Coordinating board previews new student loan platform: Campusdoor originations and FIA/Compass servicing, October cutover planned

Robin Fenner, project oversight and contract manager for the new Student Loan Management System (SLMS), gave committee members a detailed preview of the transition away from the legacy HELMS platform.

Fenner described a two-system approach: Campusdoor (Tuition Source) will handle originations (applications, certifications and initial disbursements) and FIA/AES's Compass will handle servicing (repayment, customer support, online payments and notifications). The board's contract with FIA makes the agency the prime and Campusdoor a subcontractor.

Key features highlighted: institution and borrower portals (separate sites for originations and servicing), e-signature to reduce paper, expanded online payment options (ACH, recurring ACH, credit card via texas.gov SNAP pay), an integrated communications portal for templated notices and letters, and a new data warehouse for richer reporting. Fenner said both systems will connect to standard interfaces (credit bureaus, NSLDS, state payment systems, and financial ledgers).

On timing, Fenner said the vendor and coordinating board teams are aiming for a late-October 2026 go-live and that there will be a short cutover blackout (likely a week or less) to ensure a clean transfer and avoid in-flight payments being lost or double-processed. Training, parallel testing and a phased validation of interfaces are planned in advance of the cutover.

Fenner confirmed common-line file certification capability can be supported and said the vendor questioned whether institutions would want it; the board will support both manual certification via Campusdoor and automated common-line certification for high-volume schools.

Staff urged institutions to certify eligible students as soon as possible in the legacy system so fall disbursements complete before the cutover and to minimize the number of open applications that would otherwise need to be re-entered in Campusdoor. The board will publish training resources, run train-the-trainer sessions for internal operations staff, and host institution-facing webinars and documentation.

Fenner also noted the Texas Armed Services Scholarship (TASP) will be a custom application built within the vendor environment; if a scholarship converted to a loan for unmet service requirements, it would be transferred into Compass servicing.

Committee members asked about training formats, common-line support and the anticipated cutover schedule; staff committed to provide further timelines and user guides as testing and configuration progress.