The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently issued a Dear Colleague letter (DCL) regarding the implementation of new numeric identifiers for participating entities. The federal government has adopted the Dun & Bradstreet Information Corporation’s numbering system, the Data Universal Numbering System (D-U-N-S), as its principal contractor, vendor and grantee identification code. As part of the effort to adapt to electronic commerce, the Office of Student Financial Assistance Programs intends to implement the D-U-N-S identification system as the Title IV Single Identifier for all participants instead of the OPE-ID.

A copy of the DCL can be found on ED’s web-site at http://ifap.ed.gov. If you are unable to access this web-site and would like a copy of the SCL, please contact Lynda Reid at (801) 321-7211. If you have any additional questions, please contact the Policy and Training Department at (801) 321-7166.