Cal Grant GPA SubmissionTraining – SSN

Presented by:California Student Aid Commission

Cal Grant Operations

“Making Education Beyond High School Financially Accessible To All Californians.”

Phones are muted

If you have any questions during the presentation, please use the Q & A feature to the right of your screen.

This presentation is currently available on our website www.csac.ca.gov

◦ High Schools ◦ 2013-14 Webinars

◦ Colleges◦ Training

Today’s Webinar . . . .

Agenda Establishing and Renewing WebGrants Access

Accessing WebGrants

GPA Calculation

Submitting Individual GPA Records

Preparing GPAs for Batch Upload

Reports

Corrections

GPAs can be submitted in batches or individually

WebGrants has built-in edits to catch errors

Confirmation that GPAs have been accepted

Access to Reports

More secure than US Mail

Faster than completing paper GPA forms

Students are awarded sooner

Free! – Save your school or student the cost of postage

Why use WebGrants to submit GPAs?

WebGrants Access Request forms ◦www.csac.ca.gov

Click on:

High Schools or CollegesWebGrants

Request for System Administrator Access Request for Security Agreement

Establish a WebGrants Account

System Administrator’s Access Request Form

Used to add, renew or delete administrators access to the WebGrants system

Must be signed by administrator requesting access and the principal

Without principal signature, access cannot be granted

The college Access Request form is similar

Security and Confidentiality Agreement

Must be completed and sent along with the System Administrator Access Form

Must be signed by administrator requesting access and the principal

Without signatures, access cannot be granted

The college Security and Confidentiality form is similar

Forms should be sent by mail; Keep a copy for your records

WebGrants access must be renewed:◦ every other year for high school users◦ every year for college users

Once your forms are processed:

◦ The System Administrator will be emailed a link to the WebGrants User Account Page

◦ The principal will be emailed the passcode

◦ You must obtain the passcode from your principal to acquire User-ID

Access Forms

Access Forms

CSAC Technology Help Desk◦ 888-294-0148◦csachelpdesk@csac.ca.gov

Status of Access Request Forms WebGrants Log-in Assistance Password Reset

https://webgrants.csac.ca.gov

User GuidesLocated within the Help link

HS Administrator

WebGrants Help Menu

Provided for high schools who’s policy requires permission prior to GPA submission

A Form for students to take home

Explains California Information Privacy Act of 1977

Requires a parent and student signature

Social Security Number

To be returned to high school and retained

Cal Grant GPA Information Release Form

Cal Grant GPA Information Release Form

Form located at www.csac.ca.gov

Click on:

High Schools GPA Release Form – for students

Cal Grant GPA Information Release Form

Calculating Cal Grant GPAs

FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS THAT HAVE NOT GRADUATED

Use grades from sophomore year through summer after junior year only – No senior year courses.

Do Not include grades from P.E., ROTC, or Remedial Courses (as defined by the school).

Failing grades not retaken prior to the senior year must be included.

Calculate the GPA’s on a 4.00 scale – Weighted GPAs over 4.00 will not be accepted.

Calculating Cal Grant GPAs

FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

Use grades from sophomore year through senior year.

Do Not include grades from P.E., ROTC, or Remedial Courses (as defined by the school).

Failing grades not retaken must be included.

Calculate the GPA’s on a 4.00 scale – Weighted GPA’s over 4.00 will not be accepted.

Calculating Cal Grant GPAs

FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

Please refer to the www.csac.ca.gov website for specific instructions on calculating a college GPA.

Reestablished California Community College GPA:Based on 16-23 completed units

Regular California Community College GPA:Based on 24+ completed units

TIP

DON’T WAIT! - GPA’s can be uploaded right now.

Establish a WebGrants account.

Check on your existing WebGrants account status – You may need to reset your password.

Send GPA Information Release Form home with students with a deadline for return.

Refer to the WebGrants User Guides on the GPA upload process.

Have a small number of GPAs to submit?

Add the GPAs individually.

Submitting GPAs Individually

Submitting GPAs Individually

Submitting GPAs Individually

Select “GO”

Enter # of records to add

School Code will Auto Populate

When adding GPAs individually, only add 10 at a time.

The WebGrants system will time out; if the system times out before you click “Submit” the GPAs will not be saved.

QUICK TIP

Submitting GPAs Individually

Submitting GPAs Individually

3

Have a lot of GPAs to submit?

Use the GPA Upload Process.

A. Create text file using your Student Information Management System (e.g. Aeries)

B. Use Excel to create your file and upload to WebGrants

Data collection Options . . .

Data Collection - Option AUsing SIMS

Convenient if you will be submitting GPAs for your entire senior class.

Use your SIMS to export the necessary data into a text file then upload the information to WebGrants.

The text file must meet file specifications in order to upload successfully.

File specifications are available in WebGrants within the Help Menu.

Option A

Data File Specifications

Data Collection - Option BUsing Excel

If you will be collecting many GPA Information Release forms from students over time, Option “B” might be a good choice.

You can save an Excel spreadsheet to your computer and add student data as you receive Release forms. Then in February (right before the deadline), upload your file all at once.

Your Excel spreadsheet must be saved as a text file and must meet file specifications in order to upload successfully.

Option B

◦ When using Excel to create your GPA file, you must first format all cells as text.

To do this:

◦ First, click on the corner cell between “1” and “A” to highlight all cells

◦ Next, right click to choose “Format Cells”

◦ Then, select “Text” in the Number tab◦ Last, Click “OK”

Format Cells As Text

You might start with an Excel GPA Spreadsheet that looks something like this:

After selecting the entire row, right click and select “Delete” to delete the row.

Now the row is gone and all data moved up

You must delete all other unnecessary data

The 1st student’s SSN should be in cell A1

Now you are ready to save as Text

Save your spreadsheet to your desktop as a text file by choosing – Text (MS-DOS) (.txt)

When saving an Excel spreadsheet as text there will be two alert messages, click ‘OK’

for the first message.

When saving an Excel spreadsheet as text there will be two alert messages, click ‘Yes’

for the second message.

This is the text file that we just saved from the Excel spreadsheet.

123456789 400 050001 Y 062013 050001123456789 297 050001 Y 062013 050001123456789 321 050001 Y 062013 050001

050001297 050001 Y 062013 050001

123456789 321 050001 Y 062013 050001

123456789 400 050001 Y 062014 050001 1234567890123456789 297 050001 Y 062014 050001 1234567890123456789 321 050001 Y 062014 050001 1234567890

Now Upload the Text File

Step 1 of 3: Upload GPAs Screen

First, click on ‘Browse’ to find the file on your desktop.

Then, click on ‘Begin Upload’.

Your file is being uploaded

Step 2 of 3: GPA File Upload Status ScreenThis screen will identify possible invalid records that will be

rejected from the upload.

Step 2 of 3: GPA File Upload Status Screen

Fix the invalid records before you continue to upload.

Print the invalid records (Ctrl + P)

Make the necessary correction(s) in the Excel spreadsheet and re-save as a text file to

your desktop.

Once you’ve corrected the invalid records, begin the upload process again. This time there are zero invalid records!

Now click “Submit Records”

This screen will appear when you have successfully uploaded your GPA file. Print this screen and the Submitted Records

screen.

THIS IS THE FINAL SCREEN!

WEBGRANTS REPORTS

WebGrants ReportsGPA Summary Report

◦An accumulative list of GPA records received as of this report date

◦Updated daily

◦Check for GPA submission accuracy

WebGrants ReportsSchool of Origin Report

◦An accumulative list of student’s from your campus that are offered a Cal Grant Award

◦Becomes available beginning March 1st

◦Produced weekly, a fresh report is available each Monday

◦Lists student’s name and date of birth only

◦Does not list award type or award amount

WebGrants ReportsNew Student Summary Report

◦Students application/award status GPA Summary Report & School of Origin combined into this one

comprehensive report

◦Refreshed nightly, However, award status information will only update weekly starting January

◦Compare this report to your records checking for possible errors

◦Remind students to complete their FA application

WebGrants Reports

Financial Application no GPA Report

◦Lists students that have completed a FAFSA or Dream Act application, but no GPA has been submitted

◦Helps you to identify students that may have been overlooked in your GPA submission

To view WebGrants Reports – Click on Data Transfer

Select Report Download

Choose Acad Year 2014-15, then use the drop-down menu in the “Report” field to select a report Click GO!

Click on ‘Retrieve File’ to view the report

Student Summary ReportNew Comprehensive Report

TIP

Review the GPA Reports the following business day after your submission.

Compare the GPA Reports to your records verifying that you submitted correct information.

SSNs and GPAs are sometimes keyed incorrectly and delay the student from being awarded.

Corrections

Corrections

Corrections can only be made by CSAC representatives.

Request corrections as soon as possible.

Corrections must be sent in writing on school letterhead, and must include:

◦Explanation of Situation◦ Incorrect Information vs. Correct Information◦SSN, GPA, School Code & Grad Date◦Your contact information

Corrections

Example of SSN Correction Letter:

◦Address letter to Cal Grant Operations

◦Explain that incorrect SSN was submitted

◦List incorrect SSN and correct SSN

◦List the GPA, School Code & Grad Date

◦List your contact information

Want a copy of this presentation?

This presentation is currently available on our website www.csac.ca.gov

◦ High Schools ◦ 2013-14 Webinars

◦ Colleges◦ Training

This Concludes the

Electronic GPA Submission Training

QUESTIONS?

schoolsupport@csac.ca.gov

888-294-0153