2026 GE Reporting Submittal Support Guide
Creation date: 8/19/2026 10:13 AM
Updated: 8/19/2026 3:19 PM
SMART Support FAQ for 2026 GE/FVT Reporting
Welcome to the SMART Support Guide for GE/FVT Reporting. Below are the most commonly asked questions regarding report generation, review, and submission.
For detailed instructions, please refer to the NSLDS Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) User Guide .
Which File Should I Use To Submit The Data?
SMART provides both submission formats regardless of how you submit your data.
Submitting Through SAIG
- NSLDS GE Program Submittal
- NSLDS GE Student Submittal
Submitting Through the NSLDS Website
- NSLDS GE Program Submittal Spreadsheet
- NSLDS GE Student Submittal Spreadsheet
These spreadsheet versions are generally easier to review because all field names appear in the first row.
New Features in 2026
The 2026 Gainful Employment reporting has a new reporting method called the "Accountability Final Rule (AFR)". This is an option schools must early opt-in to. Therefore, if your school has not opted into AFR, please select FVT/GE in the Regulation Type field.
Selecting this option will leave the following fields blank:
- Student's Enrollment Status as of the 1st Day of Enrollment in Program (AA)
- Program Attendance Status During Award Year (AA,TA)
- Program Attendance Status Date During Award Year (AA)
- Residency Tuition Status by State or District (AA)
- Date Student Completed or Withdrew From Program (TA)
- Institutional Debt Amount for Entire Enrollment in the Program (TA)
Do The Reports Contain Data For Every Required Field?
Some fields must be completed manually because the information is not stored in OnlineSMART.
Student Submittal
Column V – Allowance for Housing and Food
- This information is not stored in OnlineSMART.
- The value must be entered manually after exporting the report.
Column K – Length of Program
- Must be manually updated for each program.
- Uses a six-digit format with an implied decimal after the third digit.
- 52 weeks = 052000
- 8.5 weeks = 008500
- See the "Troubleshooting" section of the guide for further information
Column L – Published Length of Program Measurement
- W = Weeks
- M = Months
Column M – Weeks in Title IV Academic Year
- Typically 052000.
- Contact NSLDS if your institution requires a different value.
- See the "Troubleshooting" section of the guide for further information
Program Submittal
Column H – Published Length of Program
- Must be manually updated for each program.
- Uses a six-digit format with an implied decimal after the third digit.
- 52 weeks = 052000
- 8.5 weeks = 008500
- See the "Troubleshooting" section of the guide for further information
Column I – Published Length of Program Measurement
- W = Weeks
- M = Months
Column J – Weeks in Title IV Academic Year
- Typically 052000.
- Contact NSLDS if your institution requires a different value.
- See the "Troubleshooting" section of the guide for further information
Column M – Accrediting Agency Name
- Must be entered manually.
- Examples: NACCAS, COE
What Data Should I Review Before Submission?
Student Submittal
- Review exceptions and unusual values rather than every row.
- Pay particular attention to allowance fields.
- If corrections are made in OnlineSMART, refresh the report before exporting again.
Program Submittal
Column P – Number of Students Who Passed Licensure Exam
- Pulls from Alumni profiles.
- Requires:
- Valid Pass Code
- License Exam Date between 7/1/2025 and 6/30/2026
- Support can assist with identifying missing records.
Column Q – Count of Enrolled Students in the Program
- Reflects students who were active at any point between 7/1/2025 and 6/30/2026.
Common Support Recommendations
- Review Alumni records before generating reports.
- Verify License Exam Dates and Pass Codes.
- Verify program setup information before export.
- Update manual fields after export and before submission.
- Contact Support if report counts appear incorrect.
After uploading the Student Submittal sheet, refresh the page and you will see how many records are included in the sheet. Next to these numbers, you will see the amount of "Records Processed" and "Records with Errors"
If the "Records with Errors" tab is any number higher than 0, you have errors that need to be fixed. The following are some steps to take to assist in fixing as many of these errors as possible.
- In the Spreadsheet Submittal section, if you have errors, download the file. Records with errors will be highlighted in yellow.
- In the NSLDS Website, select the "Aid Recipient" tab. In this tab, select "Enrollment Summary"
- On the right-hand side of this screen, there will be an option to "Search Aid Recipient"
- Take the Social Security Number of the user who has an error and enter it into the Social Security Number field.
- This will bring up the student's records, which include the "Length of Program" and "Weeks in Title IV Academic Year"
- "Weeks in Title IV Academic Year" is one of the biggest culprits for errors, as OnlineSMART has no way to track this on an individual school level.
- In many cases, this number will be the same for a majority of students. Therefore, copy/paste the weeks in Weeks in Title IV Academic Year into each record and re-upload. This will likely fix many of the errors.
- For each student, ensure the information on this page matches what is shown in the records.
- This information is included but not limited to:
- Social Security Number
- Date of Birth
- Weeks in Title IV Academic Year
- Length of Program
- Credential Level
- CIP Code
- Once these are verified, re-upload this document and this should remove errors.
- Finally, Institutional debt should never be lower that 0. If this shows a negative number, please replace this number with 0.