[DEOC] SYSTEMWIDE MESSAGE: Oracle FAFSA Simplification release timeline update

[SBCTC-IT Mail]

SBCTC-ITD Memorandum

Date:                February 9, 2024

From:               Ana Ybarra, Associate Director Campus Solutions - Financial Aid

Subject:           Oracle FAFSA Simplification Release Timeline Update


Good afternoon, college community:

This message is a variation of a detailed communication sent to the financial aid community this morning and is intended for a broader system audience.

SBCTC Financial Aid Support has decided to delay testing the Financial Aid Post-Regs 1 PRP3 (PeopleSoft Release Patchset) received from Oracle.

We arrived at this decision, in part, because the Department of Education (DoE) has delivered only three ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) test students (i.e., files) and we have already determined these ISIR test files have issues.

Although we could spend time cloning and remapping those three ISIRs to afford us a little more data to test with, we collectively determined this is not a good test case scenario.

We will wait, along with the rest of the nation, for the DoE to send ISIRs, now estimated for mid-March. Once received, we will have more data to test at a level of excellence we prefer.

What does this delay in testing the FAFSA Simplification PRP mean?

Initially, our timeline was about one month turnaround to complete testing and move the PRP to production; an admittedly optimistic, aggressive timeline.

We discussed the impact of our decision to wait for the DoE ISIRs and other Oracle patches (including bug fixes) with the SBCTC Applications Services team this morning.

As of today, Feb. 9, 2024, we tentatively estimate late April/early May 2024 to finish testing; aiming for the second week of May 2024 to move changes to ctcLink production.

This timeline is subject to change depending on when we receive ISIRs and when Oracle sends updated PRPs.

Q&A and Updates

The Financial Aid community has shared a few questions.  Here is what we know to date.

The housing question is being removed from the 24/25 ISIR. How will this impact budgets?

The way our system works, with ONE main GLOBAL financial aid install page for ALL 34 colleges, we see that Oracle has delivered the housing dropdown field on the install page. This configuration means we, FA Support, are forced to choose ONE option from the dropdown menu: off-campus, with parent, or on-campus housing.

We pulled data from our system to determine the highest percentage across the system for each option. The data reflects 44,035 students are off-campus, 18,036 are with parent, and 3,526 are on-campus.

We also reviewed data based on each college, and the highest population per college is also off-campus. As a result, we are choosing off-campus as the option at the install page. Please be advised colleges will have the option to Pop Update on an ID basis to change this housing option on a case-by-case basis.

Negative SAI and impact to Pell

FA Support does not control or configure the packaging retrieve button; that is an Oracle setting. Unfortunately, until we can test this feature, we won't have a concrete answer.

Enrollment Intensity and WCG/CBS equations

Enrollment intensity is strictly for Pell; it does not impact State aid. Although we have learned from Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) at the Fall Financial Aid Council (FAC) meeting, and in prior emails, they will align with enrollment intensity. We are unclear what this means technically and how this decision will impact our system.

Below are WSAC's responses for clarification.

First question: Are provisional ISIRs considered not eligible for WCG and CBS?
The current Washington College Grant (WCG) and College Bound Scholarship (CBS) technical setup for our system (SBCTC) is that if a student does not have an official ISIR, they're essentially not eligible for WCG or CBS.
We see that provisional ISIRs will be loaded, and we are assuming provisional ISIRs will also be considered not eligible for WCG and CBS. Is that a safe assumption?
WSAC's response

Yes, this is a safe assumption as the student still must have their official ISIR and SAI for aid administrators to determine their overall need as WCG and CBS are need-based programs.

The exception is, of course, for those under the WCG-C program that are not subject to, but encouraged to file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

For CBS

  *   A FAFSA or WASFA (Washington Application for State Financial Aid) is required to award

For WCG, a student can be awarded based on any one of the following

  *   FAFSA
  *   WASFA
  *   WCG-C data match (this is where a student is listed in WSAC's portal as receiving PWA (Pregnant Women Assistance), ABD (Blind Disabled) or HEN (Housing and Essential Needs)
  *   A student provides documentation of receipt of PWA, ABD or HEN

Second question: Enrollment Intensity

We've seen that WSAC has decided to align with Enrollment Intensity and are aware there will already be some layout changes coming to account for this; however, Enrollment Intensity is strictly for Pell.

Will WSAC be going off the percentage, or keeping with the chart per unit keeping with FA load for State funds? How would this impact the interim, and how is the portal and WSAC going to apply this to summer term? Enrollment Intensity is strictly only Pell. Are we to understand all of State funding will align with Enrollment Intensity, too?

WSAC's response

WSAC worked directly with the State Aid Financial Aid Workgroup (includes three representatives from FAC) in addition to surveying the larger aid community to reach the decision to align with Enrollment Intensity for state aid programs.

Colleges will report Enrollment Intensity in lieu of enrollment bands. The enrollment definition applies to all terms including Summer.

(Note: SBCTC is not sure whether this response is absolutely final, and we plan to reach back out to WSAC to discuss further. Stay tuned.)

ISIR comment codes and queries

We will be working on queries and our ISIR comment code crosswalk in between AYR sessions and preparation for testing the PeopleTools upgrade and the PRP.  Stay tuned.

While in AYR (Aid Year Rollover) activities with some of the colleges, we also recommended clients leverage this time to go back over AYR Part 1 if you couldn't get through the material; specifically focusing on checklist items.

In addition, this would be a great time, if you don't already have a backup staff with an OY 2nd JobSet set up, to create a backup JobSet.

We're all in this together

We are acutely aware that all in the ctcLink Financial Aid community are on edge, eagerly awaiting ISIRs from the DoE and for FA Support to get the PRP tested, turned around, and put into production as soon as possible.

So are we! We will do our absolute best to keep you all in the loop with any changes and updates we have on our progress.

We know these are unprecedented times we're all experiencing, but FA Support is here for you all, and we'll be here to help get all of us through this together.
Peace be with you,

[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]Ana Ybarra, MA
Associate Director Campus Solutions - Financial Aid
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
o: 360-704-1024




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