Today’s question regarding DL is “2010 or 2011?” Should we start clean with the upcoming Aid Year, or do we finish the 2010 Aid Year using the DL program?
The seemingly obvious answer is to start with 2011. Our initial preference was to start entirely new with the 2011 year. We really felt this would be a lot easier for us to handle, from item type / loan type setup, to changed awarding practices, to checklist / communication assignment, as well as all our loan processing. This made the most sense to us, and was the recommendation of several people we respected.
However, we have 13 careers, and several of these careers have 2011 start dates as early as late March. We wanted to do some testing with our system and with COD prior to being (really and truly) live for 2011. AND, our understanding of how the Feds have structured testing is that test files must contain fairly regimented data, including other types of programs whose data is transmitted via COD. (Is this correct? That seems weird.)
As a result, we decided to take several students and use them as a 2010 sample group. Our thinking is that we will award, originate, and process these students to gain experience with Direct Lending. It should be much easier to work out the kinks using a small group, even if it is for the current Aid Year. In addition, our Student Loan Office wanted a chance to walk through the reconciliation processes on a more limited scale.
Is our reasoning sound? Are we inviting trouble, or are we being prudent in our approach?