FAFSA and CPS: Updates

Transcription

1 FAFSA and CPS: Updates David Bartnicki April 9-11, 2018 U.S. Department of Education NCASFAA Spring Conference Agenda Start-up Enhancements Resources 3 Prior-Prior Year and FAFSA Stats Mid-cycle Enhancements Important Dates 2 1

2 START-UP ENHANCEMENTS 3 SECURE CONNECTIONS Issue The Federal Government is concerned that federal public-accessible Web sites and Web services do not have the strongest privacy and integrity protection available for public Web connections. Resolution FSA Web sites with the or www prefix will change to Acceptable browser ceiling will be raised Provides a higher level of security for FAFSA users 4 2

3 BANNER DISCLAIMER Issue It can be challenging for the Department of Education to track and produce sufficient evidence to prosecute unauthorized FAFSA users seeking to benefit from commercial or private financial gain. Resolution 5 FAFSA will feature disclaimer banner that requires users to acknowledge that» The Dept. of ED monitors the FAFSA for criminal activity» Users consent to such monitoring» Unauthorized use of the FAFSA for commercial or private financial gain is subject to criminal prosecution Provides a higher level of security for users and helps decrease criminal activity 3

4 CHANGES TO FAFSA QUESTIONS Issue Applicants and parents continue to misreport scholarship and grant aid in questions 44d and 93d. Resolution Question 44d will be changed to read Taxable college grant and scholarship aid reported to the IRS as income. Includes AmeriCorps benefits (awards, living allowances and interest accrual payments), as well as grant and scholarship portions of fellowships and assistantships. Question 93d will be changed to read the same with the addition of Your parents at the beginning. 7 REORGANIZED HELP PAGE Issue Parents have difficulty finding answers to questions from their point-of-view. Resolution FAFSA Help Page now features a separate parent section Helps ensure a better user experience for parents 8 4

5 Parent Marital Status ISSUE Parents had difficulty answering the parent marital status question correctly. RESOLUTION Question 59 has been modified Term legal only applies to unmarried and both parents living together 10 5

6 Homeless Youth ISSUE Applicants age 22 or 23 who indicated on the FAFSA that they were homeless always had to rely on the FAA to set a Homeless Youth Override flag in order for the applicant to complete the FAFSA as an independent student. RESOLUTION Logic for FAFSA questions 56, 57, and 58 has been modified Questions display to all applicants who indicate they are homeless Allows applicants age 22 or 23 to indicate if they ve received a homeless determination 11 Amended Return Filers & the IRS DRT ISSUE Applicants and parents who self-reported that they amended their tax return could not use the IRS DRT to transfer tax return information into the FAFSA. RESOLUTION Amended tax return filtering question has been removed Applicant or parent can use the IRS DRT to import info from their original return IRS indicates if there s an amended return on file IRS Request flag

7 Data Field Flags ISSUE When applicants or parents used the IRS DRT to transfer tax return information into the FAFSA, and then changed any of the transferred data, the IRS Request Flag value changed from 02 to 03 (if the data was changed on the same transaction) or 04 (if the data was changed on a subsequent transaction). The FAA had no way of knowing, based on the ISIR data, which field(s) changed. RESOLUTION New Data Field Flags on the ISIR notify colleges which values were changed after tax return information was transferred into the FAFSA 13 IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) Changes List of IRS Data Field Flag values: Blank = IRS data not transferred from IRS (FAFSA submitted via paper or by a financial aid administrator) 0 = IRS data not transferred from IRS (FAFSA not submitted via paper or by a financial aid administrator) 1 = IRS data transferred from IRS Not changed by user 2 = IRS data transferred from IRS Field changed by user prior to submission of application (only occur if IRA/Pension fields changed by user entering rollover amount) 3 = IRS data transferred from the IRS Field corrected by the user on this transaction 4 = IRS data transferred from the IRS Field corrected by the user on a previous transaction 14 7

8 IRS DRT Security Enhancements ISSUE Concerns were raised that cyber criminals could use the IRS DRT to steal sensitive taxpayer data. RESOLUTION New encryption safety measures to protect sensitive taxpayer data Different user experience 15 New User Experience (cont.) 16 8

9 New User Experience (cont.) 17 New User Experience (cont.) 18 9

10 New User Experience (cont.) 19 CHANGES TO FAFSA USER EXPERIENCE ENCRYPTION SOLUTION Rollovers New rollover question required if amount greater than $0 is transferred into Untaxed Portions of IRA Distributions or Untaxed Portions of Pensions fields If yes, applicant or parent will be required to provide amount of rollover, which will be subtracted from amount transferred from the IRS Income Earned From Work Applicants and parents who filed joint tax returns will no longer be able to transfer combined income earned from work into FAFSA form Will be required to enter income earned from work manually 20 10

11 New User Experience (cont.) 21 Web Edits and SAR Comments FAFSA: Because information transferred from the IRS does not display to the applicant or parent (nor can corrections be made), any web edits that include information transferred from the IRS can no longer be presented to the applicant or parent Instead, new SAR comments will display on the ISIR (and SAR) to alert financial aid administrators that at least one edit was triggered but could not be displayed to the applicant or parent and therefore, could not be resolved online 22 11

12 Comment Codes 400/401 Comment Codes 400 (parents) and 401 (dependent and independent student applicants) 400 = Your Financial Aid Administrator may contact you to resolve any issues related to parental data reported on your FAFSA 401 = Your Financial Aid Administrator may contact you to resolve any issues related to data reported on your FAFSA 23 8/7/17/EA Reasons for Comment Code 400 For Parents of Dependent Students Parent is a tax filer (FAFSA Question 80) and the AGI retrieved from the IRS is zero, but the total income earned from work (FAFSA Questions 88 and 89) is greater than zero The total of the Additional Financial Information fields reported on the FAFSA form (FAFSA Questions 93a-f) is greater than the AGI transferred from the IRS Any item from the FAFSA list of Untaxed Income (FAFSA Questions 94a-i) is equal to or exceeds the AGI transferred from the IRS 24 12

13 Reasons for Comment Code 401 For Dependent Students and Independent Students Student is a tax filer (FAFSA Question 32) and the AGI retrieved from the IRS is zero, but the total income earned from work (FAFSA Questions 39 and 40) is greater than zero The total of the Additional Financial Information fields reported on the FAFSA form (FAFSA Questions 44a-f) is greater than the AGI transferred from the IRS Any item from the FAFSA list of Untaxed Income (FAFSA Questions 45a-j) is equal to or exceeds the AGI transferred from the IRS 25 Special Notes When Comment Code 400 or 401 appears on an ISIR and an institutional review confirms that none of the relevant data items for a 400/401 condition exists, the institution need not take any further action Comment Code 400/401 can be considered resolved if (V1 or V5) verification is completed for the same applicant for the same ISIR record 26 13

14 RESOURCES 27 FAFSA Resources Summary of Changes for the Application Processing System Guide Demonstration site: Username: eddemo Password: fafsatest FAFSA on the Web Preview Presentation 28 14

15 More FAFSA Resources Electronic Announcements : The FAFSA form is now available : Reminder to institutions of higher education and state agencies regarding the privacy and security of data from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid : Changes to the IRS Data Retrieval Tool Process for the FAFSA Form 29 PRIOR-PRIOR YEAR AND FAFSA STATS 30 15

16 Application Data Submitted applications through October Application Data Applications from high school seniors 32 16

17 Application Data Applications by income Income January 1, 2016 October 31, 2016 Percentage October 1, 2016 October 31, 2017 Percentage < $10,000 3,832, % 4,073, % $10,001 - $20,000 2,490, % 2,556, % $20,001 - $30,000 2,113, % 2,144, % $30,001 - $40,000 1,589, % 1,591, % $40,001 - $50,000 1,139, % 1,139, % $50,001 - $60, , % 874, % $60,001 - $70, , % 712, % $70,001 - $80, , % 608, % $80,001 - $90, , % 528, % $90,001 - $100, , % 456, % > $100,000 2,522, % 2,594, % Sum: 16,890, % 17,279, % 33 Application Data Number of schools listed on the FAFSA form 23% 30% 23% 47% 23% 30% 34 17

18 Application Data IRS DRT Use First Month of cycle (Oct 1- Oct 31, 2017) 52% 48% MID-CYCLE ENHANCEMENTS 36 18

19 Responsive Web Design ISSUE The FAFSA form was not designed for use with mobile devices. 37 RESOLUTION FAFSA form will utilize Responsive Web Design Implementation will be done via a multi-phase approach Application and Home page only (Phase One) More accessible to all users Greatly enhances user experience on all devices 37 Sample Screenshots 38 19

20 Sample Screenshots 39 Sample Screenshots 40 20

21 Sample Screenshots 41 Sample Screenshots 42 21

22 Sample Screenshots YES NO 43 Sample Screenshots 44 22

23 Sample Screenshots 45 Sample Screenshots 46 23

24 Sample Screenshots 47 Sample Screenshots 48 24

25 DHS/SAVE Step 3 Form G-845 ISSUE Filling out the form is a cumbersome process FAAs wait business days for a response Forms get lost in the mail RESOLUTION The paper third step (Form G-845) will be replaced by an online process Less data entry FAAs will usually receive a response in 3-5 business days Student only needs to be verified by one school Search by DHS Verification Number & Date of Birth Scan, download, and attach applicant s immigration documents 49 DHS/SAVE Communication An Electronic Announcement (EA) will notify the FAA community that their PDPA s SAVE User ID is available on their Participation Management system Manage your SAIG Mailboxes link IFAP posting anticipated for Spring 2018: Instructions for logging in and utilizing the system FSA Handbook updated to include SAVE information User ID dissemination planned for March DHS/SAVE will reject Paper Form G-845 beginning May 1,

26 IMPORTANT DATES 51 Important Publication Dates June 2018 August 2018 September 2018 November Application Processing System Specifications for Software Developers (DRAFT) Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference (DRAFT) Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference (FINAL) EFC Formula Guide SAR Comment Codes and Text ISIR Guide Summary of Changes for the Application Processing System (SCAPS) Guide FAFSA on the Web Preview Presentation CPS Test System User Guide Application Processing System Specifications for Software Developers (FINAL) 52 26

27 Important System Dates MILESTONE DATE FAFSA on the Web Demonstration Site September 23, EDExpress for Windows, Release 1.0 September 24, FAFSA on the Web availability October 1, IRS Data Retrieval Tool availability October 1, FAA Access to CPS Online availability October 1, Distribution of SARs/ISIRs begins October 2, Contacts Atlanta School Participation Team MS, AL, FL, GA, NC, SC Main Number: Arva Thomas (IIS) Cassandra Weems (IIS) Atlanta Training Officers MS, AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, KY, TN David Bartnicki

28 Training Feedback To ensure quality training we ask all participants to please fill out an online session evaluation Go to This feedback tool will provide a means to educate and inform areas for improvement and support an effective process for listening to our customers Additional feedback about training can be directed to mark.gerhard@ed.gov 55 David Bartnicki david.bartnicki@ed.gov 56 28