Posted Date:October 11, 2011
| Author: | Jana Hernandes, Service Director, Operations, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: Loan Servicing Information - New Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) System and Web Sites Implemented October 11, 2011 (Update #7)
On October 11, 2011, the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS), one of the Department of Education’s federal loan servicers, implemented a new loan servicing system. In addition to the new system, the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) launched new Web sites for schools as well as William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) borrowers and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant recipients. The new system and Web sites are now operational.
In conjunction with this Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) implementation, it was necessary for us to temporarily suspend certain aspects of Direct Consolidation Loan and Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System processing. The funding and booking of Direct Consolidation Loans and the exchange of transactions between the COD System and the new Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) system have now resumed.
We understand that the implementation caused some inconveniences for customers. We apologize for those inconveniences and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding as the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) completed this important work.
At this time, we remind the community that the customer service contact information for the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) has not changed. However, as explained later, the Web site addresses have changed. Borrower and school contact information for the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) is available on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site’s Loan Servicing Centers for Students page and Loan Servicing Centers for Schools page, respectively.
There are a few things that have changed or that have been minimally impacted by the implementation. We have communicated this information since June 2011 and now remind the community of the key changes and impacts.
We present the information in this announcement as follows:
School Change and Impact Reminders
Borrower Change and Impact Reminders
Contact Information
School Change and Impact Reminders
The changes and impacts for schools are as follows:
New School Web Site and Access
The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) has launched a new school Web site, www.myedaccount.com/schools.
For a period of time, financial aid professionals who attempt to access the previous school Web site will be redirected to the new school Web site. At the earliest opportunity possible, financial aid professionals should update their bookmarks, Web pages, and other resources with the URL for the new school Web site.
Note: Consistent with the Web site URLs for all of our federal loan servicers, the URL for the new school Web site contains a “.com” domain.Within the new school Web site, financial aid professionals will access school and borrower specific reporting information through Nsight, a Web-based delinquency reporting tool that will be used by both the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) and Nelnet (two separate and independent federal loan servicers). Financial aid professionals will no longer use their existing COD Web site user name and password to access their school reports via the Web site. Instead, they will use a new user name and password to access the school Web site.
If financial aid professionals currently have access to Nsight to view federally-owned loans serviced by Nelnet, they will use their existing credentials to access the new school Web site.If financial aid professionals do not currently have access to Nsight, they will need to establish a profile that includes the creation of a user name and password. If a financial aid professional has not yet registered, he or she will need to contact the Nsight Technical Support Team to receive a user name and password. The team is available at 855/720-8897 from 8:00 A.M. to 8:30 P.M. (ET), Monday through Friday.
- A user guide designed to assist financial aid professionals in understanding how to use and obtain information from Nsight is available on the new school Web site.
In addition to the guide, the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) will offer an Nsight webinar on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 1:00 P.M. (ET). The webinar will provide financial aid professionals with a technical overview of the Nsight delinquency reporting tool. Schools that recently registered or have not registered for Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) Nsight access will receive an e-mail with the details of the webinar. Any school may also contact the School Services Team for information regarding the webinar.
Past School Entrance and Exit Counseling Reports No Longer Available
As explained in a June 3, 2011 announcement, Direct Loan Entrance and Exit Counseling and TEACH Grant Exit Counseling were retired from the previous borrower Web site in late July 2011. Borrowers can access online entrance counseling at www.studentloans.gov and online exit counseling at www.nslds.ed.gov.
In addition to the retirement of the online borrower counseling products, past counseling reports are now no longer available to schools. Reports related to completion of the current online counseling products identified above can be accessed at the COD and NSLDS Web sites.
NSLDS Reporting
The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) will continue to be identified in the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) as follows:
| Servicer Name | NSLDS Name | NSLDS ED Servicer Code |
Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) | DIRECT LOAN SERVICING CENTER (ACS) | 583 |
The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) continues its temporary hold on reporting the Direct Loans it services to the NSLDS. Depending on individual situations, schools may be impacted as outlined in our September 1, 2011 announcement. We anticipate that regular weekly reporting will resume later in October 2011.
Borrower Change and Impact Reminders
The changes and impacts for Direct Loan borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients are as follows:
New Borrower Web Site and Access
The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) has launched a new borrower Web site, www.myedaccount.com.
For a period of time, Direct Loan borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients who attempt to access the previous borrower Web site will be redirected to the new borrower Web site. At the earliest opportunity possible, Direct Loan borrowers and TEACH grant recipients should update their bookmarks with the URL for the new borrower Web site.
Note: Consistent with the Web site URLs for all of our federal loan servicers, the URL for the new borrower Web site contains a “.com” domain.Within the new borrower Web site, Direct Loan borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients will access content similar to the content they previously accessed; it will just have a different look and feel.
Direct Loan borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients will no longer use their Federal Student Aid PINs to access the borrower Web site. The first time a Direct Loan borrower or TEACH Grant recipient visits the new borrower Web site, he or she will be asked to establish a profile that includes the real-time creation of a user name and password. This registration will take only a few minutes to complete, and the borrower will be able to access the Web site upon completion.
Borrower Web Payments and EDA (Now Kwikpay)
Web payment functionality is again available via the new borrower Web site.A borrower may make a one-time Web payment or schedule one or more Web payments for future debit.
All borrowers who use the Web to make or schedule payments will need to reenter their bank account information the first time they make or schedule a payment via the new borrower Web site. This reentry of information will take only a few minutes to complete, and the borrower will be able to make or schedule Web payments upon completion.
Borrowers who scheduled Web payments via the previous borrower Web site for debit after September 30, 2011 were notified that their previously scheduled Web payments were cancelled due to the transition. Borrowers are responsible for making these payments and have the option to mail their payments to the address below or reschedule the payments via the new borrower Web site.
Borrowers who choose to mail their payments may do so using the following address:
United States Department of Education
PO Box 530260
Atlanta, GA 30353-0260
Borrowers enrolled in Electronic Debit Account (EDA) have transitioned automatically to Kwikpay. “Kwikpay” is a new term that replaces “EDA.” These borrowers need to take no action. However, Kwikpay borrowers with an October 7, 2011 debit date will notice a slight delay in the drafting of the payment from their bank accounts. We anticipate that these drafts will occur later this week. Despite the drafting delay, the effective date of each borrower’s payment will be October 7, 2011.
NSLDS Reporting
The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) continues its temporary hold on reporting the Direct Loans it services to the NSLDS. Depending on individual situations, Direct Loan borrowers may experience a delayed reflection of their Direct Loan disbursements and adjustments in the NSLDS and accessed via the NSLDS Student Access Web site. We anticipate that regular weekly reporting will resume later in October 2011.
Contact Information
We appreciate the community’s patience and assistance as the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) implemented its new system and Web sites. As expected, the servicer is experiencing higher than usual call volumes on its first day back in production. We appreciate our customers’ continued patience and understanding as the servicer works with all customers throughout the course of this week.
If you have questions about the new system and Web sites, contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) School Services Team by phone at 888/877-7658. You may also contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) School Services Team via the Web by visiting the new Web site at www.myedaccount.com/schools.
If borrowers have questions about the new system and Web sites, they can contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) by phone at 800/848-0979. Borrowers may also contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) via the Web by visiting the new Web site at www.myedaccount.com.