Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

(General) Subject: OUTAGE ALERT – Federal Student Aid Website and System Outages August 3-6, 2018

Posted Date:July 26, 2018

Author: Federal Student Aid

Subject: OUTAGE ALERT – Federal Student Aid Website and System Outages August 3-6, 2018

During the period August 3-6, 2018, we plan to complete important system work that will impact many Federal Student Aid websites and systems. This work is related to the transition of our data center to a new location and is in addition to the regular weekly maintenance that occurs each weekend. This transition is part of our continuous improvement of Federal Student Aid systems and is a necessary step towards realizing our Next Generation (Next Gen) Financial Services Environment vision.

Information about the impacted websites and systems is provided below. Please have the appropriate individuals at your school or organization review the information in advance of the outage period.

August 3-6, 2018 Outage

From 12:01 a.m. Eastern time (ET) on Friday, August 3, 2018, until 8 a.m. ET on Monday, August 6, 2018, users will be unable to access the websites and systems listed below. Users attempting to access an impacted website or system during this outage period will receive an error message informing them that the page cannot be found or that the site is unavailable due to maintenance.

  • Borrower Defense to Loan Repayment (customers may access the online application at borrowerdischarge.ed.gov during the outage but will not be able to authenticate with an FSA ID)

  • Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System

    Note: All actual disbursements with a disbursement date from August 2, 2018 through August 5, 2018 must be received by the COD System no later than 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday, August 1, 2018, and subsequently accepted by the COD System, in order to generate the appropriate funding level increase prior to the outage. Disbursements submitted by the deadline but not subsequently accepted, disbursements submitted after the deadline, and disbursements with a disbursement date after August 5, 2018 will be processed and funded after the outage.

  • CPS Web Applications Demo System (FAA Access to CPS Online Demo and FAFSA Demo)

  • Electronic Cohort Default Rate Appeals (eCDR Appeals)

  • Experimental Sites

  • FAA Access to CPS Online (including R2T4 on the Web)

  • fafsa.gov

  • Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload)

  • Federal Student Aid Feedback System (customers may access the system directly at feedback.studentaid.ed.gov during the outage but will not be able to authenticate with an FSA ID)

  • FSA ID

  • National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Professional Access

  • NSLDS Professional Access Training

  • NSLDS Student Access

  • Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) (see “SAIG Impact” section below for more information)

  • SAIG Enrollment

  • StudentAid.gov

  • StudentLoans.gov (including the Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory)

Additional Important Information:

  • The Central Processing System (CPS) will not process data on Friday, August 3, 2018, and will not send Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) to schools that day. At the conclusion of the outage, data processing will resume and ISIRs will be sent.

  • NSLDS postscreening activities will be postponed during the outage period, and schools will not receive any postscreened ISIRs during the week of August 6, 2018. NSLDS postscreening will resume the week of August 13, 2018.

  • Guaranty agencies, Perkins Loan data providers, and enrollment reporting data providers that are scheduled to report to NSLDS during the outage period should submit the monthly file after the outage is over.

  • The Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) will be closed during the outage period. A message will be posted to FSAIC’s automated phone system alerting customers to the impact of the outage.

  • In addition, other Federal Student Aid contact centers impacted by this outage will either be closed or will be able to provide only limited assistance during the outage. If a contact center’s regular hours of operation will be impacted, a message will be posted informing customers of the outage and recommending that they call, email, and/or participate in Live Chat after the outage is over.

SAIG Impact

During the August 3-6, 2018 outage period, file transmissions via the SAIG will be interrupted. Users attempting to transmit files via the SAIG during the outage period using either EDconnect or TDClient software will receive an error message informing them that the SAIG is unavailable. Data must be transmitted by the user at a later time, after the outage is complete.

Note: The IP addresses for saigmailbox.ed.gov (Production) and saigmailboxtest.ed.gov (Test) will be changing. If you have connection issues after the outage period, please contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 1-800-330-5947 (TDD/TTY 1-800-511-5806) or CPSSAIG@ed.gov for assistance.

Additionally, TDCM web portal users will not be able to log in to view their mailbox activity during the outage period.

We apologize for the inconvenience these outages may cause and appreciate your patience as we complete these important upgrades.