As part of the process to participate in federal financial aid programs, all postsecondary institutions must regularly renew their registration with the federal government.
In a May 5 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education said an institution’s Unique Entity ID (UEI) must be verified in the General Services Administration System for Award Management (SAM) website, before carrying out administrative actions that involve a UEI, such as the making an award or performing UEI changes or reassignments.
Several important reminders are included in the announcement:
- If an institution processes disbursement records in the Common Origination and Disbursement System (COD) using different grantee or payee UEIs than the ones used for cash activity in G5, it must register both UEIs.
- If an institution has multiple UEIs, it must register each of them individually. This includes UEIs for any approved additional locations.
- Schools should allow at least 10 business days after completing the process for the registration to be active in SAM.
- A school’s point of contact (POC) and alternative POC will receive reminder emails 60 days and 30 days before the renewal deadline.
Additional information about registering a UEI can be found in the user guides located under the “HELP” tab on the SAM website. Anyone with questions about the SAM website or the UEI registration process should contact the G5 Help Desk at 1-888-336-8930 or via email at OBSSHelpDesk@ed.gov.
