Form 470 Available for FY 2018:
The FY 2018 EPC version of the Form 470, initially promised for July 1st, became available early last week. Applicants, particularly those with with long procurement cycles can get started now.
Entity Profile Updates:
Last year, as a prelude to opening the Form 471 application window for FY 2017, USAC set an applicant deadline for updating entity data in EPC. Once the application window was open, USAC locked down applicant access to such data. The lockdown was effective throughout the application window, primarily as a means to stabilize the school district student data relied upon in consortium and library applications. Doing so eliminated the need, as was the case during the FY 2016 window, of having a second and much later application deadline for consortia and libraries. The entity data lockdown was removed May 22nd, roughly a week and a half after the close of the FY 2017 application window. Applicants may now update their EPC entity data including their addresses, school codes, and student data.
Our recommendation, specifically with regard to student enrollment and eligibility data, is to defer entity profile updates until much later in the year (or in early 2018). Our understanding is that USAC will again lockdown entity data during the FY 2018 application window, but that any applicant-made changes to student numbers entered now may be overwritten by USAC during the FY 2017 PIA review process.
Applicants wishing to update student data for purposes of their FY 2017 applications (e.g., to reflect a higher discount or Category 2 budget), need to make those changes through the Form 471 RAL correction process. Applicant updates to the EPC entity data will not automatically flow through to the Form 471 applications.
EPC System Fixes:
USAC continues to work on fixes and updated features in EPC. There are two important changes we expect to see implemented either later this month or early in July. In particular:
- Approvals of Form 500s and SPIN changes for FY 2016 and FY 2017 need to be released to applicants via Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letters (“RFCDLs”). These approvals have been delayed by an EPC system issue related to the release of the RFCDLs for these processes. Resolution is expected this month.
- EPC currently does not support appeals of funding decisions for FY 2017. Although we expect that this capability will be added next month, the 60-day appeal window for applicants funded in Wave 1 closes July 25th and is fast approaching. Applicants wishing to appeal FY 2017 decisions before EPC is updated can submit their appeals as Customer Service requests.