# Presentation: 665268

## Session    52

***Meteor***
***Where it is and where is it going?***

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## What is Meteor?

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## Is it...

- A mass of solid and dense matter that can fall from space with catastrophic results?

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## Is it...

- The latest Hollywood disaster film with NCHELP playing the role of hero to save us all from an oncoming Meteor?

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## Or is it...

- A collaborative effort by Meteor sponsors to provide a standard for the aggregation of financial aid data to both financial aid professionals and student/borrowers?

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## Meteor is...

- The software and service to obtain a student or borrower’s financial aid information from various sources.
- In its completed form, it is anticipated that the Meteor software can be installed on almost any website -- a school, lender, guaranty agency, secondary market, or servicer.
- The software is Open Source, meaning:
- developed free of charge by the Meteor sponsors
- a “gift” from the Meteor sponsors to the financial aid community
- the code can be extended by many to meet specific needs

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## Meteor Objectives

- Provide an aggregated view of student loan information for borrowers
- Consolidate information for financial aid professionals
- Provide for an open source, secure code implementation that can possibly be extended to other application
- Make the software freely available to any _participating_ Meteor “player”

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## How does Meteor Work?

- Meteor uses the concepts of **Access Providers **and **Data Providers**.
- A Meteor **Access Provider** hosts a copy of the Meteor software, which generates the request to the Data Providers for the borrower’s information.  Access providers can be Schools, Guarantors, Lenders, Servicers, or Secondary Markets.
- A Meteor **Data Provider** hosts a copy of the Meteor software that enables them to respond to the Access Provider’s request for information, supplying data from their system.  Data Providers are typically Lenders, Servicers, Guarantors, and Secondary Markets.  In the future, the Dept. of ED, State Grant authorities, Schools, and others could become Data Providers.

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## Simplified Meteor Illustration

- School

- Guarantor

- Guarantor/
- Servicer

- Servicer

- Student

- Access Providers

- Data Providers

- Financial Aid Professional

- Lender

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## The first step...

- The student chooses a portal to their Financial Aid information

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## Next, a secure connection

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## Requests sent...

***Requests sent...***

- XML

- Guaranty Agencies
- NSC
- Lenders / Servicers
- SFA

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**Notes:**
May want to cover a few points about how the Index Provider plays into the process, if people question how the Access Provider knows which Data Providers to contact

## Responses returned

- XML

- SFA

- GA

- NSC

- XML

- XML

- XML

- Lender
- Servicer

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## Aggregated data in portal

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## Student wants details

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## Detail screen displayed

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## Meteor Standards

- Business messaging using XML
- Software components using Java
- Systems design using UML and object-oriented development methodologies
- Directory of participants using an indexed or indexing based model such as
- NSC
- UDDI

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**Notes:**
Will also use common tags for data elements within XML, this will spill over into the Common Record and an upcoming version of CommonLine

JAVA SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocal) for data transport

UDDI - Universal Description, Discovery and Integration

## Authentication

- Interim solution
- Users authenticated by Access Providers
- Data providers may request additional data if higher level of authentication is required from user
- Mold interim solution into industry standard when available

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**Notes:**
We are developing an interim solution until an industry standard has been developed and agreed upon.

Users will be authenticated through Access Providers using their rules for authentication.

If the Data Provider requires an additional or higher level of authentication than the Access Provider (such as a shared secret), it can be requested directly from the user.

If the Shibboleth architecture turns out to be the industry standard, we will be ready as we have been working with that group on the development of the model. 

## Simplified Authentication Model

- Step 1

- Step 2

- Step 3

- User

- Access Provider

- Data Provider

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**Notes:**
Step 1 - The user logs into Meteor via the Access Provider

Step 2 - The Access Provider authenticates the user based on the Access Providers authentication rules

Step 3 - If the Data Provider requires additional or higher level of authentication, that information can be requested directly from the user

## Meteor “History”

- Initiated as a response to the Department’s Modernization Blueprint
- Proof of concept validated at sponsor meeting in March 2001 at University of Delaware
- Project team consisting of sponsor organization participants formed in June 2001 to begin production work.
- Consulting work now being provided by Priority Technologies Inc. (PTI)

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**Notes:**
Modernization Blueprint - abandon's previous notion of central repository for all data and promotes collaborative effort throughout the industry for accurate and accessible sources of data, more along the lines of today's e-business and information sharing type architecture.

## Meteor Implementation Phases

- Phase I (internal project terminology)
- Financial aid professional (school) access only
- Two versions
- Meteor Version 1.0
- JA-SIG u-Portal dependent
- Meteor Version 2.0
- Integrate with other common Web portals
- Single data provider (Clearinghouse)
- Limited access providers

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**Notes:**
Phase I provides loan list from NSC only

## Meteor Implementation Phases

- Phase II
- Now also has Loan Detail information
- Still Financial aid professional (school) access only to loan summary data and loan detail data
- Multiple data providers
- Multiple access providers

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## Meteor Implementation Phases

- Phase III
- Financial aid professional **and student/borrower access** to both loan summary and loan detail data
- Multiple data providers
- Multiple access providers

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## The Current State of Meteor Affairs

- The initial Meteor reference implementation and technology has proven very successful in accomplishing its objectives
- Estimated implementation of Phase II set for June of 2002

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## We Need Your Assistance...

- Input into the business design
- Issue resolution (examples)
- What do you see as the main issues that need to be addressed to make Meteor successful?
- From a Financial Aid Professional perspective, what business problems can Meteor help you to resolve?
- What specific data is needed to solve these problems?

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## For Example:  Proposed Screens

**Loan Certification Assistance** - Aggregated loan data to assist in eligibility determination
**Customer Service Assistance** - Assist Financial Aid Professionals in providing routine assistance to their students
**Default Prevention Assistance** - Provide accurate, timely information on a student’s borrowing history
**Exit Counseling Assistance** - Aggregated loan data to assist in the exit counseling process

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## Loan Certification

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## Loan Certification

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## Customer Service

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## Customer Service

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## Default Prevention

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## Default Prevention (Cont.)

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## Exit Counseling Summary

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## Exit Counseling Detail

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## Exit Counseling Detail (Cont.)

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## Feedback on Proposed Screens

- Will these screens help you?
- Are there additional needs that Meteor could fill for Financial Aid Professionals?
- Is there any additional information related to Consolidated Loans that would be helpful to Financial Aid Professionals?
*sherry.l.shamloo@slma.com*
*amarsh@aessuccess.org*

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## Meteor Benefits

- Ability to access any participating data provider
- Aggregation of all student loan data
- Student/borrower sees a list of all their loans
- Will provide the most current and accurate information available
- Long term ability to access all financial aid package information (alternative loans, scholarships, grants, state based aid, Perkins, Pell, campus based, Direct Loan)

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## Meteor Benefits, cont...

- A collaborative effort to enhance customer service
- Product that can be integrated with existing web-based systems
- Enhance ability of participants to provide web capable products
- Changes the focus from competition based on technology to competition based on service
- Gift to the student aid industry

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## Meteor Sponsors (as of 11/20/2001)

- American Education Services
- American Student Assistance
- Bank One
- Chase Manhattan
- College Foundation,  Inc. [NC]
- College Board/College Credit Education Loan Program
- Connecticut Student Loan Foundation
- Educational Credit Management Corporation
- Education Assistance Corporation
- Education Funding Association
- Florida Department of Education, OSFA

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## Meteor Sponsors

- Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation
- Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation
- GuaranTec, LLP
- Higher Education Student Assistance Authority
- Illinois Student Assistance Commission
- Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation
- Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority
- Key Education Resources
- LoanStar Systems, Inc.
- Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority
- Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program

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## Meteor Sponsors

- National Student Loan Program, Inc.
- New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation
- New York State Higher Education Services Corporation
- North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority
- Northwest Education Loan Association (NELA)
- Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan Program
- Oregon Student Assistance Commission
- Panhandle-Plains Student Loan Center
- Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority
- Sallie Mae, Inc.
- Southwest Student Services Corporation

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## Meteor Sponsors

- Student Loan Finance Association
- Student Loan Guarantee Foundation of Arkansas
- Student Loans of North Dakota
- Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation
- United Student Aid Funds
- Vermont Student Assistance Corporation

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## Meteor Ongoing Status

- For current status and updates:
- 			go to www.NCHELP.org
- 			and
- 			click on the Meteor Project logo.

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## Questions & Feedback

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