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Synopsis: 

Here we are going to identify the integration points between Regent 8Award, Client Systems and Dept. of Ed. Systems.




Basic Data Integration Flow



Integration Points with Client Systems   Image Modified


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Student Information System (SIS)

A SIS is an Institutional system that holds student enrollment data.

This data includes a student’s personal information, such as name, address, and SS#. It also contains a student’s enrollment information such as their program of study, and classes in which they are enrolled.

Regent 8 Award uses the personal information to identify individual students across all systems. A student’s enrollment status will be used by Regent 8 Award as one of the determinate in figuring out a student's financial aid eligibility.

The SIS shares this data with Regent 8 Award through an .xml file type in a process referred to as Student Batch Load, or SBL.  This process is facilitated by DEX, which translates the incoming data into a format RNA can use to asses eligibility and REM can use to display.

SBLs can be setup to automatically import or can be manually imported within Regent 8Award.




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Student Need Analysis Portal (SNAP)

If a school has elected to use it, Regent 8’s Award’s student portal solution, also known as SNAP. This is a web application used by students or potential students to exchange financial aid information with their educational institution. Students can use SNAP to view and manage their financial aid awards, required documents and financial aid related communications. SNAP’s Regent Review gathers personal and financial information directly from students through an online questionnaire. SNAP shares this information with Regent 8 Award to help facilitate and accelerate the financial aid process.




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Accounts Receivable (AR)

The Accounts Receivables system, called AR, which is an institution’s student accounting system. It is through this financial management system that schools assess changes and handle tuition payments. The AR system matches charges against payments so as to determine if the student owes additional funds or if a refund is due to the student.

When students have been approved to receive financial aid, an .xml file type is exported out of Regent 8 Award and imported into the AR system. This file identifies the students and the status of their financial aid. It includes information like the type of aid, such as a grant or loan, and the amount of aid being disbursed. This process is referred to as Export Student Transactions, or EST.

 

There are several different “types” of EST processes for different purposes. When put together it is referred to as the “Disbursement Sequence”. Some of the EST processes can be scheduled and some must be manually generated.

 



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Central Processing System (CPS)

The U.S. Department of Ed manages the Central Processing System, called CPS. This system will determine student eligibility for financial aid based on demographic and financial information provided by the student on their FAFSA. 

about the CPS, Central Processing System, which determines financial aid eligibility. When a person applies for federal student aid they must first fill out a form called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. This is the information used to determine Financial Aid eligibility.

Information such as SS#, income, and dependency status can be provided to the Dept. of Ed via mail or the FAFSA online application. This information lives in the CPS and is matched and verified against other Federal Government databases such as the IRS, Social Security, etc.

Once the demographic information is verified, the financial information is used to determine an Expected Family Contribution or EFC. This is an amount of money the family is expected to contribute toward the student’s education.

When the student fills out the FAFSA they are asked to provide a list of institutions that should receive the results of this FA vetting process. In the final step, the CPS will create a .txt file type referred to as an Institutional Student Information Record, or ISIR. The ISIR will be then be sent to the institutions the student included on the FAFSA.

Institutions are required to obtain up-to-date ISIRs for all FA eligible students. The ISIR data is imported into Regent 8 Award and Regent 8 Award uses this information to verify eligibility and to create a package of FA awards.

If corrections need to be made to the student’s ISIR information, those corrections can be made in Regent 8 Award and sent back to the CPS.

ISIRs can be setup to automatically or manually import into and export from Regent 8Award.




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Common Origination and Disbursement system (COD)

This system processes, stores, and reconciles the various grants and loans offered by the Federal Government.

Think of this system as the “Bank” where Federal awards and disbursements are approved and then recorded for accounting purposes. This system will approve over $150 billion worth of grants and loans to its thousands of school customers and millions of student recipients in a fiscal year.

This is the system that processes, stores, and reconciles grants and loans.

After a student as been pre approved to receive Federal Aid, there are many, many factors a long the way which can affected the amount of aid a student will receive. Factors like dropping a class, not having a good class standing or a missing required document, all can affect financial aid. These factors are all processed and managed in Regent 8 Award and will be reported to the Dept. of Ed as part of the COD process.

Once Regent 8 Award determines a student is eligible to receive funds, Regent 8 Award will generate an .xml file type that is referred to as a COD export file. This file is sent to COD for approval before awards can be disbursed to the student. The COD system analyzes origination and disbursement records requesting funds for grants and loans. 




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National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) 

This is the central database for student aid. NSLDS receives data from schools, guaranty agencies, the Direct Loan program, and other Department of ED programs, to create a loan history on individual students. NSLDS Student Access provides a centralized, integrated view of Title IV loans and grants so that recipients can access and inquire about their Title IV aid.

The last Dept of Ed integration point we will discus is the National Student Loan Data System, NSLDS. This is the system that tracks student loan and award history.

When a student transfers from one institution to another, the institution must initiate transfer monitoring through NSLDS. Once monitoring is initiated, NSLDS will check for any changes in the student's financial aid history that may be relevant to the student's eligibility for aid. This data is shared in a file called FAH or Financial Aid History. If there is a relevant change (i.e., new or cancelled loan, new or revised disbursement), NSLDS will provide an 'Alert' file to Regent 8Award. This alert file is referred to as the Transfer Student Monitoring, or TSM file.

The Financial Aid History and the Transfer Student Monitoring files are provided in a .txt format. NSLDS files can be setup to automatically or manually import into Regent 8Award. A Transfer Student Monitoring request file can only be manually exported from Regent 8Award.




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Acronyms found in the System Integration Points video:

AR
Accounts Receivable : An institution’s student accounting system which assesses changes and handles tuition payments. The AR system matches charges against payments so as to determine if the student owes additional funds or if a refund is due to the student.


DEX
Regent Data Exchange Engine: This is an engine that translates and distributes data to relevant client systems, various systems within Department of Education, and other the Regent 8 Award Enterprise components.


CPS
Central Processing System : Information such as SS#, income, and dependency status can be provided to the Dept. of Ed via mail or the FAFSA online application. This information lives in the CPS and is matched and verified against other Federal Government databases such as the IRS, Social Security, etc. Once the demographic information is verified, the financial information is used to determine an Expected Family Contribution or EFC. This is an amount of money the family is expected to contribute toward the student’s education.


COD
Common Origination and Disbursement:  This Department of Education system processes, stores, and reconciles the various grants and loans offered by the Federal Government.


EFC
Expected Family Contribution: The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is a measure of your family’s financial strength and is calculated according to a formula established by law. Your family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security) are all considered in the formula. Also considered are your family size and the number of family members who will attend college during the year.

The information you report on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or your FAFSA4caster is used to calculate your EFC. Schools use the EFC to determine your federal student aid eligibility and financial aid award.

Note: Your EFC is not the amount of money your family will have to pay for college nor is it the amount of federal student aid you will receive. It is a number used by your school to calculate the amount of federal student aid you are eligible to receive.


EST
Export Student Transactions:  When students have been approved to receive financial aid, an .xml file type is exported out of Regent 8 Award and imported into the AR system. This file identifies the students and the status of their financial aid. It includes information like the type of aid, such as a grant or loan, and the amount of aid being disbursed. There are several different “types” of EST processes for different purposes. Some of these can be scheduled and some must be manually generated.


FAFSA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid: This form is used to determine the amount of money a family is expected to contribute to the price of attending a postsecondary institution. The results of the FAFSA are used in determining student grants, work study, and loan amounts.


FAH
Financial Aid History: After a school informs NSLDS of a transfer student, NSLDS monitors changes to the student’s financial aid history information from the date that the latest Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) for the student was generated and sent to the school. NSLDS checks to see if there have been any changes in the student’s financial aid history that may be relevant to the student’s eligibility for aid at the new school. Such changes might include a new or cancelled loan or a new or revised disbursement of a loan or grant. NSLDS continues to monitor changes in the student’s financial aid history after the last Alert it sent to the school. 

If there is a relevant change to the student’s financial aid history, NSLDS will ‘Alert’ the school. The school must then review the change to determine if it affects the student’s eligibility for Title IV aid. NSLDS will not ‘Alert’ a school if there are no relevant changes to the student’s financial aid history.


ISIR
Institutional Student Information Record: ISIRs contain processed student information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), as well as key processing results and National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) financial aid history information. ISIRs are sent electronically to schools by the Central Processing System (CPS).


NSLDS
National Student Loan Data System: The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) is the U.S. Department of Education's central database for student aid. It receives data from schools, agencies that guaranty loans, the Direct Loan program, the Pell Grant program, and other U.S. Department of Education programs. NSLDS provides a centralized, integrated view of Title IV loans and Pell grants that are tracked through their entire cycle; from aid approval through closure.


SBL
Student Batch Load:  You can upload students to Regent 8 Award from a Student Information System (SIS) by using the Import SBL process. Student information is imported in an .xml file type. This process can either be done manually or scheduled to occur at a regular intervals using File Watcher.


SIS
Student Information System:  These Systems provide educational institutions capabilities for registering students in courses, documenting transcripts and results of student test and other assessment scores, build student schedules, track student attendance, and manage many other student-related data needs in a school.


SNAP
Student Need Analysis Portal: This is a web application used by students or potential students to exchange information with educational institution.


TSM
Transfer Student Monitoring: In accordance with final regulations published on November 1, 2000, and on July 1, 2001, NSLDS implemented a new Transfer Student Monitoring Process for students who transfer from one school to another during the same award year. Under the Transfer Student Monitoring Process, a school ‘Informs’ NSLDS of its transfer students, NSLDS ‘Monitors’ changes in the financial aid history of those students, and ‘Alerts’ the school of any relevant changes.









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