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Future financial aid system changes for processing the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship
November 28, 2018
Postsecondary institutions who want to certify student eligibility for the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship are not able to do so in the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system - at least not yet.
The Department of Education on November 19 issued an Electronic Announcement indicating that modifications are being made to COD that will allow schools to use the system to certify student eligibility, but those changes won't be in place until later this year. An announcement will be forthcoming on when to expect those modifications.
Under this scholarship, beginning with the 2018-2019 award year, a Pell-eligible student whose parent or guardian died in the line of duty while performing as a public safety officer is eligible to receive a maximum Pell Grant for the award year for which the determination of eligibility is made. To qualify for this scholarship, a student must be Pell-eligible and have a Pell-eligible EFC (up to 5486 for the 2018-2019 award year) and be less than 24 years of age or enrolled at an institution of higher education at the time of his or her parent's or guardian's death. In subsequent award years, the student continues to be eligible for the scholarship, as long as the student has a Pell-eligible EFC and continues to be an eligible student.
In the Electronic Announcement, ED also noted that an eligibility determination entered into the COD Web will not be carried on the ISIR, nor visible in NSLDS at this time and the Central Processing System (CPS) will not recalculate a student's EFC when an institution makes the determination that a student qualifies for a Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship.
However, ED said in order to make the scholarship easier for schools to administer in subsequent award years, they are working on system modifications which would accommodate eligibility certification within the CPS.