June 2001 The Blue Book

 D-1

D

Appendix Technical Assistance Directory

Central Processing System (CPS) /Title IV Wide Area Network

(WAN) Technical Support

Schools can contact CPS/WAN technical support at 1-800-330-5947 between 7

a.m. and 7 p.m. Central Time (CT) or by email at CPSWAN@ncs.com.

CPS/WAN technical support assists schools with:

♦ Obtaining software manuals, technical references, and user’s guides

♦ Signing up for EDE enrollment and participation

♦ Changing and resetting passwords

♦ Correcting transmission errors

♦ Billing and invoices

♦ Obtaining software

♦ Processing renewal applications

♦ Dealing with rejected Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) records and

batches

♦ Determining CPS batch status

♦ Obtaining software:

♦ AWARE

♦ Pell Payment for Windows

♦ SSCR 32-bit

♦ EDConnect

♦ NET*CONNECT

♦ OPEnet

♦ EDExpress software, which includes modules to help manage:

♦ application processing

♦ award packaging

♦ Pell Grant data

♦ Direct Loan data
Appendix D

D-2

The Blue Book June 2001

Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS)

Schools can contact the GAPS Payee Hotline at 1-888-336-8930 between 8 a.m.

and 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday. Schools can call the

GAPS Payee Hotline to get help with drawing down funds or to ask questions.

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Customer Service

Schools can contact NSLDS customer service at 1-800-999-8219 between

7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT. NSLDS customer service:

♦ Assists with log on ID and password

♦ Responds to inquiries about:

♦ system availability

♦ processing times

♦ status of a school’s transmission

♦ system navigation

♦ Assists data providers if transmission problems occur when trying to

obtain or provide data to NSLDS

Title IV Programs

For general information and assistance, contact the Federal Student Aid

Information Center at 1-800-433-3243 (1-800-4-FED-AID) between

8 a.m. and midnight ET, seven days a week (except for federal holidays). The

Federal Student Aid Information Center:

♦ provides information on student financial aid programs,

♦ assists in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid

(FAFSA), and

♦ disseminates many of ED’s publications.

Schools can contact the Customer Service Call Center (CSCC) at 1-800-433-7327

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET for:

♦ inquiries pertaining to program and application processing issues relative

to Title IV Programs and

♦ inquiries pertaining to the IFAP and SFA4Schools Web sites.
June 2001 D-3

Technical Assistance Directory

The Blue Book

Schools can contact their ED Case Management and Oversight Service (CMOS)

case management team for information about:

♦ Audit resolution:

♦ status of ED’s final determination letter

♦ final determination appeal process

♦ a corrective action plan

♦ Financial statement analysis

♦ Program review

♦ Recertification

♦ Separation of functions issues

A list of ED case-management teams and divisions, their telephone numbers,

and the states they serve is on the next page.
Appendix D

D-4

The Blue Book June 2001

Case Management Teams and Divisions

Team Division Telephone States Served

Boston Northeast 617-223-9338 Connecticut, Maine,

Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, Rhode Island,

and Vermont

New York Northeast 212-264-4022 New Jersey, New York,

Puerto Rico, and the

Virgin Islands

Philadelphia Northeast 215-656-6442 Delaware, District of

Columbia, Maryland,

Pennsylvania, Virginia,

and West Virginia

Atlanta Southeast 404-562-6315 Alabama, Florida,

Georgia, Mississippi,

North Carolina, and

South Carolina

Kansas City Southeast 816-880-4053 Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,

Missouri, Nebraska, and

Tennessee

Dallas Southwest 214-880-3044 Arkansas, Louisiana,

New Mexico, Oklahoma,

and Texas

San Francisco Southwest 415-556-4295 Arizona, California,

Hawaii, Nevada,

American Samoa, Guam,

the Federated states of

Micronesia, the Republic

of Palau, the Republic of

the Marshall Islands, and

the Commonwealth of the

Northern Marianas

Chicago Northwest 312-886-8767 Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio,

and Wisconsin

Seattle Northwest 206-287-1770 Alaska, Idaho, Indiana,

Oregon, and Washington

Denver Northwest 303-844-3677 Colorado, Michigan,

Montana, North Dakota,

South Dakota, Utah, and

Wyoming

Foreign

 Schools

Northeast 202-708-8820
June 2001 D-5

Technical Assistance Directory

The Blue Book

Federal Pell Grant Support Line

Schools can contact the Recipient Financial Management System (RFMS) at

1-800-4-P-GRANT (1-800-474-7268) between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET or their

Federal Pell Grant financial management specialist for questions about:

♦ Financial information

♦ Document requests

♦ Batch processing status

♦ Messages

♦ Batch summaries

♦ Individual record rejects

♦ Statements of account

♦ Year-to-date Federal Pell Grant payment data requests

Campus-Based Programs

Schools can contact the campus-based operations team at 202-708-7741 or by

fax at 202-205-1919 for information about:

♦ Preparing the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate

(FISAP)

♦ Correcting or verifying initial data and edits from the FISAP

♦ Interpreting tentative funding levels for their institution

♦ Determining final authorization levels for their institution (found in their

Final Funding Authorization and Final Funding Worksheet)

♦ Confirming final adjusted authorization levels for their institution

♦ Releasing campus-based funds

♦ Reporting prior year recoveries

For information on the electronic FISAP process, contact an electronic FISAP

administrator at 1-877-801-7168 (toll-free) between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET.
Appendix D

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The Blue Book June 2001

William D. Ford Direct Loan Program

Schools can contact ED’s Direct Loan Operations at 202-708-9951 between

7 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET for information about Direct Loan procedures and

operations.

Schools can contact ED’s Program Development Division at 202-708-8242

between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET for information about Direct Loan policies and

regulations. Schools should ask the operator to transfer them to a Direct Loan

policy specialist.

Schools can contact Direct Loan Customer Support at 1-800-848-0978 between

7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT. Direct Loan Customer Support provides information

about:

♦ Direct Loan Technical Reference

♦ Direct Loan record layout

♦ Combo/mainframe support for Direct Loans:

♦ provides support to schools creating their own Direct Loan

processing system

♦ provides support to schools creating their own interface with

EDExpress software

♦ helps schools develop files to import into EDExpress

Schools should contact the Direct Loan Origination Center at

1-800-848-0978 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT for information about:

♦ Monthly reconciliation and program-year close out

♦ Acknowledgements

♦ Batch integrity errors

♦ Promissory notes

♦ Batch status

♦ Rejected batches
June 2001 D-7

Technical Assistance Directory

The Blue Book

Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program

Schools can access the SFA Web site at

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/IGAL to get information about:

♦ Treasury bill rates (Click on Current Interest/Special Allowance Rates)

♦ PLUS Loan interest rates (Click on Current Interest/Special Allowance

Rates)

♦ Stafford Loan variable interest rates (Click on Current Interest/Special

Allowance Rates)

♦ “Dear Colleague” or “Dear Partner” letters (Click on IFAP)

♦ Form 799 with instructions (Click on Lender Reporting)

♦ Form 1207 (Click on Lender Reporting)

♦ Form 1207 Instructions (Click on Lender Reporting)

Otherwise, schools can call the Office of Financial Management Lender and

Guaranty Reporting at 202-708-9776 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET to get

the same information.