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10-18: Availability of Service Release Update for EDExpress for Windows 2017-2018, Release 2.0

Posted Date: October 18, 2017

Author:  Federal Student Aid 

Subject: Availability of Service Release Update for EDExpress for Windows 2017-2018, Release 2.0

We are pleased to announce the posting of a service release update for EDExpress for Windows 2017-2018, Release 2.0, on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) website, located at https://fsadownload.ed.gov.

This service release implements enhancements to the Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) module enabling you to award eligible students up to 150% of their scheduled Pell Grant award in a single award year by selecting the Additional Eligibility Indicator on the origination record.

Important Note: This service release does not replace the updated version of EDExpress 2017-2018, Release 2.0 posted on September 25, 2017. If you plan to continue using the EDExpress interface with the FAA Access to CPS Online website, you must perform a custom installation of the updated Release 2.0 before you install this service release. If you do not use the EDExpress interface with FAA Access to CPS Online, you can disregard installation of the September 25 reposting of Release 2.0 and proceed directly to installing this service release. For more information, see the September 26, 2017 Electronic Announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.

See below for additional enhancements and installation information for this service release.

150% Pell Grant Award Calculation Enhancements

As described in Dear Colleague Letter GEN-17-06, posted on June 19, 2017 to the IFAP website, section 401(b)(8) of the HEA, as added by Section 310 of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2017, (Title III of Division H of P.L. 115-31, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017) allows eligible students to receive one and one-half (or 150%) of their scheduled Pell Grant award during a single award year to accelerate completion of their program of study. This provision is effective beginning with the 2017-2018 Award Year. To receive the additional Pell funds, students must be otherwise Pell-eligible and enrolled at least half-time in the payment periods for which the additional funds are awarded.

Note: For complete information about the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System changes related to this provision, also known as the Year-Round Pell Grant, refer to the October 4, 2017 Electronic Announcement on the IFAP website.

This service release updates the Additional Eligibility Indicator field on the Origination (Pell Grant) tab in EDExpress 2017-2018 to help you identify students eligible to receive 150% of their scheduled Pell Grant award in a single award year. EDExpress now allows you to disburse up to 150% of the scheduled Pell Grant award if the Additional Eligibility Indicator is selected on the origination record.

Important Note: You must calculate 150% Pell Grant awards to the penny in EDExpress 2017-2018 to ensure students receive the full amount of their scheduled award. To update EDExpress to calculate Pell Grant awards to the penny, go to School setup for the Pell module (Tools, Setup, COD, School, Pell Payments), and select the Calculate Amounts Using Pennies? checkbox for your Reporting Pell ID(s).

You can select the Additional Eligibility Indicator checkbox manually on the Origination tab, use Multiple Entry to update the field, or update the field as part of a Pell Grant External Origination Add/Change import file.

If the Additional Eligibility Indicator is selected on the origination record, the Calculate Award Amount for Entire School Year process calculates 150% of the student's scheduled Pell Grant award and lists the result in the Award Amount for Entire School Year field. For example, if the student is eligible for a Pell Grant scheduled award of $5,920 and the Additional Eligibility Indicator is selected, the Calculate Award Amount for Entire School Year process calculates an Award Amount for Entire School Year value of $8,880.

Additional Service Release Enhancements

This service release also includes help system updates and addresses the following software issues identified in Release 2.0:

  • Resolves an issue preventing the import of Pell External Disbursement (PGED18OP) files with a blank Payment Period Start Date on disbursement records.

  • Resolves an issue preventing users from preparing Pell origination records for export to the COD System if they were assigned a Disbursement Profile Code with a blank space in the second or third position.

  • Resolves an issue with the Direct Loan List-Anticipated Disbursements report where Gross and Net Amount totals for records with award amount adjustments were excluding amounts for the highest disbursement sequence numbers.

Installation Guidance

You should run the service release installation file (Express18r21.exe) on all PC workstations in your office that have EDExpress 2017-2018, Release 2.0 installed.

Note the following additional tips when installing the service release to your PC workstation(s):

  • Be sure to close EDExpress 2017-2018 on the PC workstation before installing the service release.

  • You must have administrator rights to the PC workstation to run the service release installation.

  • You can resume use of EDExpress 2017-2018, Release 2.0 immediately following the service release installation; you do not need to reboot your PC.

  • If your EDExpress 2017-2018 database is installed on a network drive, and you have multiple PC workstations accessing that database, you must install the service release on EACH workstation.

Note: The service release installation screens indicate you are installing Release 2.1 of EDExpress 2017-2018. However, when you complete the installation and resume use of EDExpress 2017-2018, the software’s start-up screen and “About EDExpress for Windows” option (from the Help menu) will continue to indicate you are running Release 2.0. If you need assistance determining whether you have installed the service release, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support (see contact information in section below).

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding downloading, installing, or using the service release for EDExpress 2017-2018, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 800/330-5947 (TDD/TTY 800/511-5806) or by email at [email protected].

You can also post questions regarding EDExpress on FSATECH. FSATECH is an electronic mailing list for technical questions about Federal Student Aid systems, software, and mainframe products. For more information on subscribing to FSATECH, go to https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/services/fsatechsubscribe.html.

If you have any questions about the COD System, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268 for Grants or 800/848-0978 for Direct Loans. You may also email [email protected].

 

Publication Date: 10/19/2017

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