Requesting the Additional Eligibility Indicator (AEI) to Resolve a POP or MRR Issue

Issue

NSLDS has flagged a student with a potential Pell Over-award Prevention (POP) issue or a Multiple Reporting Record (MRR) conflict. The school or Portico's NSLDS team needs to add the Additional Eligibility Indicator (AEI) to the student's Pell record in COD to confirm that the student is eligible for Pell up to 150% of their annual award.

What Is the AEI?

The Additional Eligibility Indicator is a flag in the COD system that indicates a student qualifies to receive Pell Grant funds beyond the standard 100% Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) limit, up to 150%, under the Pell LEU extension provisions. Adding the AEI prevents NSLDS from blocking the student's Pell disbursement when their record shows concurrent enrollment or potential over-award at another institution.

What Is a POP or MRR Conflict?

• POP (Pell Over-award Prevention): NSLDS detects that the student may be enrolled at multiple institutions simultaneously in the same award year and flags the record to prevent double-awarding of Pell.
• MRR (Multiple Reporting Record): NSLDS receives conflicting enrollment data from two or more institutions — often because a prior institution has not updated the student's enrollment status to "Withdrawn" even though the student has transferred and is now enrolled elsewhere.

In both cases, the AEI resolves the conflict by confirming at the COD level that the current institution is aware of the student's prior enrollment and has verified that no actual over-award has occurred.

Steps to Resolve

1. Confirm the student's prior enrollment status at other institutions in NSLDS. The prior school should show the student as withdrawn with a last date of attendance.
2. If the prior school has not yet updated the student's status, contact that school or submit a correction request through NSLDS.
3. Submit a ticket to the CI NSLDS team with:
   • Student name and last four digits of SSN
   • Award year affected
   • Certified Pell amount and disbursement dates
   • Name and enrollment dates of the prior institution flagging the POP or MRR
   • Confirmation that the student is not currently enrolled at both institutions simultaneously
4. The CI NSLDS team will review the student's NSLDS record and, if appropriate, add the AEI to the student's Pell record in COD and document the action taken.

Important Notes

• The AEI should only be added when the school has confirmed there is no actual concurrent enrollment and no real Pell over-award has occurred. Adding the AEI without verifying this is a compliance violation.
• Do not disburse Pell to a student with an unresolved POP or MRR flag until the CI NSLDS team has reviewed and cleared the record.