Schools and other organizations may need to act soon to avoid losing access to federal financial aid systems.
In a February 18 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education said it plans to implement technical updates on March 8 to the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). As a result of these updates, a school or organization may need to change their internet firewall rules if outbound traffic is restricted.
The Department said it will update the test environment by late February so organizations can determine what changes need to be made to avoid disruptions.
The updates will change the outbound Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connectivity and associated Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The Outbound TCP is the connection an organization initiates from its system to the SAIG when it sends or receives files using EDconnect or TDClient. Port 26581 must be open for outbound TCP/IP traffic to the new IP addresses. The announcement includes the information for the outbound TCP firewall rules.
Questions should be directed to the FPS Help Desk at 1-800-330-5947 or support@fps.ed.gov.
