Federal Student Aid (FSA) recently announced an update on its FFEL Business Process and Data Standardization Project. The project attempts to define common data standards that can be exchanged between FSA and its partners throughout the entire life-cycle of an FFEL loan.

These data standards will meet the needs of all FFEL reporting, including data exchanged with the:

• National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)
• Debt Collection Management System (DCMS)
• Conditional Disability Discharge Tracking Systems (CDDTS)

The data standards will also meet requirements needed to track loan consolidations into either the FFEL or DL programs and ease financial reporting via the Financial Management System (FMS).

FSA is currently conducting an external analysis with the FFEL community to analyze FFEL process improvements, data standards, and data definitions needed to support FFEL reporting requirements. FSA formed a workgroup to help review draft data requirements and determine which data elements require modification or identify new standards that should be developed. NASFAA is a participant of the FSA FFEL Business Process and Data Standardization Project workgroup.

For more information on the FFEL Business Process and Data Standardization Project, visit the Department’s Financial Partners Web site at http://www.fp.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/fp/FSALinks.jsp. NASFAA members can email comments on current FFEL data elements or business processes to Web@nasfaa.org.

Posted 02/12/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.