Publication Date: August 13, 2007

Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: End of Federal Fiscal Year 2007--Impact on Funds Availability for Campus-Based, ACG, National SMART Grant, Pell Grant, and Direct Loan Programs (EDCAPS/GAPS and COD System)

Posted on 08-13-2007

September 30, 2007 marks the end of the Federal fiscal year for the Department of Education (the Department). Some of the Department's core financial systems, including the Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS), will be on a modified processing schedule while the Department finalizes its processing and accounting for Fiscal Year 2007. These interruptions will impact how the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System will process financial data and when schools can obtain funds for the Federal student aid programs as follows:

• Monday, September 17, 2007 through Wednesday, September 26, 2007 -- Financial processing between the COD System and EDCAPS/GAPS will be reduced to once every evening (instead of the normal twice-a-day, morning/evening processing). As a result, early morning processing will be completed in the evening. Current Funding Level (CFL) changes and funding could be delayed by a day.

• Thursday, September 27, 2007 through Monday, October 1, 2007 -- The COD System will accept Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant), Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) disbursements, but CFL changes and funding will not be processed by EDCAPS/GAPS until Tuesday, October 2, 2007.

All actual disbursements with a disbursement date from September 27, 2007 through October 2, 2007 must be received and accepted by the COD System no later than 10:00 A.M. (ET) on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, in order for them to be included in the drawdown prior to the shutdown. Disbursements submitted after this time and disbursements with a disbursement date after October 2, 2007 will be funded after EDCAPS/GAPS re-opens on October 2, 2007.

• 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Sunday, September 30, 2007 through 6:00 A.M. (ET) on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 -- The GAPS e-Payments Web site will not be available. Schools will not be able to draw down Campus-Based, ACG, National SMART Grant, Pell Grant, or Direct Loan funds during this period.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete the required activities during the upcoming period. We expect financial processing to be caught up by Friday, October 5, 2007.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this announcement, contact one of the following help desks:

• For questions related to the GAPS, contact the GAPS hotline at 888/336-8930 or go to the GAPS e-Payments Web site.

• For questions related to the Campus-Based programs, contact the Campus-Based Call Center at 877/801-7168. You may also e-mail CBFOB@ed.gov.

• For questions related to the COD System, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/4PGRANT (800/474-7268) for ACG, National SMART Grant, and Pell Grant or 800/848-0978 for Direct Loan. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.