New Schools

Title IV eligibility and certification and Direct Loan participation

Step 1: To participate in the Direct Loan Program, all schools must first be eligible and certified for Title IV by the School Eligibility Channel. Your school may begin this process through the Electronic Application for Program Participation (E-App). Once the application is processed, you will receive an Eligibility and Certification Approval Report (ECAR), listing all the programs your school is eligible and certified to participate in. If it is already eligible and certified for other Title IV programs, skip to Step 2.

Step 2: If your school is already eligible and certified for other Title IV programs, review the most recent ECAR and confirm that the Direct Loan Program is listed as an eligible program. If the Direct Loan Program is not listed, you must submit a revised E-App. If the Direct Loan Program is listed, continue with Step 3.

Step 3: Once the ECAR reflects your school as approved, eligible, and certified for the Direct Loan Program, send an e-mail request to the COD School Relations Center at codsupport@acs-inc.com. The subject line of the e-mail should be "Request to Participate in the Direct Loan Program." In addition, the following information should be provided in the body of the e-mail:

Name of your school
Address including city, state, and zip code
Person requesting participation (Financial Aid Director or an official listed on the E-App is preferred)
E-mail and phone number of the official
DUNS Number (if known)
Award Year in which processing will begin

This information must be provided for your school's main campus. The COD School Relations Center will then issue an automated tracking number, and you should be notified of the result of the request within 7 business days.

Special case: Schools with additional locations

Approval to participate in the Direct Loan Program applies to your school's main campus and all of its eligible/certified additional locations. However, if your school plans to have any of its additional locations originate Direct Loans separately from the main campus, we will need a request to participate for each additional location. This request should include all of the information above for the additional location. Most importantly, each location will need to have its own OPE ID and unique DUNS Number.

Other actions

Review the following guidelines to ensure all connections are in place to receive Direct Loan funds and to electronically transmit and receive Direct Loan data.

Your school must have a current SAIG enrollment/TG mailbox that includes signing up for both

Direct Loan services and
The Direct Loan Servicing Delinquency Report. To receive the Direct Loan Servicing Delinquency Report, submit your G-Code in the blank field.

To update or complete your SAIG agreement, contact the SAIG Customer Service staff at 1-800-330-5947 or visit the SAIG Enrollment website.

Note: Your school cannot receive system-generated responses (for example, unsolicited MPN acknowledgements) from the COD System unless your school has an associated and active TG mailbox designated to accept Direct Loan data.

You can also enroll with the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). NSLDS is the national database containing integrated information about loans and grants awarded to students under Title IV. NSLDS is used to review loan and grant information for Title IV aid recipients, as well as for notification on the Transfer Monitoring Process. To get access to NSLDS, complete section #14 on the paper SAIG enrollment form or click the "NSLDS Online" button while completing the SAIG online application.

To view or process Direct Loan data on the COD website, your school must have an authorized COD user ID and password. To access the COD website, you must designate a school security administrator who is responsible for establishing other users and associated procedures.

School security administrators should refer to the IFAP posting at http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0201UpdatedCODWebsiteSchools.html.
Third-party servicers can obtain access to the COD website by referring to the IFAP page at: http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/UpdatedCODWebsiteThirdPartyServ.html.

To receive Direct Loan funds, your bank account information must be in G5.

You must confirm bank account information for your Direct Loan funds with G5. Once confirmation of setup is complete, inform your Direct Loan point of contact so that the Direct Loan funding process can be finalized.

If you have a single bank account for your Title IV funds and you plan to use this same account, contact G5 to designate that you will use it for your Direct Loan funds.
If you have more than one bank account for your Title IV funds, you must contact G5 to designate the specific account you will use for your Direct Loan funds. In either case you must be able to account for your Direct Loan funds separately from your other Title IV funds.
If you will use a new bank account, you must submit a new direct deposit form, Form SF1199A.

To access G5, users must have an authorized G5 user ID and password.

If you already have a valid G5 user ID and password, you do NOT need to request a separate one for Direct Loans.
If you need a user ID and password, you must submit a completed G5 Users Authorization Form (the form and instructions are available on the G5 website).

For further information about G5, visit the G5 website or call the G5/GAPS Hotline at 1-888-336-8930.

You can choose to process electronic master promissory notes (eMPNs) or paper MPNs. Your school is automatically set up, and activated, on the eMPN website when you request Direct Loan participation.

You can change your default eMPN website options via the COD website. The COD School Relations Center can assist your school with this process.
If you prefer to print your own MPNs, the printing specifications can be found in the COD Technical Reference, Volume VI, Section 7.
If you prefer to have the COD System handle your paper MPN processing for all borrowers, the COD School Relations Center can assist your school in selecting this option via the COD website.

Complete the COD computer-based training (CBT): Check out the CBT and learn how to use the COD website.

Direct Loan Operations periodically will send important information about the Direct Loan Program, reminders of key dates, or updates to processing issues. These usually are in the form of Direct Loan electronic announcements. The listserv is one way that we communicate this information to you. It is a read-only listserv, and you will only receive messages from Direct Loans. To join, please send an e-mail request to dlops@ed.gov. The request should include your name and school, complete e-mail address, and a request to be added to the listserv.

In order to receive notification of all Direct Loan-related Announcements, please review your settings on the "Subscription Options" page on ifap.ed.gov.

If you check "Weekly Email Summary," you will receive a notice about all FSA publications that are published each week, including Direct Loans.

If you check "Content Specific Email," you have the option of selecting which publications you receive notice about. You should select

Dear Colleague Letters
Electronic Announcements
Direct Loan Consolidation and
Direct Loan Servicing

Establish your relationship with your primary customer service representative (CSR) at the COD School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978 or CODSupport@acs-inc.com. Your CSR can assist you with:

Updating your current Direct Loan contact information
Selecting your Direct Loan Report Options

Direct Loan school contacts

Sometimes talking to a school that is already participating in the Direct Loan Program can prove extremely helpful in addressing questions and concerns. The names listed below are school staff with much experience in both financial aid and the Direct Loan Program. We encourage you to contact them to learn about the Direct Loan Program from a school's perspective.

School	Platform	Contact Person	Phone Number	Type of Institution
Iowa State University	Homegrown	Roberta L. Johnson	515-294-0109	4-year public
Stonehill College	EdExpress	Janice Lindstrom	508-565-1076	4-year private
University of California Berkeley	Sigma's SAMS system	Roberta C. Johnson	510-642-6819	4-year public
Hope College	Banner	Carla Bender	616-395-7765	4-year private
Denison University	Banner	Nancy Hoover	740-587-6629	4-year private
Valparaiso University	Datatel	Phyllis Schroeder	219-464-6886	4-year private
Miami Univ. of Ohio	Banner	Chuck Knepfle	513-529-8555	4-year public
University of Nebraska	SCT SisPlus	Craig Munier	402-472-4001	4-year public
Univ. of Minnesota	People Soft	M.E.G. Schmidtbauer	612-624-0824	4-year public

Other useful sites to visit

Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP): www.ifap.ed.gov
Common Origination and Disbursement: www.cod.ed.gov
Direct Loan Servicing: www.dl.ed.gov
Direct Loan Consolidation: www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov
Direct Loan Software and Reference Material: www.fsadownload.ed.gov
FAA Access on the Web: www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/faa/faa.jsp
National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS): https://www.nsldsfap.ed.gov/secure/logon.asp
Department of Education: www.ed.gov

Last updated May 20, 2009