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Best Practices and Reminders to Help You Maintain Compliance

+  How We Keep You Informed
+  Compliance Numbers You Should Know
+  Use Our Checklist to Get Ready for Fall
+  Know Your NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Score
+  Follow These Compliance Best Practices
+  Compliance Reminders
+  Frequently Asked Questions
+  Resources
+  Articles

How We Keep You Informed

The Clearinghouse actively monitors newsfeeds, including NASFAA, AACRAO, and FSA, for the latest updates on compliance requirements, new FSA announcements, and upcoming changes. As soon as we become aware of pertinent changes that impact our institutions, we immediately engage the compliance response team at the Clearinghouse to evaluate how the new changes should be addressed. The team assesses the impacts on our customers, systems, business functions, and additional services. Once the evaluation is complete, we provide transparent communications to our customers. Our goal in our communications is to be timely, informative, proactive and transparent.

Compliance Numbers You Should Know

Months

SSCRs should be completed at least every two months

Days

SSCRs are returned within 15 days of receipt

Days

SSCR errors should be corrected within 10 days of receipt

Days

Status changes should be reported within 60 days from the date of determination

%

Or Better

Enrollment Reporting Statistics score must be 90% or better

Use Our Checklist to Get Ready for Fall

Submitting your student enrollment and degree files to the Clearinghouse on schedule, along with the timely correction of errors, is the best way for you to stay in compliance with federal law. It also ensures that your students continue to receive federal financial aid. The checklist below will also help you stay in compliance.

1. Review and update your Clearinghouse contacts.

It’s important to keep your contacts up-to-date so we can reach the appropriate person whenever questions or issues arise. Your institution’s Clearinghouse user administrator can view and edit your contacts to ensure the list is current, all contact information is accurate, and roles (e.g., registrar, financial aid director or submission data) are assigned to the right people. For help, watch our short tutorials on viewing school users, managing school users, and adding a user

2. Know who gets your submission reminder emails.

The Clearinghouse sends reminder emails before your submission is due and if it’s late. The people on your contact list who have the roles listed below will receive the following email:

Type of Email When Sent Who Receives
1st late reminder 4 days before your scheduled submission is due Submission Data, Submission Data Alternate
2nd late reminder 7 days after the 1st late reminder email Submission Data, Submission Data Alternate, Relationship Executive, Financial Aid Director
Subsequent late reminder Every 7 days after the 2nd late reminder email, until your file is submitted Submission Data, Submission Data Alternate, Relationship Executive, Financial Aid Director
3. Submit error corrections as soon as possible.

Each time you upload a file to the Clearinghouse, it is checked for errors. If any are found, an error report is posted for your school’s review. You should review this file and respond as soon as possible. Your data is not loaded into our system, shared with NSLDS and loan servicers, or made available for verification until you have resolved the issues identified. The Submission Data or Submission Data Alternate contacts at your school can make error corrections. Watch our tutorial on viewing your error report. Other tutorials related to error correction are available on our Clearinghouse Academy site.

4. Use our free training resources.

Our Clearinghouse Academy site offers training resources for your new staff members and those who need refresher or cross training in how to use Clearinghouse services.

Know Your NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Score

Each month, NSLDS calculates a score based upon the data it accepts through the NSLDS enrollment roster reporting (aka SSCR) process and displays it on this page. Any institution with a score below the acceptable 90 percent threshold of “Percent Certified with Program Enrollment” is subject to receiving a letter from FSA. Here’s where you can learn more:

Follow These Compliance Best Practices

  • Report every month.
  • Resolve Error Resolution on the Web reports promptly. Be sure to address any items flagged for your review.
  • Review details of your enrollment files to ensure students are reported with appropriate program information.
  • Report graduates at campus AND program levels (as appropriate) as soon as degree audits are completed.
  • Continue to report graduates until all have been awarded.
  • Resolve your SSCR Errors via the Clearinghouse Secure Site within eight days.
  • Review your Enrollment Reporting Statistics page on NSLDS,
  • Report changes made to students in NSLDS to the Clearinghouse.

Compliance Reminders

Note: Below information in Compliance Reminders section is specific to schools that are active with the Clearinghouse’s G from Degree process (also known as G from DV).

  • Graduated enrollment status is NOT generated from campus-level degree submissions for students who remain enrolled after graduation.
  • Currently, graduated enrollment statuses are NOT generated for students who are reported on a degree file with a degree award date that occurs more than 120 days after the student’s last reported enrollment date.
  • If the degree record does not include the correct CIP code, a graduated enrollment status is NOT appended at the campus and program levels on the student’s enrollment history.
  • Maintain frequent and open communication between the Registrar’s Office and the Financial Aid Office.
  • Make sure policies are update-to-date.
  • Ensure all pertinent parties are aware of policy changes.
  • Be prepared for your audit.

For schools that do not utilize G from Degree, you must report all Graduated statuses for completed program to NSC via enrollment reporting.

Frequently Asked Questions

For compliance reporting purposes, what is applicable for students who are on an Approved Leave of Absence (“A” enrollment status code)?
Students who are on an “Approved Leave of Absence” must have their enrollment certified at least every two months, per the Department of Education (NSLDS’ Guide, page 2). You can report these students to the Clearinghouse every 30-45 days (use the “A” enrollment status code) via the enrollment reporting you submit for your school’s student population.
For compliance reporting purposes, what is the date of determination used for the “Approved Leave of Absence” (enrollment status code “A,” commonly known as “Approved LOA”) status?
Because the “A” (“Approved Leave of Absence/LOA”) status is deferrable, the date of determination doesn’t apply to it. The date of determination – for timely reporting within 60 days to NSLDS – is applicable specifically to non-deferrable statuses (i.e., “L,” “W,” “G”). Please see 682.610/ 685.309, “Enrollment reporting process…Unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days, a school must notify the Secretary within 30 days after the date the school discovers that— (i) A loan under title IV of the Act was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the school, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended…”
Is compliance for retroactive status changes determined by the status change effective date or the certification date?

When a status change is discovered after it has occurred, compliance is determined based on the date your institution identifies the status change (“date of determination”). The applicable regulatory references are §682.605 and §668.22(b) or (c).

A student did not tell me that he or she wasn‘t returning in the fall and wasn’t enrolled for the summer term. The student just didn’t show up when the fall semester started. Is the student’s withdrawal status start date effective the end of the spring semester? Is this a compliance issue?
Because summer is not a required term for many schools, the regulations make room for situations like this one. There is specific guidance on handling students who do not inform you that they are not returning for the next regularly scheduled term in the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide. As long as you have “reason to believe” that the student will return for the next regularly scheduled term, the student should not be reported as withdrawn until the determination is made that the student is not coming back, or until 30 days from the start of your school’s new term. The Clearinghouse assists your school in this process by generating withdrawals based on your First-of-Term transmission. We compare your First-of-Term file for the new term to the last file for the previous term to identify missing students. Once missing students are identified, we generate a “Withdrawal” status on their records, which is effective on each student’s last reported date of attendance.
There are students in my sample who were not enrolled during the summer and did not attend in the fall, but their withdrawal wasn’t sent to NSLDS until after the fall term started. These records appear to be out of compliance. How do I evaluate the timeliness of these records?

Follow the guidance in the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide, which explains that:

“Students are considered to be in school and continuously enrolled during academic year holiday and vacation periods, as well as during the summer between academic years (even if not enrolled in a summer session) as long as there is reason to believe that they intend to enroll for the next regularly scheduled term. For example, students should not be reported as “Withdrawn” at the end of the spring term if they are expected to re-enroll for the fall term. If they do not return as expected, the status must be changed to “Withdrawn” within 30 days of that determination, or within 30 days of the start of the new term, whichever occurs first, with an effective date of the last date of attendance.”

The Clearinghouse helps schools determine which students did not return for the next regularly scheduled term by generating withdrawals based on the school’s First-of-Term transmission. We compare your First-of-Term file for the new term to the last file for the previous term to identify missing students. Once missing students are identified, we generate a “Withdrawal” status on their record, which is effective on each student’s last reported date of attendance. Evaluating compliance for these records falls within the guidance contained in the paragraph above from the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide and federal regulation(s) 682.610/685.309. We also recommend you review the date of determination regulation, 682.605.

Resources

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Articles

FSA Test Email Sent In Error to Some Schools

Apr 26, 2023

This post is for schools that received an FSA email on 4/25/23, with the subject line, “Important Alert – Enrollment Reporting Compliance – First Notice.”

Update to CIP Year 2020 Requirements

May 4, 2020

Read the key takeaways from the April 30, 2020, announcement from FSA and NSLDS on their new requirements for the 2020 Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) Code reporting.

2020 CIP Codes Update

Mar 23, 2020

On March 18, FSA published an update on the implementation of the 2020 CIP codes within Federal Student Aid systems. The Clearinghouse provides vital information on how it relates to your enrollment and compliance reporting with us.