Common Manual Updates

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.

Common Manual section 4.4 has been revised to distinguish between the process used by a school to report a social security number (SSN) change for a student versus the process used for a parent borrower. The purpose of this clarification is to update the Common Manual to reflect the full implementation of Student Status Confirmation Report (SSCR) processing through the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Is this sentence necessary? I didn’t see this clarification explained anywhere in the bulletin language.

If a school becomes aware of any social security number (SSN) change, the school is expected to verify the correct SSN by obtaining a copy of an acceptable source document (listed below). Changes to a student’s SSN must be reported to the guarantor through NSLDS using the SSCR or an equivalent process. If the change is to a parent borrower’s SSN, the school must continue to notify the guarantor directly. If the guarantor requires the supporting documentation for any SSN change, the school must provide it.

Acceptable Source Documents for Social Security Number Changes 
Guarantors consider any of the following source documents acceptable for reporting an SSN change:

• Social security card or other Social Security Administration document.
• Income tax return or W-2 form.
• Official military orders, documents, or papers.
• Loan application (if the discrepancy resulted from a data input error).
• State driver’s license or state-issued identification card on which the SSN is listed.

Schools may contact LOSFA for more information on procedures for reporting SSN changes.

Affected Sections: 4.4
Effective Date: Student SSN changes identified by a school on or after March 1, 1997
Policy Information: Reference #329
Guarantor Comments: None

Defining Student Enrollment Status

Common Manual policy has been updated to remove the incorrect definition of an academic year from subsection 5.7.B.Seems redundant. The correct definition is found in subsection 5.7.A. Information regarding determining the student’s enrollment status and grade level has also been enhanced.

Subsection 5.7.B. now clarifies that a school must define full-time enrollment status for each of its programs of study. The school may advance an undergraduate's grade level once the student completes the number of credit or clock hours specified by the school as the amount necessary for the student to advance in academic standing within the student’s program of study (for example, from freshman to sophomore). At a minimum, the school’s standards must require the student to complete at least 24 semester or trimester hours, 36 quarter hours, or 900 clock hours to advance the student to the next grade level.

Note: If a school's published academic standing requirements exceed the school-defined academic year, the school is required to use the published academic standing requirements to certify a student's grade level for loan purposes. For example, a school defines its academic year as the completion of 24 credits in 30 weeks, but requires the successful completion of 30 credits for a student to advance from freshman to sophomore standing. In this case, if a student completes less than 30 credits during his or her first academic year, the student remains eligible for first-year undergraduate loan limits at the beginning of his or her second academic year. The school may not certify a second-year undergraduate loan until the student successfully completes 30 credits, as required by the school to advance from freshman to sophomore standing.

Information pertaining to graduate and professional students has been enhanced to state the school is responsible for developing enrollment status and grade level advancement criteria for graduate students.

Affected Section: 5.7.B.
Effective Date: Effective retroactively to the implementation of the Common Manual
Policy Information: Reference #330
Guarantor Comments: None