The ISIR Analysis Tool: Take It For A Test

Drive!

Dave Curran
BearingPoint
Formerly Director of Financial Aid Programs
University of Texas at San Antonio

Michael Cagle
U.S. Department of Education
Federal Student Aid

Session #S112

NASFAA 2003: Reconnecting

With Students!
 NASFAA 2003

The ISIR Analysis Tool

Objective
Experience what the ISIR Analysis Tool (Formerly
Quality Analysis Tool) can do for your verification
process.

This Tool is for all schools and our goal is that you will see
the value of using the Tool even if you are not in the QA
Program.

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During this session

:

 Overview of ISIR Analysis Tool

 List the reasons why use of the software may be a
benefit to your school
 The ISIR Analysis Tool from a School’s
Perspective
 A review of data from the 2002-2003 Quality
Analysis Tool
 Identify reports available through the software and
identify the characteristics of two reports
 Identify Resources to provide help and guidance

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What is the ISIR Analysis Tool?

 A verification Tool
 Part of the EDE Suite Software
 Available free to all schools:
 Download from fsadownload.ed.gov
 Analyzes ISIR data:

 Compares two transactions

 Reports on frequency and impact of

corrections

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The Design of the ISIR Analysis Tool

 What are the most frequently changed ISIR fields?

 What is their impact on EFC and Pell Eligibility?
 Who should be verified?
 Who could be left alone?
 How could the institutional process be more
efficient?

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Your President requests...

A school’s dilemma (a real situation that occurred at a

Non QA School)…

Let’s imagine that....

Participant Exercise — Scenario 1

Because of staffing concerns, a decision was made to verify only those students selected by
the CPS edits for the 2003–2004 award year. Previously, you verified 100% of your financial
aid applicants. Your institutional aid dollars spent increased substantially, and you are over
budget.

The president would like you to determine which applicants could be included in your
institutional verification because they are most likely to misreport information and to have an
impact on the EFC.

You discover that the CPS edits selected only 25% of the applications submitted to your
school. This was a factor in the increase in institutional dollars awarded. You don’t want to go
back to selecting 100% because staffing is still an issue.

What tool you can use to help you identify which students you 
should select for institutional verification in addition to those 
selected for CPS?

Circle the correct answer(s):

A. The ISIR Tally System

B. The ISIR Analysis Tool (formerly Quality Analysis Tool)

C. The Mechanical Verification Robot

D. The Data Element system

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Answer: B

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Getting Started with the Tool

Using the tool involves 4 required steps:

1.Download the Software from

(fsadownload.ed.gov)

2.Set up the Software

Set up system defaults


Set-up the Field Increment – Parent’s AGI



Set-up Query – Grade Level



3.Import ISIR’s – EDExpress or Mainframe

4. Validate Data

Note: The instructions that follow are to assist your school when
you arrive back on your campus. Since many of you will begin using
the ISIR Analysis Tool for 2003-04, we have included instructions
and screen shots for the 4 steps above using the ISIR Analysis Tool.

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Instructor Demonstration
STEP 2: ISIR ANALYSIS Tool Set Up

Step Action
1 From the Windows desktop, click Start.
2 Select programs/EDESuite/ISIR Analysis Tool 2003-2004. The login dialog box is displayed.
3 Enter your user ID, SYSADMIN.

We have already established a user ID for you. It’s SYSADMIN. If this is your first time
logging into the Tool, your user ID is SYSADMIN.
4 Type your password,

The first time you log into the Tool, your password will be SYSADMIN, the default password.
At this time, you need to enter a new password in the New Password text entry box. You will
then be asked to verify the password.
5 Click OK. You have logged into the Tool.
6 Select Tools/Setup/System from the menu bar. The System Setup dialog box is displayed.
7 Enter your 8-digit OPEID#.

8 Enter the School Name.

9 Are you an EDExpress user? If so, place a check in the box.

Selecting this check box allows you to import ISIRs from EDExpress. If you are not an
EDExpress user, you may leave the box blank.
10 Select the Return to Dialog check box.
Selecting this check box tells the software to return you to the same dialog box after printing,
exporting, or importing. If you leave this check box unselected, the software will return you to
the Tool main screen after each process.
11 Click the down arrow for the Single/Multiple (Default Print) field and select Multiple.
Select Single if you usually print one record at a time. Select Multiple if you usually print
multiple records. Single is the default setting; you can change it in the Print dialog box for a
specific print job.
12 Click the down arrow for the Default Report File Destination field and select Screen.
Select the destination to which you normally direct your report output. This is the default
setting; you can change it in the Print dialog box for a specific print job.
13 Click OK. You have completed System Setup.

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Instructor Demonstration
STEP 2 (continued): Set Up the Field Increment Code

To run certain reports, you need to define a field increment format. When you create a field
increment format, you specify the increment and the range of values you want to examine for
the field you have selected and assign a code to the format. Then, whenever you want to use
that format to print a report, you will enter the code in the Field Increment Code field in the
Field dialog box. In this demonstration, we will set up a field increment to display records by
Parents’ Adjusted Gross Income.

Step Action
1 Select Tools/Custom Formats/Field Increments from the main menu bar.
2 Enter a Code of up to six characters to identify the format.

We suggest using a simple code, such as A.

3 Enter a Description of up to 50 characters for the format.

In this case, the title is 10,000 increments by AGI.

4 Click the Field down arrow to display the list of available fields in
alphabetical order.

Select Parents’ Adjusted Gross Income.

5 Enter the Minimum (lowest) value in the range you want to use for the field.

In this case, the lowest value is 1.

6 Enter the Maximum (greatest) value in the range you want to use for the
field.

In this case, the highest value is 200,000.

7 Enter the Increment for the values in this field.

In this case, we decided to break into ranges of 10,000.

8 Click Save.
You have created a Field Increment format. Select this format when printing
certain reports to display records by the reported parents’ AGI in increments
of $10,000 beginning with $1 to $10,000.
9 Click OK to return to the main menu.

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Instructor Demonstration
STEP 2 (continued): Set-Up Query — Grade Level

One of the great things about the ISIR Analysis Tool is the ability to run different queries.
You will find some great Query Guidance on the QA Website using the following address:
http://qaprogram.air.org/Query.asp

For this exercise, we will query on grade level. To do this, you need to establish a query in
the tool. The query function gives you the option to “prompt at execution.” This allows you to
select which grade level you want when running the query.

Step Action
1 Select Tools/query from the main menu bar.
2 Select add.
3 Title type Grade Level.
4 Click the Field down arrow to display the list of available fields in
alphabetical order. Select Grade level in College.
5 Click the Operator down arrow to display the list of available operators.
Select equal to (=). Do not enter the grade you want yet.
6 Click prompt at execution.
7 Click append.
8 Select Save and select OK.

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Instructor Discussion
STEP 3: Importing ISIR Instructions from EDExpress

These instructions are for you when you return to your office and import your ISIR records
into the Tool. You will import two files of ISIRs: a file of “initial” ISIRs and a file of “paid
on” ISIRs that have been prepared by your school’s IT department or that you import from
the EDExpress software.

Step Action
1 Go into EDExpress and import your 2003-2004 records. Once you do this step, you will find
that importing into the ISIR Analysis Tool for 2003-2004 is fairly simple. Remember, if you
are pulling in your initial and paid on ISIRs on different days, you will need to go back into
the EDExpress database and pull down your most recent ISIRs to date. This will provide you
with the most recent ISIRs on file that will reflect any changes made to the ISIR after
verification or student self-corrected items.
2 Go into the 2003-2004 ISIR Analysis Tool and select File and select Import.
3 Import Type: Select 2003–2004 EDExpress Database as your file.
4 Report To: Select Printer, File, or Screen.
5 Update: You will be importing two groups of ISIRs. Select Update “Initial” records only
for the original ISIR records you are selecting. Select Update “Paid On” records only for
the ISIR records that you want to compare with the originals. It does not matter which group
you pull in first, and you do not have to pull the initial or paid on ISIR records on the same
day.
6 ISIR Add Date: You can enter a date in this field and the system will pull in all 2003–2004
ISIR records pulled down up to the date you provide for the import of initial ISIRs. If you
have selected Update “paid on” records only, the option of ISIR Add Date will not be
available. This is OK because the software will automatically select the higher transaction. If
there is no higher transaction, the software will pull the same initial ISIR transaction record.
This will show you that no changes occurred for that record.
7 Transaction: Select either the highest or lowest transaction on file that you would like
pulled into the database. For example, for initial ISIRs you may want the lowest transaction;
for paid on ISIRs you may want the highest transaction.
8 Prompt For Duplicates: Select this check box.
9. Selection Criteria Button: click this button to display all the records in your EDExpress
database that you indicated by the date you placed in the ISIR Add Date field. If you do not
want to import all of these students but want to select only a sample, you can pick and
choose the ones you want from this screen.
10. Select OK and the records will import.

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Instructor Discussion
STEP 3 (continued): Importing ISIR Instructions from
EDExpress

Remember, it’s OK to import the initial records on one day and the paid on records on another
day. Once you have imported both the initial and paid on records, you will have to validate the
files by selecting Process/Validation in the ISIR Analysis Tool. It will make sure that you have an
initial and paid on record that has a valid EFC for each student. If a record doesn’t match, it will
be deleted from the database.

*Also, remember that if you continue to add initial ISIR records to your database (i.e., from
January 1, 2003, through June 15, 2004), you will need to select the Prompt for Duplicates?
check box; otherwise, the software automatically skips everything. You need to click Update or
Update All when that dialog comes up. As long as you do that, the rejected ISIRs will get
overwritten with the valid ones.

IMPORT SCREEN in the ISIR ANALYSIS Tool

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Instructor Discussion
STEP 3 (continued): Importing ISIRs from a
Mainframe System

These instructions are for you when you return to your office and import your ISIR records
into the Tool. You will import two files of ISIRs: a file of “initial” ISIRs and a file of “paid
on” ISIRs that have been prepared by your school’s IT/Computer department or that you
import from the EDExpress software.

If you use a mainframe system to manage your ISIR data, importing ISIRs into the ISIR
Analysis Tool for 2003–2004 is a little more involved. Since storage is an issue for most
schools, one of the following options might be better suited for your institution.

There really is no way to “tag” your initial and paid on ISIRs through CPS. You need to do
some upfront planning if you are a mainframe school. It will be harder if you overwrite ISIR
data as they are received. You are going to have to determine ahead of time whether you want
to do the whole population or a sample. If you choose to do either option, you need to pick a
time and say that those are your initial data and another time and say that these are your paid
on data. If your data center is willing to help you devise a tagging system, that’s an option
too.

Step Action
1 Option 1: Determine a cutoff date, for example, May 1. Import the ISIR data
you have at that time for a select group of students or for your entire
population. These will be your initial ISIRs. In the fall, after any and all
verification is complete, import the ISIR data you have on file as of, say,
October 15 for the same selected group of students or your entire population
that you selected on May 1.

2 Option 2: Work with your data center staff to separate out and retrieve the
initial transactions for a select group of students as you import ISIRs from
CPS. Have your data center create a separate ASCII file of the initial
transactions for your students. You can continue to do this up to a certain
cutoff date or make it a one-time occurrence. In the fall, you will again ask
your data center to separate out the most recent transactions on file for the
same group of students, which you will import into the ISIR Analysis Tool as
the paid on transaction.

As another option, your school could import initial transactions into EDExpress (a
free product) and then create a Flat ASCII file for the paid on transactions.

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Instructor Discussion
STEP 4: Validate Data

In the software, we select Data Validation to make sure that we have an initial and a paid on
ISIR record for each student.

Step Action
1 Select Process/Data Validation from the main menu. (You can also
click the Data Validation icon on the main menu bar.)
A dialog box is displayed with information about the Data Validation
process.
2 Click Yes to continue. The data validation process begins. You will be
alerted when the process has been completed successfully.
3 Click OK.

You have now completed the required four steps to use

the tool. Next, we will discuss a school’s process for using
the Tool so you might learn some steps to take should you
decide to use the Tool on your campus.

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Background: University of Texas at San Antonio

 During 2002-2003 the school verified about approximately

7,000 files from a student population of 22,000.
 Students are awarded but not disbursed any aid until their
verification process is completed.
 Verification was based upon CPS edits.
 IN 2003-2004 academic year the school began implementing
the new Quality Assurance profiles as identified through the
ISIR Analysis tool.

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Why UTSA pursued QA

 QA program/software analyzes student information to

determine the population most likely to report incorrect
information.
 Sharing of information and best practices with the
Department of Education and other QA member
schools.
 Continual re-evaluations of verification
patterns/populations on an annual basis.
 Required Federal Student Aid (FSA) assessment
modules also ensure compliance across all areas of
financial aid processing.

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ISIR Analysis Software Results:

Proposed Dependant Students Profile Proposed Independent Students Profile

EFC < 3,850 EFC < 3,850

Par. Tax pd < 99 Student Tax pd < 3,500
Par. WKSH B < 99 Stu. WKSH B < 99
Par. AGI = 0 – 1,000 & 25,00 –33,000 Student AGI < 30,000
Student Tax pd < 1,000 Student HHS >1
Par. HHS = 3, 4, or 5 Student #COLL =2
Student AGI < 6,000

•These results are consistent with other Colleges/Universities data results.

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How we did it:

 During Spring (2002) UTSA began reading about the

Quality Assurance (QA) program from the QA web site.
 In September UTSA sent letter to apply for participation
in QA for 03-04.
 UTSA was accepted into QA program in October.
 In November, UTSA began to work with ISIR Analysis
Tool to establish an initial profile.
 UTSA finalized QA profile based upon analysis of data
from software.

Note: Your school does not have to be a QA school to

use this tool!!

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Available Reports:
There are many reports available with the ISIR Analysis Tool.
Since we have a database from a real school using the 2002-
2003 Quality Analysis Tool, many of the reports you will see in
the following examples will be using the 2002-2003 Quality
Analysis Tool.

For 2003-2004 ISIR Analysis Tool, the following report names

have been modified in name only:

 The Field Change Report with Corrected Field Counts is now

called Changes to ISIR Fields
 The Field Range Report with Corrected Field Counts is now
called ISIR Changes by Field Increment
 The Corrected Records in Initial EFC Range is now called
Changes to ISIR Fields and Pell Eligibility
 The Pell Corrected Records Report is now called ISIR
Changes by Field Increment and Pell Eligibility

We will discuss the First Two reports in detail on the next

pages.

Please see Appendix A for a listing of all reports available in

the ISIR Analysis Tool!

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ANALYSIS
Let the Fun Begin (REAL INFORMATION FROM A NON-
QA SCHOOL)

NOTE: This demonstration is designed to give you a feel

for the ISIR Analysis Tool. Since we do not have a
database for 2003-2004, all of the data and reports were
taken from the 2002-2003 Quality Analysis Tool. However,
the instructions for running the reports remain the same.
The only difference is that 4 of the reports have been
renamed in the 2003-2004 ISIR Analysis Tool (as
discussed on the prior page of your materials).

First, let’s review the following:

 Field Change Report (Renamed CHANGES TO ISIR

FIELDS in 2003-04 ISIR ANALYSIS TOOL)

 Identify ISIR fields that warrant further analysis.

Refer to the instructions on the next page for running this report.
The report is also included on page 23.

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Participant Exercise 1: Field Change Report (This Report is

renamed CHANGES TO ISIR FIELDS REPORT in ISIR
Analysis Tool 2003-04)

In this demonstration, we ran the Field Change Report in the 2002-03 Quality Analysis Tool.
When you arrive back at your campus and use the 2003-04 ISIR Analysis Tool, you will run
the CHANGES TO ISIR FIELDS Report. Remember, in order to run this report, you must
have already set up the system, and your ISIRs must imported and validated. This report
provides counts of records with changes to specific ISIR fields and describes the impact of
those changes on EFC. Why you want to use it? It allows you to identify the most
problematic ISIR elements school wide or within a specific subpopulation. Now it is time to
analyze the data.

Step Action
1 With the print dialog box displayed, click the down arrow for the Report field.
A list of the reports available for you to use is displayed.
2 Select Report: Changes to ISIR Fields.
3 Make sure that Multiple (to the right of the Report field) is selected and that
Screen is selected as the Report File Destination.
4 Click the ellipse button for the Selected Fields Code.
The Selected Fields Code gives you the option to select VERDEP, which will
select all ISIR elements that are required to be verified for Dependent students.
5 Click OK.
6 Click the down arrow for the Dependency Status field and select Dependent.
Only dependent student records will be displayed on this report.
7 For this activity, leave the Sort Order as Sequence Number.
8 Click OK to run the report. The report is displayed. Click the Zoom In button to
make the report more legible. Review the report to answer your president’s
questions.
9 Click the close button when you are done.

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A copy of the report is on page 23 . The report lists fields that affect the EFC and displays the number of
corrections made to those fields with a corresponding percentage of the total number of corrections. It also shows
the number of records for which the EFC increased, decreased, or remained unchanged because of a change to the
field and the corresponding percentages for that field.

Some observations about the Changes to ISIR Fields Report:

1. Sixty-seven of the corrections made in the parents’ Adjusted Gross Income had an EFC increase; 51
corrections in the same field had an EFC decrease.
2. Seventy-four corrections made to parents’ U.S. Income Tax Paid had an EFC increase; 50 corrections had
EFC decrease.
3. Sixty-nine of the corrections in the sum of parents’ Worksheet A, B, or C had an EFC increase; 43
corrections had an EFC decrease.

Participant Exercise 1: Changes to ISIR Fields Report

(continued)

List the five ISIR items that you would want to further analyze.

1. __________________________________________
2. __________________________________________
3. __________________________________________
4. __________________________________________
5. __________________________________________

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Report Date: 06/30/2003 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PAGE: 1

Report Time: 16:34:38 QUALITY ANALYSIS TOOL - 2002-2003
Field Change Report with Corrected Field Counts (RENAMED
CHANGES TO ISIR FIELDS REPORT in 2003-2004 ISIR ANALYSIS TOOL)
ALL RECORDS SORT: Sequence
Number
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SENSITIVE INFORMATION PROTECTED BY THE PRIVACY ACT
********************************************************************************
OPEID#: 00000001 School Name: PAT-BRYAN UNIVERSITY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Records EFC EFC EFC

Initial Field Corrected Increased Decreased Unchanged
Selected # % # % # % # %
-------------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
PARENTS' NUMBER OF 20 2.9% 9 1.3% 9 1.3% 2 0.3%
FAMILY MEMBERS
PARENTS' NUMBER IN 13 1.9% 7 1.0% 4 0.6% 2 0.3%
COLLEGE
PARENTS' TAX RETURN 91 13.2% 53 7.7% 29 4.2% 9 1.3%
FILED?
PARENTS' TYPE OF TAX 9 1.3% 6 0.9% 1 0.1% 2 0.3%
RETURN USED?
PARENTS' ADJUSTED 125 18.2% 67 9.8% 51 7.4% 7 1.0%
GROSS INCOME
PARENTS' U.S. INCOME 130 18.9% 74 10.8% 50 7.3% 6 0.9%
TAX PAID
PARENTS' TOTAL FROM 40 5.8% 22 3.2% 12 1.7% 6 0.9%
WORKSHEET A
PARENTS' TOTAL FROM 52 7.6% 30 4.4% 19 2.8% 3 0.4%
WORKSHEET B
PARENTS' TOTAL FROM 29 4.2% 17 2.5% 12 1.7% 0 0.0%
WORKSHEET C
STUDENT'S TAX RETURN 78 11.4% 47 6.8% 21 3.1% 10 1.5%
FILED?
STUDENT'S TYPE OF 13 1.9% 8 1.2% 1 0.1% 4 0.6%
TAX RETURN USED?
STUDENT'S ADJUSTED 64 9.3% 38 5.5% 17 2.5% 9 1.3%
GROSS INCOME
STUDENT'S U.S. 62 9.0% 39 5.7% 13 1.9% 10 1.5%
INCOME TAX PAID
STUDENT'S TOTAL FROM 11 1.6% 3 0.4% 7 1.0% 1 0.1%
WORKSHEET A
STUDENT'S TOTAL FROM 4 0.6% 0 0.0% 3 0.4% 1 0.1%
WORKSHEET B
STUDENT'S TOTAL FROM 3 0.4% 0 0.0% 3 0.4% 0 0.0%
WORKSHEET C

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Corrected Count
Totals 744 420 252 72

Total Unduplicated Record Count Data:

Total Unduplicated Corrected Record Count 186
Total Unduplicated Non-corrected Record Count 501
Total Target Size 687

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Let the Fun Continue

 Field RANGE Report (renamed ISIR CHANGES

BY FIELD INCREMENT report in the 2003-2004
ISIR Analysis Tool).
 Identify income ranges where EFC changes are
concentrated.

Refer to the instructions on the next page for running this report.
The report is also included on page 26.

Participant Exercise 2: Report: ISIR Changes By Field

All Dependent Students

In this demonstration, we ran the Field Range Report in the 2002-2003 Quality Analysis Tool. When
you arrive back at your campus and use the 2003-04 ISIR Analysis Tool, you will run the ISIR
CHANGES BY FIELD Report for all Dependent students. This report helps us identify patterns

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within field ranges and ranges of ISIR values that should, or should not, be targeted for verification.
The report counts the number of fields corrected and the impact of those corrections on EFC within
user-specified ranges of any single ISIR data element. Earlier in the set-up section, we set up a field
increment code A that will identify students with parents’ adjusted gross income (AGI) from $1 to
$200,000 in increments of $10,000.

Step Action
1 With the print dialog box displayed, click the down arrow for the
Report field. A list of available reports is displayed.
2 Select Report: ISIR Changes By Field Increment.
3 Make sure that Multiple (to the right of the Report field) is selected
and that Screen is selected as the Report File Destination.
4 Click the ellipse button for the Field Increment Code, Select A.
The Field Increment Codes that you have set up are displayed. (One
code has been set up for this training to report student records by the
parents’ adjusted gross income.) Earlier, the instructor demonstrated
how to set up field increment codes.
5 Click OK.
6 Click the down arrow for the Dependency Status field and select
Dependent. Only dependent student records will be displayed on
this report.
7 For this activity, leave the Sort Order as Field Range. This means
that the rows of the report will display in the order of the field
increment code, with records having a parents’ AGI from $1 to
$10,000, and so on.
8 Click OK to run the report. The report is displayed. Click the Zoom
In button to make the report more legible. Review the report to
answer your president’s questions.
9 Click the close button when you are done.
When we review the report, we see changes in the EFC either increasing or decreasing between
__________ and _________.
NOTE: When you return back to your campus, you may also find it helpful to run this
same report, but attach a query on grade level (instruction for adding a grade level query
were discussed on page 10). By attaching such a query, you can narrow down the scope of
your analysis.

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Report Date: 10/23/2002 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PAGE: 1

Report Time: 09:43:45 QUALITY ANALYSIS TOOL - 2002-2003
Field Range Report with Corrected Field Counts (Renamed ISIR Changes By
filed in 2003-2004 ISIR ANALYIS TOOL)
ALL RECORDS SORT: Field Range
PARENTS' ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SENSITIVE INFORMATION PROTECTED BY THE PRIVACY ACT
**********************************************************************************
OPEID#: 00000001 School Name: PAT BRYAN UNIVERSITY
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EFC EFC EFC

Fields Increased Decreased Unchanged
Initial Field Corrected (Records) (Records) (Records)
Range # % # % # % # %
-------------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
<blank> 73 6.5% 2 1.0% 2 1.0% 4 2.0%
1 TO 10,000 20 1.8% 3 1.5% 1 0.5% 1 0.5%
10,001 TO 20,000 86 7.6% 8 3.9% 5 2.5% 3 1.5%
20,001 TO 30,000 136 12.1% 14 6.9% 6 2.9% 6 2.9%
30,001 TO 40,000 190 16.9% 17 8.3% 10 4.9% 2 1.0%
40,001 TO 50,000 95 8.4% 14 6.9% 9 4.4% 2 1.0%
50,001 TO 60,000 77 6.8% 8 3.9% 7 3.4% 1 0.5%
60,001 TO 70,000 161 14.3% 11 5.4% 10 4.9% 1 0.5%
70,001 TO 80,000 45 4.0% 4 2.0% 5 2.5% 2 1.0%
80,001 TO 90,000 80 7.1% 4 2.0% 7 3.4% 1 0.5%
90,001 TO 100,000 64 5.7% 4 2.0% 8 3.9% 2 1.0%
100,001 TO 110,000 42 3.7% 3 1.5% 2 1.0% 2 1.0%
110,001 TO 120,000 32 2.8% 2 1.0% 3 1.5% 1 0.5%
120,001 TO 130,000 7 0.6% 0 0.0% 1 0.5% 1 0.5%
130,001 TO 140,000 13 1.2% 0 0.0% 1 0.5% 1 0.5%
140,001 TO 150,000 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
150,001 TO 160,000 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
160,001 TO 170,000 1 0.1% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 0.5%
170,001 TO 180,000 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
180,001 TO 190,000 3 0.3% 0 0.0% 1 0.5% 1 0.5%
190,001 TO 200,000 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Corrected Count
Totals 1125

Total Target Size 204 94 78 32

Explanation of the data included on this report can be found in the Help Text.
Click the 'Help' button on the Print dialog box to display a window with a list of
reports. From this list, select the report for which you would like an
explanation.

28
NASFAA 2003

29
 NASFAA 2003

Scenario 2
Imagine

The president would like your office to find ways to enhance consumer information to avoid
misreporting and the number of corrections made to applicant data.

Financial aid staff at Pat Bryan University determined by reviewing the Field Change
Report that approximately 15% of the applicant population had changes to untaxed income.
To identify the impact that changes made to untaxed income had on an applicant’s EFC, the
institution ran the List-EFC Change by Student Report to analyze changes to untaxed
income.

This report was run using the 2002-2003 Quality Analysis Tool. Use
the printed report (on the next page) to answer the following
questions:

Which source of untaxed income had the greatest impact on the

EFC?

1. _____________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________

How could the institution change its consumer information to improve the
untaxed income information provided by applicants?

Refer to the instructions on the next page for running the List-
EFC Change by Student report. This report run with three
different discrepancy fields (Parent’s Worksheet A, Worksheet B,
and Worksheet C). The results of these 3 fields are also included
on pages 29, 30, and 31.

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 NASFAA 2003

Instructor Demonstration
List — EFC Change by Student

In this demonstration, I will run the List-EFC Change by Student Report. This report
identifies the most problematic incidences of change to a particular ISIR element. When we
review the printout of these reports, you will see a list of students who experienced a change
in a given ISIR item accompanied by the change in EFC; the results can be sorted by EFC.

Step Action
1 With the print dialog box displayed, click the down arrow for the
Report field. A list of available reports is displayed.
2 Select List – EFC Change by Student.
3 Make sure that Multiple (to the right of the Report field) is selected
and that Screen is selected as the Report File Destination.
4 Click the down arrow for the Discrepancy Field and select
PARENTS’ TOTAL FROM WORKSHEET A.
5 Click OK.
6. Select OK to run the report.
Repeat steps 1-6 using Parent’s Total From Worksheet B as the Discrepancy Field in Step 4

Repeat Steps 1-6 using Parent’s Total From Worksheet C as the Discrepancy Field in Step 4
How many students made changes to Worksheet A? _____________

How many students made changes to Worksheet B?______________

How many students made changes to Worksheet C?______________

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 NASFAA 2003
Report Date: 06/30/2003 U.S. Report
List - EFC Change by Student
ALL RECORDS

Field Selected: PARENTS' TOTAL FROM WORKSHEET A

Original Initial Field Initial EFC

SSN Student Name Value Change EFC Change
----------- ---------------------------------- ------- ------- ------- ----
901-68-9142 WINTERS, CIARA L. 950 -605 1407 957
901-76-5182 ANDERSON, NICHOLAS E. 0 1076 529 183
901-82-8712 HARP, JEREMY S. 1976 -1292 9674 -4158
903-66-8996 CHALUPA, CRAIG R. 1000 -1000 3532 -164
903-72-7888 MCFARLANE, SHANNON L. 0 2149 1773
903-76-8362 ANDERSON, KENNETH A. 10229 1096 0 0
904-82-1536 MICHEL, JASON A. 3900 131 0 0
905-78-3544 HELLER, BRYAN T. 3264 -516 213 329
905-86-5036 ZACH, SEAN P. 0 526 12 2853
906-66-2883 DONNAN, WARREN W. 0 13860 0 0
907-82-0171 DROESSLER, NATHAN L. 1412 -708 0 103
907-84-0189 MCFARLANE, SHAWN K. 2134 16152 1750 5176
908-64-0836 BOWMAN, MELISSA I. 0 938 6066 330
908-72-9997 KRUGER, WADE E. 0 505 2804 2379
909-70-2782 SORRELL, MATTHEW I. 976 543 1166 -419
912-62-1911 BURR, GERALD B. 0 12492 83 2531
912-76-2841 DEARTH, SALVATORE M. 0 491 3465 -3465
914-64-3299 MARZEN, JOHN D. 0 386 1681 -197
918-72-2918 MICHEL, MICHAEL T. 470 450 711 1273
919-64-4183 DONALD, ALLEN 3890 9490 0 850
923-70-1224 MCMATH, RYAN L. 0 2071 8463
926-66-0313 BONTRAGER, MEAGAN G. 2500 -414 6455 -5268
930-70-4189 BURR, TIMOTHY J. 14436 -12190 23244 -8775
932-64-1515 KOEHLER, JOSEPH B. 500 -500 23937 -3383
932-64-6397 GOSS, GABRIEL A. 3524 126 0 0
933-64-4824 PACHA, JOSHUA P. 43587 -43587 24231-20879
943-74-3706 KOEHLER, OLVIN 0 2535 -2535
944-96-7571 WELDON-PETERS, SANTIAGO 3241 -1722 0 515
945-74-2024 CHALUPA, MICHAEL R. 0 3283 401 1989
946-76-6180 BALLARD, KEVIN G. 17136 -10301 5914 -5914
951-76-7306 NOSBISH, BRIAN M. 85480 -85480 64870 35129
952-76-2140 SANDERS, KEVIN A. 0 2628 3536 2145
953-98-7372 VOGT, SHAFEEK S. 0 326 0 0
962-88-0558 DANIEL, MELVIS W. 5117 -4054 1192 -569
965-74-6808 PACHA, MICHAEL R. 6100 -6100 13933 2207
968-68-6665 FITZGERALD, PAUL A. 0 1147 0 187
986-68-9235 PREWETT, KARI L. 10040 -1188 2305 -236
986-82-9290 NUTTER, JUSTIN M. 0 600 3063 1562
990-88-2554 DANIEL, MARLON J. 4980 -2927 224 4536
997-68-8899 TOMAS, BRIAN J. 12216 4644 0 0
998-70-1404 HOEPPNER, JOSHUA J. 0 9715 0 1705

Total Students: 41

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 NASFAA 2003

Field Selected: PARENTS' TOTAL FROM WORKSHEET B

Original Initial Field Initial EFC
SSN Student Name Value Change EFC Change
----------- ---------------------------------- ------- ------- ------- ----
901-64-1373 SCHLOTE, MATTHEW J. 41583 -40193 55652 -388
901-66-5531 DEARTH, MATTHEW J. 6843 -3974 2084 1688
901-68-9142 WINTERS, CIARA L. 4500 1031 1407 957
901-72-6926 HALL, TIMOTHY T. 0 679 938 4766
901-80-5768 BONTRAGER, ANTHONY M. 1306 -1306 6773 -5288
901-82-3589 DUWA, MATTHEW G. 1826 457 4919 177
902-68-6007 STOCKMAN, PAUL R. 1800 880 1863 300
902-84-0191 DEARTH, EASTON T. 5701 -3701 829 749
903-64-3614 WINTERS, ROBERT R. 0 2000 2298 478
903-66-6479 WELDON-PETERS, MICHAEL S. 722 642 9238 -1168
903-72-7888 MCFARLANE, SHANNON L. 0 2149 1773
903-72-8308 SMITH, TONI M. 3600 -2400 1033 753
903-76-8362 ANDERSON, KENNETH A. 38044 -9894 0 0
904-82-1536 MICHEL, JASON A. 940 -940 0 0
904-86-9581 STOCKMAN, ERIC M. 7923 -9 7743 -1080
905-86-5036 ZACH, SEAN P. 0 9600 12 2853
905-88-1764 MARZEN, NICOLAS C. 960 3164 2268 -445
906-66-2883 DONNAN, WARREN W. 0 4259 0 0
907-35-2408 MARZEN, JACKSON L. 6933 -6933 3623 -1560
907-82-0171 DROESSLER, NATHAN L. 1412 -708 0 103
908-72-9997 KRUGER, WADE E. 1007 3664 2804 2379
909-62-6044 SEXTON, EMILY 8850 -27 12985 746
912-05-9455 NUTTER, JESSICA M. 2090 -2090 2526 1745
912-76-2841 DEARTH, SALVATORE M. 11500 -11500 3465 -3465
913-68-4185 WAITE, STEPHEN B. 0 2881 6646 623
914-64-3299 MARZEN, JOHN D. 7200 3133 1681 -197
915-08-2538 CHALUPA, AARON C. 11041 -10491 3059 -2279
916-68-2901 ROMAN, JOHN A. 15600 3732 416 7321
916-70-9688 FULLER, JACOB C. 5383 330 8515 494
917-74-9427 ROGERS, DIANNE E. 2011 -2011 6732 -639
918-66-3760 NOSBISH, BRADLEY R. 8500 2000 33452 2191
923-70-1224 MCMATH, RYAN L. 3607 2071 8463
924-74-3510 WALLS, STACIE A. 0 21840 1253 5636
930-70-4189 BURR, TIMOTHY J. 7218 -7218 23244 -8775
930-72-0831 DONLEY, AMANDA L. 9280 -200 475 -24
932-64-2230 DONNAN, JASON J. 2932 -20 350 966
933-64-4824 PACHA, JOSHUA P. 8536 -6200 24231-20879
933-64-6348 PAULEY, CHRISTOPHER D. 95281 -81939 70241-35431
935-54-4393 HOEPPNER, THOMAS J. 24802 -560 45624 -294
939-52-2955 FETTERS, JASON A. 6688 -1257 12788 -1014
939-56-7405 SORRELL, NICHOLAS D. 0 875 690 952
943-74-3706 KOEHLER, OLVIN 0 2535 -2535
944-80-3451 BURKE, JOSEPH A. 650 17774 -3836
951-76-7306 NOSBISH, BRIAN M. 10056 -758 64870 35129
952-76-1529 MCGOWAN, ALLEN T. 4000 -1400 9321 4873
952-76-2140 SANDERS, KEVIN A. 0 2793 3536 2145
965-74-6808 PACHA, MICHAEL R. 5200 -550 13933 2207
976-64-6695 RASMUSSEN, NATHAN R. 5250 173 19260 1243
980-68-5956 DONALD, BRANDI M. 1550 2014 882 23119
983-06-3388 SANOKT, AUSTIN L. 8824 3613 2992 1471
990-88-2554 DANIEL, MARLON J. 855 2463 224 4536
992-68-9112 GROSVNER, STEFFAN N. 24446 -24446 30767-20160
999-68-0836 ANDERSON, JASON R. 9520 -6920 18224-14830

Total Students: 53

33
 NASFAA 2003

Field Selected: PARENTS' TOTAL FROM WORKSHEET C

Original Initial Field Initial EFC

SSN Student Name Value Change EFC Change
----------- ---------------------------------- ------- ------- ------- ----
901-66-5531 DEARTH, MATTHEW J. 3000 -2000 2084 1688
901-72-6926 HALL, TIMOTHY T. 0 1500 938 4766
901-74-4985 PACHA, JUSTINE N. 0 634 3842 739
902-74-5834 PERDUE, STEPHEN J. 0 2500 2775 2958
902-84-0191 DEARTH, EASTON T. 0 1500 829 749
903-64-3614 WINTERS, ROBERT R. 0 2404 2298 478
903-72-7888 MCFARLANE, SHANNON L. 1500 2149 1773
903-72-8308 SMITH, TONI M. 10660 -5460 1033 753
904-86-9581 STOCKMAN, ERIC M. 0 1500 7743 -1080
905-60-4475 YEGGY, DONAVON C. 2500 -1500 11813 776
905-84-0407 NUTTER, JOSE L. 0 1500 3402 -1252
909-70-2782 SORRELL, MATTHEW I. 1000 -501 1166 -419
912-05-9455 NUTTER, JESSICA M. 3000 -1901 2526 1745
925-64-9272 ANDERSON, RYAN G. 0 1500 9694 -4627
925-80-1811 BOWMAN, ELISANDRA R. 1500 -1418 9019 1806
929-64-9203 TJADEN, KEVIN F. 1500 3457 516
932-64-1515 KOEHLER, JOSEPH B. 0 478 23937 -3383
933-64-4824 PACHA, JOSHUA P. 0 600 24231-20879
939-56-7405 SORRELL, NICHOLAS D. 0 1000 690 952
943-74-3706 KOEHLER, OLVIN 0 2535 -2535
946-76-6180 BALLARD, KEVIN G. 0 1138 5914 -5914
951-68-5600 EAST, MATTHEW V. 1000 500 8979 4106
962-90-1093 HALVERSON, KYNDRA M. 2100 0 142
965-74-6808 PACHA, MICHAEL R. 1000 500 13933 2207
966-72-7026 TUCKER, SHANE T. 78 -78 10324 -7094
972-94-6141 BONTRAGER, AARON J. 0 1212 5873 -279
974-66-4795 HAWKS, DAVID J. 0 1500 12799 -2671
987-88-8081 ZACH, MARO K. 500 -500 6567 502
992-76-6447 WELDON-PETERS, ROBERT B. 0 754 2365 -461
994-66-9145 ANDERSON, BRANDON L. 1500 -565 50450-37112

Total Students: 30

34
 NASFAA 2003

Scenario 2

Verification Outcome Impact

Pat Bryan University currently doesn’t provide additional guidance on Worksheet A, B, or C. The
university may want to consider the following options:

 Run the Transaction Comparison Report on all students who had a change in Worksheet
A, B, or C; the report will provide a snapshot for each student who had a change in this
ISIR field. This information could be used to counsel students. A report will be generated
for each student, which could be sent to the student as part of the renewal application. A
letter could accompany the student report to help the student complete the ISIR for the
following year.

 Design a worksheet that provides a W-2 form and circle the areas that contain
information that the ISIR requires be reported as untaxed income. Indicate the line on the
ISIR where this income should be reported.

A school could pull a random sample of all students who made changes to Worksheet A, B, or C
and review each record to determine whether a pattern of misreporting exists. A school could
then revise its consumer information to address the issues identified.

Refer to the instructions on the next page for running this report.
The report is also included on page 34.

35
 NASFAA 2003

Transaction Comparison Report

This report allows you to review individual cases for evaluating the applicability of any
generalized patterns to individual students. It also provides a side-by-side comparison of initial
and paid on values of selected ISIR data elements for each applicant who meets user-defined
selection criteria.

Step Action
1 With the Print dialog box displayed, click the down arrow for the
Report field. Reports available in the system are listed.
2 Select Transaction Comparison.
3 Make sure that Single (to the right of the Report field) is selected
and that Screen is selected as the Report File Destination.
4 Enter SSN of student you would like to analyze.
5 For this activity the Field Order remains at Sequence Number.
6 Click the down arrow for the Selected Fields Code and select
VERDEP. With this option, ISIR fields for dependent students will
be displayed. Click OK.
7 Click the down arrow for the Discrepancy Field and select
PARENTS’ TOTAL FROM WORKSHEET B. Click OK.
8 Click the Changed Fields Only? to display only fields that have
been changed.
9 Click OK.

36
 NASFAA 2003

Report Date: 10/23/2002 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PAGE:

1
Report Time: 13:35:41 QUALITY ANALYSIS TOOL - 2002-2003
Transaction Comparison Reported
ALL RECORDS
SORT:
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SENSITIVE INFORMATION PROTECTED BY THE PRIVACY ACT
*****************************************************************************
***
OPEID#: 00000001 School Name: Pat Bryan University
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---

Original SSN: 901-68-9142 Current SSN: 901-68-9142

Student Name: WINTERS, CIARA L.
Initial School Verification Flag: No

Initial Paid On
---------- --------
Source of Correction <blank> School
Source of values EDExpress EDExpress
Transaction Number 01 02
CPS Verification Flag Y Y
Dependency Status D D
EFC 1407 2364

Last Modified By: SYSADMIN 09/18/2002 11:18:50

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---

Initial Paid On
Transaction Transaction
Field(s) Selected Value Value Change
-------------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
-------------
PARENTS’ ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME $ 26,162 $ 25,126 $ -1,036

PARENT’S U.S. INCOME TAX PAID $ 6,541 $ 1,699 $ -4,842

PARENTS’ TOTAL FROM WORKSHEET A $ 950 $ 345 $ -605

PARENTS’ TOTAL FROM WORKSHEET B $ 4,500 $ 5,531 $ 1,031

STUDENT’S TAX RETURN FILED? 2 1 Y

STUDENT’S ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME $ 1,688 $ 1,723 $ 35

STUDENT’S U.S. INCOME TAX PAID $ 422 $ 0 $ -422

37
 NASFAA 2003

A school could pull a random sample of all students who made changes to Worksheet A, B, or C
and review each record to determine whether a pattern of misreporting exists. A school could
then revise its consumer information to address the issues identified.

A Possible Letter

Dear XXXX:

When reviewing your file for the XX award year, we noted that changes were required to your
ISIR. In particular, we noted there were changes to Worksheet A, B, or C. To help you complete
your ISIR for the upcoming year, we have enclosed a synopsis of what you reported for this year.
We hope that this will help you complete your ISIR for the XX award year. Some areas to which
you may want to pay particular attention follow:

 We have found that reporting untaxed income on the ISIR can be a challenge. To assist
you in this process, we have enclosed a copy of a W-2 and circled the items that you must
report as untaxed income. To ensure that you don’t miss any item(s) required for
reporting, we also recommend that you review the worksheets included with the ISIR,
paying particular attention to Worksheet B.

 If you are a returning student and earned Federal Work-Study, you need to be sure to
report your calendar-year earnings on the worksheet. You can obtain this information
from your W-2 or from the payroll office at the school. To ensure you don’t miss any
item(s) required for reporting, we also recommend that you review the worksheets
included with the ISIR, paying particular attention to Worksheet C.

 To ensure that you record the correct tax credits, such as Earned Income Credit and other
child tax credits, as well as any welfare benefits or social security benefits that were not
taxed (such as SSI), please refer to Worksheet A on the ISIR.

Should you have additional questions regarding the completion of your ISIR, do not hesitate to
either call or schedule an appointment.

Sincerely,

Assistant Director

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 NASFAA 2003

Questions We’ve Asked…

and Answered!

1.How many ISIRs do I need to load into the ISIR

Analysis Tool?
2.How do I know who and what to include/exclude
when evaluating the reports from the ISIR
Analysis Tool?
3.What help is available to me?

39
 NASFAA 2003

Summary

 Increased accuracy in determining student need.

 The ISIR Analysis Tool will focus financial aid
processes where they are needed most.
 Majority of students will not be needlessly
bothered for additional financial information.
 Education, service, and outreach activities will
increase as we build analytical information about
students and their patterns of reporting financial
information.

40
 NASFAA 2003
Enhancements for 2003-2004 ISIR Analysis
Tool

 Inclusion of Verification Priority Codes

o A summary section will be added to the List-
Verification Flags by Student report to give totals
of the various priority flags
o Helps prioritize CPS edits by tracking flag
o A filter will be added to the print dialog box to turn
off the detail of this report and just produce
summary numbers
o A predefined query will be added for Verification
Tracking Flag

Coming in 2004-2005: The ISIR Analysis Tool will become

a web-based product. Schools will be able to import
records that are housed in a data mart.

41
 NASFAA 2003

Resources
:

 http://qaprogram.air.org or
http://fsa4schools.ed.gov/
1. Web Videos
2.Activity Guides 1, 2 and 3
3.ISIR Guidance
4.The Guide to Attain, Sustain and Advance
Quality
5.fsadownload.ed.gov

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 NASFAA 2003

Questions/Comments?

We appreciate your feedback and comments. We

can be reached:

Regional Contacts:

Holly Langer-Evans
Regions 1, 2, 5
Phone: 617-223-9603
Email: [email protected]

Francine Reeves
Regions 3, 4, 6, 7
Phone 404-562-6289
Email: [email protected]

Michael Cagle
Regions 8, 9, 10
Phone: 206-615-2586
Email: [email protected]

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 NASFAA 2003
Appendix A
2003-2004 ISIR Analysis Tool Reports
The reports you can generate in the ISIR Analysis Tool help you analyze your student population. To begin your
analysis, first print the Changes to ISIR Fields Report using the ALL Selected Fields Code. ALL is a predefined
code that is shipped with the software. It selects all ISIR fields so you can see which fields have the most changes
overall. With that information, you can then focus your analysis on those fields and identify the trends in your
population.

The following reports are available:

Changes to ISIR Fields. This report lists fields that affect the EFC and displays the number of corrections made to
those fields with a corresponding percentage of the total number of corrections. It also shows the number of records
for which the EFC increased, decreased, or remained unchanged as a result of a change to any of the selected fields,
as well as the corresponding percentages for each changed field.

Changes to ISIR Fields and Pell Eligibility. This report prints the corrected records in an initial EFC range for a
selected sample.

Custom Report. Custom reports are reports that you design for your needs, using fields that you select.

ISIR Changes by Field Increment. This report shows the number of corrections made to the selected field for a
specific increment and the corresponding percentage of the number of corrections for that field. It also shows the
number of times the EFC increased, decreased, or remained unchanged due to a change to the field, as well as the
corresponding percentages for the field.

ISIR Changes by Field Increment and Pell Eligibility. This report shows counts and percentages for Pell eligible
corrected records. It also shows the scheduled Pell award data that was calculated and stored during the data
validation process.

List-EFC Change by Student. This report shows differences between the Initial value and the Paid on value of the
field selected for a sample of students. It also shows the Initial and Paid On EFC values and the difference between
them.

List –Verification Flags by Student. This report shows the values for CPS verification flags (Initial and Paid On)
and school verification flags (Initial and Paid On) for a selected list of students. These values show students who
became Pell eligible and ineligible and students whose EFC changed and whose EFC remained unchanged.
Verification Tracking Flag values are included on the report. New for 2003-2004! You can selected the Totals
only? Option to print only the summary section for this report.

List – Verification Selection Criteria by Student. This report shows a list of students to whom verification edit
profiles apply, along with the codes and descriptions of those profiles. More than one profile can apply to a student.

List – Verification Selection Criteria by Code. This report shows a list of verification edit profiles and each
student to who the profiles apply. More than one profile can apply to a student.

Query Management. The Query Management report is a list of both the queries you have created and the
predefined queries provided with the ISIR Analysis Tool software.

Record Layout – Export Full. This option prints a record layout for full data export.

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 NASFAA 2003

Record Layout – Export UD. This option prints a record layout for the User Database.

Record Layout – Import User Data. This option prints a record layout for user-defined data files that you import.
It provides specifications for field length, field description, start position, and end position.

System Setup. You can print the System setup information including System and File Management information.

Transaction Comparison. This report shows the demographic data and transaction comparison data for a student
or a group of students.

User Database. This report provides the field names and values entered in the user database for each student, listed
by SSN.

Verification Edit Profile Setup. This report provides verification edit profile setup information. You can print one
or all of the verification edit profiles at a time. To print all profiles, leave the Verification Edit Profile Code field
blank in the Print dialog box.

45