Service School Perkins

Perkins Data Provider Instructions Appendix E: TEF File

Appendix E:Federal Perkins Loans TEF File Layout

Introduction E–1

Table E-1: TEF Record E–2

Introduction

The Thresholds, Error Codes, and Field Codes file (TEF file) is used by the DataPrep software. NSLDS provides the TEF file to make changes to the Extract Validation Error Thresholds and to provide updates on error codes, error messages, field codes, field names, and Loan Status Codes. The TEF file is updated periodically as new edits are added, modified, or deleted; the domain error thresholds are changed, or new Loan Status Codes are added. A new TEF file is made available approximately every 90 days and can be downloaded from the Internet and saved to the DataPrep/Current directory. The website to download the TEF file is: www.fsadownload.ed.gov.

The TEF file contains four record types:

1. A—An ID Record—Identifies the file as a TEF file.

Example: A19990127 THRESHOLD, ERROR CODE, FIELD CODE FILE (TEF FILE)

2. B—A Threshold Record—Contains three fields representing the threshold error percentages used in the Extract Validation process.

Example: B100505

3. C—Error Codes—Identifies the error codes and error messages.

Example: C1102 Amount of Cancellation must be < or = Amount of Loan

4. D—Field Codes—Identifies the field codes and field names.

Example: D220 Code for Original School

5. E—Loan Status Codes—Identifies whether a Loan Status Code is considered “Open” (O) or “Closed” (C).

Example: ERPO In Repayment

Note: If you fail to import the latest TEF file and new edits have been added, you will get an error message of ‘ERROR CODE NOT FOUND - OBTAIN LATEST TEF FILE’ rather than the correct error message. Similarly, you may get the message ‘FIELD CODE NOT FOUND - TEF FILE’ if field codes have changed.

Table E-1: TEF Record

Record Type	Field Name	Type	Position	Size	Description
A	ID Record Type	Character	1–1	1	TEF file indicator
	Record Update Date	Date	2–9	8	This is the date the TEF file was last updated. When NSLDS changes edits, error messages, field codes, field names, threshold error rates or adds loan status codes, the changes are provided through the TEF file, so you should ensure that you import this file periodically (NSLDS issues a new file approximately every 90 days).
	ID Record Name	Character	10–80	71	This message will identify the file as a TEF file (i.e., THRESHOLD, ERROR CODE, FIELD CODE FILE [TEF FILE]).
B	Threshold Record Type	Character	1–1	1	Threshold record indicator.
	Threshold Levels	Numeric	2–7	6	The three concatenated numbers define the Domain Error Threshold Levels for the combined numeric and date errors, Identifier Errors, and New Identifier Errors. (i.e., 100505, translates to thresholds of 10% combined numeric and date errors, 5% missing Identifier Errors, and 5% missing New Identifier Errors). Exceeding any threshold level will prevent the creation of a Submittal File. You must fix the problem, redo your Extract File, and redo the Extract Validation Process.
C	Error Code Record Type	Character	1–1	1	Error Codes and Error Messages indicator
	Error Code	Numeric	2–5	4	A 4–digit Error Code used to identify the errors encountered in the Extract Validation process and the Load Level Error process. When NSLDS changes edits that result in a new error code, the changes come through the TEF file, so you should ensure that you import periodically (NSLDS issues a new file approximately every 90 days).
	Error Code Name	Character	6–68	63	This message will display the error message encountered (e.g., Amount of Cancellation must be < or = Amount of Loan).
	Filler	Character	69-80	12	This field is not used.
D	Field Codes Record Type	Character	1–1	1	Field Codes and Field Names indicator
D	Field Code	Numeric	2–4	3	A 3–digit Field Code used to identify the field in error encountered in the Extract Validation process and the Load Level Error process. When NSLDS changes fields, the changes come through the TEF file, so you should ensure that you import periodically (NSLDS issues a new file approximately every 90 days).
	Field Names	Character	5–37	33	This message will display the field name encountered (e.g., Amount of Disbursement).
	Filler	Character	38-80	43	This field is not used.
E	Loan Status Record Type	Character	1–1	1	Loan Status Codes and Status Names indicator
	Loan Status Code	Character	2–3	2	A 2–character code that identifies the Code of Loan Status (e.g., RP for in Repayment).
	Open or Closed Status	Character	4–4	1	A 1–character field that identifies whether a loan is either open or closed (i.e., O or C). The Extract Validation process uses this field to count and total all open loans in the Database Extract File. The results will be displayed on the Extract Validation log and added to the Trailer record.
	Loan Status Name	Character	5–54	50	Descriptive name of each Code of Loan Status.
	Filler	Character	55-80	26	This field is not used.

June 1, 2012 Version 6.0

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