Availability of EDExpress for Windows 2019-2020, Release 3.0

Author
Federal Student Aid
Subject
Availability of EDExpress for Windows 2019-2020, Release 3.0

We are pleased to announce the posting of EDExpress for Windows 2019-2020, Release 3.0, on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) website, located at https://fsadownload.ed.gov.

This release resolves several software issues occurring in Release 2.0 (originally posted on March 29, 2019) and earlier versions of EDExpress. It also relabels all functionality related to the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet to reference the College Financing Plan, the new name implemented by Federal Student Aid for the document.

In addition to the Release 3.0 software, we also posted an updated version of the EDExpress for Windows 2019-2020, Release 1.0 Desk Reference with a revised College Financing Plan appendix for additional guidance.

See below for additional information on the updates included in Release 3.0 and installation information.

Note: As announced in a March 28, 2019 Electronic Announcement, we will retire the FSAdownload website later this year and relocate all site content, including EDExpress software and related documentation, to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website, located at https://ifap.ed.gov. We recommend that you monitor the IFAP website for upcoming Electronic Announcements related to this transition. Depending on the timing of the transition, you may need to go to the IFAP website to download the EDExpress software and documentation.

Enhancements and Issue Resolutions in Release 3.0

EDExpress 2019-2020, Release 3.0 updates all EDExpress setup, import, entry, and print functionality related to the Financial Shopping Sheet to reference the College Financing Plan.

Release 3.0 also resolves multiple software issues, listed below by module or function, that were identified internally or as a result of reports from schools and other end users in Release 2.0 or an earlier release:

Global

  • Resolves an error message generated when using selection criteria with Global Multiple Entry to update Document Tracking records.

Packaging

  • Resolves an error message generated during the Package process if selection criteria was applied and no records met the criteria.

Pell

  • Resolves an issue that prevented manual entry or external import of Pell disbursement information if the Pell student record was created by importing a Pell Year-to-Date (YTD) (message class PGYR20OP) file that only included origination record information for the student.

  • Resolves an issue that caused the import of Pell YTD file to update Ability to Benefit fields on the Demo tab with blank values.

  • Updates the Pell Import dialog box for Pell YTD files to correctly display the Attended Pell ID values associated with each Reporting Pell ID as defined in Pell School Setup.

  • Resolves an issue that prevented the updating of disbursement records using Pell Multiple Entry after the import of a Pell Negative Disbursement (message class CRND20OP) file.

COD

  • Resolves an error message generated during import if an Exit Counseling Results (EXITFFOP) file contained blank employer address information.

Installation Guidance

You should run the Release 3.0 installation file (Express20r3.exe) on all PC workstations in your office that have EDExpress 2019-2020, Release 2.0 installed.

Note the following additional tips when installing Release 3.0 to your PC workstation(s):

  • Be sure to close EDExpress 2019-2020 on the PC workstation before installing Release 3.0.

  • Ensure you have a current, reliable back-up of your EDExpress 2019-2020 school-specific database (expres20.accdb) before installing Release 3.0.

  • You must have administrator rights to the PC workstation to run the Release 3.0 installation.

  • You can resume use of EDExpress 2019-2020 immediately following installation of Release 3.0; you do not need to reboot your PC.

  • If your EDExpress 2019-2020 database is installed on a network drive, and you have multiple PC workstations accessing that database, you must install Release 3.0 on EACH workstation.

For additional installation and technical guidance, see the EDExpress 2019-2020 Installation Guide, which is available for download on the FSAdownload website.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding downloading, installing, or using EDExpress 2019-2020, Release 3.0, contact CPS/SAIG Technical Support at 1-800-330-5947 or by email at CPSSAIG@ed.gov.

You can also post questions regarding EDExpress on FSATech. FSATech is an electronic mailing list for technical questions about Federal Student Aid systems, software, and mainframe products. For more information on subscribing to FSATech, go to https://ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/services/fsatechsubscribe.html.