Summary of Changes to

2003-04 Student Web Application Products

U.S. Department of Education

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Summary of Changes to

2003-04 Student Web Application Products

This summary contains information about changes we have made to Federal
Student Aid's (FSA) 2003-04 Web application products for students. From
the FAFSA on the Web site at
[www.fafsa.ed.gov](http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/) students can apply for aid
using FAFSA on the Web or Spanish FAFSA on the Web, or they can reapply
for aid using Renewal FAFSA on the Web. In addition, students can check
the status of their financial aid application, view their Student Aid
Report (SAR) information, and correct their application data.

From the PIN Web site at [www.pin.ed.gov]{.underline} students and
parents can apply for PINs, request that we resend a PIN, and update
their mailing and e-mail addresses in our PIN database.

# 2003-04 Changes and Enhancements 

FSA is continually looking for new and innovative ways to make applying
for financial aid over the Internet easy and convenient for students and
their families. To further increase the already tremendous number of
students using the Web to apply for aid, we have made the following
enhancements to our student Web application products for 2003-04. You,
your colleagues, and student aid applicants suggested many of these
changes.

# FAFSA on the Web Questions. Application questions now specifically indicate whether they apply to the student or the parent. In addition, we added and revised questions on our Web-based financial aid application products to correspond with changes we made to the paper 2003-04 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). For details about changes to the paper FAFSA, see the 2003-04 Application Processing Changes announcement that was posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site on 11/29/02. 

-   **New skip logic added to FAFSA on the Web for Students Who Qualify
    for an Automatic Zero Expected Family Contribution (EFC) or the
    Simplified Needs Test (SNT).** As announced at various national,
    regional, and state financial aid meetings held around the country
    this past summer and fall (including the National Association of
    Student Financial Aid Administrators Conference and ED's Electronic
    Access Conferences), on January 1, 2003, FSA implemented a
    streamlined version of FAFSA on the Web (and Renewal FAFSA on the
    Web) that provides students who qualify for an Automatic Zero EFC or
    the Simplified Needs Test (SNT) the option to skip answering certain
    income and/or asset net worth questions on the application.

When developing the 2003-04 version of FAFSA on the Web, ED worked
closely with the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid
Programs (NASSGAP) to determine if skipping questions on the form would
preclude an applicant from being considered for state aid. We learned
that many states require applicants to provide all FAFSA information for
their state aid programs. Therefore, students who indicate on the online
FAFSA that they are

legal residents of one of these states will not be presented with the
option to skip income and/or asset net worth questions on the form. All
other students who qualify for an Automatic Zero EFC or the SNT will be
given the option to skip questions; however, the online FAFSA tells
these students that they may need to provide all FAFSA information to be
considered for institutional aid at their school and that they may want
to check with their school before proceeding.

The following are other changes related to the 2003-04 streamlined FAFSA
on the Web for students who qualify for an Automatic Zero EFC or the
SNT:

-   The questions have been reordered so that the form first asks the
    questions needed to determine if the student qualifies for an
    Automatic Zero EFC or the SNT.

-   The questions on the online FAFSA are no longer numbered, but the
    paper FAFSA question numbers are referenced at the end of each
    question.

-   Once a student's eligibility for an Automatic Zero EFC or the SNT
    has been determined, the online FAFSA gives the student the option
    to skip questions (unless the student is a legal resident of a state
    that requires all FAFSA information -- see above).

> Students who qualify for an Automatic Zero EFC have the option to skip
> the following items:

-   Student income taxes paid (and parent's income taxes paid, if the
    student is dependent);

-   Number of exemptions claimed (and parent's number of exemptions
    claimed, if the student is dependent);

-   Student Worksheets A, B, and C questions (and parent's Worksheets A,
    B, and C questions, if the student is dependent);

-   Student asset net worth questions (and parent's asset net worth
    questions, if the student is dependent).

> Students who qualify only for the SNT will have the option to skip
> student asset net worth questions (and parent's asset net worth
> questions, if the student is dependent), but cannot skip any of the
> income questions.
>
> Students who qualify for an Automatic Zero EFC or the SNT can also
> elect to complete the entire FAFSA and not skip any questions.
> Students who do not qualify for an Automatic Zero EFC or the SNT are
> automatically presented all questions on the online FAFSA, unless they
> are eligible for other built-in skip logic (see below).

-   **FAFSA on the Web Pre-Application Worksheet.** Many students like
    to complete a FAFSA or FAFSA-like worksheet before completing their
    online FAFSA. However, because the order of the questions on the
    2003-04 version of FAFSA on the Web differs from the paper FAFSA,
    you will want to encourage Web filers to fill out a *FAFSA on the
    Web Pre-Application Worksheet* instead of a paper FAFSA. Students
    can print a Pre-Application Worksheet from Section 1 of the FAFSA on
    the Web Home Page.

The *FAFSA on the Web Pre-Application Worksheet* presents the
application questions in the same order as FAFSA on the Web, but only
those questions students will not know off the top of their heads are
included. Also, for convenience, the worksheet references the paper
FAFSA question numbers.

-   **Improved FAFSA on the Web Home Page.** The general look and feel
    of the Home Page has been retained for 2003-04, but we made the
    following improvements:

    -   ***New FSA logo.*** Throughout the application we replaced the
        old FAFSA on the Web logo with FSA's new FAFSA logo.

    -   ***Dynamic News Section Added.*** We added a dynamic news
        section called *FAFSA Alerts* to the FAFSA on the Web Home Page
        where we can quickly post timely information applicants will
        want to know about applying for financial aid.

    -   ***New PIN Graphic.*** We added a new PIN link graphic to the
        Home Page so that applicants can more easily see the link to
        FSA's PIN Web site.

    -   ***"Fill Out a FAFSA" Button More Prominent.*** We changed the
        color of the "Fill Out a FAFSA" button on the Home Page so that
        applicants can more easily see where they need to go to fill out
        their online FAFSA.

    -   ***Moved "Make Corrections" Option.*** We moved the "make
        corrections" option from Section 2 to Section 3, since Section 3
        contains the kinds of things student can do after they have
        submitted their FAFSA to us for processing.

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-   **Improved Help Search.** Using a product called Autonomy, we have
    significantly improved the Help Search functionality in FAFSA on the
    Web. Students can use the expanded search functionality from the
    Help Page and the Help Table of Contents. Automony enables students
    to search on whole key words or combinations of whole words. For
    example, if students want information about the FAFSA, by typing the
    word "FAFSA" into the search field they will be presented with a
    list of help information that contains the word FAFSA.

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-   **New Introductory Information.** We added new introductory
    information to the application that explains how to use the
    navigation buttons on the site, how to save an application, and
    where applicants can print out a copy of the Pre-Application
    Worksheet.

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-   **More Skip Logic Used.** We used more skip logic in the application
    so that students are not asked to answer questions that don't apply
    to them. For example, students who indicate they are U.S. citizens
    will not be presented with the question that asks them to provide
    their Alien Registration Number (ARN).

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-   **Some Fields Pre-populated Based on Earlier Answers.** FAFSA on the
    Web will pre-fill answers in some of the fields based on answers to
    questions asked earlier on the form. For example, if a student tells
    us that his marital status is \"married,\" we\'ll pre-fill a "yes"
    in the answer field for the dependency question that asks if the
    student is married. Or, or if a student indicates that her date of
    birth makes her 24 years old or older, we\'ll pre-fill a "yes" in
    the answer field for the dependency question that asks the student
    if she was born before 1/1/80.

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-   **Improved Save Function.** Like last year, students will be asked
    to provide their Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, first
    two letters of their last name, and a self-selected password at the
    beginning of their FAFSA on the Web application. Doing this sets the
    applicant up for a very simple save process, where data is saved to
    a secure temporary server for 45 days from the last date the
    application was last accessed. Students can access their saved
    application by clicking on the "Continue working on a saved
    application" button in Step 2 of the FAFSA on the Web Home Page.

In addition to current save features, for 2003-04 we removed the
navigation bar from the login page, relabeled the "Save for Later"
button to "Save," and will automatically prompt students to save their
data at the end of each Step in the application.

-   **Prompt Added for Student to Check E-mail Address.** Renewal FAFSA
    on the Web will prompt students to carefully review the e-mail
    address field and \--

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-   Provide an e-mail address, if they haven't already, or

-   Update their e-mail address if it's changed since they last applied
    for aid or made a correction to their application information.

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-   **Improved "Submit" Instructions.** We have added additional
    instructions at the end of the Web applications to help students
    successfully transmit their application data to the Department of
    Education (ED).

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-   **System Edits.** We have once again included all Central Processing
    System (CPS) edits in our Web products, including updated and new
    assumption edits. These built-in edits have been successful in
    helping applicants detect and correct errors before transmitting
    data to us, and have significantly reduced the number of
    applications rejected by the CPS.

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-   **Application Summary Feature.** By clicking on a command button
    called "View FAFSA Summary" at any point during application entry,
    applicants can see a summary of all of the questions they have been
    asked, and will be asked, and the answers they have provided so far.
    In 2003-04, the questions will display in the order they were
    presented on the FAFSA on the Web application. If the student
    qualified for an Automatic Zero EFC or the Simplified Needs Test,
    and opted to skip answering certain income and/or asset questions,
    the skipped questions will still appear on the Summary \-- in the
    order that they would have been asked on the Web application had the
    student not opted to skip them \-- but the answers will be blank.

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-   **Improved Signature Instructions.** We added additional
    clarification and instructions to FAFSA on the Web, Renewal FAFSA on
    the Web, and Corrections on the Web to make the signature process
    and options easier for applicants to understand. Students and their
    parents can also select different options for signing the
    application. For instance, a student might want to sign their
    application electronically and the parent may want to sign a paper
    signature page. Our Web applications offer this flexibility.

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-   **Barcode Added to Signature Page.** We added barcodes to the
    signature page that students can print from FAFSA on the Web. The
    barcode includes the student's Social Security Number (SSN) and Name
    ID and it enables the FAFSA processor to quickly and accurately scan
    in the student's ID for signature page processing.

-   **Print Summary Page.** The print summary page, which is displayed
    after applicants tell us how they will sign their online FAFSA and
    right before they submit it, displays questions and answers in the
    same order as the paper FAFSA and as they will appear on the
    applicant's Student Aid Report (SAR).

-   **Personalized Confirmation Page.** We personalized the Confirmation
    Page applicants receive once they transmit their online application
    to the Department of Education so that it addresses them by their
    first name.

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-   **Enhanced Application Status Check.** By clicking on the "Check
    status of a submitted FAFSA" in Section 3 of the FAFSA on the Web
    Home Page, paper and electronic filers can check on the status of
    their application. In 2003-04, applicants can see more detailed
    information about where their application is in the processing
    cycle. By entering their SSN, first two letters of their last name,
    their date of birth, and the type and year of the application, we
    can search the database to see if we have received an application
    for the student and, if so, tell the student where it is in the
    process. Possible application status check results include:

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-   FAFSA not found.

-   Paper FAFSA received, but not yet processed.

-   Paper FAFSA could not be processed.

-   FAFSA being processed.

-   FAFSA in the Signature Hold File awaiting receipt of signature(s).
    Students who receive this message are given the option to
    electronically sign or print out a signature page to sign and mail
    in to the Department of Education.

-   FAFSA processed. If the student's FAFSA was processed but rejected,
    a link will be provided to Corrections on the Web or to a signature
    options page on the Web, depending on the reason for the rejection.

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-   **Simplified Renewal FAFSA on the Web.** To further simplify the
    renewal application process for our most needy applicants, Renewal
    FAFSA on the Web will display student and parent financial
    information from the applicant's 2002-03 FAFSA if he or she
    qualified in 2002-03 for an Automatic Zero EFC.

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-   **Improved Student Access on the Web.** From the "Student Access"
    button in Section 3 of the FAFSA on the Web Home Page, paper and
    electronic filers with PINs can see Student Aid Report (SAR)
    information for the transactions we have on record for them at the
    CPS. For 2003-04, we made the following improvements to Student
    Access on the Web:

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-   Students can now see full SAR comment text instead of SAR
    Acknowledgement text;

-   More "Make Corrections" buttons are located in the comment text area
    so that students can conveniently go to Corrections on the Web to
    correct data, if necessary;

-   The printable PDF and HTML versions of SAR information in Student
    Access contain all of the same information that appears on full
    paper SARs, including the applicant's Expected Family Contribution
    (EFC);

-   Because Student Access displays financial aid history information
    associated with the specific transactions on file for a student,
    Student Access directs students to the National Student Loan Data
    System (NSLDS) Web site to see a complete, and possibly more current
    summary of their Federal Pell Grant and loan history information.

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-   **Enhanced Corrections on the Web Functionality.** Like last year,
    paper and electronic filers with PINs can use Corrections on the Web
    to change their financial aid application data (except SSN and date
    of birth) via the Internet. We made several changes to Corrections
    on the Web for 2003-04 that will improve the corrections process for
    students. These are:

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-   ***Real-time Corrections on the Web.*** Many students will be
    eligible to make real-time corrections in 2003-04. By clicking on
    the "Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA" button in Section 3 of
    the FAFSA on the Web Home Page, students can use the Web to correct
    their applicant data. Once an applicant transmits the corrections
    via the Web, the CPS will immediately check to see if \--

    -   All necessary signatures were received, and

    -   Any database matches other than NSLDS are necessary.

If all signatures were received and no matches other than NSLDS are
required, the CPS will immediately \--

-   Apply all system edits to the corrected transaction, including
    assumption and reject edits,

-   Calculate an official EFC,

-   Transmit an official EFC back to the student in real time, and

-   Send a new ISIR to all schools listed on the corrected transaction
    the next day.

An NSLD match will not be conducted at the time of the real-time
correction, but NSLDS postscreening will occur no more than one week
later and both the student and school will be notified if a change in
NSLDS affects the student's eligibility.

Students whose corrections were processed in real time can immediately
go to Student Access on the Web to view SAR information that resulted
from the real-time correction.

Students who are not eligible for real-time corrections will immediately
receive an estimated EFC, instead of an official EFC, and a message on
the Web screen telling them that their corrections are being processed
and that they will receive the results in several days.

-   ***Change in Automatic Zero EFC or SNT Eligibility.*** In 2003-04,
    Corrections on the Web will automatically detect if a correction
    changes a student's eligibility for an Automatic Zero EFC or the
    Simplified Needs Test. If it does, applicants will be required to
    provide the additional information (income and/or asset net worth)
    needed to recalculate an EFC.

-   ***E-mail Review Prompt:*** Corrections on the Web will prompt
    students to carefully review their e-mail address and update it, if
    necessary.

-   ***Strengthened Warning When School Has Made Corrections:*** To
    reduce the number of unnecessary corrections made by applicants, we
    have strengthened the pop-up message that appears when a student
    tries to correct a transaction that resulted from a correction made
    by a school.

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-   **Improved E-mail with Links to PINs.** We made the following
    improvements to the e-mail message we send to students that allows
    them to view, one time only, their PIN on the Web:

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-   If students do not access the link in their PIN e-mail message
    within 14 days of receiving it, we will remove the PIN from the Web
    and send a paper PIN mailer to the student's permanent mailing
    address.

-   We added instructions to the PIN e-mail that explains what to do if
    the link to the PIN on the Web does not work. The new instructions
    tell students to paste a copy of the URL into the address bar of
    their browser and access the PIN that way.

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-   **Improved PIN Web Site.** When individuals apply for a PIN from the
    PIN Web site at [www.pin.ed.gov](http://www.pin.ed.gov/) they will
    be asked how they want their PIN sent to them. They can choose to
    receive an e-mail with a link to their PIN on the Web, or they can
    request that we send a paper PIN mailer to their permanent address.

# References

#### *CPS/WAN Technical Support* 

> 1-(800)-330-5947; TDD/TTY 1-(800)-511-5806
>
> Representatives are available Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central
> Time.
>
> E-mail: <cpswan@ncs.com>

### *Federal Student Aid Information Center*

> 1-(800)-4-FED-AID (1-(800)-433-3243); TDD/TTY 1-800-730-8913

### *FSATECH Listserv*

> For more information, see:
> [http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/services/fsatechsubscribe.html](http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/services/sfatechsubscribe.html)

### *FSA Customer Service Call Center (CSCC)*

> 1-(800)-433-7327
>
> Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
> Eastern Time.
>
> E-mail address:
> [fsa.customer.support@ed.gov](mailto:sfa.customer.support@ed.gov)