Release 3 – March 29, 2026
New Features and Enhancements
Cross-Portal Enhancements
Disclaimer: on rare occasions, a new feature or enhancement may be moved to a future release or otherwise subject to change.
Updated Parent/Guardian Occupation List and EO Indicator Score
This enhancement must be approved by the CAS association or UniCAS client for use in the next cycle. If activated, this enhancement will be available for all participating programs in the next cycle. CAS association and UniCAS clients: contact a member of your account team for more information or to enable this feature.
Select CASs collect parent/guardian information, including the parent/guardian's education and occupation (EO). With this enhancement, CASs can choose to use an alternate Occupations question that has an updated list of occupations, based on research from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, the EO indicator score for ADEA CASs has been updated, notably by not calculating a score if a parent/guardian is deceased.
This enhancement ensures an accurate and up-to-date portrayal of parent/guardian information.
CAS Application Portal
Applicants can view the updated occupation list as they complete the Parent/Guardian section under the Personal Information quadrant.
CAS API
The CAS API Application v1 and v2 response models' "familyMembers" JSON node has been updated with 2 new properties to convey family member occupation category:
- occupationCategory
- occupationCategoryId
The properties will be automatically populated if data is available. See the CAS API Swagger page for more information.
Liaison Outcomes
The new occupation values will populate in the Custom Questions section where applicable.
WebAdMIT
A new Parent Occupation field is available in the Parents/Guardians field grouping, and you can use it in lists and exports.
CAS API Enhancements
The following enhancements are automatically available for the CAS API, and no action is required on the part of any school or program. If you have any questions about these features, contact support.
Disclaimer: on rare occasions, a new feature or enhancement may be moved to a future release or otherwise subject to change.
CAS API Now Honors Application Status at Enqueued Time
This enhancement is automatically available for use by all CASs and participating programs. No action is required on the part of any association, school, or program. Contact a member of your account team for more information.
This enhancement introduces two new properties in the Application API v1 and v2 response models, designed for subscription users, called "statusOnEventTrigger" and "applicationStatusOnEventTrigger." These properties reflect the application status at the time the related event was triggered (i.e., when the application was placed in queue), rather than when the application was delivered.
This is necessary because under high load conditions, the delay between the event trigger and application delivery may be 10 minutes or more. In these cases, the application can change status, and subscribers will received unexpected applications. These new properties (which will be automatically available and populated for subscription users) help mitigate this issue.
CAS Applicant Portal Enhancements
Disclaimer: on rare occasions, a new feature or enhancement may be moved to a future release or otherwise subject to change.
Fee Waiver Status on Dashboard
This enhancement is automatically available for use by CASs on the 3+ platform that offer income- or service-based fee waivers. No action is required on the part of any association, school, or program. Contact a member of your account team for more information.
If a CAS is on the 3+ platform and offers income- or service-based fee waivers to offset the application fee, a new Fee Waiver Status section appears in the Statuses section on the application dashboard. This only appears for applicants who have requested a fee waiver, and includes the following statuses:
- Requested (a Cancel Fee Waiver link is also included, if needed)
- Granted
- Redeemed
This enhancement makes the fee waiver and redemption process more transparent for applicants. Applicants can also view their most current fee waiver status (including if it was denied or expired) on the Fee Waiver page under the Personal Information quadrant.
PayPal Advanced Checkout
If Liaison manages the CAS's PayPal account, this enhancement will be automatically available in the next cycle. If a CAS manages its own PayPal account, this is an optional but highly recommended change for the next cycle. Contact a member of your account team for more information.
CAS now uses PayPal Advanced Checkout, a feature-rich checkout experience available within PayPal Complete Payments (PPCP). Advantages for Liaison, our customers, and CAS applicants of using PayPal Advanced Checkout over PayFlow Pro include:
- Simplified PCI Compliance: Advanced Checkout uses hosted, embedded fields, meaning customer payment data passes directly to PayPal rather than through Liaison's servers, reducing our security burden.
- Modern Payment Options: Advanced Checkout provides easy access to additional payment methods like Venmo in addition to credit cards and PayPal.
- Better Mobile Experience: Checkout pages are optimized for use on phones and mobile devices to better support modern user behavior.
CAS Configuration Portal Enhancements
The following enhancements are now available in the CAS Configuration Portal. If you have any questions about these features, contact a member of your account team or support.
Disclaimer: on rare occasions, a new feature or enhancement may be moved to a future release or otherwise subject to change.
Pixel Tracking Configuration Data Included in Export File
This enhancement is automatically available for use by all CASs and participating programs. No action is required on the part of any association, school, or program. Contact a member of your account team for more information.
The export file in the CAS Configuration Portal now includes a sheet for pixel tracking configuration data. All programs are included in the sheet, even if they don't have pixel tracking set up; this makes it easier for you to see which programs have pixel tracking activated.
Othot Enhancements
If you have any questions about these features, contact a member of your account team or support.
Disclaimer: on rare occasions, a new feature or enhancement may be moved to a future release or otherwise subject to change.
New Features and Enhancements
Scheduled Sensitivity Analysis
You can now schedule your saved sensitivity analyses to run automatically and send the results to your campus systems via SFTP. This makes it easier to integrate Othot's outputs into your existing data workflows, so you can deepen your understanding of how changes in Financial Aid affect individual students and specific subpopulations.
Individual/Cell-Level Matrix Constraints
You can now set minimum and maximum award amounts for specific student groups directly in your matrix optimization. You can more precisely control the award ranges for each cell based on your institutional rules. These constraints help keep Othot's matrix recommendations realistic and aligned with your policies. For example, you can set different minimum or maximum awards for in-state vs. out-of-state students, or require a minimum merit award for students above a certain GPA (or other academic metric).
Predict Reference tables
You will now see new reference tables that explain certain "additional predictions" configured for your institution (for example, Likelihood to File a FAFSA, Likelihood to Retain, or Likelihood to Attend Tutoring). These tables appear on the Reference page when those additional predictions are enabled for your account. These tables give you a more detailed view of how each additional prediction works, including which variables have the most influence on the model's results. This deeper insight can help you design more targeted tactics and longer-term strategies to improve outcomes for those predictions.
Core Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the Cancel button on Scenario What-If and Matrix items did not discard recent changes as expected.
- Fixed an issue where creating or editing a What-If sometimes failed and returned an error.
- Fixed an issue where the length of column names caused reference page tables to priny incompletely.
- Fixed an issue where creating a pivot analysis from a saved view resulted in unreadable form labels.
- Improves ordering of selectable variables in pivot analyses by ensuring each variable and its aggregate options are displayed together in the pivot tool.
- Fixed an issue where using "Apply Grid Settings" with "Filter by List" did not update filter parameters correctly when changing the Rewind selection.
- Fixed an issue where What-Ifs created from lists using "Filter by List" could not be rerun or cloned, causing descriptions, selections (such as financial aid amounts), and the ability to resubmit to disappear.
- Fixed an issue where Saved Views using "Filter by List" did not correctly retain the applied aggregates.
- Fixed an issue where Phase Change What-Ifs remained unavailable when starting from a "Filter by List" of student IDs, preventing Phase Change scenarios from being run on the selected subset.
- Fixed an issue where creating a pivot on a grid filtered using "Filter by List" incorrectly displayed "No data available."
- Fixed an issue where creating a Matrix job from a grid filtered using "Filter by List" prevented users from selecting a lifecycle phase from the "Lifecycle – Select a Lifecycle Phase" drop-down.
Coming Soon
Significant backend work from our engineering and design teams has been done to support an all-new user interface that will roll out in phases starting in 2026. This redesign is focused on making it easier and more intuitive for users to interact with Othot's platform. The Redesigned Othot Platform is currently in an Internal Alpha Period as the Liaison Othot team tests and resolves any outstanding issues. We look forward to sharing the new application with our customers in a Beta Period starting this summer.
TargetX Enhancements
Engage
Version 2604.1
Student-Facing
- Updated ARIA attributes on tabs and action buttons to use valid values and appropriate roles for improved screen reader support.
- Ensured scrollable content areas and off-canvas panels are fully accessible via keyboard navigation.
- Refined link presentation so links are visually distinguishable from surrounding text without relying on color alone.
- Added accessible names to form controls, including the student list select field, to improve usability with assistive technologies.
- Updated Room Info links to clearly distinguish “Student Remote Login” and “Student In-Office Login” destinations.
Events
Version 2604.5
Staff-Facing
- Enhanced color contrast on calendar elements, event section headers, and settings labels to meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements.
- Added alternative text or presentation roles to images throughout the Events and Calendar pages for improved screen reader support.
- Added missing accessible labels and names to form fields, including text inputs, checkboxes, and select menus used in event filters, creation, and settings pages.
- Ensured all links include discernible text for clear navigation and context awareness.
- Improved overall keyboard and screen reader accessibility across the Events interface to support a more inclusive user experience.
Student-Facing
- Confirmed that event date/time, location details, and the registration completion “Cancel” button meet WCAG 2.1 AA color contrast requirements in student-facing event flows.
- Updated icon usage on the TargetX form–based registration page so ARIA attributes are appropriate for the icon role, improving screen reader compatibility.
- Verified that key interactive elements such as Register/Pay Now buttons are fully operable via keyboard for students completing event registration.
Appointment Scheduler
Staff-Facing
- Updated viewport settings so users can zoom and scale content, improving access for users with low vision.
- Ensured icon-only buttons (such as profile arrows and info icons) include discernible text or accessible names for screen readers.
- Added programmatic labels or accessible names to form fields, including phone number, timezone, custom question filters, and notes fields in scheduling and account flows.
- Improved color contrast for helper and status text (e.g., “Select one or more,” character/word counters) to meet WCAG 2.1 AA thresholds.
- Ensured scrollable confirmation side panels in the interview flow are keyboard accessible.
Online Application
Version 2604.3
Key Questions & Student-Facing
- Added guidance for the Key Questions page so images used in the rich text/element widget include descriptive alternate text; this must be manually added by clients in the widget’s source HTML.
- Confirmed key student-facing actions (Sign Out, Cancel on Edit Key Question, and Close on the Update Application Type popup) meet minimum color contrast requirements.
- Verified viewport settings on the main application, Snapshot Preview, and Key Questions pages to ensure zoom and scaling behavior are acceptable.
- Ensured embedded videos inserted via the element widget use frames with accessible names to support screen reader users.
Portal
Base Version 2604.9
Student-Facing
- Updated guidance for Portal Login and Forgot Password so viewport settings do not disable zoom or text scaling, supporting users who rely on browser or device zoom.
- Ensured avatar menu items and similar components use appropriate ARIA roles and parent-child relationships to improve screen reader navigation.
- Confirmed link styles on the Student Portal landing page are visually distinguishable from surrounding text without relying on color alone, with defaults using underlines and allowing further theming in CSS.
- Added guidance that embedded videos in portal widgets must include accessible names (for example, via a title attribute) when clients configure iframe-based content.
- Identified minor screen reader behavior refinements: ensuring buttons are announced as buttons (e.g., the login control on the Forgot Password confirmation), reading descriptive text as a single continuous block, and exposing meaningful names for app card navigation icons.
Resolved Defects
Applicant Dashboard (2604.0)
- (CL-2564) The system correctly identifies both original and migrated forms, enabling applicants to start new applications as expected. Previously, applicants could not start a new application in Online App, App Dashboard, or Portal if their Application Forms had been migrated using the App Form Migration Tool.
Online Application (2604.3)
- (CL-2564) The system correctly identifies both original and migrated forms, enabling applicants to start new applications as expected. Previously, applicants could not start a new application in Online App, App Dashboard, or Portal if their Application Forms had been migrated using the App Form Migration Tool.
Portal (Base 2604.9)
- (CL-2564) The system correctly identifies both original and migrated forms, enabling applicants to start new applications as expected. Previously, applicants could not start a new application in Online App, App Dashboard, or Portal if their Application Forms had been migrated using the App Form Migration Tool.
New Documentation for Outcomes
Please review the list of new and updated documentation, all accessible in the Liaison Outcomes Help Center.
|
Document |
Details |
|---|---|
| Designing Workflows in Outcomes |
This updated article guides you in using Workflow Automation to make actions occur in Outcomes once certain conditions are met. |
| Scheduling Automated Actions in Outcomes |
This updated article guides you in using Automation Rules to schedule Outcomes actions to happen at specific times. |
Ongoing Maintenance
Please review the list of scheduled downtime/maintenance and product updates.
|
Event |
Date |
Details |
|---|---|---|
|
Sandbox Environment Refresh |
February 26, 2026 |
The WebAdMIT Sandbox environment (uat.webadmit.org) was refreshed with current (cleansed) production data and program configurations. Any test exports, custom fields, etc., in the current sandbox were overwritten. The next sandbox environment refresh is scheduled for April 30, 2026. |
Coming Soon!
Please review the list of upcoming events, including product updates and regional training opportunities.
|
Event |
Date |
Details |
|---|---|---|
|
Shared Lookup Table Updates for Spring 2026 |
May 2026 |
Many fields in the CAS Applicant Portal contain predefined answer values that applicants can select; for example, the Country and County fields both have predefined answer values. These values are housed in shared "lookup tables" which are viewable in your CAS's/UniCAS's data dictionary file. Lookup table change requests can be sent to a member of your account team, who will compile and review these requests. New lookup table values will appear in the CAS Applicant Portal in March and May 2026 (subject to change). Visit the Shared Lookup Table Updates page for more information. |
|
CAS 3+ Upgrade |
2026 |
Liaison is excited to announce that in the 2026-2027 application cycle, all of our Centralized Application Services (CAS) will be upgraded to a new, mobile-first, and modern applicant portal that we call CAS 3+. Visit the CAS 3+ Upgrade page to learn more about its key benefits and a preview of the upgraded application. |
|
experience: LIAISON | Baltimore |
June 8–10, 2026 |
Set sail with us to explore new strategies, uncover trends shaping the future, and dive into real stories of transformation from peers using Liaison's solutions at experience: LIAISON, June 8–10, 2026 in Baltimore, MD. Register now! |