Packaging a Student Manually

In PowerFAIDS, you can package students manually by adding, updating, or deleting awards directly on the Aid Package. To manually package a student, complete the steps for the type of action you want to perform:

To manually add an award to the Aid Package, complete the following steps:

  1. Search for and select the student record you want to package. For more information see Searching for Student Records.
  2. Expand the Packaging options in the middle navigation menu and select Aid Package.
  1. From the Academic Year list, select the year you wish to add the award to.

    Aid package award year

    Caution: The Aid Package page automatically displays the Academic Year with the latest actual start date associated with that student. Be sure to always select the appropriate academic year when interacting with aid packages.

  2. Select Awards from the menu below the Academic Year list to jump to the Awards section.
  1. Select + Add New to create a new row for the award.

    Awards section of the Aid Package page

  2. Choose the federal award year from which the award will be paid from the Award Year to Pay From list.
  3. From the Award Name list, choose the fund you want to award.

    Note: When adding an award manually, this list contains all funds currently active within the system for the Award Year associated with the selected Academic Year and is not filtered based on an individual student's eligibility.

  4. Enter the Award Amount. This field becomes read-only when Manually Distribute is set to Yes. If you wish to manually set the distribution amounts, see Step 4 below.

    Note: Whether the field accepts cents is determined by the fund parameters. If the award amount is an odd whole number that will be divided by an even number of terms, Rounding Rules are applied.

  5. If needed, update the acceptance status of the award in the Status field. The default value of this field is determined by the Default Award Status indicated during fund setup.
  6. Set the Hold setting to Yes if you want to prevent the award from being originated or disbursed with COD or disbursed in Disbursement Authorization.
  7. If this award should be considered an estimate only, set the Estimated setting to Yes.

    Note: The default value of this field is set during fund setup but can be manually updated for each award or distribution when the Manually Distribute field is set to Yes. Estimated awards and distributions can be excluded from disbursement if your institution elects to do so.

  8. Indicate whether the award distribution amounts are set automatically or manually in the Manually Distribute field.

    When this setting is set to Yes, the Distribution Amount fields become active in the Award Distribution Details section so that you can allocate the award manually. When set to No, those fields are read-only and calculated by the system. For more information, review the article Rounding Rules.

  1. Expand the Award Distribution Details for the award.

    Awards section of the Aid Package page iwht the Details section highlighted

    Note: Certain fields in the Award Distribution Details cannot be updated directly on the Aid Package, including:

    • Payment Period: This is a list of each payment period associated with the student for the academic year selected. Payment periods are associated to the academic year in the Academic Years & Payment Periods section of the student record. For more information, see Academic Years & Payment Periods.

    • Distribution Sequence: This is the sequence number of each distribution based on the payment period distribution schedule setup. The distribution details are associated to the payment period in the System Administration module. For more information on how to update the distribution sequence, see Creating a Payment Period.

    • Scheduled Disbursement Date: This is the scheduled disbursement date of each distribution based on the payment period distribution schedule setup. This date is associated to the payment period in the System Administration module. For information on how to update the disbursement date, see Creating a Payment Period.

  2. Set the Estimated setting to Yes if the distribution should be considered an estimate only. This is initially set at the fund level but can be manually updated for each distribution. Estimated distributions can be excluded from disbursement if your institution elects to do so.
  3. Indicate the amount of each distribution in the Distribution Amount fields. Just like with the Award Amount field, whether this field accepts cents is determined by how the fund was set up in System Administration
  4. Indicate whether you want to Shield the award to protect it from system-driven updates. A protected award would not be removed through the automated packaging process. This is initially set at the fund level but can be manually updated at the student level for each award using the Shield Actions menu.

When the save is complete, the Packaging Results screen will display. This screen will tell you which awards were awarded successfully, which were awarded but at a reduced amount, and which awards couldn’t be awarded and why.

Manual Packaging Add Award

To manually update an award on the Aid Package, complete the following steps:

  1. Search for and select the student record you want to package. For more information see Searching for Student Records.
  2. Expand the Packaging options in the middle navigation menu and select Aid Package.
  1. From the Academic Year list, select the year you wish to update the award to.

    Aid package award year

    Caution: The Aid Package page automatically displays the Academic Year with the latest actual start date associated with that student. Be sure to always select the appropriate academic year when interacting with aid packages.

  2. Select Awards from the menu below the Academic Year list to jump to the Awards section.

The following fields can be updated:

  • Award Amount: This is the total amount awarded to the student from the fund.
  • Status: Indicates the acceptance status of the award.
  • Hold: Indicates whether you want to prevent the award from being originated or disbursed with COD or disbursed in Disbursement Authorization
  • Estimated: Indicates whether the award should be considered an estimate only.
  • Manually Distribute: Indicates whether the award distribution amounts are set automatically or manually. When set to Yes, the Distribution Amount fields become active in the Award Distribution Details section so that you can allocate the award manually. When set to No, those fields are read only and calculated by the system.
  • Shield: Indicates whether the award is protected from system-driven updates. For example, a protected award would not be removed through the automated packaging process. This is initially set at the fund level but can be manually updated for each award using the Shield Actions menu.

  1. Expand the Award Distribution Details for the award.

    Awards section of the Aid Package page with the Details section highlighted

    The following fields can be updated:

    • Actual Disbursement Date: This is the actual date the disbursement of this distribution was made.
    • Estimated: Indicates whether the distribution should be considered an estimate only.
    • Award Amount: Indicates how much should be disbursed. You are able to update the distribution amount.
    • Award ID: While this is listed on the Awards menu, it is not used in packaging. This is used for COD origination, disbursement authorization, or private loans.

When the save is complete, the Packaging Results screen will display. This screen will tell you which awards were updated successfully, which were updated but at a reduced amount, and which awards couldn’t be updated and why.

Manual Packaging Update Award

To manually delete an award from the Aid Package, complete the following steps:

  1. Search for and select the student record you want to package. For more information see Searching for Student Records.
  2. Expand the Packaging options in the middle navigation menu and select Aid Package.
  1. From the Academic Year list, select the year you wish to delete the award from.

    Aid package award year

    Caution: The Aid Package page automatically displays the Academic Year with the latest actual start date associated with that student. Be sure to always select the appropriate academic year when interacting with aid packages.

  2. Select Awards from the menu below the Academic Year list to jump to the Awards section.

Awards section of the Aid Package page with the delete icon highlighted

When the save is complete, the Packaging Results screen will display. This screen will tell you which awards were deleted successfully, and which awards couldn’t be deleted and why.

Manual Packaging Delete Award

Perhaps you are packaging a first-year, undergraduate dependent student whose parent was denied a PLUS loan, making the student eligible for the following:

  • $3500 subsidized loan

  • $2000 unsubsidized loan

  • $4000 additional unsubsidized loan due to a parent PLUS denial

PowerFAIDS performs checks to enforce federal limits, so if you have an accidental slip of the finger or forget the grade level of the student, the system will make appropriate adjustments. The example below demonstrates the steps you might take to award this student and the checks PowerFAIDS would perform to ensure federal limits are enforced:

  1. Add a $4000 subsidized loan and a $3000 unsubsidized loan to the student's awards section on the Aid Package page of the student record.

    2. Awards section of the Aid Package page with two awards for a Sub loan of $4000 and an unsub loan of $3000

  2. Save your changes. A window will appear with a Packaging Results report to confirm that the annual loan limits have been applied and the amount for the subsidized loan has been reduced to $3500 and the unsubsidized loan has been reduced to $2000.
  3. To increase the federal unsubsidized annual loan limit for this student due to the denial of their parent's PLUS loan, open the Packaging Options window and set the Increase Unsub Due to PLUS Denial toggle to Yes. Because this student is a first-year, undergraduate dependent student, this will increase the annual loan limit to $9500, with a maximum of $4000 for additional unsubsidized loan.
  4. Back in the Awards section of the Aid Package, add an award for the additional unsubsidized loan due to a PLUS denial in the amount of $4100.

    5. Awards section of the Aid Package with three awards: $3500 subsidized loan, $2000 unsubsidized loan, and $4100 additional unsubsidized loan.

  5. Save your changes and confirm that the annual loan limit has been applied to reduce the Unsubsidized Loan PLUS amount from $4100 to $4000.