Reporting Accuracy

What are the correct terms? There are many similar terms used to describe an enrollment status of event, such as "Last Date of Attendance" or "Withdrawn". Find these and other terms in the Financial Aid Dictionary.

What are the school’s responsibilities?
Schools are required to develop Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and other enrollment-related policies. Schools are also required to collect, verify, and report attendance and enrollment information for students. Enrollment data must be reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) regularly. At many schools, more than one office is responsible for collecting or reporting information about a student's enrollment status. Consistency and accuracy can be achieved more easily if one office assumes primary responsibility for verifying and reporting a student's enrollment status.

What happens if enrollment status is reported incorrectly?
Problems arise when student enrollment status information is not uniformly recorded by various offices at the school, or accurately reported to the NSLDS. The impact is far-reaching, affecting students, schools, lenders, and student loan servicers.

Borrowers may experience these consequences:

  • Not being converted to grace and repayment periods on time.
  • Not receiving deferments to which they are entitled.
  • Not receiving timely interest subsidies during in-school, grace, and deferment periods.

Schools and lenders may also experience problems:

  • Schools receiving additional, direct requests for enrollment status verification.
  • Schools cohort default rates being adversely affected.
  • Schools being required to reconcile conflicting information or be cited with findings for erroneous data during program reviews.
  • Lender requests for claim payment being rejected by guarantors because of conflicting information that the lender must reconcile.

For example:
The financial aid office records the last date of at least half-time attendance as May 8 - the last day of the term (i.e., the last day of coursework necessary for the student to graduate). However, the office responsible for reporting the student's enrollment status to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) records the last date of at least half-time attendance as May 18 - the date of graduation ceremonies. In this case, the financial aid office is correct.