Working with ISIR Data on the Student Record

The ISIR section of the student record was designed to help your institution remain organized while fulfilling all federal regulations and streamlines the verification and packaging processes. It includes six pages: Student Data, Parent Data, C Flags, Calculated Data, NSLDS Data, and Transaction Data.

Within each of the six ISIR data pages you'll see a header that contains an award year list and the currently posted transaction number for the selected award year, as well as the student’s date of birth, dependency model, SAI, indication of required ISIR updates, verification tracking flag, and FPS C Flag for the selected award year. For the header to be displayed, at least one award year must be associated with the student. By default, the header will display the latest award year associated with the student, but you can switch between years by selecting a different year from the Award Year list.

The following workflows can be completed within the ISIR section of the student record:

For various business reasons you may want to disable ISIR posting on a student record so that subsequent transactions will not post. For example, your institution may choose to disable ISIR posting for a student after performing a dependency override or professional judgment.

Tip: Even if ISIR posting is disabled, NSLDS data from the ISIR will continue to be updated. This data can be viewed by selecting ISIR > NSLDS Data if a subsequent ISIR transaction is received.

To disable ISIR posting for a student:

  1. Open the Tools menu found on any of the ISIR pages in the top right corner.
  2. Select Disable ISIR Posting.
  3. Select Save. A banner is displayed on all of the ISIR pages indicating that ISIR posting has been disabled for the selected student.

To re-enable ISIR posting for a student:

  1. Open the Tools menu found on any of the ISIR pages in the top right corner.
  2. Select Enable ISIR Posting.
  3. Select Save.

Tip: To identify all students who have ISIR posting disabled for a specific award year, create and run the following advanced search: (ISIRCalculated.AwardYear = 2023-2024 AND ISIRStudent.ProcessingSetting = Yes). The award year used in this example is 2023-2024, but you would replace this value with the specific award year you are working with.

This will result in a list of students who have the posting process disabled.

pop-up window search for identifying students with a disabled ISIR: ISIRCalculated.AwardYear=2023 and ISIRStudent.ProcessSetting=Yes

When saving changes in the student record, PowerFAIDS automatically recalculates the student’s SAI which is displayed in the ISIR header and other areas such as on the Aid Package page. Recalculated SAIs are flagged as provisional until an ISIR correction is generated and a response is received. You can view SAI details on the Student Aid Index and Pell Details section of the ISIR: Calculated Data page on the student record.

ISIR Calculated Data page on the student record with the Student Aid Index Details section expanded.

In the rare case that an SAI recalculation needs to be triggered manually, select Tools > Run Need Analysis from within any ISIR page.

ISIR Tools menu expanded with the Run Need Analysis option highlighted.

The Verification and Corrections section of the ISIR Calculated Data page is the central place to manage each student’s verification process. The following fields are used to identify students for verification:

ISIR Calculated Data page of the student record with the Verification and Corrections section showing.

  • Selected for Verification: Indicates whether the student has been selected for verification by FPS. Additionally, your school may select a student for verification by updating this field.

  • Verification Outcome: Indicates what the ISIR verification status is regarding a student record as determined by FPS based on other data within the associated ISIR transaction.

  • Verification Outcome Date: Indicates the date the verification outcome was received by FPS.

  • Verification Tracking Flag: Indicates what verification group the student has been placed in by FPS.

  • Identity Verification Results: Indicates the status of verifying a student's identification if the student is in the V4 or V5 verification groups.

After completing the verification and updating the student's ISIR data as needed, complete the following steps to record the outcome and include the student in the next ISIR correction export:

  1. In the student record, navigate to the ISIR > Calculated Data page.
  2. Set the Verification Outcome field to the appropriate value.
  3. To queue the ISIR for inclusion in the next ISIR correction export, set the Release Status field to Released.
  4. Select Save.

After adjusting the student’s ISIR data according to the determination made by the professional judgment, complete the following steps to record the outcome and include the student in the next ISIR correction export:

  1. In the student record, navigate to the ISIR> Calculated Data page.
  2. Set the Professional Judgment Flag field to Yes.
  3. To queue the ISIR for inclusion in the next ISIR correction export, set the Release Status field to Released.
  4. Select Save.

To override a student’s dependency status, complete the following steps:

  1. In the student record, navigate to the ISIR> Calculated Data page.
  2. Set the Dependency Override Indicator field to the appropriate value.
  3. To queue the ISIR for inclusion in the next ISIR correction export, set the Release Status field to Released.
  4. Select Save.

The ISIR C Flags page displays agency match results, or “change flags”, noted by FPS. The page is divided into three sections: (1) Agency Matches, (2) Calculated Reject Reasons, and (3) Rejects and Overrides.

ISIR C Flags page with each section highlighted: agency matches, calculated reject reasons, and reject overrides.

The Agency Matches section is where you'll see which C flags require a resolution in the Resolution Required column. The Calculated Reject Reasons and Rejects and Overrides sections are where you can view a student's reject reasons and overrides. The Calculated Reject Reasons table displays rejects applicable to the student's ISIR data. The Reject Overrides section displays a Yes/No toggle for each reject that can be overridden. To override a reject, set the corresponding toggle to Yes.

After taking the necessary steps to resolve the agency match, complete the following steps to document the resolution and include the student in the next ISIR correction:

  1. In the student record, navigate to the ISIR > C Flags page.
  2. For the C Flags you have resolved, set Resolution Required to No.
  3. Open the Lock menu and select View/Change Locks.
  4. Enable the lock for any C Flag field you have resolved.

    Caution: This step is required since FPS doesn’t track resolved C Flags and subsequent ISIR transactions will otherwise override your C Flag resolutions.

  5. If all C Flags have been resolved, set the FPS C Flag Result field to No flag set and set Resolution Required to No and lock it.

    Agency Matches section of the ISIR C Flags page.

  6. Select Save.

Calculated Reject Reasons and Reject Overrides can be viewed and managed on the ISIR C Flags page. When a student has provided inconsistent or incomplete data, FPS makes certain assumptions to calculate a SAI. In some cases, a SAI cannot be clculated when the ISIR data is too inconsistent or incomplete.

The Calculated Reject Reasons table displays rejects applicable to the student's ISIR data. The Reject Overrides section displays a Yes/No toggle for each reject that can be overridden. To override a reject, set the corresponding toggle to Yes.

Reject Overrides section of the ISIR: C Flags page with Reject Override E and Reject Override B set to Yes.

To override federal rejections and force FPS to accept the data as originally reported:

  1. Set the applicable Override setting to Yes.
  2. Select Save.

To queue the ISIR for release during the next correction export:

  1. Navigate to the ISIR > Calculated Data page.
  2. Set the Release Status field to Released.

All of the student's ISIR transactions will display in the staging table, even if they have never been posted. Furthermore, they will display in the ISIR Transaction page even if there are no other ISIRs posted for the student.

For example, if the school only posts ISIRs for existing students and the student didn't exist at the time of ISIR import, later when the student is created through one of the other processes, users looking up the student record can review the ISIR Transactions page to see if there are any ISIRs in the staging table that can be posted.

ISIR Transaction Data page with one posted transaction and the details section expanded.

You can also expand the Details section of each transaction to see more information, including Dependency Model, Transaction Source, FAFSA UUID, Person UUID, and Transaction UUID.