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May 15, 2001 The Department of Education has announced its guidelines for electronic signature use with Title IV loans. The Department participated in a Town Hall Meeting, conducted on May 3, 2001 to discuss the Department's position. While the Department has released guidelines, no new proposed rules will be issued. Of note is the ability to use the FASFA system to digitally sign documents. NCS Pearson, the designer of the FASFA system, has published an API interface to the FASFA database. This enables institutions to digitally signed documents without the need to develop an in-house solution. The charges for using this system can be substantial and they cannot be charged back to the Perkins fund. ECSI believes that our implementation of electronic signatures meets or exceeds the guidelines outlined by the Department of Education. The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP) has a comprehensive web page containing meeting notes, PowerPoint slides, specifications and the Department's Final Standards. Their information can be found at http://www.nchelp.org/esign/esignQ&A.htm. If you have any questions or comments concerning ECSI's position on electronic signatures or our related services, please contact admin@ecsi.net.
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