GEN0021

Publication Date: November 2000

DCL ID: GEN-00-21

Summary: Electronic participation in the SFA Programs

Dear President:

In order to continue our partnership to provide the most efficient and effective delivery of the Student Financial Assistance (SFA) Programs, I am asking you to support your staff in their efforts to comply with the Federal requirement relating to electronic participation in the SFA Programs. The requirement provides that schools must participate in designated electronic processes for the administration of the SFA Programs. This participation in designated electronic processes requires that a school must meet certain minimum technical specifications. In 1997, we provided your school with a set of minimum technical specifications to participate in our programs. With advances in technology it is now necessary to update those specifications.

We have sent your school's financial aid administrator a separate letter (Dear Partner letter GEN-00-20) that specifies the updated minimum technical specifications that a school must meet in order to use the designated electronic processes for participation in the SFA Programs. That letter indicates that schools must meet these updated specifications by January 1, 2002. I have enclosed with this letter a copy of the table from the Dear Partner letter that identifies the updated minimum technical specifications that schools will need to meet.

Let me thank you in advance for your cooperation and support as, together, we continue our improvement of the delivery of the SFA Programs.

Sincerely,

Greg Woods
Chief Operating Officer
Student Financial Assistance

Enclosure

cc: Financial Aid Administrator

Enclosure A

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

	Current Minimum Configuration (Depending Upon Volume and Usage)	Minimum Configuration Required by January 1, 2002
Equipment	IBM or fully IBM-compatible PC	IBM or fully IBM-compatible PC
	200MHz Pentium Processor or comparable	800MHz Pentium Processor or comparable
	64MB RAM	128 MB RAM or more
	4.0 GB SCSI Hard Drive	20 GB hard drive or more
	56K Analog Modem	56K modem (that meets or is upgradable to V.90 standard)
	3.5"/1.44 MB Diskette Drive	3.5"/1.44 MB Diskette Drive
	SVGA Monitor	Monitor and video card capable of Super Video Graphics Adapter (SVGA) (800x600) resolution (small fonts only) or higher*
	Windows 95 Keyboard	Windows 95 Keyboard with Microsoft compatible mouse
	Laser printer capable of printing on standard paper (8½" x 11")	Laser printer capable of printing on standard paper (8½" x 11")
	12x CD-ROM Drive with sound board	24x CD-ROM Drive or higher with sound board
Software	32 bit operating system (Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.x)	32 bit operating system (Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, or Microsoft Windows 2000)
	Internet Service Provider (ISP)	Internet Service Provider (ISP) that supports 56K modem connection or higher
	Netscape Navigator 3.0 or 3.01 (domestic) or web browser	Browser Requirements Internet Explorer v4.01 Service Pack 2 or higher Netscape Navigator v4.73 or higher
		Supported Networks: Windows NT or Novell Netware
Phone Line	Dedicated phone line	Dedicated phone line
Diskettes	3.5" high-density double-sided diskettes	3.5" high-density double-sided diskettes