ED Announces Completion of Previously Identified FPS and IRS-DDX Reprocessing for 2024-25 FAFSA Records
By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor
The Department of Education (ED) in an announcement on Friday evening explained that it has completed reprocessing ISIRs affected by identified Federal Processing System (FPS) or IRS Direct Data Exchange (IRS-DDX) issues. Therefore, schools should no longer use previously-provided data files that identified potentially impacted records due to FPS or IRS-DDX reprocessing.
The announcement came as a follow-up to guidance provided on April 10, concerning reprocessed FAFSA records. ED found that for some of the ISIRs affected by known errors, reprocessing would not result in a change to the record’s data, and therefore decided to not reprocess those records “to avoid confusion.’” In other words, the data files provided by ED included some records that ultimately ED did not, and will not, reprocess. Therefore, schools should not hold back these records from the packaging process in anticipation of a reprocessed ISIR.
ED also said that it is continuing to review “a small number of potential issues,” which the department indicates is typical for each FAFSA cycle, and is prioritizing reports that could result in an inaccurate eligibility calculation. As ED continues to resolve these issues, subsequent ISIR records will be delivered with their appropriate reprocessing codes as soon as “this week.”
The department also noted that it has been researching reports of a “small number” of ISIRs – fewer than one-half of 1% of ISIRs, per ED’s data – with a blank SAI field and no reject code and records selected for verification without a verification tracking flag. As soon as “this week,” ED will send transactions to resolve this issue.
Additionally, ED provided the following fields on an ISIR meant to assist in identifying a reprocessed transaction, and detailed the reason for reprocessing:
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Field 9: Transaction Source will be set to “5” to indicate FPS as the source of the transaction.
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Field 16: FPS Correction Reason will be set to “P” to indicate Reprocessing.
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Field 572: Reprocessed Reason Code, a two-digit code allowing for cross-referencing reprocessing reasons with the known issues detailed in the Technical FAQ and Known Issues document.
The electronic announcement also detailed currently assigned codes along with a description of reprocessed categories:
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02: Pell eligibility and Pell Grant Eligibility Flag
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03: Comment codes related to a few FPS edits may not be set correctly
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04:No SAI on non-rejected ISIRs
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05: Blank “Student Contributions from Assets” (SCA) leading to miscalculated SAIs
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06: Updated FTI IRS data
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07: Correct Federal School Code (FSC) order
According to the department, ISIRs from more than 9.7 million applications have now been transmitted to schools, states, and scholarship organizations. Additionally, ED indicated that over 1.5 million corrections have been successfully processed.
Publication Date: 5/17/2024
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