Sending an External Form Request to collect the MyStudentData.txt file

This article was developed to describe the steps involved in sending an external form request to collect a "MyStudentData.txt" file.

NOTE: This article assumes you have experience using the form builder. If you are not familiar with form building within the CRM please visit our article on Custom fields and the Form builder.


1. Create a New Form

Start by going to the Contacts Tab, click on Custom Fields in the Navigation Bar, and then click on Form Builder.

Click on the field just under "Create A New Form" and create a name for a new form. In our example, we named it "NSLDS My Student Data File".

2. Add fields

Now add the fields you wish to collect along with the My Student Data file during the request. In our example, we are requesting the contact's First and Last name, Adjusted Gross Income, Spouse's Adjusted Gross Income, Family Size, and Filing Status. These are all used in the internal calculator so we suggest at least including these on the form.


2. Make it an External Form

Under the Form Options check the box for "External Form". You can decide if you would also like to make it an "Intake Form"; the option simply makes it an available form when editing a contact, but most likely these fields are already available on your default intake form.

Now click "Save Form" on the navigation bar then click on the underlined text "External Form" adjacent to the check box under the form options. This will take you to the page to set up the form requests message.

3. Request Message

Here you can set up the messages that will appear in the External Form Request email and portal. We have added some basic information and some text as a placeholder for our example so you can see where the information ends up on the email and external form page. You will also want to check the box for "NSLDS File Upload". This will add the upload feature to the browser to have the file uploaded into the internal calculator. Once finished editing this page, click the "Save Form" button.



4. Sending an External Form Request

Now that we have our External Form Request setup, we can send it to contacts to collect the NSLDS My Student Data File. Start by going to the Client Dashboard and locate the Send External Form Request button under the client snapshot.


Once you click the "Send External Form Request" Button another layover will appear to select the form you wish to send. Select the appropriate form from the dropdown menu and verify the email address it is being sent to is correct, then click "Send Request".

What the client sees...

Email Message
Displayed below is the email the client receives when the request is sent.


External Form Request Page
Below is how our External Form appears for the client. You can see at the top the 'Display Title' and 'Sub Header' as defined on the page where we set up the external form's message. Also at the bottom right above the "Save Information" button is the area where the 'Disclaimer' appears. Notice under the "Upload Your NSLDS Loan File" section there is a link included to go and log in on the NSLDS.ed.gov and download the file.

Once the customer has completed the form and clicked "Save Information" it will then transfer the field information onto the contact in the CRM and also save the uploaded file in the background. The next time you go to calculate loans you will notice the file is already saved there ready to go!

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