This resource provides guidance to help you comply with Financial Value Transparency & Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) reporting requirements for the Student Level Report.
Before You Begin
Before populating total amounts for TA records and annual amounts for AA records, you must first determine if an Invalid Flag option applies to the student record in the cohort file. Selecting the correct value for the Invalid Flag field helps ensure reporting is complete and prevents underreporting or overreporting student-level data.
In the downloaded Student Level Report cohort file, the Invalid Flag field is in column AH.
If a student should be excluded from your Student Level Report, populate the Invalid Flag field with “R,” “T,” or “C.” This will exclude the record from your Student Level Report when it is sent to NSLDS. For these student records, the total amounts for TA records and annual amounts for AA records should be blank. These records will be excluded from the consolidated Student Level Report sent to NSLDS.
For student records where Invalid Flag = space or “N” (both meaning “No”) or “Y,” you must populate valid total amounts for TA records and valid annual amounts for AA records. These records will be included in the consolidated Student Level Report sent to NSLDS.
Invalid Flag Field Descriptions and Handling Multiple Rows for the Same Student Within an Award Year
The Student Level Report (SLR) section enables you to report information for students who received Title IV aid from your institution while they are 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. There are two record types: Total Amounts (TA) and Annual Amounts (AA).
- TA records are for students who withdrew or graduated from the program during the award year being reported.
- AA records are for students with an enrolled status for the program during the award year being reported.
A cohort file can have one or more detail records for a student.
Valid values for Invalid Flag
N or space: No
Y: Yes (includes record in the SLR sent to NSLDS and deactivates the previously reported record for the same student for the same program)
T: Title IV Aid not received for the program (excludes record from the SLR sent to NSLDS)
X: Not a Qualifying Graduate Program. This value is only applicable for Standard Reporting type’s award year 2016-2017 and excludes record from the SLR sent to NSLDS.
R: Not a GE program and is in a Withdrawn status (excludes record from the SLR sent to NSLDS)
C: Neither GE nor eligible non-GE program (excludes record from the SLR sent to NSLDS)
The Student Level Report’s Invalid Flag field options help you adhere to the FVT/GE framework and avoid underreporting or overreporting monetary values. In 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 for reporting monetary values (TA or AA values) for records that do not meet the criteria for Invalid Flag field options “T,” “X,” “R,” or “C.”
- Do not delete records in the file. You should populate the Invalid Flag field with the applicable value ─ “T,” “X,” “R,” or “C” ─ to indicate that the record should be excluded from the consolidated file sent to NSLDS.
- 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 space or “N” (both meaning “No”) or “Y,” populate the corresponding annual amount fields for AA records or total amount fields for TA records (these records will be sent to NSLDS in the SLR).
N: No or space
Populate the Invalid Flag with “N” or leave blank if no other Invalid Flag field selection applies to the detail row. All corresponding AA or TA values must be populated for records with Invalid Flag = “N” or space.
Y: Yes
Populate with an Invalid Flag value of “Y” only if you intend to deactivate a previously reported record for the student. All corresponding AA or TA values must be populated for records with Invalid Flag = “Y.”
Important: Before populating Invalid Flag = “Y,” confirm that a previously reported FVT/GE record for the same student and program exists in the NSLDS site’s FVT/GE maintenance and needs to be deactivated. If no existing record is found, NSLDS may return Error Code 49: No existing FVT/GE Record exists in NSLDS for program reported when Invalid Flag is set to ‘Y.’
Populate Invalid Flag = “Y” only when the purpose is to deactivate a student/program record that was previously reported to NSLDS. Do not use “Y” in any other scenario.
If the Invalid Flag is populated with “Y,” the record will be included in the Student Level Report sent to NSLDS and instruct NSLDS to deactivate the previously reported record for the same student and program. All corresponding AA or TA values must still be populated.
T: Title IV Aid Not Received for the Program
If your institution never disbursed Title IV aid to the student for enrollment in the program (at any time, not just for the award year being reported), populate the Invalid Flag field with “T” for the record, but do not populate the AA or TA values. This will ensure the record is excluded from the file sent to NSLDS.
Conversely, if your institution disbursed Title IV aid to the student at any time for enrollment in a GE or eligible non-GE program, and Invalid Flag field “R” is not applicable, you should populate the AA or TA values and populate the Invalid Flag field with “N” or space. This ensures the record will be included in the file sent to NSLDS.
Special use case scenario: One student / multiple records / all eligible non-GE / all same CIP Code and credential level / different published program lengths / institution disbursed Title IV aid to the student for enrollment in the program at any time, not just the award year being reported
Resolution: Populate the Invalid Flag field with “T” for the program(s) with the shorter published program length. For the program with the longest published program length, populate the Invalid Flag field with “N” or space, and populate aggregated annual amounts for the AA record or total amounts for the TA record.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 141001 | 03 | 004000 | G | N |
| 141001 | 03 | 003500 | G | T |
C: Neither GE nor Eligible non-GE Program
Populate the Invalid Flag field with “C” for any record for a program that is neither a GE nor eligible non-GE program.
Typically, associate degree programs (e.g., Credential Level 02) are GE or eligible non-GE programs and do not meet the criteria for Invalid Flag = “C.”
Programs that are typically neither a GE nor eligible non-GE program are:
- Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP)
- Approved 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 towards a bachelor’s degree and is a specially designed transfer program for which the institution does not award a credential (e.g., Credential Level 99)
- Preparatory coursework for which students receive Direct Loans
X: Not a Qualifying Graduate Program
(Value only applicable for Standard Reporting type’s award year 2016-2017)
Invalid Flag field = “X” can only be populated for scenarios when:
- Institution chooses Standard Reporting type, and
- The award year being reported is 2016-2017, and
- The program is a qualifying graduate program (QGP).
The Invalid Flag field cannot be populated with “X” for any student detail rows in any award year other than 2016-2017.
R: Not a GE Program and is in a Withdrawn Status
For any GE program records in the Student Level Report, the Invalid Flag field cannot be populated with “R.”
Populating Invalid Flag field = “R” indicates:
- An eligible non-GE program in Withdrawn status should be excluded because the student has multiple rows in the same award year in another eligible non-GE program with the same credential level, and
- The applicable annual amounts or total amounts are appropriately populated on the included row(s) with Invalid Flag = space or “N.”
Invalid Flag field = “R” can only be populated 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 space or “N” and includes either annual amounts OR a Graduated status with aggregated total amounts in the Graduated status row.
Invalid Flag Scenarios and Recommended Actions for AA and TA Reporting
The following scenarios outline recommended actions for reporting AA record annual amounts and/or TA record total amounts when a student has multiple rows for eligible non-GE programs. They explain whether those amounts should be exact, aggregated, or split, and whether Invalid Flag = “R” may apply. Populating Invalid Flag = “R” is only relevant for scenarios 4 and 5.
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 “R” does not apply.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270101 | 03 | 004000 | W | N |
| 141001 | 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 “R” does not apply.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110101 | 06 | 002000 | W | N |
| 141001 | 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 “R” does not apply.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110101 | 06 | 002000 | F | N |
| 141001 | 03 | 004000 | W | N |
| 520201 | 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: Populate the Invalid Flag field with “R” for all W status records. Combine total amounts in the G status record.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270101 | 03 | 004000 | W | R |
| 141001 | 03 | 004000 | W | R |
| 140801 | 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: Populate the Invalid Flag field with “R” for all W status records. Populate annual amounts for the AA record.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270101 | 03 | 004000 | F | N |
| 141001 | 03 | 003500 | W | R |
| 140801 | 03 | 004000 | W | R |
Scenario 6: One student / multiple TA records / all eligible non-GE / all same credential level / TA records all Graduated (G)
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 “R” does not apply.
| CIP Code | Credential Level | Published Length of Program | Program Attendance Status During Award Year | Invalid Flag field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270101 | 03 | 004000 | G | N |
| 141001 | 03 | 004000 | G | N |