Publication Date: September 3, 2008

Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: End of Federal Fiscal Year 2008 - Impact on Funds Availability for Campus-Based, ACG, National SMART Grant, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and Direct Loan Programs (G5 and COD System)

Posted on 09-03-2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 marks the end of the Federal fiscal year for the Department of Education (the Department). Some of the Department's core financial systems, including G5 (formerly GAPS), will be on a modified processing schedule while the Department finalizes its processing and accounting for Fiscal Year 2008. These interruptions will impact how the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System will process financial data and when schools can obtain funds for the Federal student aid programs as follows:

• Monday, September 15, 2008 through Friday, September 26, 2008 - Financial processing between the COD System and G5 will be reduced to once every evening (instead of the normal twice-a-day, morning/evening processing). As a result, early morning processing will be completed in the evening. Current Funding Level (CFL) changes and funding could be delayed by a day.
  
  
• Friday, September 26, 2008 through Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - The COD System will accept Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant), Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) records. However, after 10:00 A.M. (ET) on Friday, September 26, 2008, CFL changes (as a result of actual disbursements) and funding will not be processed by G5 until Thursday, October 2, 2008.
  
  All actual disbursements with a disbursement date from September 26, 2008 through October 2, 2008 must be received by the COD System no later than 10:00 A.M. (ET) on Friday, September 26, 2008, and subsequently accepted by the COD System, in order for them to be included in the funds available for drawdown prior to the shutdown. Disbursements submitted by the deadline but not subsequently accepted, disbursements submitted after the deadline, and disbursements with a disbursement date after October 2, 2008 will be funded after G5 re-opens on October 2, 2008.
  
  Note: In two other Electronic Announcements posted on September 3, 2008, we provide comprehensive information related to activities and deadlines that coincide with the end of the Federal fiscal year. These announcements are about the September 25-28, 2008 COD System implementation and reporting hardware upgrade and the September 30, 2008 deadline for 2007-2008 ACG, National SMART Grant, and Pell Grant awards. Schools should refer to both Electronic Announcements to ensure that 1) all necessary reports are obtained and 2) all applicable 2007-2008 ACG, National SMART Grant, and Pell Grant origination, disbursement, and change records are submitted and accepted prior to the outages.
  
  
• 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 through 6:00 A.M. (ET) on Thursday, October 2, 2008 - The G5 Web site will not be available. Schools will not be able to draw down Campus-Based, ACG, National SMART Grant, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, or Direct Loan funds during this period.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete the required activities during the upcoming period. We expect financial processing to be caught up by Tuesday, October 7, 2008.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this announcement, contact one of the following help desks:

• For questions related to G5, contact the G5/GAPS Hotline at 888/336-8930 or e-mail edcaps.user@ed.gov.
  
  
• For questions related to the Campus-Based programs, contact the Campus-Based Call Center at 877/801-7168. You may also e-mail CBFOB@ed.gov.
  
  
• For questions related to the COD System, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268 for Grants or 800/848-0978 for Direct Loans. You may also e mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com.