{"id":11308,"date":"2025-04-07T11:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T15:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/?post_type=ht_kb&#038;p=11308"},"modified":"2026-10-22T09:44:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:44:58","slug":"troubleshooting-uploading-student-cohort-files-managing-errors","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/knowledge-base\/troubleshooting-uploading-student-cohort-files-managing-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"Troubleshooting: Uploading Student Cohort Files &#038; Managing Errors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">General Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Columns A-M, V, X, and AJ (if you report College Student IDs) will be pre-populated with enrollment data your institution reported to the Clearinghouse.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We recommend that you do not add, remove, or update student records that are pre-populated on the Clearinghouse-generated cohort files.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If when you upload the file, you see a high volume of error codes 5001, 5002, 5003, and\/or 5004. It may be because the pre-populated data was altered or leading zeros are missing from the file. Typically, these high-volume errors can be resolved by fixing, saving and then re-uploading the file. See <a href=\"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/knowledge-base\/student-level-report-errors-warnings-resolution\/\">Student Level Report Errors &amp; Warnings Resolution<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If students are missing from your cohort file(s), please ensure their program enrollment data has been reported accurately.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We recommend that you complete the Graduated Status Reconciliation section or update student records via an enrollment file submission or by using Student Look-Up before working on your Student Level Reports.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you make updates to student records using the methods above, you should regenerate all cohort files after the updates are processed to ensure the most recent data is pre-populated on the files.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you want to exclude specific students from your cohort files, you should use the applicable Invalid Flag field option T, X, R, or C in the row rather than removing\/deleting the row from the file.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you want to mark a record for invalidation, select the Invalid Flag field option Y and populate the required AA or TA values in the row.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Invalid Flag field options are available in <a href=\"https:\/\/theclearinghouse.download\/fvtge-studentcohortspecs\">Student Level Reporting Specifications<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you want to update the pre-populated student data on your cohort files, you should first update the data via an enrollment file submission, using Student Look-Up, or completing the Graduated Status Reconciliation section (if applicable).\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You should regenerate your cohort files after the updates are processed to ensure the most recent data is pre-populated on the files.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do not remove leading zeros from your CSV files.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When you download and open your cohort files, you may see a pop-up in Excel asking if you want to remove the leading zeros. Select \u201cDon\u2019t Convert\u201d to retain the leading zeros on the file.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leading zeros should be present in Columns B, D, I, J, K, M, and AJ (as appropriate).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Files must be in CSV format and use the following file naming convention: 6digitOPEID_AwardYear (e.g., 001234_20192020.csv).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do not rename, remove, or rearrange column headings (row 1). They are pre-populated to ensure structural validation rules are applied.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Detail rows can be rearranged without causing issues.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We recommend using the Clearinghouse-generated cohort files, rather than SIS-generated cohort files, to avoid triggering error volume upon upload.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Total Amounts (TA) Record Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If an Invalid Flag field option T, X, R, or C applies to a TA row, you should populate the Invalid Flag field. Do not populate the total amounts for the row.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the Invalid Flag field option N, space (N), or Y applies to a TA row, you should populate the Invalid Flag field and the total amounts for the row.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Column P will only be pre-populated for TA records.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Columns N, O, and Q-U should only be populated for TA records.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Do not populate columns W and Y-AG for TA records.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Total amount values should be rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Do not include dollar signs, commas, or decimals.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enter a zero or all zeros if a student did not receive private educational loans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Annual Amounts (AA) Record Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If an Invalid Flag field option T, X, R, or C applies to an AA row, populate the Invalid Flag field. Do not populate the annual amounts for the row.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the Invalid Flag field option N, space (N), or Y applies to an AA row, you should populate the Invalid Flag field and the annual amounts for the row.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Columns W and Y will only be pre-populated for AA records.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Columns Z-AG should only be populated for AA records.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Do not populate columns N-U for AA records.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Annual amount values should be rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Do not include dollar signs, commas, or decimals.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enter a zero or all zeros if a student did not receive private educational loans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>General Tips Total Amounts (TA) Record Tips Annual Amounts (AA) Record Tips<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ht-kb-category":[144],"ht-kb-tag":[148,147,149,155,156],"class_list":["post-11308","ht_kb","type-ht_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","ht_kb_category-ge-fvt","ht_kb_tag-financial-value-transparency","ht_kb_tag-fvt-ge","ht_kb_tag-gainful-employment","ht_kb_tag-managing-errors","ht_kb_tag-student-cohort"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/11308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ht_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11308"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/11308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11936,"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/11308\/revisions\/11936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-category?post=11308"},{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.studentclearinghouse.org\/compliancecentral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-tag?post=11308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}