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School Resources / Training
(Click any topic below to view available resources)
• Administration • Managing Loan Applications
• Certification Requests • National Disbursement Network (NDN)
• ELMSelect • Report Selection / View Reports
• Financial Aid Management • User Security
• Getting Started with ELMNet • Working with Files
• Hold / Release Processing • Working with Loans and Disbursements
• Mailbox Services
    • Getting Started with ELMNet

      Contents includes an introduction to ELM, logging in and using the main menu, and using the function selection menu.

    • Getting Started
      Getting Started with ELMNet
    • Online Training Modules
      • Logging in to ELMWeb
      • Using the Function Selection Menu
    • ISIR Records

      Contents includes uploading ISIR File records to create new loan application certifications.

    • Working with ISIR Records
    • Mailbox Services

      Contents includes understanding Mailbox Services and working with ELM Automatic Mailbox (EAM).

    • Online Training Modules
      • Downloading ELM Automatic Mailbox
      • Setting Up ELM Automatic Mailbox
      • Using ELM Automatic Mailbox
      • Checking the ELM Automatic Mailbox Log File
    • National Disbursement Network (NDN)

      Contents includes working with ELM NDN, returning funds, working with the ELM NDN hotline, and what to expect if your school needs to change a bank account number.

    • Understanding ELM NDN
    • Understanding ELM NDN with ELMNet
    • Online Training Modules
      • Understanding the ELM NDN Process Flow
      • Understanding the ELM NDN Disbursement Roster
      • Returning Funds by ELMWeb
      • Returning Funds by Batch File
      • Returning Funds by Form
    • Report Selection / View Reports

      Contents includes using report selections, selecting/viewing reports, exporting report data to Microsoft® Excel™, and creating/understanding all available reports.

    • Creating and Viewing Reports
    • Creating and Viewing Reports with ELMNet
    • Online Training Modules
      • Creating an On-Demand Report
      • Viewing an On-Demand Report
      • Exporting Reports to Excel™
      • Creating an R01 Report
      • Creating an R02 Report
      • Creating an R03 Report
      • Creating an R04 Report
      • Creating an R07 Report
      • Creating an R08 Report
      • Creating an R09 Report
      • Understanding an R27 Report
      • Understanding an R50 Report
      • Understanding an R61 Report
    • Working with Loans and Disbursements

      Contents includes retrieving a loan, viewing loan details & loan history, changing a loan or disbursement, viewing a borrower's application, cloning an application, reviewing transmission history, and creating & viewing comments for a loan.

    • Working with Loans and Disbursements
    • Retrieving Loans using ELMNet
    • Loan Retrieval Enhancement
    • Online Training Modules
      • Viewing Loan Details
      • Increasing a Loan
      • Reallocating a Loan
      • Cancelling a Loan
      • Changing a Loan Period
      • Changing Demographic or Certification Information for a Loan
      • Adding a Disbursement
      • Cash Cancellation of a Disbursement
      • Non-Cash Cancellation of a Disbursement
      • Reinstating a Disbursement
      • Reinstating a Loan
      • Reprinting a Promissory Note
      • Changing a Disbursement
      • Viewing Loan History
      • Comó Ver la Historia del Préstamo (Viewing Loan History)
      • Viewing a Borrower's Application
      • Cloning an Application
      • Reviewing a Transmission
      • Creating and Viewing Loan Comments
      • Working with Multiple Default Sets
      • Understanding the Fees Percentage
Frequently Asked Questions

    School FAQ's

      • Answer: Only ELM allows and encourages complete choice. Other services funnel users to a single guarantor, servicer, or lender. This limits choice in providers, and it's likely you will process some loan applications manually. Only ELM allows complete choice in loan providers. You can easily adjust your process to include or exclude providers based on service.

        ELM users maintain their relationships with their current lenders and guarantors, while ELM provides support on data exchange questions.

      • Answer: ELM is especially helpful to you!

        We map to your system, so no programming is necessary. All you need is an extract file, and virtually all systems have that tool built in.

        Our expert Training Specialists will train your entire staff on how to use ELMNet and gain the greatest benefits from it.

      • Answer: All of them!

        ELMNet works with most of the large commercial systems available today. ELMNet maps to new systems easily, requiring little effort by the school.

      • Answer: Absolutely! If you process all your Stafford loans through Direct Lending, you may still prefer to use FFELP for PLUS or alternative loans. ELM allows you to streamline both processes.

        If you are considering returning to FFELP from Direct Loans, ELM makes the transition easy and painless. The single point of data exchange helps you streamline your new loan process, making the transition simple and efficient. ELM's ability to map to your Student Information System, if necessary, also makes the move back to FFELP easier.

      • Answer: No! ELMNet is a Web-based system, so all you need is Web access and a Web browser.

      • Answer: While no programming is necessary to use ELMNet, schools with large, highly automated data systems may prefer to integrate ELMNet into their existing system. We will send data files that will update systems with current student loan status information. While this requires some programming, ELM helps by providing data in the format needed.

        Many of the large Student Information Systems vendors are working with ELM to provide users with an ELMNet interface within their software. This eliminates the need for additional processing steps or programming.

      • Answer: Since most lenders in the United States use ELMNet, your lenders may already be ELM lenders. Today, over 1300 lenders participate in ELM.

        Use our Lender Search Tool to find out.

      • Answer: ELM exchanges data with all guarantors in the country.

        For lenders who are not ELM participants, ELMNet will transmit loan application data to the guarantor so they may forward the data to the lender. Information on loans with non-ELM lenders will not have status updates or be included in ELMNet reporting.

        Many lenders who are not members or affiliates of ELM may still be able to process ELMNet data through their servicers.

        ELM also has a special provision that allows small-volume lenders who process less than 100 loans per year to participate in ELM without fees or membership requirements.

        ELM membership is open to education loan providers. Membership costs are structured so participants of all sizes can find ELM affordable. If you happen to have a preferred lender who is not currently an ELM lender, ELM Resources staff will work with them to gain full participation. Many of our current members joined ELM as a result of a suggestion by one of their school clients.

      • Answer: For IE follow these steps:

        • Go to the Tools dropdown menu (in your IE tool bar), then choose Internet Options

        • Select the tab called Advanced

        • Scroll down to the "Security" section and make sure that "Enable Native XMLHTTP" is checked.

        • You should now be able to view the school lists.

      • Answer: Send an email authorization to your lender representative asking them to have the program added to your ELMSelect page. If the lender has more than once product, make certain to be clear about which loan product you want. If you want more than one listed, be certain to state that you would like multiple listings.

        The lender should then provide the loan information (lender code and ELMSelect product code) along with your school's email authorization to NSC@elmresources.com with a request to add the loan program to the school's page.

      • Answer: ELM is set to time out after 20 minutes of inactivity. If you find that it is timing out quicker than that, adding elmproduction.com as a Trusted Site may help. To add ELM as a trusted site, use the following steps if you are in Internet Explorer user.

        • Close your browser and re-open it, then go to the ELM login screen.

        • Go to the Tools dropdown menu (in your IE tool bar), then choose Internet Options

        • Select the tab called Security

        • Under "Select a zone to view or change security settings", click the green checkmark labeled Trusted Sites.

        • Once you click that, you will see a button become available called Sites - click that.

        • Under "Add this website to the zone" you should see elmproduction.com - click Add

        • You can now click Close and then Okay.

        • This should resolve the timeout issue.

      • Answer: ELM recommends that you clear your cache and your cookies, close your browser and try again.

        If that doesn't resolve the problem, contact the National Service Center at 866-524-8198 and use Option 1.

      • Answer: Contact the lender of record to see if they can send a status update to ELM. The Loan Provider should have users with update access that can log in and manually change the status. If you find that this happens quite often with a particular lender, please contact the National Service Center and we will try to work with the lender to improve their status process.

      • Answer: If the record is in a "Loan app to lender" or "Loan app to guarantor" status, we can change the guarantor or product code and resend it to the lender. Please send NSC@elmresources.com an email with the Unique ID and the information which needs to be corrected. Ask ELM to update and re-extract the information to the lender.

        If the record is any other status on ELM, we would need to review it in a case by case basis to see if the loan can be corrected and re-extracted. Please call 866-524-8198 and use Option 3.

      • Answer: Your students' confidential information is protected by ELM's security standards. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts data between your browser and our Web server and is supported by most browsers (including Microsoft Internet Explorer© and Netscape Navigator©). File transfers to and from ELM's web site are also encrypted with SSL. Data files transmitted via POP3 are exchanged using Secret Agent encryption, and ELM supports PGP encryption of file transfers via FTP.

    Glossary of Terms

      • A batch file is a collection of data records with a specified layout. Most volume data exchange today is done in batch files. Typically, the sender accumulates a number of records for a specified period, and then transmits the batch file to the recipient.

      • Loan providers and schools have systems that use unique file formats. In order to allow those computer platforms to be compatible, ELM maps data from one system to the other. Data received is then translated to the file format of the receiver. This eliminates the need for a school to do programming to their system in order to use ELM.

      • Affiliate members enjoy the benefits of processing through ELM, but are not voting members. Affiliate members may be lenders, guarantors, secondary markets or servicers.

      • ELM lenders may be Members, Affiliates, or participants. Lenders who process loans through a servicer that belongs to ELM are able to participate in ELMNet without joining ELM directly.

      • ELM Members are full voting members of ELM Resources and have a say in the governance of the company. ELM membership includes lenders, guarantors, secondary markets and servicers.

      • Federally supported loans help students and their families pay for post-secondary education. Borrowers must meet federal guidelines to qualify.

      • A state or private not-for-profit organization that has an agreement with the U.S. Secretary of Education to administer a loan guarantee program under the Higher Education Act.<

      • The hold and release function allows schools to choose how to manage disbursements: release disbursements individually or release all disbursements and place holds on individual disbursements as necessary.

      • A lender in possession of a private loan promissory note that is payable to or has been assigned to the lender.

      • A student loan lender offers private loans to students or families to assist in paying for postsecondary education. The lenders may originate the loans themselves, or they may contract with another lender or servicer to process the loan application and disburse funds.

      • A mutual benefit corporation is an alliance of competitors who agree to cooperate in a limited area to better serve their customers.

      • Private loans, are offered by lenders for postsecondary education. These loans are intended as supplements to federally supported loans or as a substitute for families that do not qualify for federally supported loans. In most cases, alternative loans require the family, student, or a co-signer, to meet credit requirements.

      • Real-time processing includes the immediate exchange of data and then immediate processing upon receipt. This is generally done for one borrower and one loan at a time. ELMNet uses XML (eXtended Markup Language) for the format of its real-time messages.

      • Your students' confidential information is protected by ELM's security standards. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts data between your browser and our Web server and is supported by most browsers (including Microsoft Internet Explorer© and Netscape Navigator©). File transfers to and from ELM's web site are also encrypted with SSL. Data files transmitted via POP3 are exchanged using Secret Agent encryption, and ELM supports PGP encryption of file transfers via FTP.

      • A Servicer enters into a contract with a program participant to administer any aspect of its participation in a Title IV program.

      • All data is moved through a single loan provider. A SPOC often limits choices, since the selection of loan providers is restricted to the lenders affiliated with the servicer. Choices outside that group must be processed manually.

      • Data is moved to loan providers through a single conduit in a many-to-one-to-many connection. Most lenders can exchange data with ELM. This allows borrowers and schools to handle loans electronically for all loan providers.

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