This is the second of two release items that comprise the initial 2024-25 Regulatory release. This item contains code modifications for 2024-25 Federal processing, including: ADD Load processing and various associated calculations. Item 2404-01 contains the 2024-25 file changes.
This year has introduced extensive changes to the financial aid process and has dramatically modified the FINANCIER application processing workflow. Due to the magnitude of this year's modifications, we will be delivering Regulatory releases in multiple releases. This first release will focus on the ADD process, so that schools may begin loading ISIRs as quickly as possible.
Due to the shear volume of modifications, we will keep these release notes specific to FINANCIER and the Regulatory implementation. Additional materials from the Department of Education (DoE) materials and/or WolffPack (WP) generated materials can be found on a supplemental page.
File change notes:
ISIR file:
The ISIR file length has increased from 4,600 bytes (670 fields) to 7,704 bytes (947 fields). The ISIR layout can be found (in PDF format) at the DoE link for Volume 4 of the Specifications Guide.
As an alternative resource, WolffPack has created its own Google Sheet which cross-references the ISIR layout and various FINANCIER files/layouts. The Google Sheet: WP - Regs 2025 ISIR cross reference (November Final ISIR tab) lists the ISIR layout, while the (Cross reference tab) details ISIR field names (as defined on the WF25FEDL file) vs FINANCIER "file" field names. Finally, the (Last year vs This year tab) details fields used last year vs fields used this year.
Functional change notes:
ISIR restructuring
This year, data submitted by specific parties is known as “contributor data”. Contributors are Student, Student’s spouse, Parent, Parent’s spouse, and preparer. FINANCIER refers to these as Student, Spouse, Parent-1 (P1), Parent-2(P2), and preparer. Not all contributors are always required to submit data but when they are, our system will capture the data. The ISIR AND the FAFSA for this year is also grouped by contributor and related fields, so the layout is very different from what we’ve seen previously.
The contributor data being transferred from the IRS used to be called the IRS Data Retrieval tool, but this year the DoE refers to it as the Federal Tax Information (or FTI) data, coming from the IRS Direct Data Exchange. This data does not display on the Partner Portal (previously-FAA Access) or on the Student FAFSA Submission Summary (replacing the SAR), although it does exist in the ISIR. We felt it was important that schools be able to see the IRS data and what was potentially used during the SAI calculation. We have added a screen at the end of the compressed FAFSA screens that will display all of the IRS data for any contributors. This data is view-only and not correctable.
As all of the intermediate numbers are now being supplied by the DoE, FINANCIER will no longer supply a Need Analysis calc. FINANCIER will display calculated data supplied on the ISIR.
EFC has been replaced with SAI. The prorated or alternative EFC no longer exists. Schools must instead use the 9-month SAI. Beginning this year, there are no Auto Zero EFC or Simplified Needs Test (SNT) calculated.
Central Processing System (CPS) terminology has been replaced with FAFSA Processing System (FPS).
For the first year (2025), a negative SAI may be calculated. A negative SAI is converted to 0 for packaging purposes. (SAI = SC + PC)
FINANCIER modifications
The full FAFSA screens try to match the FAFSA as much as possible and due to the additional contributor information, there are now 13 screens instead of the previous 10. You might not see data on all of them because there might not be a spouse and/or parent-1 and/or parent-2. Screens 1-5 are the Student data, screens 6-7 are the Spouse data, screens 8-10 are the Parent-1 data, screens 11-12 are the Parent-2 data and screen 13 is more of a final screen with additional info such as the lock field.
The Compressed FAFSA screens have also grown by 2 additional screens, due to the volume of contributor data. They are similarly laid out: screens 1-2 are the Student, screen 3 is the Spouse, screen 4 is Parent-1 and screen 5 is Parent-2.
The new ISIR file is laid out in blocks, by contributor, and also contains IRS supplied Federal Tax Information (FTI) data. Within the FPS data there is also a section called Manually input data. The contributors will not always be able to update a FAFSA manually, but whenever there is manual data, FINANCIER will display it. The manually input data is what will be displayed in the FINANCIER Federal data screens - not the FTI data. The IRS data will only be displayed on the FTI map at the end of the compressed screens. It may not always be immediately obvious which numbers were used in the calculation, but all of the potential source data will be displayed within FINANCIER.
The CPS screen is now called the FPS (FAFSA Processing System) screen - for 2025 and forward. Many of last year’s IRS fields that no longer available were removed from this screen. The SAI info appears on this screen. The federal ID, which previously included the transaction number as part of it, is no longer available in the ISIR. The transaction number now stands alone in the ISIR and appears on this screen as well. In the location at the top left, next to federal ID, where you could previously expand to see additional ISIR data, you can expand and you will see additional contributor ISIR data. Previously, where 7 reject reason codes appeared, you will now be able to expand (F9) to see a potential list of 55 reject reasons. You will also now see 20 comment codes on this screen. There are additional match flags on the right due to the additional contributor match information.
In 2024 the ISIR held 7 reject reason codes (out of the potential 37 that existed at that time). The Dept would send up to 7 reject reason codes in these ISIR fields. Those reject reasons previously displayed as 7 reject reasons on the Add Compare screen and on the CPS screen. This year, they have included up to 55 potential reject reason codes on the ISIR.
On the Add compare screen, the top half of the screen shows the data in the add file and the bottom half shows the data already in FINANCIER. Also on the Add Compare screen, when scrolling to additional contributor data, there is an additional screen that shows the spouse and P2 contributor comparisons. There are 9 fields that have manually input tax data that currently do not display on the add compare screens but will display on a subsequent release.
Reject overrides and assumptions are no longer part of the ISIR. FINANCIER is no longer including the final screen attached to the compressed FAFSA screens that shows reject and assumption override information. The final screen had similar data showing calculations from the Need Analysis calc. FINANCIER has been modified to show the calculated data from the ISIR for analysis.
The Verification screen was changed to add the additional contributor data needed to perform verifcation as well as remove some of the IRS fields and old filing field names. Since we removed some of the old filing fields that no longer exist, we added a pop-up that displays the new filing information for whatever contributor information we have. The verification tracking field is now two bytes instead of four. The verification screens do not have additional screens but they do have additional data on each screen due to the additional contributors, and the additional information that needs to be verified. The verification process itself remains the same. Due to more IRS data being transferred, the implication is that less records will be sent for verification.
We have removed the long obsolete 3 CSS menu options from the Need Analysis menu and removed the Veterans certification menu option from the Application menu but have left the existing function key locations for the remaining menu options. We purposely did not update the Security table with these changes, so as not to incur additional work for the schools. Since they can no longer choose non-existent menu options, security for those should not an issue.
Parent info section: Some previously obsolete fields which were discussed on calls with HETGroup were removed from the student demographic screen, but the files were not changed. Additionally, since non-student contributor demographic information is not available in the HETGroup interface, such as spouse, parent-1, parent-2 addresses, any corrections will need to be done on the compressed FAFSA screens. We did not add new contributor info to the external files.
M1/M2 components have been slightly redefined with the 2024-2025 Regulatory release. As indicated above, FINANCIER does not supply a federal needs analysis calculation, but rather imports SAI and SC/PC from the ISIR. M1 fields (on the Need Analysis, Budget and AidNeed screens will reflect this. Additionally, M1 is (as it was in the past) a Full time 9-month calculation and will be used for Pell reporting. As it was in the past, M2 is pro-rated based on the student's budget duration. The packaging routines will take this into consideration in a future release. Finally, M3 (formerly used for institutional methodologies) are not used. As a result, FINANCIER's test budget calculation has been modified to not load M3 components.
Additionally, all of the comment codes have been renumbered this year and all of the SAR numbers have been renumbered. (See the supplemental release for additional information re: comment code text.) All SAIs and intermediate values are provided, but no alternate SAIs will be calculated or provided.
The number of family members in college is no longer considered in the needs analysis formula, but it is still a required question on the FAFSA form and does display in FINANCIER.
"Family Size" replaces the term "Household Size" and aligns with the number of individuals reported on the federal tax return.
We have found it necessary to modify the WWVALLDA PDA due to increased sizes in correctable federal data. While we believe that this is the only field change required for internal capturing of auditable/correctable fields, and should not effect previous years, we want to draw it to your attention for cataloging purposes. (The WF-ECAR userview should be large enough to store any audited data.)
WolffPack
FINANCIER File changes: (Note: These changes are detailed in the Release Notes: Item 2404-01)
WF-ADD: The WF-ADD file has some new fields, as a result of the increased size of the ISIR. As a reminder, the ADD file is simply a holding place for ISIRs that have not yet been loaded into FINANCIER.
WF-AIDYEAR: The WF-AIDYEAR file has some new fields, specific to HETGroup, as a result of the loss of some fields on the ISIR layout.
WW-STUDENT: The WW-STUDENT file has some increased field lengths as a result of the ISIR changes.
New Files:
Per usual, year specific files are added:
WF-CPS-2425
WF-FEDERAL-2425
WF-ISIR-2425
WF-NSLDS-2425
WF-VERIFY-2425
The attached zip file contains:
To implement the 2024-25 Regulatory release, complete the following steps: