The National Student Clearinghouse’s FVT/GE reporting solution helps you comply with Financial Value Transparency & Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) requirements. This resource provides guidance to properly report TA and AA values. A critical piece for inputting data is first determining if an invalid flag option applies to the student record in the cohort file.
The Student Level Report (SLR) section enables you to report information for students who received Title IV funds from your institution while enrolled in a Gainful Employment (GE) or an eligible non-GE program during an award year. Each cohort file can contain one or more unique records and there are two record types: Total Amounts (TA) or Annual Amounts (AA). TA records are students withdrawn or graduated in the program during the award year being reported. AA records are students in an enrolled status in the program during the award year being reported. A cohort file can also have one or more detail records for a student.
> See Student Level Reporting Specifications, Invalid Flag field and description.
IMPORTANT! Invalid Flag is a school source field. TA or AA records populated with Invalid Flag = N, blank, or Y will be included in the file sent to NSLDS. TA or AA records populated with Invalid Flag = T, R, or C will be excluded from the file sent to NSLDS.
Valid values for Invalid Flag are:
N or space: No
Y: Yes (includes record and is to invalidate a previously reported record for the student)
T: Title IV Aid not received for the program (excludes record from SLR sent to NSLDS)
X: Not a Qualifying Graduate Program (for NSC use only. Value only applicable for Standard Reporting type’s award year 2016-2017. Excludes record from SLR sent to NSLDS)
R: Not a GE program and is in a Withdrawn status (excludes record from SLR sent to NSLDS)
C: Neither GE nor eligible non-GE program (excludes record from SLR sent to NSLDS)
The Student Level Report’s Invalid Flag field options help you adhere to the FVT/GE framework and avoid under/overreporting monetary values. At the end of this resource, we’ve provided scenarios you may encounter when an Invalid Flag field option applies to the Student Level Report. We’ve also included instructions on how to handle monetary value reporting (TA or AA values) for records that do not qualify for Invalid Flag field options T, X, R, or C.
- Do not delete records in the file. You should select the applicable Invalid Flag field option T, X, R, or C to exclude a record in the file.
- If an Invalid Flag field option T, X, R, or C applies to a record, do not populate the TA or AA values for the Total Amounts or Annual Amounts in the record.
- For a record with Invalid Flag field option N, space (N), or Y, populate the corresponding annual amount fields for AA records or total amount fields for TA records (as these records will be sent to NSLDS in the SLR).
N: No or space
Input invalid flag value “N” or leave blank if no other Invalid Flag field selection applies for the detail row. Records with Invalid Flag = N or space must have all corresponding AA or TA values populated.
Y: Yes
Input invalid flag value “Y” only if invalidating a previously reported record for the student. Records with Invalid Flag = Y must have all corresponding AA or TA values populated.
T: Title IV Aid Not Received for the Program
If the student never received Title IV aid from your institution (at any time not just the award year being reported), enter Invalid Flag value = T for the record, and do not populate AA or TA values.
X: Not a Qualifying Graduate Program (value only applicable for standard reporting type’s award year 2016-2017)
The “X” invalid flag value is only applicable for institutions that choose the standard reporting type and for only the oldest award year (AY) cohort file (e.g., 2016-2017 for the 2024 FVT/GE reporting cycle). The “X” invalid flag cannot be used for any other AY.
R: Not a GE Program and is in a Withdrawn Status
The “R” invalid flag field value cannot be used for any record in the Student Level Report that is for a GE program.
It can only be used for scenarios when:
- The student is withdrawn from an eligible non-GE program, and
- The credential level is the same as in another row in the same award year for the same student, and
- The other row has an Invalid Flag value of “N” or space, which includes annual amounts OR a Graduated status with aggregated total amounts in the Graduated status row.
When a student has multiple rows for eligible non-GE programs, the following scenarios outline recommended actions for reporting AA record annual amounts and/or TA record total amounts ─ whether those amounts should be exact, aggregated, or split, and whether Invalid Flag “R” may apply. Only scenarios 4 and 5 are relevant when considering populating Invalid Flag = R.
Scenario 1: One student / multiple TA records / all eligible non-GE / all same credential level / all Withdrawn (W) records
Resolution: Split the total amounts for the multiple TA records or report exact total amounts for each of the multiple TA records. The Invalid Flag field option does not apply.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 131202 | 03 | 004000 | W | N |
| 420101 | 03 | 004000 | W | N |
Scenario 2: One student / multiple TA records / all eligible non-GE / different credential levels / all Withdrawn (W) records
Resolution: Split the total amounts for the multiple TA records or report the exact total amounts for each of the multiple TA records. The Invalid Flag field option does not apply.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 512308 | 06 | 002000 | W | N |
| 519999 | 03 | 004000 | W | N |
Scenario 3: One student / AA and TA records / all eligible non-GE / different credential levels / TA records all Withdrawn (W)
Resolution: Populate annual amounts for the AA record and split total amounts for the multiple TA records or report the exact total amounts for each of the multiple TA records. The Invalid Flag field option does not apply.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 512308 | 06 | 002000 | F | N |
| 519999 | 03 | 004000 | W | N |
| 131210 | 05 | 001750 | W | N |
Scenario 4: One student / multiple TA records / all eligible non-GE / all same credential level / some Withdrawn (W) records / one Graduated (G) record
Resolution: Input Invalid Flag field = R for all W status records and combine costs in the G status record.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 131202 | 03 | 004000 | W | R |
| 420101 | 03 | 004000 | W | R |
| 519999 | 03 | 004000 | G | N |
Scenario 5: One student / AA and TA records / all eligible non-GE / all same credential level / TA records all Withdrawn (W)
Resolution: Input Invalid Flag field = R for all W status records and populate annual amounts for the AA record.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 131202 | 03 | 004000 | F | N |
| 420101 | 03 | 004000 | W | R |
| 519999 | 03 | 004000 | W | R |
C: Neither GE nor Eligible non-GE Program
Use the “C” invalid flag value for any record that is neither a GE nor eligible non-GE program.
Programs that are typically neither a GE nor eligible non-GE program:
- Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP)
- Prison Education Program (PEP)
- Postbaccalaureate teacher certification program, if the institution does not award any credential
- Two-year or longer program that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree
- Preparatory coursework for which students receive Direct Loans
> See FSA’s Regulatory Requirements for FVT/GE for definitions on eligible GE and non-GE programs and those that are neither eligible GE or non-GE.