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Mandatory testing (for some schools) of financial aid awarding system
January 03, 2024
It's only a requirement for a select few schools, but any school can participate in testing the Department of Education's financial aid origination and disbursement system for the 2024-25 award year.
In a December 28 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education said the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Partner and School Relations Center will allow for Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) School Testing for the 2024-25 award year from January 8, 2024, through December 13, 2024.
According to the Department, any school “that will participate in the Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, or Direct Loan program for the first time in the 2024-25 award year must complete school testing with the COD System before sending data into production.” The Department added that the only exception to this requirement is schools using EDExpress or software from software providers or third-party servicers.
The Department said the purpose of COD School Testing is to “provide organizations (schools, third-party servicers, and software providers) an opportunity to test Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) business processes and system software with the COD System prior to the transmission and processing of actual production data.” Schools, third-party servicers, and software providers then have the opportunity to make corrections or enhancements to software applications and processes prior to sending data to the “live” production environment.
All organizations that wish to participate in COD School Testing must submit the “COD School Testing 2024-25 Sign-Up Document” to the FSA Partner and School Relations Center. The sign-up document is posted on the COD website's home page under the “COD Resources” link.
Complete testing information will be available in the COD School Testing Guide (Volume 5 of the 2024-25 COD Technical Reference) that will be posted on the Knowledge Center by late January 2024.
Anyone with questions about COD School Testing or signing up for testing should contact the FSA Partner and School Relations Center by calling 1-800-848-0978 or emailing CODSupport@ed.gov.