Update anticipated or awarded aid in bulk

Billing management supports the bulk import of anticipated and awarded aid from 3rd party (e.g., PowerFAIDS) software solutions to enrollment candidates. Billing clerks can then modify imported financial aid data before finally approving and thus disbursing it to accounts as credit.

Note: This documentation references files exported from PowerFAIDS. Other 3rd party solutions are applicable but might require some changes to the data import file.

Initial Prerequisites

Before beginning, acquire the anticipated aid file from PowerFAIDS (or a similar service); the file is a 'comma-separated value' (i.e., csv) file.

The process to import anticipated aid from PowerFAIDS has three main parts:

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Acquire the necessary lists

The PowerFAIDS export, the list of students, and the data import help file.

Merge the lists together

Merge the PowerFAIDS export and list of students into the data import help file.

Import the merged file

Upload the newly merged help file to update financial aid for all recorded students.

Additionally, several spreadsheet cells require precise data entries matching system-defined settings. Please familiarize yourself with the settings so that their entries align with the desired outcome. The column names and their corresponding setting locations include:

  • Session

    Core > Settings > School information > Years & terms

  • school_year_label

    Core > Settings > School information > Years & terms

  • financial_aid_type

    Enrollment management > Admission > Admission Setup > Candidate Profile Settings > Financial Aid

  • financial_aid_decision

    Enrollment Management > Admission > Admission Setup > Candidate Profile Settings > Financial Aid Decisions

  • candidate_decision

    Enrollment management > Admission > Admission Setup > Decision types > Candidate response options

Create the list of students

To begin, first, create the list of students and enrollment candidates that need aid recorded.

To get started, navigate to Enrollment management, hover over Financial aid in the navigation, and select User export.

If a list is not currently available, select Build a new list.

Select Columns and ensure the following are marked:

  • First name

  • Last name

  • User id

  • Candidate Decision

Deselect any preselected columns and select Apply changes.

Select Export and keep the .csv file in a memorable location for use in an upcoming step.

Create a sample Data import file

The Data import tool requires a specific format is maintained to ensure financial aid is updated for the appropriate students and enrollment candidates. To better understand those requirements, create a Sample file which exemplifies the required column layout.

To get started, navigate to Core, hover over System tools in the navigation, and select Data import.

  1. Select Create import job.

  2. Under Category, select Admissions.

  3. Under Import type, select Financial Aid.

  4. Enter a Name (e.g., Anticipated aid) that describes the import.

  1. Under File Layout help, select View file layout help.

  2. Under layout guide by user_id, select Sample file.

 

Save the Sample file to memorable location for use in an upcoming step. Review the column and data layout to understand what is required to process the import.

Keep the Billing management window open as you will return to this screen with the appropriate data import file. If you are timed out while working on preparing the data import file, simply sign in again and repeat the steps when prepared.

Merge the Sample file, PowerFAIDS, and Financial aid list

With all the files now acquired, merge specific columns from the PowerFAIDS anticipated aid or awarded aid export file and the list of students list into the Sample file. Open each of the three files to proceed.

  1. Copy the data from the User ID, First name, Last name, and Candidate decision into the columns from the list of students into the Sample file; ensure the data aligns with the corresponding column headers in the Sample file and that the Sample file headers are not overwritten.

  2. Sort the Sample file by Last name.

  1. Sort the PowerFAIDS aid export by Last name so that the listed students mirror the arrangement in the Sample file. If these two lists do not align, manually enter the following data for each row.

  2. Copy the Disbursement Amount column from the PowerFAIDS export into the amount_granted column in the Sample file; ensure you do not change the column header in the Sample file.

  1. Under school_year_label and session, enter the School Year and Session, respectively.
    Cell entries from either column must coincide with the system-defined entries found in Core > Settings > School Information > Years & terms.

  2. Under financial_award_type, enter the financial aid type (e.g., PELL Grant, Merit Scholarship, Presidents List, etc.)

    The cell entry must coincide with a system-defined entry found in Enrollment management > Admission > Admission Setup > Candidate Profile Settings.

  1. If awarding aid (credit disbursement):

    • Cell entries under candidate_decision must coincide with the system-defined financial aid decision for accepted found in Enrollment management > Admission > Admission Setup > Decision types > Candidate response options.

    • Cell entries under financial_aid_decision must coincide with the system-defined financial aid decision for awarded found in Enrollment Management > Admission > Admission Setup > Candidate Profile Settings.

  1. If adding anticipated aid (no credit disbursement):

    • Cell entries under financial_aid_decision must coincide with the system defined financial aid decision for anticipated found in Enrollment Management > Admission > Admission Setup > Candidate Profile Settings.

  2. Save the Sample file. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., fin_anticipated_aid_2021-2022).

Import the Sample file to update aid

With the Sample file outfitted with data from several sources, return to the previous step and upload the Sample file.

The Sample file then queues in the build process; return to the Data Import page after a short while to review the Data Import result.

If successful, the imported aid appears under Financial aid for the appropriate School year in each student and enrollment candidate profile.

Note: The time it takes to process the data import depends on both system-load and the size of the import job; ensure you do not repeat the import until the Status results in either Completed or Failed.

Troubleshooting Issues

If the data import Status results in Failed , complete the following steps:

Select the context menu () and then select View results for the failed import attempt.

Select View Processed File and download the .csv to your computer.

Open the .csv file and review the entry under column 'B'. The error_msg shows what data produced an error. Semi-colons separate multiple errors.

Possible errors status codes include

  • Invalid User_ID

  • The User_ID does not match the adjacent First name and Last name.

  • The Financial aid type does not exist.

  • The provided Session does not exist.

Once the errors are corrected, repeat the upload process until the build Status is Completed.