Portico Financial Aid Release Notes - March 2, 2026

This financial aid software release delivers major enhancements to disbursement logic and ISIR comparison accuracy, along with important technical improvements and platform optimizations. Together, these updates improve compliance alignment, operational flexibility, system performance, and long‑term integration stability. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Released

• Prior Year ISIR Comparison Tool Enhancement 
• Configurable Enrollment Statuses for Disbursement Batching 
• Technical Improvements & Minor Releases 
  • Database Optimization – Performance Improvements
  • Database Optimization – PK/Index Enhancements 
  • Populi Import – Enrollment Status Logic Fix 

In Progress

• Populi API Modernization 
• Disbursement Logic Alignment to Term-Specific Enrollment Status
• Multi-Year Academic Year (AY) Cost Configuration
• Financial Aid History Now Available in CORE  

Prior Year ISIR Comparison Tool Enhancement 

We refined the Prior Year ISIR Comparison Tool so it now displays only the ISIR used to generate the approved Funding Estimate (Award Letter) for the relevant FAFSA year. 

Why This Matters: 

• Ensures comparisons reflect the authoritative ISIR used in packaging 
• Reduces time spent reviewing unrelated ISIR transactions 
• Improves compliance confidence during discrepancy reviews

Configurable Enrollment Statuses for Disbursement Batching 

Institutions can now configure additional enrollment statuses to be included in disbursement batching. If enrollment status is the only exclusion reason and matches a configured status, the student can be included in the batch. 

Why This Matters: 

• Provides institutions greater control over batching logic 
• Reduces unnecessary routing to “Not Ready to Pay” 
• Improves high-volume disbursement efficiency

Technical Improvements

Database Optimization – Performance Improvements

Behind-the-scenes database performance enhancements were completed to optimize data retrieval for dashboards, integrations, and reporting. 

What This Improves: 

• Faster Institution Dashboard loading 
• Improved SIS integration performance 
• Faster disbursement and reporting screens 
• Smoother performance with large data sets 

Database Optimization – PK/Index Enhancements 

Additional database indexing and performance optimizations were implemented to support disbursement and reporting stability. 

What This Improves: 

• More responsive disbursement batching 
• Improved award letter and dashboard performance 
• Better stability for large disbursement/payment reports

Populi Import – Enrollment Status Logic Fix 

Adjusted logic so enrollment status properly transitions from Future Start to Active based on the student’s start date. 

Status: 

• Enrollment status update logic corrected 
• Separate program enrollment issue identified and tracked independently

In Progress

Populi API Modernization 

We have begun planning migration from Populi’s deprecated legacy API to their newer, modern API to ensure long-term stability and compatibility. 

What This Means: 

• No immediate changes to daily operations 
• Current integrations continue functioning as expected 
• Proactive transition to ensure security and long-term reliability 

Disbursement Logic Alignment to Term-Specific Enrollment Status 

Eligibility evaluated where it actually matters — at the term level. 

What It Is 

Disbursement eligibility logic now evaluates enrollment status based on the term associated with the disbursement, rather than the student’s current enrollment status. Previously, if a student’s enrollment later changed (for example, dropping below half-time), the system could incorrectly prevent disbursement of aid tied to a prior eligible term. This update ensures eligibility is determined according to the enrollment status that applied during the original payment period. 

Who It’s For 

• Financial Aid Administrators 
• Disbursement Processors 
• Operations & Compliance Teams 

Problem Solved 

Students who were eligible during a prior term could have their disbursements blocked due to a change in current enrollment status, creating unnecessary payment delays and manual intervention. 

Why It Matters 

• Prevents prior-term aid from being blocked due to current status changes 
• Aligns eligibility evaluation with payment-period rules and DOE guidance 
• Reduces manual overrides and support escalations 
• Improves processing accuracy for multi-term programs 

Multi-Year Academic Year (AY) Cost Configuration 

Looking beyond Year One

What It Is 

Institutions can now configure tuition and fees on a per-academic-year basis beyond Academic Year 1 (AY > 1).

What It Is 

Institutions can now configure tuition and fees on a per-academic-year basis beyond Academic Year 1 (AY > 1). Previously, the COA Estimator supported tuition and fees for AY1 only. Schools offering multi-year programs can now define cost components for each active academic year while preserving AY1 data integrity. 

Supported cost categories include: 

1. Tuition 
2. Books & Supplies 
3. Registration Fees 
4. Miscellaneous Fees 

A new academic year dropdown within the tuition estimator allows users to select and manage costs by year. 

Who It’s For 

• Financial Aid Administrators 
• Business Office Teams 
• Compliance & Audit Staff 
• Institutions with multi-year program 

Problem Solved 

Multi-year institutions previously had to approximate or externally track year-over-year cost changes. This created reconciliation friction and limited audit visibility. 

Why It Matters 

• Supports accurate multi-year cost projections 
• Maintains clean separation between AY1 and future-year values 
• Improves auditability with full change tracking 
• Reduces manual workarounds for multi-year programs 
• Strengthens long-term funding estimate accuracy 

Behind the Scenes 

• New database structure supports AY > 1 values while preserving existing AY1 records 
• Dropdown dynamically reflects active academic years 
• Standard audit fields track all updates
• Backward compatibility maintained for existing configurations

Financial Aid History is Now Available in CORE  

What It Is 

Financial Aid History (FAH) integration allows institutions to request and receive a student’s NSLDS Financial Aid History directly within CORE. 

Authorized users can: 

• Initiate an FAH request from the Student Detail page 
• Receive the NSLDS FAH file via batch processing 
• View a high-level FAH summary directly in the student record 
• Access the full FAH detail in a structured, ISER-style view 

Over time this will eliminates the need to retrieve and review FAH exclusively through external NSLD systems. 

Who It’s For 

This feature is designed for: 

• Financial Aid Administrators 
• Processing Managers 
• Compliance-focused institutions 
• Title IV institutions using NSLDS batch processing 

Access is limited to: 

• Institutions with FAH access enabled 
• CIBO users within CORE 

Problem Solved 

Previously, reviewing Financial Aid History required: 

• Logging into NSLDS separately 
• Pulling screenshots or manual exports 
• Storing documentation outside of CORE 
• Managing compliance review across multiple systems 

This created inefficiencies, duplication of effort, and compliance risk due to fragmented data storage. FAH integration centralizes the process. 

Now, institutions can: 

• Request FAH directly from the student record 
• Automatically store returned FAH files within CORE 
• View summary and full-detail data in one place 
• Maintain a clearer audit trail of FAH activity 

Why It Matters 

1. Compliance Confidence -- FAH data is now stored within the system of record, improving traceability and reducing reliance on manual screenshots. 
2. Operational Efficiency -- Staff no longer need to toggle between CORE and NSLDS to retrieve and review FAH information. 
3. Centralized Data Access -- FAH summary indicators (loan status, discharge indicators, aggregate information, etc.) are visible directly within the student file. 
4. Foundation for Automation

This release establishes the infrastructure required for future AI-driven enhancements, including: 

• Automated ingestion of FAH data into eligibility workflows 
• Proactive FAH triggering based on student lifecycle events 
• Reduced manual initiation in future phases 

Important Notes 

• FAH requests are processed via batch and may take up to 24 hours to appear in CORE. 
• Bulk FAH requests are not supported in this phase. 
• Access is role-based and feature-flag controlled.

In March 2026, we’re highlighting improvements that help institutions prepare our FA software for upcoming regulatory changes (OBBBA / “One Beautiful Bill”), reduce manual work for aid teams, and strengthen integrations and data consistency.

Coming Soon releases will include: 

• OBBBA ("OB3") readiness updates  
  • 2026–27 ISIR Updated 
  • New grade levels max loans configuration 
  • Legacy / grandfather program logic for OBBBA 
• Packaging/Funding Estimate configuration enhancements (loan limits + OFA-driven need analysis) 
• Integration modernization work (Populi API and export mapping) 
• Performance and internal reliability improvements (ISIR import + database archiving)