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.

The following summary informs schools, lenders, and servicers of the latest Common Manual policy changes. These changes will appear in the manual's next annual update in 2002. However, these changes are effective before the next update is scheduled to be delivered.

NSLDS Enrollment Reporting
The Department of Education has updated the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting process effective January 2, 2002. The updates to the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting process enhance both the batch process of enrollment records and the NSLDS/FAP Web site for financial aid professionals. The Department of Education also renamed the former SSCR Users Guide the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide. The Common Manual has been updated to replace references to the Student Status Confirmation Report (SSCR) with these new enrollment reporting requirements and applicable terminology. In addition, the glossary has been revised to delete the definitions of "Enrollment Update Report" and "Loan Transaction Statement" since these terms no longer appear in the manual, and to add a definition of "Enrollment Reporting" and an entry of the term "Student Status Confirmation Report" (SSCR) with a cross-reference to the definition "Enrollment Reporting".

Waiver of the Grace Period
The manual's example of a borrower who waived his or her grace period and then reenrolled has been updated to reflect a lender's requirement to grant an in-school deferment based on the receipt of enrollment information that supports the borrower's eligibility for the deferment, even without the borrower's request. This change aligns the example with the policies in subsections 7.9.A, 7.9.B, and 7.10.A.

Institutional Student Information Record
A glossary definition for "Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR)" has been added to appendix G. An ISIR is the electronic output record provided to the school by the Department's Central Processing System that includes information provided by the student on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and that includes the student's expected family contribution (EFC) and the results of federal database matches. The paper version of this document that is sent to the student is called a Student Aid Report (SAR).

Notifying the Guarantor of a Guarantee Reinstatement
The Common Manual has been revised to reflect existing National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) requirements to report a loan's loss of guarantee and the reinstatement of that guarantee. In addition, lenders are required to ensure that, if the guarantor does not utilize the lender's NSLDS reporting data to update it records, the guarantor is notified of the loan's loss of guarantee and the reinstatement of that guarantee at the time each of those events occur or are identified. Finally, the manual has been revised to require the lender to include the curing instrument or a legible copy of the curing instrument in any claim filed after the guarantee reinstatement. Requirements that the lender provide other cure documentation such as a request for reinstatement of the guarantee have been removed.

Definition of Curing Instrument
The Common Manual is revised to include a definition of "curing instrument" in the glossary. A curing instrument is defined as documentation the lender must obtain and retain to substantiate a cure. Examples of a curing instrument include, but are not limited to, a signed repayment agreement, evidence of one full payment received from or on behalf of the borrower, or documentation of the activities performed in an Intensive Collection Activities (ICA) cure.

Default Aversion Assistance
Specific requirements regarding a guarantor's default aversion assistance activities have been removed from subsections 8.1.J and ^CCI8.1.J. Federal regulations no longer specify the content of the guarantor's default aversion assistance activities. Thus, guarantors may be performing multiple activities with varied content based on their own analysis of their portfolio requirements.

Due Diligence Activities
Subsections 8.1.D and ^CCI8.1.D of the Common Manual have been revised to remove redundant policy guidance related to final demand letters and the 45-day gap. This guidance is being retained solely under the more appropriate subheadings "241 days or more delinquent," "301 days or more delinquent," and "Other Requirements," while duplicate guidance found under the subheadings "16-180 days delinquent" and "16-240 days delinquent" has been removed.

Glossary Updated to Delete Congressional Methodology
The Common Manual has been revised to delete the definition of "Congressional Methodology" from appendix G, as it is no longer used. The reference to Congressional Methodology within the definition of "Federal Need Analysis Methodology" has also been deleted.