Need a refresher on how to submit Federal Work-Study earnings to the Department of Education? If so, review FSA’s informational reminder below about how to report your institution’s FWS earnings report to the federal government. FWS earnings for the 2022 calendar year are due by the end of December 2023.
POSTED DATE: December 04, 2023
AUTHOR: Federal Student Aid
ELECTRONIC ANNOUNCEMENT ID: CB-23-21
SUBJECT: Operational Information – Reminders About Reporting Federal Work-Study Earnings to the COD System
In a July 21, 2023 Electronic Announcement, we provided operational information to assist schools in the reporting of student-level earnings information for the Federal Work-Student (FWS) Program. In this announcement, we provide some reminders about the reporting process and some additional operational guidance to assist schools with the process. This is a supplement to the earlier announcement.
Background
Under the FAFSA Simplification Act, we will use school-reported data for the FWS Program to accurately calculate the Student Aid Index (SAI) for aid recipients. We began collecting this data after Aug. 1, 2023, and will use it in the 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) processing cycle.
Reminders about Reporting FWS Earnings to the COD System
In the following sections, we provide information about reporting FWS earnings to the COD System.
Reporting Options – Batch and Web Options Available
- As noted in the earlier announcement, schools can submit FWS earnings via batch submission or via the COD website.
- Batch submissions allow for the reporting of data for multiple students and the information is transmitted via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (message class: CRCB) using the Campus-Based XML Schema version 1.0a.
- Web submissions are submitted after inputting the data on the COD web screens; these submissions are ideal for reporting on individual students.
As a reminder, full details about required and optional fields, valid values, and other business rules are in Volume 4 of the COD Technical Reference.
Note to EDExpress Users: EDExpress for Windows 2023–24, Release 3.0 can be used for reporting FWS earnings using EDExpress. This functionality became available in July 2023; see the Software and Other Tools page for EDExpress information.
Reporting Deadline for FWS Earnings for Calendar Year 2022
To ensure accurate SAI calculations upon start-up of FAFSA processing, schools must plan to complete the submission (and COD System acceptance) of FWS earnings for the 2022 calendar year by the end of December 2023.
Late Submissions of and/or Corrections to Previously Reported FWS Earnings
- If circumstances require either a late submission of FWS earnings or a correction to previously submitted FSA earnings after the December 2023 deadline, schools should take action to submit any new or updated FWS data as soon as possible. However, how the FWS earnings will be used will differ based on the status of a student’s 2024–25 FAFSA form:
- If the new or updated FWS earnings are submitted and accepted in the COD System prior to submission of the student’s 2024–25 FAFSA form, the FWS earnings will be used in the calculation of the SAI upon FAFSA submission.
- If the new or updated FWS earnings are submitted and accepted in the COD System after submission of the student’s 2024–25 FAFSA form, the FWS earnings will be held in the COD System and will not be pushed to the FAFSA Processing System (FPS) until a later date. We will provide more information about the date by which updated FWS earnings will be pushed from the COD System to FPS and processed in a forthcoming Electronic Announcement.
Campus-Based Schema File and 2023–24 COD Technical Reference Information
For technical information about the Campus-Based schema, schools and third-party software providers can refer to the Campus-Based XML Schema Version 1.0a and the 2023–24 COD Technical Reference documents posted on the Knowledge Center.
Contact Information
If you have questions, contact the FSA Partner and School Relations Center at 1-800-848-0978. You may also email CODSupport@ed.gov