Overview

To be considered for federal student aid, a student must complete a FAFSA (unless the student's parents want only a PLUS loan.) The FAFSA collects financial and other information used to calculate the SAI, Student Aid Index (Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) prior to 2024-2025,) and to confirm eligibility through data matches with other agencies.

Students can submit a paper FAFSA, or an electronic version through FAFSA on the Web or the Regent Student Portal, to the FPS, FAFSA Processing System (Central Processing System (CPS) prior to 2024-2025,) the Department of Education's processing facility for application data. Students applying with a paper FAFSA download a PDF file of the FAFSA from the Department or Education’s website, print the form, complete it, and mail it to FPS. FAFSA processors submit student information from the FAFSA to FPS which then calculates the student's official SAI and returns the student's information to the FAFSA processor. Output documents are generated which show the information the student originally provided (allowing the student and school to double-check information for errors or changes), SAI, results of the eligibility matches, and information about inconsistencies identified through FPS edits. FPS output documents also indicate whether the student’s application has been selected for verification. 

There are two basic types of output documents:

• Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR), which is sent electronically to the school
• FAFSA Submission Summary (Student Aid Report (SAR) prior to 2024-2025,) which is sent to the student

An ISIR is an electronic copy of the FAFSA application information and the Department of Education's calculation of the student's SAI. It also includes results of Federal Data matches and NSLDS information. The Department of Education sends ISIRs to an institution in a file which is downloadable from the school's Student Aid Information Gateway (SAIG) mailbox. These files can then be uploaded/imported into Regent Award.

Workflow of FAFSA Submissions

NOTE: For 2024-2025 forward, the workflow is the same as described in the graphic above, but CPS is renamed FPS (FAFSA Processing Service) and EFC is replaced by SAI (Student Aid Index.)

ISIR Data in Regent

See the pages linked under each topic below for more information on how ISIR data is received, displayed, and processed within Regent.

Importing ISIRs

• Importing ISIRs
• Reloading Unprocessed ISIR

Matching ISIRs

• ISIR Matching Logic

Student ISIR Tab

• ISIR Tab

ISIR Active Logic

• Regent Award Active ISIR Requirements

ISIR Verification

• ISIR Verification Status Override option on Institution Setup (under the ISIR Setting section) 
• ISIR Verification in Regent Award

ISIR Corrections

• How Do I Make Corrections to an ISIR
• Exporting ISIR Corrections

Updating ISIR Transaction Number

• Updating ISIR Transaction Number

Comparing ISIRs

• How Do I Compare ISIRs

Graduate and Undergraduate ISIRs

• Graduate/Undergraduate ISIRs

ISIR-Related Tasks

• The following ISIR Import-related Tasks are described on the Regent Award Task Triggers page:
  • Review New Inactive ISIR
  • Review Unclean ISIR
  • Review Subsequent Unclean ISIR
  • Review Verification Tracking Group Change
  • Review CPS Generated/Pushed ISIR
  • Review Dependent Record Unsub Only
  • Review Change in Dependency Status
  • Review Unpaid Loan from Another School 
  • Review Overlapping Loan Period from ISIR 
  • Review Overlapping Loan Period from NSLDS
  • Review Potential IASG
  • Review ATB Data
  • Review Aggregate Loan Limits
  • Review CPS Generated/Pushed ISIR
  • Review FPS Generated/Pushed ISIR