Important Information about Electronic Transmission of CommonLine Application Records with Second Line Address Information

To assure that your Common Manual remains current, please record this document on your LPM/LPB Index, and retain it in Appendix E of your manual.

This LPB provides critical information regarding CommonLine Application Record processing of the borrower address fields by our servicing contractor, USA Group Guarantee Services. Data transmitted in the second line of either the permanent or temporary borrower address field can cause processing difficulties.

The USAGroup mainframe processing systems do not currently have the capability to save or use information in the second address line. The systems are designed to correspond to the physical printing space available on the common application for Federal Stafford and Federal PLUS, which corresponds to one line with a maximum of thirty-two (32) characters. LOSFA apologizes for any inconvenience which this processing limitation creates and for the delay in communicating it to you. USAGroup has now begun work to provide both immediate and long-term solutions to this problem.

It is important to note that this is not an issue for WhizKid users who perform their data entry via WhizKid itself. WhizKid’s entry/edit process prevents use of the second address line for Guarantee Services’ transmissions. WhizKid does allow use of the second line for transmissions to other CommonLine participants.

Schools and lenders affected by this limitation are those who do not use WhizKid as their application entry system but rather schools and lenders who:

• download CommonLine Application Records from their internal financial aid management system into WhizKid, and then forward those records to Guarantee Services,
• send CommonLine Application Records through CompuServe to Guarantee Services using a CommonLine-compliant, school-based software system other than WhizKid, or
• send CommonLine Application Records directly to Guarantee Services from their mainframe.

Immediate Request: For those customers impacted, we ask that you immediately modify your procedures to only transmit address information of 32 characters or less.

Interim Solution: For second line address information that is received, USAGroup is modifying their mainframe systems to combine the information contained in the first and second address lines into one line. If this combination exceeds the current 32 character limit, the transaction will suspend and the support team will contact your institution to discuss correction options.

Permanent Solution: Analysis has begun regarding the significant changes to the systems that are required to ensure that USAGroup can save and use all information from both the first and second address lines for loan guarantee and origination processing has begun. USAGroup will share information about their discovery as soon as it is available.

LOSFA hopes you find this explanation to be clear and understandable and that you are able to make adjustments to your procedures in the interim period, until USAGroup’s system is modified as described above. We very much appreciate your understanding and patience as these corrective actions are implemented. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact USAGroup’s Electronic Services Team at 1-800 348-4606.