Close Out Dates

SAL Windows Update

Cash Edit Listing

In the "Due After" column, the in-out code status was added to display if the code is not in repayment. The following messages are:

• inschool
• grace
• paid up
• gov assg

This is to notify the schools everyday if a payment is applied to a loan/debt that is not in repayment.

ACH Information from Website

There are two methods for a borrower to have monies withdrawn electronically from their bank account. ACH is based on a paper form that the borrower sends to the school or to ECSI. Direct Payments are electronic payments that the borrower makes directly on ECSI's web site.

ECSI merges the Direct Payments from the web site into SAL on a nightly basis. As Direct Payments ultimately are processed as ACH transactions, we previously did not identify them differently, which has caused some confusion.

A change was made to the Demographics Window. When a borrower requests a Direct Payment from our web site, the following message is displayed in the ACH Information area "ACH Info from ECSI Website".

This new message will allow you to differentiate between a borrower who submitted a 'traditional' ACH application and a borrower who requested direct payments on the web.

Name/Address Window Changes

The Name/Address window will now display a single ‘Name’ field when entering Employer and Parents address types. This field can hold up to 33 characters for the Employer or Parents name.

Other Changes to Name/Address

• The cursor will now start at the ‘Source’ field allowing the user to enter this information at the beginning of the name change. This field contains up to a 10 character description of where the new address information was received from.
• Each of the phone number fields (Home, Work, Fax) will now automatically format after a valid domestic phone number is entered.
  • When entering the numbers, do not use any spaces or dashes if you want the screen to format it for you. (Ex. Enter 4127883900 for it to format 412-788-3900)
  • You may also manually format the numbers yourself and the system will bypass it’s own formatting.

Removing Loans from Cosigners

You now have the ability to remove loans that are associated with a cosigner.

To remove a loan from a cosigner:

1. Display the cosigner address and click on Cosigned Loans
2. Double-click on the loan to modify the billing status,
3. Click on ‘Remove Cosigner’
4. Click on ‘Accept’
5. Repeat steps 1 thru 3 for additional loans
6. When all changes are complete, click on ‘Done’ to close the window
7. Click on ‘Save Changes’ when all other name/address changes are made

Address Profile Window

There is a new function on the Name/Address Listing window to create a profile of all addresses on the account. Click on the ‘Profile’ button to create this report.

To create an address profile on an account, enter the account number (system will automatically load in the account that is currently on the screen), and then select the level of detail that you want to show on the profile. The options are:

Address Types:

• All – Creates a profile of all addresses on the account
• Student Only - Creates a profile of only the student addresses
• Reference Only - Creates a profile of only the reference addresses
• Cosigners Only - Creates a profile of only the cosigner addresses

Detail Level:

• Current Addresses – profile will only show current address records, not any changes
• All Changes – profile will list the current address and also all changes

Click on the ‘Accept’ once all options are set. The cursor will return to the account number field to enter any additional accounts.

Click on the ‘Generate’ button to display the Create/Look/Print menu. ‘Create’ will produce the actual profiles, ‘Look’ will allow you to view the created forms in notepad, and the ‘Print’ buttons will spool this report to the printer.

A shortcut to this window has also been placed on the ‘Forms’ area of the Primary Window.

Suspense Report

A Suspense Report has been added to the Special Reports Menu.

At the primary window:

• Click on 'Forms'.
• Click on 'Report Menu'.
• Click on 'Special Reports'.
• Double click on option 16 the 'Suspense Report'.
• Click on 'Create' to process the report.
• Click on 'Look' to open the report in Notepad this will allow you to view the report before printing it.
• Click on 'Print' or 'Print Setup' to send the report to the printer.

The report contains the following information:

• SS Number
• Name
• Fund Type
• Inout Code
• Suspense Amount
• Fund and Grand totals

Operator Security Report

A report option has been added to the Operator Security Window of Sal. This report will detail a users level of access to the system. Each function of Sal will be listed along with a “Y” or “N” depending on whether the user has access to that item.

• All Users – This will list all users and their level of detail
• Specific User – Allows you to create a report on a specific user by entering their initials.

Click on ‘Print’ or ‘Print Setup’ to send the report to the printer. ‘Look’ will open the report in Notepad allowing you to view it.

Report Sample.

Higher Education Assistance Improvement Act

Congress has proposed expanded funding for the Perkins loan program (H.R. 2746). "The appropriations under section 461(b)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1087aa(b)(1)) should be doubled to at least $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for the succeeding fiscal year, and the amount available under section 465 for loan cancellation should be doubled to at least $120,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for the succeeding fiscal year."

To make permanent the tax benefits enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001

There has been much discussion in Congress on making the recently enacted tax benefits permanent. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-16) had several tax benefits relating to education. The law, as signed, includes a "Sunset" provision, such that the benefits expire on December 31, 2010. H.R. 2316 proposes to make these benefits permanent.

A bill to provide Federal Perkins Loan cancellation for public defenders

A recent ruling by the Department of Education clarified that prosecuting attorneys are considered eligible to receive law enforcement cancellation benefits under the Perkins loan program. The U.S. Senate has proposed legislation (S. 1112) including public defenders in the class of people eligible to receive the Perkins loan cancellation program.

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the Hope Scholarship Credit to cover fees, books, supplies, and equipment and to exempt Federal Pell Grants and Federal supplemental

The House of Representatives has proposed (H.R. 2219) allowing the inclusion of 'cover fees, books, supplies and equipment' to the list of qualifying items permitted under the Hope Scholarship Credit.

The definition of 'total and permanent disability'

Government Report on Student Credit-Card Debt Spurs Calls for Tighter Rules

A new Congressional report on credit-card use among college students is prompting several lawmakers to call for tighter restrictions on the marketing practices for the cards. But some officials in the banking industry, arguing that most students use credit cards responsibly, say the legislation is unnecessary.

The General Accounting Office, which surveyed 100 officials at 12 colleges, reported few, if any, findings that surprised officials on either side of the debate over college students' vulnerability to credit-card debt. The report, which does not make any recommendations, says that "Consistent misuse of credit cards by college students, particularly combined with student-loan debt, could lead to substantial debt burdens [which] could become particularly severe after graduation, when many students must begin making payments on education loans."

About half of college students graduate with an average of $19,400 in student loans, according to the report. Previous studies show that roughly 60 percent of students pay off their credit-card balances each month. Students who carry balances month to month have an average balance of $577, according to the report.

Many lawmakers say that credit-card companies prey on the financial inexperience of young people. Although the report neither proved nor disproved those assertions, it did note that officials and students at several of the institutions surveyed said that on-campus credit-card vendors did not tell applicants about the consequences of misusing credit cards, such as getting a bad credit record.

In a statement released this week, Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a New York Democrat and one of the three members of the House of Representatives who requested the study, said, "Banks and credit-card companies have put profits first without concern for the customers' long-term financial interests."

Ms. Slaughter is a cosponsor of a bill that would limit credit to 20 percent of a student's annual income without a cosigner and that would require parents who cosign to agree in writing to increases in credit limits.

But Joe D. Belew, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, which represents banks and credit-card issuers, said the report presents no evidence to justify federal restrictions.

"We've got a long way to go in terms of improving the financial literacy of young people," Mr. Belew said. "But the fact is that most students are using credit cards responsibly. There is always room for abuse, but at the end of the day, debt is an individual's responsibility."

Web Site Updates

For the last three years, ECSI has made an effort to update our site on a regular basis. As we head into our fourth year, we have redoubled our efforts to make sure that the site is as up-to-date as possible.

In February, we started two new sections: Legislation and Headlines. Twice a week, ECSI reviews dozens of web sites and gathers any pertinent information. Headlines contain items that are of interest to our clients, either academically or as they pertain to current trends. Legislation gives you a summary of the items in congress that could affect you or your borrowers.

Keeping to our promise at the 2001 User Conference, we have been documenting major changes in the SAL software and placing them on our web site. Since June, there have been twelve new documents placed in the SAL for Windows Changes section. The SAL for Windows Changes is part of the SAL HelpDesk, available on the Client page.

In the SAL HelpDesk section, you will also find a complete copy of the on-line help manual. Clients may only receive a new copy of the on-line help manual once or twice a month, depending on when your site receives a program update. The version on the web site is updated approximately weekly.

Starting July, the agency portion of our site was redesigned to provide access using only secure pages. Because collection agencies can view so much sensitive data, we felt it was prudent to eliminate the possibility that confidential information was being viewed "in the clear" (open to being intercepted). All the changes were done transparently to ease the transition and eliminate any retraining.

We have recently added several new items to the borrower's Current Account Status that were requested frequently by borrowers. The interest rate and principal paid were added. Also, the current due column has been shaded to assist borrowers in finding this information. Finally, the Current Due Date is displayed so borrowers know the date by which their payment must be made.

Speaking of borrowers, we have also expanded our Electronic Bill Service to include borrowers who are on ACH and who have bad addresses. Traditionally, ACH borrowers only received account statements from ECSI once a year. That leaves 11 months where a borrower can only guess at their account balance without calling the school or ECSI. Placing their account statements on the web site every month enables the borrower to keep closer tabs on their account. Hopefully, it will also encourage them to make more frequent use of the Demographics Update page when their address changes.

Coming Soon!

Because of the changes in the last six to eight months, ECSI is finally in a position to perform some additional 'site redesign'. Borrowers, clients and agencies now have their own 'portal' page which logically separates the sections of our site.

The current design has remained fairly static since 1998. Up until now, we were much more concerned with getting information disseminated than making the site 'pretty'. All that's about to change! ECSI sought the assistance of a local design firm to suggest some changes to our site that would make it more visually appealing but still retain the ability to be accessed from a wide range of browsers.

Many of the changes will be cosmetic. The pages will have a softer background than bright white. The navigation will be more customized to each type of user (client, agency, borrower).

What will not change is the breadth of content that we have offered. Everyone is committed to ensure that we don't lose a single document or feature! Hopefully, by the next newsletter you will be able to see some of the changes.

Until Next Time

Learning Center

Process Labels 999/998

Starting from the Primary Window

• Click on Forms
• Click on Letters
• Click on Merge Entire File
• Left click on Letter Codes
• Right click on List Letters
• Double click on 999 or 998
• Click on Months Delinquent
• Enter 000 to 999
• Click on All or Specific (Optional):

• Loan Status
• Special Codes
• Campus Codes
• Fund / Type
• Program Type
• Collector Code

• Click on Accept Choices after each choice if you selected Specific (if you did not select specific skip this step)
• Click on Process
• Click on Yes, are all perferred options selected
• Click on Yes, this process will read all of the loans on file, are you sure you want to continue?
• Click on OK, the letter finder file has been created, click on Generate Letters to create the merge file for your word processor

• Click on Generate Letters
• Click on Yes, this process will overlay the Letter Merge File. If you have not created letters from a previous merge, do so before continuing. Are you sure you want to create the merge files for your word processor?
• Double click on the line with 999 or 998 this will bring up MS Word
• Click on Merge to a New Document
• Click on Print
• Click on X to close word

• Click on No to save changes
• Click on No to save changes
• Do not exit from the 999 or 998 until your labels have been printed
• Click on the X to close the window
• Click on Yes (has the mail merge process been completed on each of the letters?)
• Click on X or Esc
• Click on X or Esc

Process Rehabilitation

Starting from the Primary Window

• Enter the Social Security
• Click on Coll
• Click on Rehab
• Click on Post Rehab
• Double click on the loan(s) (you must have a plus ( + ) sign at the end of the line for the loan you have chosen)
• Click on Continue
• Enter New Rehab Amount and press enter or tab
• Enter Yes first payment due MM/DD/YY or No change to MM/DD/YY

• Click on Process Rehabilitation
• Click on OK rehab information posted & letter finder was created (Sal System Message)
• Click on Quit

Print Rehabilitation

Starting from the Primary Window

• Click on Forms
• Click on Letters
• Click on Generate Letters
• Click on Yes to overlay the merge file
• Double click on the RH0 Rehab line this will bring up MS Word
• Click on Merge to a New Document
• Click on Print
• Click on X to close word
• Click on No to save changes
• Click on No to save changes

• Do not exit from the RH0 Rehab line until your letters have been printed
• Click on the X to close the window
• Click on Yes (has the mail merge process been completed on each of the letters?)
• Click on X or Esc
• Click on X or Esc

Rehabilitation

ECSI has provided it's clients with an automated solution to handle the requirements of the Perkins Loan Rehabilitation regulations that became effective July 1, 2000. A User has the capability to :

The system performs the following processing:

The system automatically tracks accounts that have been placed in a rehabilitation pending status. These accounts are placed at the top of the priority table when a payment is received and the rehabilitation amount is used to determine how much is applied to a loan. The records are analyzed prior to the billing calculation to determine whether consecutive payments are incremented if the agreed upon amount was paid or the account is removed from rehabilitation when a payment was missed. Furthermore, the User can identify the rehabilitation amount, end date and consecutive payments made when viewing the loan in the Primary Window.

Additional features that exist to assist borrowers and Users with their rehabilitation efforts are:

• A special message appears on the invoice statement which shows the total rehabilitation amount owed, the last payment date and consecutive made.
• The User may generate a report on-line to identify all rehabilitation accounts. The report is sorted alphabetically in highest consecutive payments made to lowest order.
• Our 60-day final demand letter includes the rehabilitation benefits on the back of the page.
• After 12 consecutive payments have been made the account is removed from rehabilitation pending status. All amounts due are removed at that time and a comment is generated to indicate rehabilitation was successfully completed. The loan record is also updated to indicate the account will be deleted from the credit bureau files the next time a credit bureau update is performed.

Process a Renegotiation

Starting from the Primary Window

• Enter Social Security
• Click on Coll
• Click on Rn/Rs/Forecast
• Click on Post Rn/Rs/Forecast
• Click on Renegotiate
• Click on Select All Loans
• Enter the amount for Interest & Fees
• Click or tab to R1 and enter the amount for Payoff loans for (P/I/F)
• Click on Calculate Amounts

• Click on Process
• Click on Accept
• Click on Accept
• Click on Forms
• Click on Letters
• Click on Generate Letters
• Click on Yes (This process will overlay the letter merge file. If you have not created letters from a previous merge, do so before continuing. Are you sure you want to create the merge files for your word processor?)

• Double click on the R1 line this will bring up MS Word
• Click on Merge to New Document
• Click on Print
• Click on the X to close the window
• Click on the X to close the window
• Click on No to save changes
• Do not exit from the Box with R1 until your letters have been printed
• Click on X
• Click on Yes (has the mail merge process been completed on each of the letters?)

• Click on X or Esc
• Click on X or Esc

Posting a Renegotiation (Rn)

• Starting from the Primary Window
• Remove all principal accrued and remove months delinquent
• Change the fix payment amount to the renegotiated amount
• Enter Rn in the Special Code
• Click on Apply Changes
• Click on Def an enter a hardship deferment if necessary
• Click on Memo and note the account you received a signed Rn letter

• ECSI will forward a profile with the signed Rn letter to the school

Process Reschedule

Starting from the Primary Window

• Click on Coll
• Click on Rn/Rs/Forecast
• Click on Post Rn/Rs/Forecast
• Click on Reschedule
• Click on Select All Loans (if you want all loans, else highlight loans by clicking on each one then click on the Compute Selected Loans
• Enter Reschedule (Rs) Ending Date
• Enter Reschedule (Rs) Amount
• Click on Calculate Amount

• Click on Process
• Enter a Review Date if Desired
• Click on Accept
• Click on X to close the window