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School Bill Import CSV Format

This guide details the CSV format for importing school billing and financial aid data into Arbol.

Template Download

Download the school bill import template: bill_import_template.csv

Prerequisites

Student Records Required

Students must exist in the system before importing their billing data. Import user data first or ensure students are already created.

Required Fields

These fields must be present in every school bill import:

Field Name Type Description Example
Student ID or Email String Student identifier (at least one required) S123456789 or john.doe@university.edu
Academic Year String Academic year designation 2025 / 2026
Term Name String Term/semester name Fall 2025
Term Start Date Term start date 2025-08-26
Term End Date Term end date 2025-12-15
Year String Student's standing (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Graduate, Undergraduate) Junior
Class String Student's graduating class year 2027
Has Applied For Financial Aid Boolean Financial aid application status true
Is Financial Aid Awarded Boolean Financial aid award status true
Credit Hours Number Enrolled credit hours 15

Student Information Fields

Field Name Type Required Description
State of Residence String No Student's home state
Major String No Academic major
Support Program String No Special support programs
Residency Status String No In-state/Out-of-state status

Cost Fields

All cost fields are optional and accept numeric values (can include $ and commas):

Field Name Description Example
Term Tuition Base tuition charges $12,500.00
Term Fees Mandatory fees 850.00
Term Housing On-campus housing costs 4,200.00
Term Meal Plan Meal plan charges 2,100.00
Term Other Direct Costs Other institutional charges 350.00
Term Payments Payments already made 1,000.00

Financial Aid Fields

Eligibility Fields - Flexible Usage

The Is [Aid Type] Eligible boolean fields are flexible and can be used however your institution prefers:

  • Use true if you want to indicate the student qualifies for this aid type (regardless of whether they receive it)
  • Use false to indicate the student does not qualify or is ineligible
  • Common scenarios for false:
    • Student initially awarded aid but later became ineligible (e.g., grades fell, registration status changed)
    • Aid was offered but student didn't meet ongoing requirements
    • Student no longer qualifies for this aid category
  • Tip: If you plan to send 0 for the awarded amount when aid isn't received, just use true for eligibility instead

These fields help track eligibility status separately from actual award amounts, which is useful when students lose eligibility after initial award offers.

Grants and Scholarships

Field Name Type Description
Term Merit Aid Awarded Number Merit-based scholarships
Term Institutional Grants Awarded Number Institution grants
Is Pell Eligible Boolean Pell Grant eligibility
Term Pell Awarded Number Pell Grant amount
Is SEOG Eligible Boolean SEOG eligibility
Term SEOG Awarded Number SEOG amount
Is TEACH Eligible Boolean TEACH Grant eligibility
Term TEACH Awarded Number TEACH Grant amount
Is State Aid Eligible Boolean State aid eligibility
Term State Aid Estimate Number Estimated state aid
Term State Aid Awarded Number Actual state aid
Is State Merit Aid Eligible Boolean State merit eligibility
Term State Merit Aid Awarded Number State merit amount

Loans

Field Name Type Description
Is Direct Loan Eligible Boolean Federal loan eligibility
Term Subsidized Offered Number Subsidized loan offered
Term Subsidized Accepted Number Subsidized loan accepted
Term Unsubsidized Offered Number Unsubsidized loan offered
Term Unsubsidized Accepted Number Unsubsidized loan accepted
Is Parent PLUS Eligible Boolean Parent PLUS eligibility
Term Parent PLUS Awarded Number Parent PLUS amount
Is Graduate PLUS Eligible Boolean Grad PLUS eligibility
Term Graduate PLUS Awarded Number Grad PLUS amount
Term Private Loans Awarded Number Private loan amounts

Work Study

Field Name Type Description
Is Work Study Eligible Boolean Work-study eligibility
Term Work Study Offered Number Work-study offered
Term Work Study Awarded Number Work-study accepted

Balance Information

Field Name Type Description
Term Outstanding Balance Number Current balance due
Term Outstanding Balance Due Date Date Payment due date
Date of Extract DateTime When data was extracted (ISO 8601)

Outstanding Balance Sign Convention

The CSV import expects the following sign convention for Term Outstanding Balance:

  • Positive value (+) = Student owes money to the school
  • Negative value (-) = School owes money to the student (credit balance)

Examples: - 2500 = Student owes $2,500 - -500 = Student has a $500 credit balance

Data Formats

Numeric Fields

  • Accept currency symbols ($)
  • Accept comma separators (,)
  • Decimal values supported
  • Examples: $12,500.00, 12500, 12500.00

Date Formats

  • YYYY-MM-DD (preferred)
  • MM/DD/YYYY
  • MM/DD/YY
  • DD-MMM-YY

DateTime Format (Date of Extract)

  • ISO 8601 format: 2024-01-15T14:30:00Z

Boolean Values

  • True: true, t, yes, y, 1
  • False: false, f, no, n, 0

Sample CSV

Student ID,Email,Academic Year,Term Name,Term Start,Term End,Year,Class,Has Applied For Financial Aid,Is Financial Aid Awarded,Credit Hours,Term Tuition,Term Fees,Term Housing,Term Pell Awarded,Term Subsidized Offered,Term Outstanding Balance
S123456789,john.doe@university.edu,2025 / 2026,Fall 2025,2025-08-26,2025-12-15,Junior,2027,true,true,15,$12500,850,4200,3500,3500,2500
S987654321,jane.smith@university.edu,2025 / 2026,Spring 2026,2026-01-15,2026-05-15,Senior,2026,true,true,12,$12500,850,0,4200,2000,0

Import Behavior

  • Update Behavior: Existing bills for same term are updated, not duplicated
  • Notifications: New bill imports trigger student notifications (if enabled for this import)
  • College Bill Plans: Associated plans automatically update with new balance
  • Import Source: All imports are tracked with their source (Manual or FTP) in the import history

Notification Control

  • Manual uploads: Notification settings can be configured individually for each upload
  • SFTP imports: Notification settings are saved with the SFTP configuration and apply to all automated imports

New Bill Records

  • Creates new billing record for the student if no 'academic year' + 'term' pair exists.
  • Links to existing student account
  • Calculates balance from costs and aid
  • Updates associated financial plans if they exist

Existing Bill Updates

  • Updates existing bill for same student + 'academic year' + 'term' pair.
  • Overwrites provided fields if provided.
  • Recalculates balances on any plan
  • Updates related college bill plans

Balance Calculation

The system automatically calculates:

  • Total Costs = Sum of all charges (tuition, fees, housing, etc.)
  • Total Financing = Sum of all aid (grants, loans, work-study)
  • Estimated Balance = Total Costs - Total Financing
  • Outstanding Balance = Actual balance from bill (if provided)

Validation Rules

Required Validations

  • Student must exist (via Student ID or Email)
  • All required fields must be present
  • Dates must be valid and logical (end after start)
  • Credit hours must be numeric

Numeric Validations

  • All currency fields must be valid numbers
  • Outstanding balance: positive = student owes, negative = credit

Business Rules

  • Cannot import bills for non-existent students
  • Term dates must be logical (start before end)
  • Academic year and term name formats should be consistent across all imports
  • Recommended academic year format: 2025 / 2026 (with spaces around forward slash)
  • Recommended term name format: Fall 2025, Spring 2026 (capitalized season/term)

Processing Notes

Getting Support for Data Import Issues

Contact Arbol support at support@growarbol.com for help with data import issues.

When contacting support about data management issues, include:

  • Import ID (found under "View Details" in the import history table)
  • Description of the issue or error message
  • Whether this is a manual upload or FTP import
  • Screenshot of any error messages (if available)