2025-26 Award Year College Financing Plan Updates

The College Financing Plan has been updated to align with the revised Undergraduate and Graduate/Professional student 2025-2026 College Financing Plan template as published by the Department of Education. Student Financial Aid has been updated to support the enablement of each CFP template type for the 2025-2026 aid year. Aid year references updated to 2025-2026 and minor label changes have been delivered in the following sections of the CFP templates: Total Cost of Attendance and Student Aid Index.

  • FUND_CFP.csv workbook has been updated to include the 2025-2026Aid_Year sample baseline configuration. For all fund codes that a Financial Aid Administrator would like to be included in the CFP, the Fund_Code, Aid_Year, and CFP_Category columns are required to be populated with valid values. 
    • The Award_Year column allows for multiple award years to be listed
    • The CFP_Category correlated to the location within the CFP template where the projected, estimated, and awarded fund amounts will appear
      • Validation rules are leveraged when loading the FUND_CFP.csv workbook to verify that an accepted value is entered in the CFP_Category column. If a value entered is not accepted, an error message will be displayed. 
  • COA_CFP.csv workbook has been updated to include the 2025-2026 Aid_Year to the sample baseline configuration.

The College Financing Plan (CFP) is a consumer tool that is designed to simplify information that prospective students receive about costs and financial aid, so that they can make informed decisions about which postsecondary institution to attend. Participating institutions use the CPF to notify students about their financial aid package and can be used in the place oof or as a supplemental cover sheet to an institution's existing financial aid offer letter.

Steps to Enable

Use the Opt In UI to enable this feature. For instructions, refer to the Optional Uptake of New Features section of this document.

Offering: Student Financial Aid

  • Workbook Configuration
    • COA.csv Workbook
      • Unique Item_Title will be required for Food and Housing On and Food and Housing Off
        • It is recommended that financial aid administrators review and update the default groovy script in the Cost-Value column in order to determine which COA Item_Title value should be returned
    • COA_CFP.csv Workbook
      • Unique COA_Item_Title will be required to indicate if food and housing COA item is for on campus or off campus
        • It is required that the same value is used as listed in the COA.csv workbook for Food and Housing On and Food and Housing Off
      • Location column
        • Effective 2021-2022 and forward, Financial Aid Administrators are required to indicate the placement of the COA_Item_Title values in the Total Cost of Attendance section of the College Financing Plan 
        • Note: The On and Off value should only be used for the Food and Housing COA_Item_Titles. If used for another COA_Item_Title, then that respective item's value will be placed in the corresponding column within the CFP template
    • FUND_CFP.csv Workbook
      • Fund_Code, Aid_Year, and CFP_Category are required columns to be defined for all fund codes in use and to be displayed in the CFP templates
      • The CFP_Category will drive the placement of the projected, estimated, or awarded fund value in the CFP templates
  • Portal Settings
    • Configuration Section
      • Enable each CFP template for the 2025-2026 award year
    • Loan Options Section
      • Enter the interest rate and origination fee for each listed load based on the CFP template
    • Work Options Section
      • Enter the Work-Study hours per week
      • Enter the standard amount for Work-Study, Other Campus Job, and/or Assistantship if you want a static amount displayed, otherwise the system will sum the packaged Fund_Codes that have the corresponding CFP_Category assigned in the FUND_CFP.csv workbook
    • Configurable Content Section
      • Enter in applicable text based on CFP template as needed
  • Note: You will need to load a valid 25/26 ISIR and SAFI for the student in order to package and award funds for the 25/26 award year and complete the steps to enable the CFP templates to view the student specific College Financing Plan.

Tips And Considerations

  • The College Financing Plan for 2025-2026 will be delivered as disabled. Users will need to opt in and complete all required setup/configuration to leverage the College Financing Plan templates for 2025-2026.
  • The 2025-2026 College Financing Plan has been delivered leveraging the default template colors provided by the Department of Education. The ability to update the default template color will be delivered in a future enhancement to the CFP. 

Key Resources