment applications, and the loan consolidation applications (LC) via the web.

2. Paper Master Promissory Note (MPN) Interface. The O&D System shall process and store MPN and Endorser Addenda data and use the data to link these documents to loans.

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-2 O&D Submission

3.0.3 O&D Architectural Framework

Figure 3-1 illustrates the role of the Submission function in the Origination and Disbursement Process.

Figure 3-1: Functional Architecture of O&D Submission

3.1 Common Record Structure

The submission of origination and disbursement data to O&D occurs using a Common Record document, a standard-format data document that was developed to provide a single data record structure for both origination and disbursement reporting of most Title IV Program awards. The O&D Common Record is based on the industry-standard XML (eXtensible Markup Language) document and is composed of different information modules, referred to as complex elements or blocks. Data fields within the blocks shall contain key transmission as well as origination and disbursement information such as:

document or batch headers, school/entity information, person/student information, award/origination information, disbursement information, and the response status of the record.

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-3 O&D Submission

Although the common record has the same layout for all programs, not all data elements are required for each program and editing is specific to each program.

The Common Record XML Schema specifies the rules surrounding the logical organization of an XML document. It defines the elements present in an XML document, the order in which they appear, and the attributes associated with each element. All schools are required to submit Common Record documents using the XML Schema Version detailed in the latest technical reference.

A Common Record consists of complex blocks of information. Data fields within the blocks emphasize similarities across programs and contain loan and grant processing information such as: document or batch information, school or entity information, person information, award or origination information, disbursement information, and the response status of the record. Specifically, the Common Record is organized in the following structure (represented graphically in Figure 3-2):

1. Document block contains information that is associated with one or more, batched information records. It contains a date/time stamp, document validation information, summary-level document information, as well as the source of the document. This block occurs once per XML Document or submission.

2. Entity block contains information about the reporting entity and attending school. This block occurs once per reporting entity or school within the XML Document or submission.

3. Person block contains student, borrower, and/or parent information.

4. Award block contains Direct Loan, Pell Grant, ACG, National SMART Grant, and TEACH Grant award information. This block occurs once per award.

5. Disbursement block contains Direct Loan, Pell Grant, ACG, National SMART Grant, and TEACH Grant disbursement information. This block occurs once per disbursement.

6. Response block is nested within each of the other information blocks and is returned by the O&D System to the submitting entity upon processing the Common Record.

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-4 O&D Submission

Figure 3-2: Common Record Structure

The origination and disbursement process is enabled by the exchange of Common Records between O&D users (e.g. schools, Third-Party Vendors, FSA staff, and Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) and the O&D System. O&D Submission of Common Records can occur in one of two ways: Common Record Batch Submission via SAIG or Online Submission via the O&D Web module.

3.2 SAIG (Batch Submission)

Common Records shall be submitted to the O&D System in batch mode using XML document files that are transmitted to O&D’s Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) mailbox. The Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) performs periodic sweeps of O&D’s SAIG mailbox and transmits the O&D Common Record files to the O&D System.

The SAIG (Batch) Interface is used by schools and third party servicers through their custom and commercial software applications to submit Common Record Documents.

They also receive Common Record responses and acknowledgements that communicate processing results back from the O&D System through SAIG.

Document/Batch

Entity/School

Person/Student

Award Disbursement

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-5 O&D Submission

3.3 O&D Web (Online) Submission

The O&D Web shall provide a centralized site for schools’ Financial Aid Administrators (FAAs), Third-Party Vendors, FSA staff, CSRs, and other authorized users to submit award and disbursement data for federal student aid programs. The O&D web shall serve as a submission avenue for updating the O&D System.

When a user manually enters data online via the O&D web site, the O&D Web site shall create a Common Record document for data entered online and send it directly to the O&D System.

Examples of O&D web submissions include:

• Origination records

• Disbursement Records

• Web Credit Checks

Note: The above list is not meant to be exhaustive and FSA requires the O&D Web to remain flexible and scalable to accommodate new and discontinued services. For more information regarding the functionality of the O&D Web, such as the creation of an award, see Section 6 of this document.

As future-state requirements, FSA would like to improve, implement, and/or develop the following capabilities for the O&D Web:

• Allow a school to submit award and disbursement information via the web after a school loses Title IV eligibility.

o The system shall provide an eligibility override flag for Direct Loans that will allow a school to submit award and disbursement information via the web after a school loses Title IV eligibility.

• Provide schools with more efficient and flexible student aid processing options such as allowing schools to submit awards for all programs for more than one student and more than one award at a time.

o FSA requires that the O&D Web Award and Disbursement Creation and

Maintenance tool allow schools to submit and update awards and disbursements for all programs for more than one student and one award at a time without experiencing processing delays.

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-6 O&D Submission

3.4 Applicant Web

Applicant Web, as shown in Figure 3-3, may consist of one or more applicant-facing web sites such as the currently-provided StudentLoans.gov and TEACH-ATS.gov. Note: the following figure does not reflect all usage of the aforementioned web sites, for more information regarding the functionality and business requirements of this web module, see Section 6.2 of this document.

Figure 3-3: O&D Applicant Web Submission Functional Architecture.

3.4.1 Loan Web Functions

The Applicant Web interface shall support the following Direct Loan functions:

• Core Award Completion Functions – These functions are core award functionality that must be completed. These functions do not have to be submitted electronically;

however, their completion is vital to the completion of the corresponding program.

• Additional Applicant/Borrower Functions – These functions describe actions and tools that do not have to be completed for a borrower to receive a loan. They are provided to support a borrower in their repayment lifecycle.

A. Core Award Completion Functions include:

• E-MPN Submission

The Applicant Web shall enable users to complete, submit, and print their electronic MPNs for Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans and Direct PLUS Loans.

• Entrance Counseling Completion

Applicant Web shall enable undergraduate and graduate students to complete entrance counseling. Entrance counseling shall satisfy all pre-determined regulatory requirements.

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-7 O&D Submission

• PLUS Loan Requests

Applicant Web shall allow parents and graduate students to request a Direct PLUS Loan as a parent or graduate/professional student from a school by submitting a Direct PLUS Loan Request online.

• Endorse a Direct PLUS Loan Submission

Applicant Web shall allow a person to endorse a Direct PLUS Loan when an applicant’s PLUS credit decision is declined, by completing an Endorser Addendum.

The Endorser Addendum is the endorser’s agreement to repay the Direct PLUS Loan if the borrower fails to do so. The endorser may not be the student on whose behalf a parent obtains a Direct PLUS Loan.

• Exit Counseling Completion

Student borrowers graduating, leaving school, or dropping below half-time enrollment shall complete Exit Counseling to obtain important information regarding repaying Federal Student Loans.

B. Additional Applicant/Borrower Functions

• Repayment Plan Application

The Applicant Web shall provide an avenue for submitting and co-signing repayment plan applications, including but not limited to the Income Driven Repayment Plans (IDR’s). IDR’s include the following:

o Income Based Repayment (IBR) o Pay as you Earn (PAYE) o Income Contingent Repayment (ICR)

• Loan Consolidation Application Submission

The Applicant Web shall provide the capability for users to submit, review, and print a loan consolidation application and promissory notes.

• Document Extenuating Circumstances

An applicant with declined credit shall be able to initiate the process of providing documentation of extenuating circumstances related to the adverse credit decision.

• O&D Documentation

Applicant Web shall allow a student to view and print relevant documentation generated by the origination and disbursement process, such as:

o Disclosure Statements o Completed MPN’s o Direct PLUS Loan Requests o O&D Correspondence (Correspondence Retrieval) o Completed Endorser Addenda

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-8 O&D Submission

Users are able to retrieve correspondence generated by the O&D system on the Applicant Web.

o Sign-up for Electronic Correspondence shall enable users to have the capability to sign up to receive electronic correspondence notifications via email/text. The actual correspondence is posted and retrieved from the Applicant Web. The permission to send electronic correspondence includes permission for the federal servicer to communicate with the borrower electronically rather than through paper correspondence.

• Additional Forms o Deferment/Forbearance o Total and Permanent Disability o Loan Forgiveness o Any other forms identified by FSA

3.4.2 Submission Volumes

The Applicant Web provides FSA with the capability to receive large volumes of student aid data and documentation. The current FY 2013 projection for Applicant Web submissions is about 15.6 million submissions divided among eMPN’s, DL entrance counseling, Direct PLUS Loan Requests, Endorser Addenda, Financial Awareness Counseling Tool (FACT),and the Income Driven Repayment plans (IDR) Applications as shown in Figure 3-4 below.

Figure 3-4: Applicant Web FY 2013 Projected Submissions

50%

34%

11%

1% 1% 3%

Applicant Web FY 2013 Projected Submissions eMPNs

DL Entrance Counseling

PLUS App

Endorser Addenda

FACT

IDR Applications

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-9 O&D Submission

3.4.3 TEACH Web Management Functions

The Applicant Web shall support the following:

• TEACH Grant Counseling

The Applicant Web shall allow students to complete TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling and TEACH Grant Exit Counseling. The TEACH Grant counseling flows shall meet regulatory requirements.

• Agreement-to-Serve (ATS) Submission

Applicant Web shall allow students to complete and submit a TEACH Grant Agreement-To-Serve.

3.5 Paper MPN Submission

Borrowers of Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, and Direct PLUS Loans can complete a Paper MPN or an electronic MPN. If a borrower submits a paper MPN, FSA requires contract support to receive, review/edit, reject/accept, image, store, process, and link paper Master Promissory Notes (MPNs), to corresponding loans as well as the distribution of all metadata to the O&D System. Additionally, this shall include support in managing other Promissory note related paper documents such as the endorser addenda. Paper MPN responsibilities shall include:

1. Receive and send documents via mailroom functions;

2. Review documents which shall include Inspecting MPN’s for missing or incorrect information, in the event of an error or missing information, the error and MPN shall be returned to the school or borrower, whichever is appropriate. If a note is rejected, a new MPN shall be printed with the corrected data and resubmitted to the O&D System.

3. Image paper documents into the Image Repository. Note: Optical Character Recognition software and Double Entry of other data elements on the document shall be required to satisfy this requirement.

4. Store the paper documents in the Fire Proof Vault;

5. Maintain the Image Repository through a web hosting service;

6. Send document data to the O&D System and reconciling data between the two systems;

7. Process requests for copies of paper documents stored in the Vault; and

8. Support the archiving of promissory note related documents from the Vault to the

Federal Records Center when so directed by Federal Student Aid. Related documents may include paper MPNs, the paper Endorser Addenda and/or alternative documentation.

9. Support the mailing of paper copies of electronic MPNs.

Federal Student Aid, O&D To-Be Requirements 3-10 O&D Submission

Schools currently send batches of MPNs with paper shipping manifests to the following addresses:

Regular Mail US Department of Education P.O. Box 5692 Montgomery, AL 36103-5692 1-800-848-0978

Overnight Delivery US Department of Education 100 Capitol Commerce Center Blvd.

Suite 160 Montgomery, AL 36117

3.5 Paper MPN Submission