Ready, Set, Challenge. How to prepare for CDR Challenges.

1. Be aware of your current CDR status.
If your school is under sanction or has submitted certain
challenges, adjustments, or appeals in the past, this will
influence which challenges and adjustments you can
submit now.
1.

2. Locate your two most recent prior official CDRs.
Some sanctions or benefits are based on the three most
recent rates. This information can be found on
the Three-year Official CDRs for Schools page of ED's
website.
2.

3. 3.
Prepare a spreadsheet.
Capture loan information for your school, including
enrollment status and date entered repayment.

4. 4.
Learn how to access key NSLDS reports.
Some reports you may need . . .
DRC016: Indicates the current repayment status of borrowers.
DER001: Provides the date students entered repayment.
DELQ01: Displays borrowers who are delinquent in making payments to one of the
federal loan servicers.
SCHPR2: Includes all of your school's FFELP and Direct Loans.
SCHDF2: Lists loans that currently have a defaulted status and a loan status date
that falls within the requested date range.

5. 5.
Access reports servicers provide to help you verify
CDR data.
For Great Lakes-serviced loans, you can learn more
about how to use our Service Provider Loan Portfolio
Detail report, and other reports, on the Financial Aid
Professionals portal under Default Management >
Reports and Data

6. 6.
Save time up front by checking the NSLDS
website.
Ensure that a student who is no longer eligible at
your school is not maintaining eligibility at another
school.

7. 7.
Identify key student borrower data
Key Student Borrower Data
LDA: Last date of attendance
LTH: Less than half-time date
WD: Withdrawal date
DER: Date entered repayment
CPD: Claim paid date
DD: Default date

8. 8.
Keep tip sheets handy to help you decipher codes.
Save time by printing out pages 4-5 of ED's CDR Guide,
Chapter 2.3, Part 2.

9. 9.
Need additional help?
Contact fsa.schools.default.management@ed.gov or call
the OPD hotline at (202) 377-4259, and keep a record of
your conversations.

10. Challenge!
You don't want to do all that work in identifying
incorrect data only to have your challenge miss a
deadline or be unsubstantiated. Consult Chapter
4 of ED's CDR Guide for valuable information
about the IDC and other challenges and appeals,
too. Then keep these important tips in mind as
you submit your challenge.

11. 10.
Submit your IDC challenge via eCDR Appeals
You can access by using the Student Aid Internet
Gateway (SAIG). You'll need to register on the eCDR
Appeals homepage, and from there you can access User
Guides and video demonstrations for each type of
challenge, adjustment, or appeal.

12. 11.
Include supporting documentation along with
your IDC appeal
Consult tables on pages 10-13 of Chapter 3.1 of
the CDR Guide to ensure that you include what
you need to support your allegation.

13. 12.
Send your challenge to the correct data manager,
or you may miss your window to challenge.
For Family Federal Education Loan (FFEL) program loans held
by guaranty agencies, submit your IDC to the guaranty agency
data manager via eCDR, which can be accessed using SAIG.
For FFEL loans held by ED and for Direct Loans, you'll need to
submit your IDC to the appropriate federal or not-for-profit
servicer data manager by the deadline. If two entities are
listed for a loan, make sure you send your challenge to the
correct entity (the one indicated with a usage code of "B" not
"E") to ensure that you meet the deadline.

14. Simplify your Loan Record Detail
Report. Download the LRDR File
Converter