http://www.nasfaa.org/rss.aspxTodays News Feed60http://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9922The Department of Education (ED) has provided important information regarding the upcoming release of the Gainful Employment (GE) Informational Rates and how to sign-up for the GE notification package. ED is extending the deadline to sign-up to receive this information. To receive the GE notification package via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG), institutions must sign-up on the SAIG Enrollment website by May 25, 2012.NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9923This Loan Verification Certificate (LVC) will serve as the means by which the Department of Education collects certain information from commercial holders of Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans that a borrower wishes to consolidate into the Federal Direct Loan Program under a special initiative announced by the White House in an Oct. 25, 2011 fact sheet titled "Help Americans Manage Student Loan Debt."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9936The Federal Perkins Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) provides the terms and conditions of the Perkins Loan program and is prepared by the participating eligible institution and signed by the borrower.NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9935"According to a new study from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, 62 percent of young adults (between the ages of 19 and 22) are getting some kind of financial help from their parents - which means 38 percent aren't getting a dime," <em>Reuters</em> reports. "Drill down further into the numbers, and just 35 percent of those kids ages 19-22 are getting tuition assistance."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9934"Education may not only improve a person's finances, it is also linked to better health habits and a longer life," <em>USA Today</em> reports. "For instance, people who have a bachelor's degree or higher live about nine years longer than those who don't graduate from high school, according to an annual report, out today, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9933"April Nichols in the Financial Aid Department at USC Upstate says student debt is an issue that attracts scammers," <em>CBS station WSPA</em> reports. "'It seems to be coming more and more prevalent. We're seeing scholarship scams."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9932"Here at Ohio Northern, recent graduates with bachelor’s degrees are among the most indebted of any college in the country, and statewide, graduates of Ohio’s more than 200 colleges and universities carry some of the highest average debt in the country, according to data reported by the colleges and compiled by an educational advocacy group," the <em>New York Times</em> reports.NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9931"Higher education officials Tuesday lost a possible funding source to make up for some of the budget cuts hitting campuses, leaving them speculating on the effect on their operations," the <em>Shreveport Times</em> reports. "House Education Committee members' questions led Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, to drop his bill seeking to authorize colleges and universities to impose a fee of up to $25 per credit hour on students enrolled in college-level courses."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9928"State grant and scholarship programs for college students increasingly favor students who aren’t needy, according to a new report," Daniel de Vise writes for the <em>Washington Post College Inc.</em> blog. "The report, 'Beyond Need and Merit,' comes from the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9927"Each year, millions of students face the challenge of choosing a college -- and how to afford it is increasingly daunting for families," press aide Sara Gast writes for the <em>Department of Education's Homeroom</em> blog. "For many, the high price tag of a college education may discourage them from pursuing a degree, and that’s why the Department has undertaken an effort to help families access better consumer data that can help students determine how to best invest in a high-quality education at an affordable price."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9929"With precious few exceptions, nobody's getting rich working in higher education -- instead, a steady erosion in public dollars being invested in colleges and universities has driven up the cost and accessibility of public higher education, while most private non-profits are struggling mightily to hold costs down," Oglethorpe University President Lawrence M. Schall writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "I hope when you are finished reading this, you will understand what one school is doing everything to hold its costs down (and in this regard, there are hundreds and hundreds of colleges like us)."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9930"Education is a hot political issue this year," San Diego State University Professor of Communications and Public Policy John M. Eger writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "Well it should be, as everything that seems to be going south points to serious deficiencies with our whole educational system."NASFAAWed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9909On March 5, 2012, the Department of Education released the TDClient 3.2 software as part of its upgrade to all components of the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). Upon user installation of TDClient 3.2, it was reported that certain Sun Solaris users were unable to install the new software.NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9908The Department of Education has posted the Gainful Employment Operations Manual, which contains information about the 2010 and 2011 gainful employment regulations. It is intended for institutions that participate in the federal student assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA).NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9919May 15, 2012 - <em>CNN Money</em> interviews NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty about how the interest rate hike on subsidized Stafford loans will affect students if Congress fails to prevent the rate from doubling from 3.4 to 6.8 on July 1. "When you are talking about a student that's cobbling together a financial aid package to pay for college, the reality is it's not all going to come from one place," Chitty said. "If these student loans become more expensive, it all starts to add up."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9918"In a wood-paneled office lined with books, sports memorabilia and framed posters (including John Belushi in 'Animal House'), E. Gordon Gee, the president of Ohio State University, keeps a framed quotation that reads, 'If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less,'" the <em>New York Times</em> reports. "Mr. Gee, who is often identified with a big salary and spendthrift ways, says he has taken the quotation to heart, and he is now trying to persuade Ohio State’s vast bureaucracy, and the broader world of academia, to do the same."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9917"Joshua Mandelman made $454,000 in a single year as a student-loan debt collector -- more than twice the pay of the U.S. secretary of education," <em>Businessweek</em> reports. "His boss, Richard Boyle, chief executive officer of Educational Credit Management Corp., received $1.1 million in 2010, including commuting expenses from his ranch in New Mexico."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9916"These are tough times for students of all ages. Nationally, one in every five federal student loans taken in 1995 has not been re-paid," <em>CBS News</em> reports. "The government is aggressively suing to recover the money. ...Ninety-four percent of undergraduate students now borrow to pay for college."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9915"Financial issues are a common source of stress, which can affect your physical and psychological health," according to <em>U.S. News and World Report</em>. "'Money is one of the biggest sources of stress for Americans."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9914"A Nevada woman has pleaded guilty in Richmond to participating in a college savings scam," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "Sixty-one-year-old Linda Palmer Taylor of Henderson, Nev., faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court Monday to wire fraud conspiracy."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9913"College students  who need to go to summer school have few choices for grants and scholarships," <em>NPR</em> reports. "And their options just shrank. The federal government is no longer giving out a need-based Pell Grant to help students pay for summer tuition."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9912"With an annual rate of return of 15.2 percent, college has outpaced just about every other general investment category, including gold, corporate bonds, U.S. government debt, and hot company stocks," Derek Thompson writes for <em>The Atlantic</em>. "But here's another true story about college in America. It's crazy-expensive and getting more so every year while middle-class incomes stagnate or worse."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9911"Long gone are the days when our parents paid their way through college with just a part-time job. Life was good in 1975 — tuition at Duke University, for instance, was $2,780 per year," Sarah Kahwash writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "You’re not expected to have your financial aid plan memorized, but even if you have the world’s most photographic memory, you should double check it before developing a payment plan."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9910"Where were the parents when these kids were signing up for $50,000 or $100,000 in debt, so they could go to private schools that made them feel good, with no consideration of whether the cost would ever be worth it?" Rick Newman writes for the <em>Huffington Post Parents</em> blog. "The <em>Times</em> article, for instance, profiles one student who took on $120,000 in debt so she could major in marketing at a pricey private school in Ohio."NASFAATue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9884In preparation for another round of negotiated rulemaking this fall, the Department of Education (ED) is gathering suggestions from interested parties on issues that need regulatory action. In addition, ED has announced two public hearings at which interested parties may offer testimony. The hearings will be held in Phoenix, AZ, on May 23, and in Washington, DC, on May 31.NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9886Per the contractual agreement with each of our federal loan servicers, the Department of Education will annually measure servicer performance in the areas of customer satisfaction and default prevention. We will then use these results to determine each servicer’s allocation of future loan volume when applicable.NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8783<p><p>As explained in a March 2, 2012 Electronic Announcement, the Federal Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) report is a web-only report that is available in a school's Reporting Newsbox on the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) website.</p> </p>NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9900"Cheap loans are good for affluent and middle-class students at four-year colleges and universities, but few community college students will benefit," according to <em>U.S. News and World Report</em>. "Only 14 percent of community college students took out federal student loans in 2007-2008, the most recent year for which data are available, reports the Institute for College Access and Success."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9902"If you thought four years at Princeton would leave you saddled with more debt than the University of Michigan, think again," <em>Reuters</em> reports. "Where you attend college can significantly impact how much you owe when you leave school. Thanks to generous financial aid policies and large endowments, students may find that an Ivy League degree, for example, often requires less borrowing than a degree from many much less expensive state schools."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9901"The average amount of debt that students have at graduation has increased at a vast majority of colleges and universities in the United States, according to data compiled by an advocacy group, the Institute for College Access and Success," the <em>New York Times</em> reports. "The data on student debt is self-reported by the schools, and many institutions don’t participate."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9899"And as with the housing bubble before the economic collapse, the extraordinary growth in student loans has caught many by surprise," the <em>New York Times</em> reports. "But its roots are in fact deep, and the cast of contributing characters -- including college marketing officers, state lawmakers wielding a budget ax and wide-eyed students and families -- has been enabled by a basic economic dynamic: an insatiable demand for a college education, at almost any price, and plenty of easy-to-secure loans, primarily from the federal government."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9898"For-profit education shares took a hit on Friday after reports from American Public Education Inc. (APEI) and Career Education Corp. (CECO) highlighting student-aid fraud and enrollment woes raised fresh fears about the volatile sector," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "Though first-quarter results from both for-profit educators came in ahead of Wall Street's expectations, investors seemed to focus on the future."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9897"Traditionally, college graduation caps bear messages to Mom or shoutouts to professors and friends," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "But this year, some students are protesting their looming debt at commencement by using their hats to show the amount in loans they owe."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9896"For three decades the cost of attending college anywhere -- public, private nonprofit, or for-profit, Ivy League school or community college -- has risen significantly faster than the rate of inflation," Andrew Leonard writes for <em>Salon</em>. "But the sharp acceleration over the last 10 years -- and particularly since the onset of the Great Recession -- has stoked a new wave of widespread anxiety over an impending 'crisis' in higher education."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9887May 12, 2012 -  NASFAA President Justin Draeger writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "All lenders should be required to have colleges certify a private loan before disbursing it, so schools will know who is getting these loans and can counsel them."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9895"The solution to the college debt problem is to increase government grants, especially to low- and moderate-income students," Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org, writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "But unfortunately, federal and state governments have been cutting their investment in higher education."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9894"The financial aid information students receive is often jargon-filled and unique to the school sending it," Rohit Chopra, student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "We've heard from students that they can't always tell from the offer what needs to be repaid and what doesn't, and what their true cost is."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9893"The for-profit college industry is booming, and getting as much as 90 percent of its revenue from federal student financial-aid programs," José Cruz, who oversees higher education policy and practice at the Education Trust, writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "They do this by aggressively recruiting low-income students who will qualify for aid."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9892"Expanding student loans enhances the ability of colleges to engage in a costly academic arms race that our nation increasingly cannot afford," Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "Education Secretary Bill Bennett was right in 1987 when he said that the student loan program’s benefits are dissipated because schools simply raise their tuition and fees to capture much of the loan money for themselves."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9890"Some colleges have no conscience when allowing students to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in obligations that they will never be able to repay," Kevin Carey, policy director of Education Sector, writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "That’s because they have nothing at stake: Colleges get paid upfront."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9889"The government doles out student loans with little or no credit requirements and minimal accountability for participating schools. High-rate private loans exacerbate the burden," Deanne Loonin, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "Yet there is no safety net or second chances for the huge numbers of students who do not complete their educations, leave with worthless certificates or are otherwise unable to repay their debts."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9888"Information will begin to become available this year that will enable students to say: 'If I go to College X and earn a nursing/economics/marketing degree, I’m more likely to get a good-paying job post-graduation than if I receive the same degree from College Y,'" Josh Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program at an international nonprofit called the Aspen Institute, writes for the <em>Washington Post's College Inc.</em> blog. "This is a huge development, and will increasingly enable people to get answers about post-college employment."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9891"Of borrowers who miss a payment on their loans, the majority miss the very first payment," Mark Kantrowitz writes for <em>Forbes Magazine</em>. "Sometimes this happens because the borrower fails to tell the lender about his or her new address. But it can also occur because newly minted college graduates face a lot of startup expenses that demand a slice of the borrower’s bank account."NASFAAMon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9823"The Senate is steaming toward a showdown on a Democratic proposal to keep student loan interest rates from doubling for 7.4 million students," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "In a measure of how the upcoming election is driving work in Congress these days, it’s a vote Democrats won’t terribly mind losing -- which is probably what will happen."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9822"Debt collectors working on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education do not maintain accessible complaint systems and sometimes ignore the department's minimum requirements for handling borrower grievances, according to a new report by the National Consumer Law Center," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "The report, which is based on the center's review of collectors' Web sites and conversations with the agencies, says that official complaint reports underestimate the scope of the problems borrowers are having with debt collectors."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9813"Over the past five fiscal years, the number of complaints filed against agencies collecting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education has grown by 45 percent, according to data obtained by <em>The Chronicle</em>," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "The Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the entire industry, received 142,743 complaints involving debt-collection companies last year, though only some involved student loans."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9820"SLM Corp., the student lender known as Sallie Mae, plans to offer its first fixed-rate private loans this month to compete with government-backed loans, which have more protection for borrowers," the <em>Kansas City Star</em> reports. "Interest rates on the loans will range from 5.8 percent to 12.9 percent, depending on credit history and underwriting standards, SLM said Monday."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9821"Of the 22 million Americans with master's degrees or higher in 2010, about 360,000 were receiving some kind of public assistance, according to the latest Current Population Survey released by the U.S. Census Bureau in March 2011," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "In 2010, a total of 44 million people nationally received food stamps or some other form of public aid, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9812"The Career Education Corporation, which owns more than 90 for-profit colleges worldwide, announced on Monday that its accreditor had removed a "show cause" order, which had required the company to prove why it should remain accredited," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools issued the order in November, after Career Education revealed problems in its reports of job-placement rates at 49 of its health and art-and-design colleges."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9811"As the pressure builds for colleges not only to enroll more students but actually graduate them, more schools are turning to their admission requirements as part of the solution," the <em>Times Free Press</em> reports. "More campuses nationwide and in the area are toughening admission standards to make sure that students who get into college also are the ones with the best chance of succeeding."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9810"There's something funny about a new set of scholarships at the University of Portland, starting with the name: the Brian Doyle Scholarships for Gentle &amp; Sidelong Humor," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "The awards will go to undergraduates at the Roman Catholic institution who propose projects-such as films, comic books, essays, or performances—that make people laugh and draw them together."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9819"Federal financial aid for college students is frequently in the headlines, but the student grants provided by state governments receive less attention," Sandy Baum and Matthew M. Chingos write for <em>Inside Higher Ed</em>. "In recent years, the grants have grown in importance as tuitions have increased and state appropriations for public colleges and universities, which allow these institutions to subsidize the tuition of all in-state students, have declined."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9818"In the midst of the most desperate threat to our nation, President Abraham Lincoln looked beyond the dire present of the Civil War and signed a groundbreaking national commitment to higher education," Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) writes for <em>Politico</em>. "On July 2, 1862, the Morrill Act created the land-grant system for state educational institutions to foster engineering and agricultural science."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9809"It should come as no surprise that the sleeper issue of student loan interest rates took on a life of its own as soon as President Obama began touting it," Fawn Johnson writes for the <em>National Journal</em>. "People are worried about paying for college. Tuition has more than doubled over the past 20 years, and Pell Grants are offsetting the lowest share of college costs in history."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9817"U.S. consumer credit expanded in March at the fastest pace since late 2001, boosted by higher student borrowing and a rebound in credit-card use," Tom Barkley and Maya Jackson-Randall write for the <em>Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics</em> blog. "Federal student credit outstanding rose to $460.2 billion in March from $453.3 billion the previous month. Overall nonrevolving credit, which includes student credit as well as auto loans, rose $16.17 billion to $1.739 trillion."NASFAATue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9791On May 2, 2012, the Secretary published in the Federal Register an Interim Final Rule and request for comments for the Federal Pell Grant Program (77 FR 25893). The Secretary is amending certain sections of the Federal Pell Grant regulations because there is no longer an opportunity for a student to receive a second Federal Pell Grant Scheduled Award.NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9805The Department of Education has identified an issue in EDExpress for Windows 2012-13, Release 2.0 that prevents Federal Direct Loan module users from importing loan data into EDExpress from an external system if the interest rebate is calculated at 0%. This issue can be resolved by loading a software program file that is now available for download from the Department’s Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) website.NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9794May 6, 2012 - The <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em> interviews NASFAA Policy Director Megan McClean about the push for the standardization of award letters. "While the group isn't opposed to requiring schools to use the same terms, members prefer the flexibility to design their own letters," McClean said.NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9793May 3, 2012 - The <em>Des Moines Register</em> interviews former NASFAA Chair Laurie Wolf about proposed legislation to extend the 3.4 interest rate on subsidized student loans. "While an additional $1,000 may not sound like a lot to pay off over the course of a career, especially for young adults, Laurie Wolf, a financial aid officer at Des Moines Area Community College, said that added expense can be much more challenging for older students."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9804"The Senate is the newest arena in the election-year face-off over federal student loans, and both sides are starting out by pounding away at each other," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "With Congress returning from a weeklong spring recess, the Senate plans to vote Tuesday on whether to start debating a Democratic plan to keep college loan interest rates for 7.4 million students from doubling on July 1."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9803"Graduating college students face a mixed job market at best this year, and most will leave school without an offer in hand, despite an uptick in hiring by on-campus recruiters," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "A survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed those that recruit on campuses plan to boost hiring of new grads by 10.2% from last year."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9802"College is the best investment you can make, President Obama told students last month at the University of Colorado," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "As a metaphor for the benefits of education, that statement is fine. But taken as a claim about the financial returns of a college degree, it poses two problems."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9801"Federal authorities have arrested three Glendale women accused of participating in federal student financial aid fraud involving inmates of Perryville Prison," <em>My Fox Phoenix</em> reports. "They were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, theft of public funds, and aggravated identity theft."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9800"People celebrated last month when the Legislature said it wouldn't have to make college any more expensive in Washington state, but many forgot that lawmakers had already put plans in place for a double-digit tuition increase next school year," <em>Businessweek</em> reports. "Washington State University's board of regents posted a timely reminder Friday, when it voted to raise tuition 16 percent for the second year in a row."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9799"It is something of a truism that whenever the federal government steps in, costs usually rise and efficiency declines," Cal Thomas writes for the <em>Baltimore Sun</em>. "That is especially true when it comes to a college education, which President Barack Obama promised during the 2008 campaign to make more affordable."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9798"Barack Obama, Senate Democrats, House Republicans and Mitt Romney all agree that student loan interest rates shouldn’t go up this summer -- but he's still pushing the issue," Jennifer Epstein writes for <em>Politico's 44</em> blog. "'Congress … has to do its part,' Obama said Friday at a northern Virginia high school, after meeting with parents and students. 'That means preventing the interest rates on federal student loans from doubling which would make it harder for you to pay for college next year.'"NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9797"Speaking to students at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, the president touted that the unemployment rate 'ticked down again' from 8.2 percent in March to 8.1 percent in April, while glossing over the fact that the economy created just 115,000 jobs last month, fewer than the roughly 160,000 expected," Mary Bruce writes for <em>ABC News' Political Punch</em> blog. "'After the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, our businesses have now created more than 4.2 million new jobs over the last 26 months, more than 1 million jobs in the last six months alone,' Obama said to applause."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9796"With state funding waning, public institutions have been moving from a low tuition/high subsidy model of education to a high tuition/high financial aid model," Margaret Andrews writes for <em>Inside Higher Ed's StratEDgy</em> blog. "So now many public institutions are admitting more 'full pay' students -- those from other states and international students."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9795"Online higher education has the capacity to lower cultural barriers that often exist at traditional colleges and universities," Northern Lights Library Network Director Kathy Enger writes for the <em>New York Times Room for Debate</em> blog. "When I began teaching at an online university a decade ago, I discovered to my delight that I could engage with students from all over the world, regardless of their location, economic status or race."NASFAAMon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9760This letter announces an instructor-led, online training session that will provide information on the upcoming release of the Gainful Employment Informational Rates back-up detail reports, with a focus on the technical aspects of the files from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9772"These days, Robert Applebaum is feeling vindicated," <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> reports. "In January 2009, Applebaum, then a 35-year-old lawyer with more than $80,000 in student debt, created a petition calling for student loan forgiveness to stimulate the economy."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9764"You've seen the Stanford, Berkeley, and MIT versions of mass-elite online learning debut over the past few months," <em>Fast Company</em> reports. "Now Harvard, the Apple of universities, is finally making a major play in the rapidly expanding field. The new nonprofit venture, dubbed edx, pours a combined $60 million of foundation and endowment capital into the open-source learning platform first developed and announced by MIT earlier this year as MITx."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9770"Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree: It would be a mistake to let interest rates on student loans double in July," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "The debate is touching a nerve because it underscores the broader problem of college affordability and ever-increasing levels of student debt."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9769"There's a good chance college graduates will still be more than $20,000 in student loan debt by the time they reach the age of 45," the <em>Huffington Post</em> reports. "Four-in-ten adults above the age of 35 who took out student loans are still paying them off, according to findings in a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CouponCabin."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9771"The University of Texas of the Permian Basin will offer a new program that it says will meet Gov. Rick Perry’s challenge for higher-education institutions to develop a $10,000 undergraduate degree," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "The campus’s president, W. David Watts, announced the Texas Science Scholar program at a meeting of the University of Texas system’s regents on Wednesday."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9763"Senate President John Cullerton agreed Wednesday to end a century-old policy of letting Illinois legislators hand out college tuition waivers to their constituents, and a Senate panel quickly approved his proposal," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "The House has voted repeatedly to end the legislative scholarship program because of abuses and complaints that it's costly for state universities."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9768"Federally subsidized student loan rates were bound to become an election-year fight, since Congress provided only enough money for five years of low-interest rates in 2007," the <em>New York Times</em> writes. "Now that the rates are about to double, both Democrats and Republicans are failing to do the right thing again."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9767"College is about the networked, maturing experience," Jeff Selingo writes in the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Next</em> blog. "The conversations around the point of a college education didn’t yield widespread agreement among the students."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9766"Our university community has met every budget challenge with creative thinking in order to preserve our core missions," University of Iowa President Sally Mason writes in the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "We have done so by reorganizing, preserving value, and avoiding unnecessary expense growth."NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9765"As the U.S. continues to look for ways to increase the number of college graduates, the primary roadblock is the cost of college -- tuition increases outpace the rate of inflation every year," Western Governors University President Robert Mendenhall writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "So why does college cost so much?"NASFAAThu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9724Subpart D of the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program regulations sets forth the conditions for service-based cancellation of a Perkins Loan. Under these conditions, a Perkins Loan borrower may have all or part of his or her loan cancelled for engaging in teaching, military service, law enforcement or corrections officer service, service as a nurse or medical technician, Head Start service, service to certain types of high-risk children, voluntary service, and additional service fields. Under 34 CFR 674.63, the Secretary reimburses a school its share of principal and interest cancelled during an award year.NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9731The Department of Education (ED) announces its intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare proposed regulations for the Federal Student Aid Programs authorized by the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The committee will include representatives of organizations or groups with interests that are significantly affected by the subject matter of the proposed regulations. ED is accepting written comments on or before May 31, 2012 suggesting issues that should be considered for action by the negotiating committee.NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9739April 30, 2012 - <em>USA Today</em> cites NASFAA in an article about fraud in the federal Pell Grant Program. "According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the rate of improper payments of Pell Grants is down, from 3.12% in 2010 to 2.7% in 2011, but the dollar amount is up, from $600 million in 2009 to $1 billion in 2011."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9722April 26, 2012 - <em>University Business</em> interviews NASFAA Policy Director Megan McClean about the challenges states face in funding higher education and how that affects students. "A major issue at hand is whether the financial aid resources of more states will begin to dry up early. 'I don’t really foresee there being fewer loans available at the federal level, but I think the states are more volatile right now in terms of their grant programs,' McClean notes."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9738"U.S. Sen. Al Franken wants colleges and universities to provide more understandable information when they provide aid to students," <em>Minnesota Public Radio</em> reports. "Franken spoke at a press conference at the state Capitol [Monday], the traditional day for students to decide where they'll attend college in the fall."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9728"Sallie Mae is at an interesting crossroads right now. The program that generated most of its portfolio, FFELP, is not guarenteeing any new loans," <em>Forbes Magazine</em> reports. "Sallie Mae expects to be making money off that portfolio for the next twenty years, though, and is buying portfolios of other institutions that hold FFELP loans."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9737"About a third of undergraduate students have subsidized Stafford loans, which are awarded based on economic need," <em>USA Today</em> reports. "The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 gradually reduced the rates for subsidized loans for undergraduate students from 6.8% to 3.4% through 2012-13."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9730"The U.S. Department of Education said today that it intends to begin talks in September on new federal student-aid regulations, specifically relating to the use of debit cards to disburse financial aid," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "In a notice set to appear in Tuesday’s Federal Register, the department announced it would accept comments from the public on a new negotiated rule-making committee."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9729"In the political campaigns still taking shape, President Barack Obama, Republican challenger Mitt Romney and lawmakers of both parties say they want to protect college students from a sharp increase in interest rates on federally subsidized loans," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "Agree, they might, and act they surely will."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9723April 27, 2012 - <em>First Coast News WJXX-TV</em> interviews NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty about the push on Capitol Hill to prevent the 3.4 percent interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loan from doubling in July. "Chitty said if the interest rates do go up, it will only add about $9 more to monthly payments."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9736"For Steve Brooks, the value of a student loan is the stuff of family lore," the <em>News Observer</em> reports. "His mother wrangled a $500 loan from her mother and graduated. His father, frustrated with his meager college lifestyle, never finished. Brooks says their stories have informed his work in 35 years of helping students borrow for college, both in his current role as director of the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority and as a longtime financial aid director at Wake Forest University."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9735"A federal grand jury has indicted a Pinellas County couple of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Education in a student loan scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday," the <em>Tampa Bay Times</em> reports. "Between August 2005 and September 2007, James Isaac Boyd, 40, and his wife, Shaneva Boyd, 30, formed a company called Graduate Assistance and Consolidations."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9726"The current debate over the student loan interest rates is a perfect example of how crazy our national politics have become," higher education public policy consultant Arthur Hauptman writes for <em>Inside Higher Ed</em>. "Leaving aside the differences in how Democrats and Republicans would pay for continuing this questionable subsidy, both parties are striving to appeal to students in this election year by keeping interest rates low while ignoring the economic reality that this move will further balloon student debt and could lead to higher tuitions as well."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9727"Young people face a cruel irony," Peter Morici, economist and professor at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, writes in the <em>Baltimore Sun</em>. "Most can't land a decent job without a college education, yet many graduates are locked into poorly paying positions that don't permit repayment of student loans. For two generations, college price tags have risen much faster than inflation and families' ability to pay."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9734"Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), who is Cuban American and a possible running mate for Mitt Romney, has broached the outlines of what would be a Republican version of the Dream Act," the <em>Washington Post</em> writes. "Neither the Democratic version of the Dream Act nor the Rubio version qualifies as comprehensive immigration reform. Both might offer assistance to 1 million young people who go to college or serve in the military, while leaving 10 million undocumented immigrants in limbo."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9733"Like the health-care sector, the higher education sector is heavily subsidized by the government," Ezra Klein writes for the <em>Washington Post WonkBlog</em>. "Some take that commonality as a causality: Health-care and college costs are out of control because the government subsidizes them. I think the truth is closer to the reverse: The government subsidizes them because their costs are out of control."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9732"You need to go to a name-brand school. Not true," Lynn O'Shaughnessy writes for <em>CBS MoneyWatch</em>. "Most people in this country do not attend schools with any sort of cache. Only eight percent of college graduates, for instance, head off to state flagships, which are the premiere public universities in each state."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9725"Here’s a little-noticed wrinkle in the Supreme Court’s consideration of the Affordable Care Act: college financial aid reform could also be at risk," John Burbank writes in the <em>Economic Opportunity Institute's Washington Policy Watch</em> blog. "The Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) was passed using a reconciliation -- a special legislative process used to consider budget bills."NASFAATue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9617An analysis by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that those with a college degree generally earn more and are less likely to be unemployed than those with just a high school diploma. In 2009, the average monthly earnings for an adult with a professional degree were $11,927, while high school graduates earned on average $3,200 per month.NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9635<p>NASFAA is pleased to announce that David Tolman has joined the team as a training specialist. Tolman has nearly 20 years of financial aid experience and spent the last 11 years as the director of financial aid and scholarships at Boise State University. In his new position at NASFAA, Tolman will use his extensive training experience to present training sessions at regional and state association meetings, serve as an instructor and presenter for on-line courses and webinars, and develop training materials for NASFAA members.</p>NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9619On April 25, 2012, the Department of Education (ED) will send the message class "MESSAGTB" via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) to all user mailboxes. The EDconnect transmission software will automatically request, download, and import this new message class table with a user’s next connection to the SAIG network. Once the MESSAGTB file has been imported, the new message class table will be used from that point forward.NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9634The Federal Pell Grant, ACG and National SMART Programs provide grant assistance to an eligible student attending an institution of higher education. To account for the funds disbursed, institutions report student payment information to the Department of Education electronically. COD is a simplified process for requesting, reporting, and reconciling Pell Grant, ACG and National SMART funds.NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9633"The Treasury Department and Department of Education have teamed the past three years to assess financial literacy in U.S. high schools, and the results haven't been pretty: the average score of almost 76,900 students in 2010 was 70%," <em>USA Today</em> reports. "Last year's testing of about 84,000 students and this year's of about 80,000 students were both a point lower: 69%. ...The problem has been a long time coming."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9632"As the state's colleges and universities prepare to set tuition rates, Gov. Bob McDonnell has written school presidents and board members urging them to keep increases below 3 percent," the <em>Richmond Times-Dispatch</em> reports. "In a two-page letter Friday, McDonnell urged public schools to tie tuition increases 'for the fall semester and beyond' to the Consumer Price Index."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9631"In 2007, President George W. Bush signed a bill that cut in half interest rates on subsidized student loans until 2012," the <em>New York Times</em> writes. "Those low rates will expire on July 1 — going back to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent — and, to prevent college from becoming even more unaffordable for millions of students, the obvious move is to renew them."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9630"The White House and Senate Democrats are looking at ending a tax provision benefiting some small business owners to pay for a year-long extension of a freeze in student loan interest rates, which are scheduled to double from 3.4% to 6.8% this summer, people familiar with the discussions said," Carol E. Lee and John D. McKinnon write for the <em>Wall Street Journal Election 2012</em> blog. "The measure would change a feature of tax law that critics say has allowed many owners of small businesses—particularly those known as Subchapter S corporations—to escape employment taxes on much of their earnings."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9629"In 2007, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which lowered the interest rate on federal student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent. But the law was temporary: It expires this July. Obama wants to extend it," Ezra Klein writes for the <em>Washington Post Wonk Blog.</em> "The issues, as with most anything in Washington, is offsets."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9628"Sometimes I wish politicians were more like good parents. I know that doesn’t sound very libertarian — the last thing we want is for politicians to become humanity’s moms and dads — but there’s at least one thing good parents do that most politicians constantly avoid: say 'no,'" Cato Institute scholar Neal McCluskey writes for the <em>Washington Post College Inc.</em> blog. "This certainly looks like election-year politics, and no doubt the unusual focus on student loan rates — not exactly a political thriller — stems from that."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9627"To kick off his two-day, three-stop tour of college towns to call for continued low interest rates on student loans, President Obama chose the school that offers the best value in public education," Richard Wolf writes for <em>USA Today's The Oval</em> blog. "So says <em>Kiplinger's Personal Finance</em> magazine, which for 11 consecutive years has rated the University of North Carolina the best deal when it comes to academic excellence, low cost and generous financial aid."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9626"It is not fashionable to say this but both political parties have suffered a lapse of logic and Economics 101 when it comes to student debt," Jennifer Rubin writes for the <em>Washington Post Right Turn</em> blog. "Recently, Mitt Romney joined President Obama in calling for additional subsidies for student-loan borrowers."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9625"Student loans pose a significant financial challenge for America, some economists say, but in a way that's different from the big buildup in mortgage debt that ended in a housing bust and deep recession," Mark Trumbull writes for the <em>Christian Science Monitor's DC Decoder</em> blog. "'It's not a bubble that will burst,' says Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass."NASFAAWed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9614<p>The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is looking for volunteers to review grant applications for the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program (SDS). HRSA is looking for application field reviewers to accommodate upcoming changes to the SDS program. Under these changes, SDS will be competitive with a four-year grant period.</p>NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9601There are three Notification of Campus-Based Funding reports that list the schools for which the awards have been approved. Each report covers specific states, and the schools are listed alphabetically within the state in which they are located. State and territory summary information is provided at the end of the listing for each state and territory. National summary information is provided at the end of the last report.NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9600The Department of Education, Federal Student Aid (ED/FSA) are inviting state student aid grant agencies, to partner with us to provide financial aid applicants from your state the ability to leverage data provided through the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) that will streamline the collection of information your state needs to determine applicants' eligibility for your state grant program(s).NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9613April 24, 2012 - <em>Bloomberg</em> interviews NASFAA Policy Director Megan McClean about the Department of Education's push for a standard format for award letters and NASFAA's response. "While the group isn’t opposed to requiring schools to use the same terms, its members prefer the flexibility to design their own letters."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9612"The rates on popular federal student loans could shoot up before the next academic season, depending on the outcome of a political battle brewing in Washington," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "While the debate continues, most financial planners and academic experts are preparing for some changes in this federal student-loan program, which was used by 7.4 million undergraduate students enrolled last year."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9611"It's that terrifying time for seniors -- high school seniors, that is: the nail-biting moment when millions of them find out whether they've been accepted or rejected by their college of choice," <em>SmartMoney Magazine</em> reports. "But if that in-or-out verdict appears final, there's another one that's anything but definitive -- namely, a college's offer of financial help to parent and child."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9609"President Obama is calling on Congress to stop federal student loan rates from doubling this summer," the <em>NPR's Diane Rehm Show</em> reports. "Republicans argue extending the current 3.4 percent rate would cost taxpayers too much. We discuss the implications for families and the economy."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9610"The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don’t fully use their skills and knowledge."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9608"Paine College lost eligibility to one federal loan program for students and is at risk of losing more funding for mismanaging student financial aid and inaccurately reporting enrollment and financial data to the government, according to a recent financial audit," the <em>Augusta Chronicle</em> reports. "Along with other bookkeeping failures, the school did not change enrollment statuses or return unused aid to the government after some students withdrew in the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to a financial audit of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years by Augusta certified public accounting firm Cherry, Bakeart and Holland."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9606"The average student loan debt for Iowa college graduates in 2011 was nearly $30,000," the <em>Des Moines Register</em> reports. "At University of Phoenix in Des Moines, it was about $50,000. It is another reminder of what Sen. Tom Harkin has been saying for years: Private, for-profit colleges and universities raise many questions."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9605"Call it the battle for the youth vote," political editor Paul Steinhauser and White House correspondent Jessica Yellin write for <em>CNN's Political Ticker</em> blog. "As President Barack Obama heads to three battleground states this week to push for an extension of a law that cuts interest rates on a popular federal student loan program for low and middle income undergraduates, Mitt Romney agreed with him on the issue."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9604"It’s crucial to understand how much you owe, the interest rate, whether they are federal or private loans, and what are the terms," Sheryl Nance-Nash writes for <em>Forbes Magazine's ForbesWoman</em> blog. Then you have to figure out your monthly payment, whether you can consolidate them for a lower rate and how you are going to pay for them."NASFAATue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9506<p>Despite an extended deadline, negotiators failed to reach consensus on a package of proposed regulatory changes to Title II Teacher Preparation Program reporting, Title IV Financial Aid and TEACH Grants.  After meeting for seven and a half days, negotiators persuaded the Department to extend the negotiated rulemaking process to try to address the remaining issues and discuss items that had not yet been reviewed.  However, the resulting three-hour conference call failed to yield any progress. Though the process yielded fruitful discussions and information, the Department will now proceed with developing proposed regulatory language as it chooses.</p>NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9535April 18, 2012 - <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> interviews NASFAA policy analyst Karen McCarthy about the processing delays many borrowers in repayment have encountered as they work to repay their loans.NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9543"There is no rule that says students have to pay top price for new textbooks from their campus bookstore," the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em> reports. "Buying textbooks from used bookstores is one route to spending less money. Used bookstores tend to be close to college campuses where the prices of books are significantly less."NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9536April 17, 2012 - The <em>Atlanta Journal-Constitution</em> cites NASFAA in an article about the growing need for need-based aid as college costs continue to increase.NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9542"Community colleges remain the most affordable providers of higher education," Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Daniel LaVista writes for the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>. "Even with the recent student fee increases in California, the rates that community colleges charge are still many times lower than the fees at for-profit campuses, which average about $15,000 a year for associate degree programs."NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9541"Last fall, two Stanford computer-science professors helped create an online course-hosting platform that opened some of the university’s classes to the entire world," Nick DeSantis writes for the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus</em> blog. "Hundreds of thousands of students enrolled free of charge."NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9539"Before getting a loan on your own, you’ll want to talk to someone whose financial counsel you trust," Daniel de Vise writes for the <em>Washington Post College Inc</em>. blog. "Your parents will probably be very useful directing you to such a person, given both their collective financial experience and their concern for your best interests."NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9537"Rural America is where, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, 16 percent of the country's population lives; this is a far cry from the 72 percent who lived in rural areas a century earlier (for the math challenged, that would be in 1910)," College of the Ouachitas President Dr. Stephen Schoonmaker writes for the <em>Huffington Post</em>. "Concurrently, the amount of land mass in this country that is considered rural is also in decline as both major urban, urban cluster, and rural residential areas continue to sprawl and consume areas formerly considered pristinely rural."NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9538"While it may not be possible for everyone to fully save for all their children’s college expenses, every little bit can help," Nancy Anderson writes for <em>Forbes Magazine's Financial Finesse</em> blog. "Regular Savings or Investment Account: This is the simplest option. It’s just a savings or an investment account in your name intended to be used for your child’s education."NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9540"For years, back-of-the-envelope estimates suggested that a bachelor’s degree translates into lifetime earnings of more than $1 million on top of anything one earns with just a high school diploma," Dan Kadlec writes for <em>Time's MoneyLand</em> blog. "The College Board later estimated the value was $800,000. Two years ago, a sobering and widely read report further downgraded the figure to $280,000."NASFAAWed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9518<p>The U.S. Department of Education (ED) sent about 181,000 emails last weekend to students who are approaching or have passed their Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility. Of those, 108,000 have only partial eligibility remaining and the rest have no eligibility.</p>NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9512The Department plans to issue FY 2011 Gainful Employment debt measures under the new rules this spring. This release is for informational purposes only and no punitive measures will be taken. Institutions must sign up on the SAIG Enrollment website by April 27 to be sent this information. Institutions that do not sign up for the GE notification package will be able to access information online but will not have access to the additional descriptive information about their rates that will be provided in the GE rate letters. Signing up by April 27 also ensures that the packages are sent to the proper recipient.NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9510The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) maintains a website containing Q&amp;As pertaining to the Program Integrity final regulations that were published on Oct. 29, 2010. OPE recently updated this website with a revised response related to satisfactory academic progress.NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9509The Department of Education's (ED) expansion of its federal loan servicer team will occur through new federal loan servicing contracts awarded under the HCERA/SAFRA Not-For-Profit (NFP) Servicer Program solicitation. Granite State – GSMR is now a member of the federal loan servicer team.NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9516April 15, 2012 - <em>MSNBC</em> reports on the doubling of interest rates on federally-subsidized Stafford loans come July 1, unless Congress fails to act. "The number of students applying for financial aid, which includes grants, work study and loans, increased from 12.9 million in 2006-07 to nearly 19.5 million in 2010-11," according to NASFAA.NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9520"Allowing the interest rate to double on a popular federally subsidized federal student loan would make it more difficult for college students to pay for their educations, but there is still time for Congress to prevent the increase from taking effect, Vermont’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives said Monday," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat, said he’s hopeful Congress will put aside partisan differences and vote to keep interest on the Federal Direct Stafford Student loans at 3.4 percent rather than allowing them to double on July 1 to 6.8 percent on new loans."NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9519"During a recent radio appearance, Representative Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican who leads the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, said she has 'very little tolerance' for students who borrowed tens of thousands of dollars to attend college," <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> reports. "'I worked my way through,' said Foxx, a former president of Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine, N.C., on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show."NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9511"Many colleges and universities require an answer and a deposit by May 1," Lynn O'Shaughnessy writes for <em>CBS MoneyWatch</em>. "For those still agonizing about a decision, here are seven ways to help make that important decision: Compare financial aid packages."NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9524"The number of UGA students receiving needs-based scholarships has more than tripled over the past decade, while overall enrollment increased by just 11 percent," the<em> Atlanta Journal-Constitution</em> reports. "During that same time, the amount of needs-based scholarships awarded has more than quadrupled to $1.1 million during 2011 fiscal year."NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9521"California State University is withholding financial aid for about 20,000 needy graduate students - money that pays their tuition - pending a decision that could permanently end the cash grants, The Chronicle has learned," the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em> reports.NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9513"Utah students who attended for-profit colleges are showing up in growing numbers at the offices of bankruptcy lawyers hoping to find a way out from under student loans that they can’t repay," the <em>Salt Lake Tribune</em> reports. "Verifiable numbers are hard to come by, but a <em>Salt Lake Tribune</em> survey of Utah lawyers suggests that client cases involving student loans have jumped to 15 percent to 30 percent of their caseloads after the recession started four years ago -- even though student debt rarely can be eliminated through bankruptcy."NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9514"The federal government started its student loans in 1965, opening college doors to young people who would pay back the loans when they got the job," the <em>Chicago Sun-Times</em> writes. "Later, the federal government added a provision that the loans could not be discharged in bankruptcy."NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9522"Given the amount of money the federal government provides to higher education, it’s perfectly reasonable for it to use those dollars to promote affordable, high-quality options," write Gunnar Counselman, founder and CEO of Fidelis, and Michael Horn, co-founder and executive director of the education practice of Innosight Institute in <em>Inside Higher Ed</em>. "We recommend establishing a new track for institutions to access federal loans and grants based on measures of quality and student satisfaction relative to total cost, not just tuition price."NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9525"Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) on Monday afternoon criticized Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) for commenting over the weekend that she has "very little tolerance" for people who graduate college with hefty student loans," <em>The Hill's Floor Action</em> Blog reports.NASFAATue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9436Find out why you should attend the NASFAA 2012 National Conference from longtime conference attendee and Associate Director of Financial Aid at Kennesaw State University, Philip E. Hawkins, Ph.D..NASFAAWed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9441Generally, for each 2011-12 Pell Grant recipient selected for verification by the Central Processing System (CPS), a school should have reported a verification status code of “V” or “S”. This announcement includes reminders regarding verification status code reporting for recipients selected for verification by the CPS as well as recipients not selected for verification by the CPS.NASFAAWed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9442The Department reminds the community about two Direct Loan Program reconciliation training  opportunities. One is a recorded training session intended for financial aid and business office personnel who are responsible for reconciling and funding Direct Loans. The other is an instructor-led, online training session offered April 19 and 24 to provide an overview of the Direct Loan reconciliation and program year closeout processes.NASFAAWed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9433The Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory is the online data repository of elementary and secondary schools and educational service agencies that serve low-income families. Institutions of higher education, as well as the Department of Education, use the TCLI Directory to assist students in determining if the schools they may teach at upon completing their degrees meet the qualifications for receiving the loan cancellations or receiving the TEACH Grant as grant funds.NASFAATue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9432The Higher Education Opportunity Act added provisions for the Higher Education Act that enable eligible students with intellectual disabilities to receive Federal Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and Federal Work Study funds if they are enrolled in an approved program. The CTP Expenditure Report is the tool for reporting the use of these specific funds.NASFAATue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9423The first step in preventing abuse of student financial aid programs is awareness, according to an American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) white paper that highlights some best practices and recommendations to prevent fraud. Because of a lack of a private national student unit record data system, AACC recommends the Department of Education (ED) deploy its National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) to provide more real-time information to institutions about prior attendance patterns and loan debt.NASFAATue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9410The Department of Education is enhancing the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting process to ensure the accuracy of enrollment reporting as well as to allow greater flexibility for reporting. The enhancements include new populations for inclusion in the process, additional data elements, enhanced notification files to loan holders and options for additional loan holders to receive certified enrollment data.NASFAAMon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9409The Department of Education (ED) implemented Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality to support 2012-13 Award Year processing. On April 15, 2012, ED plans to implement additional COD System functionality for the 2012-13 Award Year.NASFAAMon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9365Recent changes to the student aid programs have raised a host of issues and questions at financial aid offices across the country. NASFAA has been collecting these issues and questions from members and delivered them directly to the Under Secretary's office at the U.S. Department of Education. At the specific request of Congress, NASFAA has also been keeping lawmakers informed of these outstanding issues, some of which are causing serious frustration for families and schools. We understand that many financial aid offices are frustrated with the lack of guidance on these issues. We will continue to work with the Department to secure and disseminate official answers.NASFAAThu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9368This document provides a set of questions and answers regarding the ending of the existing experiments as of June 30, 2012. It also includes links to the relevant regulations.NASFAAThu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9367<p>The Department of Education updated this Oct. 19, 2011 announcement by replacing the attachment titled "Payment Instructions for Returning FFEL Purchased Loan Funds." The replacement file includes the updated PO Box address for the submission of the School Transmittal File to Sallie Mae.</p> <div></div>NASFAAThu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9366In calculating quarterly Special Allowance rates, the Department is required, under section 438(b)(2)(I)(i)(I) of the Higher Education Act (HEA), to determine "the average of the bond equivalent rates of the quotes of the 3-month commercial paper (financial) rates in effect for each of the days in such quarter as reported by the Federal Reserve in Publication H-15 (or its successor) for such 3-month period." For the quarter ending March 31, 2012 the average rate used to compute special allowance will be 0.24 percent.NASFAAThu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9382April 4, 2012 - The <em>Village Voice</em> reports that starting in July, graduate-student loans will no longer be subsidized while student are in school. NASFAA's Megan McClean said the organization is troubled that a lot of recent changes to financial aid have come as part of budget negotiations, instead of being deliberated by legislative committees, which first conduct research and hold hearings with experts.NASFAAThu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9348The NASFAA Reauthorization Task Force developed a framework last week to advocate for needed changes to the federal student aid programs in the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), and address public concerns about college access, transparency, and accountability. In anticipation of the expiration of the Higher Education Act in 2014, NASFAA commissioned the HEA Reauthorization Task Force to consult with NASFAA members and other important groups and agencies to develop recommendations on policy issues and specific statutory changes in the federal student aid programs and their delivery systems.NASFAAWed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9347As financial aid professionals, envisioning our future requires that we observe constant change – emerging trends, politics, demographics and technology. Contemplate what four seasoned financial aid veterans, each from a different institutional sector, think about the future of our profession in this session at the 2012 NASFAA National Conference in Chicago. The session, entitled <em>How Clear is Your Crystal Ball...What Will be the Role of Financial Aid in 10 Years?</em>, will take place Monday, July 23 from 9 – 10:15 a.m.NASFAAWed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9351The Department of Education has made available Volume 4 – Processing Aid and Managing Federal Student Aid Funds of the 2012-13 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and Verification Guide and six numbered volumes. Each volume is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.NASFAAWed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9350This position is under the Office of Program Compliance (PC). Program Compliance is responsible for the oversight services of eligible postsecondary Title IV schools, lending institutions, guaranty agencies and servicers. The primary goal is to promote accountability among program participants in the administration of federally funded financial assistance (Title IV) and to advance FSA's goal of strengthening program integrity by improving institution and agency Title IV compliance.NASFAAWed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9342A Senate bill introduced last Thursday by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) would amend both the Higher Education Act and the Truth in Lending Act to strengthen requirements surrounding private education loans and to correct some technical flaws in the definition of private loans. Concerned that many students who take on private loan debt do not have full information about more advantageous federal aid, the bill’s sponsors would require full certification by schools of private education loans, a step long advocated by NASFAA and other higher education groups.NASFAATue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9330The Department of Education has made available Volume 1 - Student Eligibility of the 2012-13 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and Verification Guide and six numbered volumes. Each volume is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.NASFAATue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9331The expansion of the federal loan servicer team is occurring through new federal loan servicing contracts awarded under the HCERA/SAFRA Not-For-Profit (NFP) Servicer Program solicitation. Aspire Resources Inc. (Aspire) is now a member of the federal loan servicer team. The Department of Education plans to transfer existing Federal Direct Loan Program borrower accounts to Aspire beginning in April 2012.NASFAATue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9332April 1, 2012 - The <em>Middletown Journal</em> interviews NASFAA Policy Director Megan McClean about the eligibility changes to the Pell Grant program and how that will affect students. "It is that grant that makes a difference in whether or not they can go to college," McClean said.NASFAATue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9296As negotiators neared the end of the three-week long student loan negotiated rulemaking process Thursday, negotiators found themselves at an impasse regarding the annual review process in the income-based repayment program. Today marks the last day for federal and non-federal negotiators to come to a consensus on the entire rulemaking package. The student loan committee is negotiating 25 student loan regulatory issues that will now result in two packages of proposed rules to be published in the Federal Register for public comment before promulgation of final rules.NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9162The House of Representatives passed the Republican's fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget plan, <em>The Path to Prosperity</em>, yesterday afternoon by a vote of 228-191. The budget resolution proposes slashing funding for U.S. Department of Education programs by $9.5 billion in FY 2013 including significant cuts to the student aid programs.NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9294Provisions for transferring Campus-Based funds between Campus-Based Programs and carrying funds forward or back between award years do not allow moving funds between programs and between years within the G5 payment system. Transferring of Campus-Based funds is only reported on the FISAP.NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9295In this version, the Department updated the Complete Reject Edits section’s condition text for edit 4039 to indicate that Reject 21 should be generated when the Marital Status Date is corrected to a date greater than or equal to the Application Receipt Date and less than or equal to the Transaction Receipt Date. The 2012-13 CPS Test System will be updated on April 1 with the changes corresponding to the specification updates.NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9293Release 2.0 adds Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and Direct Loan functionality for the 2012-13 award cycle. The Department also posted supporting documents for EDExpress 2012-13.NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9292No changes are planned for EDExpress 2012-13, Release 2.0 or subsequent releases to address either of these changes, but the Department provides recommended procedures schools can implement before originating loans to account for both issues. The Department also provides guidance on how to modify the rebate percentage on loan records at a variety of processing statuses.NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9291A school’s 2012-13 final funding authorization for each Campus-Based program is based on the applicable statutory formula and on the amount of funds appropriated by Congress for that program. A school will not receive a 2012-13 final funding authorization for a Campus-Based program that is in excess of its request for funds made on the Fiscal Operations Report for 2010-11 and Application to Participate for 2012-13 (FISAP) that the school submitted to the Department.NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9306March 28, 2012 - In an interview with <em>University Business Magazine, </em>NASFAA President Justin Draeger applauds<em> "</em>the administration’s proposal to postpone the doubling of the Subsidized Stafford Loan interest rate," but says "in the future we must find a permanent, sustainable solution to providing low-cost, predictable federal loans to students and parents."NASFAAFri, 30 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9214The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAECHY) and the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) have developed a tool for financial aid administrators to use when making a determination of whether or not a student meets the definition of an unaccompanied homeless youth. NASFAA provided assistance during the development process.NASFAAMon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9235March 24, 2012 - <em>Dayton Daily News</em> interviews NASFAA Policy Director Megan McClean in a report about how changes to eligibility requirements for the Pell Grant program may affect Ohio students. "It is that grant that makes a difference in whether or not they can go to college," McClean said.NASFAAMon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9132Federal investments in economic recovery helped offset declining state and local funding for higher education which reached its lowest point in 25 years in 2010, according to a report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO). Meanwhile, tuition rates increases caused net tuition revenue paid by students and parents to cover a growing share of higher education general operating costs.NASFAATue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9130The Department of Education has released the indexed version of the 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook. A PDF version of this document is available on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.NASFAATue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9084Even with a higher maximum award, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects the Pell Grant program to be on sure footing through fiscal year (FY) 2013 (award year 2013-14). However, FY 2014 (award year 2014-15) is expected to see a big increase in program costs, and that indicates trouble on the horizon.NASFAAMon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9116Earlier this week, the Department of Education released a new tool that will help high school counselors and school leaders by giving them a resource to monitor FAFSA completions and better help students access higher education. School officials can now track FAFSA submission and completion statistics at individual high schools on the FAFSA Completion website, which will help them ensure that their students are filling out the FAFSA and therefore are able to determine their eligibility for federal student aid – a key factor in families' college decisions.NASFAAMon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9113The <em>2012-13 FAFSA Verification-IRS Tax Return Transcript Matrix </em>was created to help financial aid administrators understand how to verify IRS income and tax information when an IRS Tax Return Transcript has been submitted by the parent or student.NASFAAMon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8896When Congress passed the 2012 budget bill last December, it eliminated the ability-to-benefit (ATB) provisions as an alternative to the high school diploma for the purpose of establishing a student's eligibility for Title IV aid. This change does not affect the eligibility of home-schooled students.NASFAAMon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8894The Application and Verification Guide is presented in this announcement as a master PDF file, comprising a table of contents and all chapters, followed by separate PDF files for each chapter of the Volume.NASFAAMon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8895The Department of Education is ready for FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA), Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., Nelnet, and Sallie Mae to begin the second phase of borrower contact for the Special Direct Consolidation Loan opportunity. In the second phase, the four servicers will contact potentially eligible borrowers whose federal loan servicer is the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) and communicate with them about the availability of this special initiative.NASFAAMon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8898During the period March 9-10, 2012, the Department of Education plans to implement Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality that supports the processing of Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant, Federal Pell Grant, TEACH Grant and Federal Direct Loan awards for the 2012-13 Award Year.NASFAAMon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8899The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 requires that Federal Family Education Loan program Lenders be given the option to have their special allowance payments calculated using the 1-month London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Lenders electing to have loans calculated using LIBOR will be required to sign a waiver. This waiver has to be signed no later than April 1, 2012.NASFAAMon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8807Public and private nonprofit higher education instituitions are increasingly relying on tuition and fees as other sources of revenue like state funding and endowment income shrink, according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report, <em>Financial Trends in Public and Private Nonprofit Institutions</em>, details higher education revenue trends, expenditure trends, student graduation rates, disclosure of information to students on cost of attendance, graduation rates, and future employment.NASFAATue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8808The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act (H.R. 2117) by a vote of 303 to 114. Democrat opposition to the bill was split with 69 supporting the bill and 114 opposing the bill. No Republicans voted against the bill. The bill would repeal the federal definition of a credit hour and the requirement for institutions to comply with state authorization laws in every state they operate.NASFAATue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8806The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 amended the Higher Education Act to allow lenders or beneficial owners of FFEL Program loans to substitute the 1-month London Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for the 3-month commercial paper rate for the purposes of Special Allowance Payment calculations on certain FFEL Program loans.NASFAATue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8797On the morning of Monday, Feb. 27, 2012,  the Department of Education (ED) distributed the FY 2010 Draft Cohort Default Rate notification packages to all eligible domestic and foreign schools. In this announcement, ED provides information about the distribution of the 2-Year Draft Cohort Default Rates. ED plans to distribute the 3-Year Draft Cohort Default Rates separately on Monday, March 5, 2012.NASFAATue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8795The application period for the Special Direct Consolidation Loan opportunity that began on Jan. 17, 2012 is well underway and will continue through June 30, 2012. As explained in previous communications, the Department of Education is offering this short-term consolidation opportunity through the Federal Direct Loan Program.NASFAATue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8709<p>More than 30 financial aid administrators (FAAs) visited the offices of more than two dozen members of Congress serving on the Senate and House education committees earlier this month to advocate on a number of federal student aid issues. FAAs from the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA), the Delaware, District of Columbia and Maryland Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (DE-DC-MD ASFAA) and the Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (SASFAA) visited the offices of lawmakers on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and lawmakers on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. </p>NASFAAWed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8700This Electronic Announcement provides information on calculating the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant award for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 award years. The Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant is awarded to a student whose parent or guardian died as a result of performing military service in Iraq or Afghanistan and the student is not receiving a Federal Pell Grant only because of that program's need requirement.NASFAAWed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8699These forms serve as the means by which borrowers in the Federal Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Programs may requires deferment of repayment on their loans if they meet certain statutory and regulatory criteria. The Department of Education uses the information collected on these forms to determine whether a borrower meets the eligibility requirements for the specific deferment type that the borrower has requested.NASFAAWed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8698These forms serve as the means by which a borrower may request forbearance of repayment on his or her Federal Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans based on participation in an eligible internship/residency program, national guard duty, receiving benefits under the Department of Defense's Student Loan Repayment Program, or having a federal education loan debt burden that equals or exceeds 20 percent of the borrower's monthly gross income.NASFAAWed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8697The Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan and Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan Alternative Documentation of Income form serves as the means by which a borrower who is repaying Direct Loan Program loans under the ICR or IBR plans provides the Department of Education with alternative documentation of the borrower's income if the borrower's adjusted gross income (AGI) is not available from the IRS, or if the Department believes that the borrower's most recently reported AGI does not accurately reflect the borrower's current income.NASFAAWed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8695In Dear Colleague Letter GEN-12-01 posted on Jan. 18, 2012, the Department of Education informed the community of changes made to the Title IV student aid programs by the recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012. Among those changes was an amendment that reduced the duration of a student’s eligibility to receive a Federal Pell Grant from 18 semesters (or its equivalent), to 12 semesters (or its equivalent).NASFAATue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8694Federal Student Aid has made available the webinar on the requirements for the approval of a Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP) Program. A Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP) Program is an academic program that serves students with intellectual disabilities.NASFAATue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8055<p>An Electronic Announcement was released to schools from the COD School Relations Center on Feb. 16, 2012 and is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.  This announcement is the first in a series of Direct Loan closeout announcements that informs schools of the closeout deadline for the 2010-11 Program Year.</p>NASFAATue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8670Negotiators concluded week two of the student loan negotiated rulemaking process Thursday, with tentative agreement on six issues and pending discussion, recommendations and internal discussion set to take place between now and the committee’s final meeting in March. In the second of three week-long meetings, the student loan committee is negotiating 25 student loan regulatory issues that will ultimately result in a package of proposed rules to be published for public comment before promulgation of final rules.NASFAAFri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8665The Direct Loan closeout deadline for the 2010-11 Program Year is Tuesday, July 31, 2012. This is the last processing day of the program year, so all school data must be received and accepted by this date in order to be included in a school’s final Ending Cash Balance for the year.NASFAAFri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8666The Fiscal Operations Report for 2011-12 and Application to Participate for 2013-14 (FISAP) in the Campus-Based programs is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Department of Education is providing the Draft FISAP and accompanying instructions so that schools can prepare to gather necessary information for the actual submission of its information in the FISAP that will be available by Aug. 1, 2012.NASFAAFri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8639<p>Beat the stress of verification with NASFAA’s annual reference tool on how to use federal income tax returns, forms, and schedules in need analysis for the 2012-13 award year. NASFAA’s Using Federal Tax Returns in Need Analysis has been updated and includes cross-references in the "Tax Forms and Schedules Comparison" and "Guide to Implied Income and Assets" charts to the appropriate 2011 IRS tax forms and line items, as well as to the applicable 2012-13 FAFSA questions.</p>NASFAAWed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8638Negotiators at the student loan negotiated rulemaking meeting entered an impasse Tuesday over how a borrower’s monthly payment is calculated in Direct Loan or FFEL loan rehabilitation. In the second of three week-long meetings, the student loan committee is negotiating 25 student loan regulatory issues that will ultimately result in a package of proposed rules to be published for public comment before promulgation of final rules.NASFAAWed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8635The Department of Education will make available instructor-led, online training for business officers that provides an opportunity to address questions related to key aspects of managing funds at institutions participating in the Title IV federal student aid programs. The webinar will address recent questions raised by the financial aid community related to the business office and the administration of the Title IV programs, as well as provide an open question and answer period with policy staff.NASFAAWed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8636The Department of Education will reprocess 2012-13 Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) for applicants who applied prior to Feb. 13, 2012 in order to recalculate Federal Pell Grant eligibility according to the 2012-13 payment and disbursement schedules published in Dear Colleague Letter P-12-01. This Central Processing System (CPS) reprocessing will take place today, Feb. 15, 2012.NASFAAWed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8634The Department of Education has informed the financial aid community about the availability of the Special Direct Consolidation Loan opportunity that it is offering through the Federal Direct Loan Program. This short-term consolidation opportunity began on Jan. 17, 2012 and will be available to eligible borrowers through June 30, 2012.NASFAAWed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8642Feb. 13, 2012 - Stephen Burd references his Student Aid Perspectives article on the NASFAA website in his post for <em>The Quick and The Ed</em> blog about the American Opportunity Tax Credit as "an ineffective and wasteful way to help students and families pay for college."NASFAAMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8619<p>In week two in the student loan negotiated rulemaking process, the Department of Education proposed a number of regulatory changes to make loan repayment a little easier for struggling borrowers. Still, some negotiators representing consumer advocates would like to see more help for borrowers. The student loan committee is negotiating 25 student loan regulatory issues that will ultimately result in a package of proposed rules to be published for public comment before promulgation of final rules.</p> <div> </div>NASFAATue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8617In the next several weeks, the Department plans to release Draft Cohort Default Rates to all eligible schools, guaranty agencies, and lenders. This year, the department plans to release a 2-year and a 3-year draft cohort default rate.NASFAATue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8624Feb. 13, 2012 - The <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> interviews NASFAA about the President's 2013 budget plan "to remake the Perkins Loan program, rewarding institutions that rein in tuition and produce good student outcomes." NASFAA said "it embraced 'the concept of shared accountability and responsibility in keeping costs down,' but added that 'it must be done in a way that does not impede institutional freedom or unfairly penalize schools that serve diverse student populations.'"NASFAAMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8622Feb. 14, 2012 - <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about the President's 2013 budget. "The president continues to put forth budgets that seek to expand the student aid programs, to keep costs down and to increase transparency in what is becoming an even more complicated budget and student funding process," Draeger said.NASFAATue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8621Feb. 13, 2012 - <em>Reuters</em> interviews NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty about the President's 2013 budget plan "to target more aid to schools that hold the line on price increases. 'Ultimately, that aid gets passed through to the students,' said Haley Chitty."NASFAAMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8546The Department of Education's federal offices as well as some of its Title IV processors and call centers will be closed on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 to observe the Washington’s Birthday federal holiday.NASFAAWed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8527The Department of Education is alerting all schools to an issue at the Central Processing System (CPS) that caused the IRS Request Flag of "05" to be set incorrectly on 2012-13 Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) created since 2012-13 processing began on Jan. 3, 2012. This issue impacted approximately 630,000 transactions. This issue was resolved with the implementation of the 2012-13 IRS Data Retrieval Tool on Feb. 5, 2012.NASFAATue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8531The TEACH Grant program regulations are required to ensure accountability of the program participants, both institutions and student recipients, for proper program administration, to determine eligibility to receive program benefits. The regulations include both recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before March 8, 2012.NASFAATue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8530Feb. 6, 2011 - <em>CNN Money</em> interviews NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty about the importance of filling out the FAFSA. "Almost every family qualifies for some form of assistance," Chitty said.NASFAATue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8485Deployment of the 2012-13 IRS Data Retrieval Tool has been rescheduled from Wednesday, Feb. 1 to Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool will continue to be available for 2011-12 applicants. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool allows students and parents to access IRS tax return information needed to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and transfer that data directly into their FAFSA.NASFAAFri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8491The Comprehensive Transition Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities Expenditure Report is the tool for reporting the use of the Federal Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and Federal Work Study funds for eligible students with intellectual disabilities enrolled in an approved program. Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before April 3, 2012.NASFAAFri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8479Feb. 2, 2012 - The <em>Columbian</em> reports on NASFAA President Justin Draeger's public affairs lecture series at Washington State University Vancouver. "American higher ed is being privatized, Draeger told <em>The Columbian</em> -- not in terms of public versus private schools, but in terms of who’s paying for college."NASFAAFri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8427<p>The Department of Education has made available the updated 2012-13 Federal School Code (FSC) List of Participating Schools on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. The Federal School Code List contains the unique codes assigned by the Department of Education for schools participating in the Title IV federal student aid programs. Students enter these codes on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to indicate which postsecondary schools will receive the processed application results.</p>NASFAAThu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8426This Electronic Announcement provides information necessary to apply for participation in the Work Colleges Program for the 2012-13 Award Year. A school must apply electronically via the eCampus-Based (eCB) website and submit a printout of that application, signed by the authorized official of the school to the Department of Education.NASFAAThu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8404This letter announces the approval of an "Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness" form for use by borrowers in the Federal Direct Loan Program. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program was established by Congress with the passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, and was created to encourage individuals to enter lower-paying but vitally important public sector jobs such as military service, law enforcement, public education and public health professions.NASFAAWed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8401The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) recently updated the Program Integrity final regulations Q&amp;As web page with regard to verification. In addition, the OPE will post two sample worksheets—one for dependent students and one for independent students—that institutions may use to verify the information used to determine an applicant’s eligibility for federal student aid for the 2012-13 award year.NASFAAWed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8400The expansion of the Department of Education's (ED) federal loan servicer team will occur through new federal loan servicing contracts awarded under the HCERA/SAFRA Not-For-Profit (NFP) Servicer Program solicitation. The solicitation offered NFP entities the opportunity to submit proposals individually and in teams for servicing borrower accounts on ED's behalf. Whether individual or team award, ED says its customers will know and face one servicer.NASFAAWed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8379A recent report by the Congressional Research Service provides an overview of federal student loan provisions related to borrower eligibility, loan terms and conditions, borrower repayment relief, and loan default and its consequences for borrowers.NASFAATue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8372The maximum Pell Grant award for the 2012-13 Award Year is $5,550, the same as for the 2011-12 Award Year. Therefore, for the vast majority of Expected Family Contributions (EFC) there is no change to the Scheduled Award amount. However, because of a recent statutory change, the maximum Pell Grant eligible EFC for 2012-13 is 4995, less than the 5273 EFC maximum for the 2011-12 Award Year. The result is that a small number of applicants who would have been Pell Grant eligible for the 2011-12 Award Year will not be eligible for the 2012-13 Award Year.NASFAATue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8376Jan. 25, 2012 -  "The time of unprecedented growth for the federal Pell Grant program couldn’t have come at a worse time for Congress," NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty writes for <em>University Business</em>. "As lawmakers were looking to cut federal spending to address the growing national deficit, record college enrollments, the economic downturn, and expanded Pell Grant awards and eligibility criteria combined to triple the cost of the program over five years."NASFAAWed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8375Jan. 30, 2011 - Joanne Jacobs quotes NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty in an article on President Obama's blueprint for higher education in her <em>Linking and Thinking in Education </em>blog. Obama "threatened to cut some forms of federal aid to students at colleges that raise tuition or fail to provide 'good value.'"NASFAATue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8285On Jan. 9, 2012, NASFAA published an article clarifying the Department of Education's determination that courses from which a student withdraws are not considered repeated coursework under the new regulations. AskRegs, NASFAA's regulatory guidance service, has since received a number of questions related to repeating coursework. We have compiled those questions and answers in this article.NASFAAMon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8361Jan. 30, 2012 -- NASFAA has been awarded a grant from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation to study the use of prior-prior year (or two years prior) income data to determine eligibility for student financial aid.NASFAAMon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8369The Secretary announced the 2012-13 award year deadline dates for the submission of requests and documents from postsecondary institutions for the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study (FWS), and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) programs (collectively, the "campus-based programs").NASFAAMon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8358Jan. 27, 2011 - The <em>Washington Post</em> interviews NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty about how the Obama administration would measure tuition rate increases against campus-based financial aid funding in its blueprint for college affordability. "That starts to get pretty sticky when you start to think of actual metrics," Chitty said.NASFAAMon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8362Jan. 27, 2011 - Daniel de Vise quotes NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty in a post in the<em> Washington Post College Inc.</em> blog about Obama's plan to tie campus-based financial aid to tuition costs. "Ultimately, you’re keeping funding from these students," Chitty said.NASFAAMon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8348The Department of Education has made available Gainful Employment Webinar #5 Errors and Data Corrections in Gainful Employment Reporting on January 11, 2012 in Microsoft PowerPoint format.NASFAAFri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8320Higher education institutions that participate in the Title IV federal student aid programs must disclose by Jan. 31 and July 31 (whichever is sooner after the threshold is met) any foreign gifts or contracts with foreign sources that exceed $250,000.NASFAAThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8319The NASFAA Graduate and Professional Issues Committee (GPIC) and the AAMC Committee on Student Financial Assistance (COSFA) submitted their comments regarding Regulation Z requirements to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on private student loans. Although in agreement that borrowers need to be adequately informed of their loan rights and responsibilities, GPIC and COSFA argue that this requirement for educational loans provided through the Department of Health and Human Services (Title VII and Title VIII of the PHS) has amassed confusion to the awarding and disbursement process of such loans.NASFAAThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8322Federal Student Aid has made a substantive revision to Volume 5 – Overawards, Overpayments, &amp; Withdrawal Calculations of the 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The revision has been added to the Errata and Updates for 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook page and the updated PDF files are now available.NASFAAThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8330The Department of Education (ED) will expand its federal loan servicer team through new federal loan servicing contracts awarded under the HCERA/SAFRA Not-For-Profit (NFP) Servicer Program solicitation. The solicitation offered NFP entities the opportunity to submit proposals individually and in teams for servicing borrower accounts on ED's behalf.NASFAAThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8331Jan. 26, 2011 - <em>U.S. News and World Report</em> interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about the July 2012 interest rate change on federal subsidized loans and the elimination of the six-month grace period subsidy for recent graduates. "This follows a pattern of changes to student aid that are probably not very clear and transparent to students," Draeger said.NASFAAThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8329Jan. 25, 2012 - <em>Education Week</em> interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about President Obama's plan to decrease federal support for colleges if tuition keeps rising. "We're always concerned about proposals that would penalize schools, and ultimately students, for tuition increases when many times what causes a tuition increase is out of a college's hands," said Draeger.NASFAAThu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8305In his third formal State of the Union address, President Obama made college affordability and job-training a central tenant in his plan to improve the economy, proposing that Congress penalize institutions for increasing tuition rates, stop student loan interest rates from doubling in July 2012 and extend education tax cuts.NASFAAWed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8300The Department of Education has posted the final 2012-13 Application Processing System Specifications for Software Developers. Other than removing designations of this version as a “draft,” no changes have been made to the specifications since the last posting (see the specifications posted on Dec. 27, 2011 and no further updates are planned for this document.NASFAAWed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8299The system maintenance that impacted the G5 website on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 was completed early Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. The G5 website is now available and users can conduct financial transactions.NASFAAWed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8308Jan. 25, 2011 - <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about President Obama's State of the Union address, in which he proposed that Congress stop the federal student loan interest rate on undergraduate loans from doubling in July 2012.NASFAAWed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8179The 2012-13 Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet for Question 23 is now available in English and Spanish. Both versions are attached in Portable Document Format (PDF).NASFAAWed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8180In order to participate in federal student aid programs, schools must generally submit an audit conducted by an independent auditor that includes a compliance audit and audited financial statements in accordance with 34 C.F.R.§ 668.23. Audits not received (missing) or submitted after the due date (late) demonstrate a lack of administrative capability and financial responsibility and may indicate mismanagement of federal student financial aid funds.NASFAAWed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7488The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is seeking information about private student loans from students, schools, the student loan industry, and other stakeholders to help prepare a report to Congress. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the CFPB and the Department of Education to produce this report by July 21, 2012. Comments must be submitted by Jan. 17, 2012.NASFAATue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8174The Department of Education has provided a high-level summary of the new technology security initiatives that are currently underway at Federal Student Aid. The planned initiatives comply with mandated government-wide security requirements and are part of an ongoing effort to ensure the security of the Federal Student Aid data systems. Some of the planned initiatives were introduced to schools in earlier announcements on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website or at the 2011 Federal Student Aid Conference.NASFAATue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8160The Department of Education (ED) is recruiting schools and servicers to participate in the beta test of EDExpress for Windows 2012-13, Release 2.0. Beta testing is scheduled to run from Jan. 30 through Feb. 10, 2012. Beta test participants will have the opportunity to test Federal Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and/or Direct Loan functionality in Release 2.0.NASFAATue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8159Through a series of communications, the Department of Education (ED) has informed the financial aid community about the availability of the Special Direct Consolidation Loan opportunity for eligible borrowers through the Direct Loan Program. This short-term special consolidation opportunity will be available to eligible borrowers from Jan. 17 – June 30, 2012.NASFAATue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8109<p>Ed was instrumental in developing some of the first commercially available information systems devoted to institutional management of the Title IV student financial programs.</p>NASFAAThu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8134The student loan negotiated rulemaking committee added three new items to the agenda Wednesday, for a total of 27 issues now scheduled for negotiation, although some may be combined during the course of negotiation. Federal and non-federal negotiators have so far addressed 17 issues in the weeklong regulatory brainstorming session. On Wednesday, negotiators focused on defaulted loan rehabilitation and loan discharge issues.NASFAAThu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8123Award letters have been a source of debate for over 20 years and this was the case at the 2011 Federal Student Aid (FSA) conference in December.  U.S. Department of Education officials held an award letter session to solicit feedback from the financial aid community as part of their effort to develop a model award letter for higher education institutions to use.NASFAAThu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8129This letter announces Federal Student Aid’s recorded training session on the R2T4 calculation. This 90-minute training session is intended for individuals in the financial aid office who are unfamiliar with the R2T4 requirements, or individuals who would like to learn more about performing the R2T4 calculation.NASFAAThu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8132The Department of Education announces the 2012-2013 Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet for Question 23 is now available in English and Spanish. Both versions are attached in Portable Document Format (PDF).NASFAAThu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8131As a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011, SEC. 502, subsidized loans cannot be awarded to graduate and professional students (college grade level 6 and 7) if the loan period begins on or after July 1, 2012. The Department of Education would like to provide guidance to EDExpress for Windows 2012-2013 Packaging module users about different approaches to setting up and controlling the awarding of subsidized loans to graduate or professional students.NASFAAThu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8130The Department of Education announces a reminder that FAA access to CPS online login issue may be resolved by updating web browser bookmark.NASFAAThu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7907At the 2011 FSA Conference, ED officials said that legislative action by Congress is needed to make substantial changes to R2T4 regulations and that the Department will review these regulations in anticipation of the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 2014.NASFAAWed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8118The student loan negotiated rulemaking committee added two new items to the agenda Tuesday and began discussions on eight of the 24 issues now scheduled for negotiation. This first week of meetings in the process is designed to brainstorm the issues so that the Department of Education (ED) can begin to draft proposed rule language that will be the basis of negotiation during the second week-long session to be held next month.NASFAAWed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8083The student loan negotiated rulemaking committee kicked-off yesterday with agreement on the protocols, including clarification of the U.S. Department of Education’s consensus rules, and negotiators proposing more than 20 additional topics to be debated in addition to the proposed list of 22 topics.NASFAATue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8074Jan. 9, 2012 -- As the 2013 Higher Education Act expiration approaches, NASFAA has formed a task force to consult with NASFAA’s membership and other important groups and agencies to develop recommendations to the NASFAA board on policy issues and specific statutory changes in the federal student aid programs and their delivery systems.NASFAATue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8033Courses from which a student withdraws are not considered repeated coursework under the new regulations. It was a statement so surprising for many financial aid administrators at the 2011 Federal Student Aid Conference, they kept coming up to the podium to ask if they had heard the representatives from the Department of Education (ED) correctly.   To further explain, NASFAA provides a scenario in this article.NASFAAMon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8034The Department of Education's federal offices as well as some of its Title IV processors and call centers will be closed on Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 to observe the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday. This announcement includes the various centers’ operation status on the holiday.NASFAAFri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8035The Department of Education (ED) has posted the updated 2012-13 EFC Formula Guide on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. The guide includes EFC worksheets and tables for the 2012-13 processing cycle. The worksheets and tables in this guide can be used to calculate an estimated EFC for students.NASFAAFri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8047This announcement contains an explanation of the three types of Default Rates and a summary of these rates for the Cohort Years 2005-09. The three types of rates are Cohort Default Rate, Budget Lifetime Default Rate (as reflected in the latest estimates as of July 1, 2011), and Cumulative Lifetime Default Rate.NASFAAFri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8014To address the need for a lender or lender servicer to have access to loan information for a borrower who does not have a direct relationship with that lender or servicer, the NSLDS Student Access website has been updated to allow a borrower to grant permission for a lender or lender servicer, with whom the borrower does not currently have a relationship, to access the borrower’s loan history.NASFAAThu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8009Without Congressional intervention, the interest rate for Federal Direct Subsidized Loans will change from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent beginning July 1, 2012. The reason why has a lot to do with decade-old, long-term interest rate calculations and 2007 legislation aimed at easing student loan debt.NASFAAWed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7979The 2012-13 FAFSA on the Web Worksheet is now available in English and Spanish. The worksheet helps applicants prepare to complete the online FAFSA. ED encourages schools continue to remind students and their parents that the worksheet is not a FAFSA and will not be processed if submitted by mail.NASFAATue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7980The final version of the 2012-13 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available in English and Spanish. The FAFSA PDFs can be downloaded by schools or students for submission.NASFAATue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7982The recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act made several changes to the Title IV programs including a reduction in the maximum income that makes an applicant eligible for an auto-zero EFC from $32,000 to $23,000. The 2012-13 FAFSA on the Web and 2012-13 FAA Access to CPS Online Web sites will be available with the updated auto-zero EFC income threshold amounts. In addition, the CPS will begin processing 2012-13 FAFSAs on Jan. 3 using the updated amounts.NASFAATue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7981The Special Direct Consolidation Loan opportunity the Department will offer through Direct Loan Program will be available to eligible borrowers from Jan. 17 to June 30. The Department has nearly completed implementation and will make the online application available to eligible borrowers on Jan. 17.  This announcement provides additional and updated information in anticipation of the mid-January  2012 start.NASFAATue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7978The Department posted an update to the 2012-13 Application Processing System Specifications for Software Developers. This version updates the parameter for the Auto Zero EFC edits (3005-3008, 3013-3020) from $32,000 to $23,000. Details on the changed calculation for determining an applicant’s eligibility for the minimum Pell award, as well as the 2012-13 Pell Grant payment and disbursement schedules, will be provided within the next two weeks.NASFAATue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=4787<p>January 2012 will begin another peak processing period for the 2011-12 Award Year. In a Dec. 14, 2011 Electronic Announcement on the IFAP website, Federal Student Aid provides COD System peak processing reminders to assist schools with planning and processing.</p>NASFAATue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7958<p>The regulations at 34 CFR 668.6(b)(1)(iv) provide that institutions that prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation must disclose the placement rate for students completing a GE Program, as determined under a methodology developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In March, NCES convened a technical review panel (TRP). </p>NASFAAFri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7946This newsletter provides supplementary information about the change to the login process for the NSLDS Professional Access Website.NASFAAThu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7947The Technical Update, LLS-2011-06: Supplementary Information - Change to Login Process for NSLDS Professional Access Website, is attached in Microsoft Word Format and in Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF file requires version 4.0 or greater of the free Adobe Acrobat reader.NASFAAThu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7948The Technical Update GA-2011-09: Supplementary Information – Change to Login Process for NSLDS Professional Access Website, is attached in Microsoft Word Format and in Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF file requires version 4.0 or greater of the free Adobe Acrobat reader.NASFAAThu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7936The Department of Education will announce that Georgia Yuan, current Deputy General Counsel for Postsecondary and Regulatory Service, will succeed James Kvaal as the Department’s Deputy Under Secretary for Education.  Yuan’s appointment is effective Jan. 3, 2012.  Kvaal will leave the Department to join President Obama’s reelection campaign.  According to the Department, "Georgia joined the Administration in January 2010 as the Deputy General Counsel for Postsecondary Education and Regulatory Service in the Office of the General Counsel for the U. S. Department of Education where she was responsible for leading the teams providing legal services to the Office of Postsecondary Education and Federal Student Aid."NASFAAWed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7932The Department of Education (ED) is alerting all users of the FAA Access to CPS Online website that the dropdown option for 2011-12 is currently not available for the FAA Correction Entry function due to issues resulting from system updates ED implemented to the site on Dec. 18, 2011. All other correction functionality is available on the FAA Access to CPS Online website.NASFAAWed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7918The Department of Education announced that the 2012-13 Central Processing System (CPS) Web Demonstration (demo) site and the mainframe portion of the 2012-13 CPS Test System are now available for your use. Most of the features of the production versions of 2012-13 FAFSA on the Web and FAA Access to CPS Online (including Return of Title IV Funds) are available on the demo site.NASFAATue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7916Early yesterday, the Department of Education informed the community of a delay in availability for some National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) users. ED has resolved the issues, and all NSLDS user records have now been loaded into AIMS. The NSLDS and its new login process are now fully available to all users.NASFAATue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7917The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (Pub. L. 110-84) (the CCRAA) established the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program under Part A of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (the HEA). As a condition for receiving a Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, a student must sign an Agreement to Serve.NASFAATue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7926The data submitted electronically in the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) through FISAP on the web is used by the Department of Education to determine the institution's funding need for the award year and monitor program effectiveness and accountability of fund expenditures.NASFAATue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7891The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) has a new resource available to assist FAAs in their work with unaccompanied homeless youth. This "Unaccompanied Youth Toolkit" is specifically designed for college and university financial aid administrators. It includes a series of 1-2 page briefs that provide tools and strategies to help unaccompanied homeless youth complete the FAFSA, determine their eligibility as independent students, and support their success in post-secondary education.NASFAAMon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7913On Nov. 16, 2011, the Department released Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #28 that discussed the Nov. 15, 2011 Gainful Employment (GE) reporting deadline and information relating to GE reporting corrections after an institution had submitted its GE data. The purpose of this electronic announcement is to provide additional guidance on the corrections deadlines as well as to provide additional guidance on the resolution of Social Security Number (SSN) conflicts.NASFAAMon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7833Lawmakers in the House and Senate reportedly reached a deal yesterday on nine appropriations bills to fund government programs through the rest of fiscal year (FY) 2012.  The final FY 2012 budget bill is expected to be released sometime today and will set 2012-13 award year spending levels for the federal student aid programs. While the official language has not been released, there is indication that the bill will maintain the $5,550 maximum Pell Grant for the 2012-13 award year by cutting spending on other student aid programs and reducing the number of Pell eligible students.NASFAATue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7821<p>Department of Education posts the recorded versions of two online, instructor-led training sessions on the Direct Loan Program. These two webinars, "Direct Loan Reports" and "Direct Loan Primer," are intended for financial aid office, business office, and technical support staff who are new to the Direct Loan Program and are involved in Direct Loan processing. No registration is required to view the recorded training sessions.</p>NASFAATue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7830"An item that has not been discussed recently is the fact that the interest rate charged to financially needy students is set to double on July 1, 2012," writes J. Randy Green, director of financial aid at Wittenberg University, at <em>CheapScholar.org</em>.  "Currently, subsidized Federal Direct Student Loans are made at 3.4%.  Unless Congress ... takes action, these loans will carry a rate of 6.8% for 2012-2013 and beyond.NASFAATue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7810On Dec. 18, 2011, the Department of Education (ED) plans to implement annual system updates to the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) Enrollment website. The updates will add the 2012-13 Award Year to the appropriate services. In addition, users currently enrolled for 2011-12 batch services or FAA Access to CPS Online services will be automatically enrolled for those services for the 2012-13 cycle.NASFAAMon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7806The Discharge Application: Total and Permanent Disability serves as the means by which an individual who is totally and permanently disabled applies for discharge of his or her Federal Direct Loan, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), or Federal Perkins Loan program loans, or Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher (TEACH) Education Grant service obligation. Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before Jan. 11, 2012.NASFAAMon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7803Dec. 10, 2011 - The <em>Shreveport Times </em>interviews NASFAA Director of Communications Haley Chitty about when in the semester institutions disperse financial aid. Some schools, like Louisiana Tech University, wait until further into the quarter of the semester to disburse money. 'More schools are looking toward this type of thing to ensure program integrity,' Chitty said.NASFAAMon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7695The purpose of this letter is to describe the special actions that an institution must take, beginning with the 2012-13 Award Year, when the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of a student is reported as 99,999. Over the past several years, there has been an increasing number of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) filers whose EFC equals or exceeds 100,000. However, the Department’s Central Processing System (CPS), the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR), and the Student Aid Report (SAR) field lengths for EFC are only five digits. This means that a calculated EFC of 100,000 or more results in a CPS stored and ISIR/SAR reported EFC of 99,999.NASFAAWed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7594This calendar will help you manage the major deadlines associated with maintaining your eligibility to receive federal student aid funds.NASFAAMon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7662The Department of Education (ED) alerts the community of an upcoming public comment period on proposed National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) reporting data standards, including Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema for enrollment reporting and gainful employment reporting. In the coming year ED will offer XML as an NSLDS reporting option for schools to exchange enrollment and gainful employment data with the Department.NASFAAMon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7671<p>Dec. 4, 2011 - The Baltimore Sun interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about student borrowing and the terms and conditions of all loans. Draeger said NASFAA will advise the consumer bureau to require that private loans be certified by schools to prevent overborrowing.</p> <div></div>NASFAAMon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7564Congress passed, and the President has signed into law, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. The new law Includes a provision creating the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program for unemployed Veterans. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and the Department of Labor (DoL) are working together to roll out this new program on July 1, 2012. The new program will provide 12 months of training assistance to eligible, unemployed Veterans.NASFAAWed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7558This letter announces the approval of the revised version of the “Loan Discharge Application: Unpaid Refund” for use by borrowers in the Direct Loan Program, FFEL Program, and Perkins Loan Program. The revised form includes minor changes from the previous version. The form allows borrowers to apply for a loan discharge when a portion of a loan was not refunded in accordance with the regulations.NASFAAWed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7559The Department has posted the updated Cohort Default Rate Guide. All sections were updated to reflect changes required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act. Additionally, information on the Electronic Cohort Default Rate Appeals is now reflected in the updated Guide.NASFAAWed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7481The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is seeking information from students, schools, industry, and other stakeholders on the private student loan market. The CFPB plans to collect data on a series of issues impacting private student loans from origination to servicing to collection.NASFAAThu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7479In Foreign School Update FS-2011-07, the Department of Education (ED) announced the availability of the Foreign School Assessments. This new compliance tool is designed to support a foreign school in the assessment and enhancement of its internal operations and services related to administering the Federal Direct Loan Program. ED has made two updates to the "Foreign Schools: Consumer Information Disclosures At A Glance" document within the Consumer Information assessment.NASFAAThu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7478The Department of Education has posted the updated 2011-12 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference, which contains development information for the 2011-12 Award Year. For a complete list of updates, refer to the “November 2011 Change Tracking Log.”NASFAAThu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7102<p>Got a great idea for an interest session topic for the 2012 NASFAA Conference, but don't have all the information to fill out our interest session proposal form? The Conference Committee recognizes that many members may have great ideas for session topics, but may not know the right financial aid professional to present or moderate the session. While we hope that members take the opportunity to submit interest session proposals, we don't want to exclude any great ideas. You can email your interest session topic ideas to your regional representative on the Conference Committee. Those email addresses are provided in this announcement.</p>NASFAAWed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7464On Oct. 27, 2011, the Department of Education published a notice in the Federal Register soliciting requests from postsecondary educational institutions to participate in one or more of eight experiments that will be conducted under the Experimental Sites Initiative. The deadline for an institution to respond to the solicitation is Dec. 12, 2011.NASFAAWed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7467On Dec. 19, 2011, the street address for sending paper Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) and Endorser Addenda to the Department of Education via express or overnight delivery will change. There is no change to the current P.O. Box address used for regular postal delivery.NASFAAWed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7433<p>During the period of Nov. 19-20, 2011, the Department of Education plans to execute extended website maintenance and operating system upgrades to several Federal Student Aid websites in addition to routine maintenance that occurs each weekend. This announcement provides information about the websites that will be affected during the extended maintenance period. </p>NASFAAMon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7434As explained in previous communications, Federal Student Aid awarded four new contracts in June 2009 to provide additional servicing capacity for loans owned by the Department of Education (the Department). These loans include William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans purchased by the Department under the authority granted the Secretary in the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA) and through methods commonly referred to as a “PUT.”NASFAAMon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7444Nov. 11, 2011 - <em>PBS Nightly Business Report </em>interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about financial aid award letters and whether they should be standardized. Draeger said "the draft is a good start. But, he says regulators should be careful about what disclosures they require of schools."NASFAAMon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7443Nov. 11, 2011 - <em>Fox Business</em> interviews NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty about the Obama administration's changes to Income-Based Repayment (IBR). "Basically, the new IBR plan is more generous for those who qualify," Chitty said. "Under the new program, eligible borrowers will have their monthly student loan payments limited to 10% of their discretionary income, down from 15% under the current program."NASFAAMon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7426Most adults age 18 to 34 in the United States oppose cuts to the Federal Pell Grant program and view college as harder to afford today than it was five years ago, according to a the results of a survey conducted by  Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research and Consulting, which was commissioned by The Institute for College Access &amp; Success (TICAS), Demos, and Young Invincibles. Three in four of the young adults surveyed do not want to see Pell Grants cut, and 73 percent oppose charging students with financial need interest on their federal loans before they graduate.NASFAAThu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7420The majority of the session presentations for this year’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) conference have been posted online. The remaining presentations will be posted next week. In an effort to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, minimize its impact on the environment and lower conference costs, FSA will not be providing any printed session presentations at the conference. Please plan to print out the presentations of those sessions you wish to attend and bring them to the conference.NASFAAThu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7419Our Federal offices as well as some of our Title IV processors and call centers will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011 to observe the Thanksgiving Day Federal holiday. In addition, some of the Title IV processors and call centers will be closed on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. See the attachment for the various centers’ operation status on the holiday.NASFAAThu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7427National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a nationally representative study of how students and their families finance education beyond high school, was first implemented by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in 1987 and has been fielded every three to four years since. This submission is for collection of student data in the eighth cycle in the series, NPSAS:12.NASFAAThu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7406Federal Student Aid has released its 2011 conference presentations. You can download and print the session presentations you plan to attend. Session handouts will not be available on-site.NASFAAWed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7397Ever wonder what happens to all the data the nation’s financial aid offices report to the Department of Education?  Ideally all that information would be collected, analyzed and compared to paint a timely and comprehensive picture of student financial aid to inform future decisions on financial aid policy. Unfortuantely the limitations of these data sources, including Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Federal Student Aid (FSA) and the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), make it difficult "to gain a complete picture of the sources, types, and amounts of aid going to students at institutions of higher education and the relationship between aid and policy goals such as access and success," according to a study by the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) Working Group on Financial Aid Data.NASFAATue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7389<p>On Oct. 28, 2011, the Department published a notice announcing its intent to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare proposed regulations governing the student loan programs. The notice also requests nominations for individual negotiators to serve on this committee. The deadline for submission of nominations is Nov. 28, 2012.</p> <div></div>NASFAATue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7315<p>The Department of Education (ED) has made available the initial 2012-13 Federal School Code (FSC) List of Participating Schools on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. The Federal School Code List contains the unique codes assigned by ED for schools participating in the Title IV federal student aid programs. Students enter these codes on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to indicate which postsecondary schools will receive the processed application results.</p>NASFAAWed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7304On Oct. 27, 2011, a notice was published in the  Federal  Register announcing the Secretary’s intent to solicit requests from postsecondary educational institutions to participate in one or more of eight experiments. The deadline for an institution to respond to the Secretary’s solicitation is Dec. 12, 2011.NASFAATue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7307Obama administration officials provided additional details about their plans to provide relief for some student loan borrowers, but say that the U.S. Department of Education will use negotiated rulemaking to develop implementation details for the plan to offer more generous Income Based Repayment (IBR) terms in 2012.NASFAATue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7127<p>Agenda President’s Report Chair Elect’s Report Regional Reports Committee Reports Governance Committee Reports    </p>NASFAAWed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7112The Department of Education has posted the 2012-13 ISIR Guide. The ISIR Guide assists financial aid administrators (FAAs) in interpreting student information on the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). ISIRs contain processed student information reported on the FAFSA, as well as key processing results and National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) financial aid history information. ISIRs are sent electronically to institutions by the Central Processing System (CPS).NASFAAWed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7202The Department of Education has posted EDExpress for Windows 2011-12, Release 4.0, on the Department's Federal Student Aid Download website. Release 4.0 includes updates to Global and App Express functionality to coincide with the Central Processing System (CPS) modification implemented on Oct. 23, 2011 that now assigns pseudo-Social Security Numbers (SSNs) starting with “666” to Pacific Island students.NASFAATue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7214Oct. 25, 2011 - NASFAA President Justin Draeger talks to <em>NPR's Marketplace </em>about the transition to the Direct Student Loan program. Draeger told NPR that "some schools miss the financial literacy and debt counseling programs private companies used to provide. 'We're working with the Department of Education right now to fill that gap, but schools have said that there's a noticeable absence of some of those materials that they relied heavily on in the past," Draeger said."NASFAATue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7186The purpose of this letter is to provide guidance to address potential fraud in the Federal student aid programs at institutions of higher education that offer distance education programs. This letter provides an overview of the fraud schemes that the Department’s Inspector General (IG) detected, and recommends immediate steps that institutions can take to detect and prevent fraud. In this letter, the Department of Education also describes further actions that institutions can take and that the Federal government is committed to taking, including increasing technical assistance to institutions of higher education, the convening of a Department-wide task force on distance education fraud, and plans for recommending legislative and regulatory changes to address the relevant issues.NASFAAFri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7095The Department of Education (ED) has posted the 2012-13 CPS Test System User Guide on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) website. This guide provides instructions for using the Central Processing System (CPS) Test System, which includes two testing environments: a mainframe test environment and a web demonstration site.NASFAATue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7081During the period Oct. 21-22, the Department plans to implement additional COD System functionality for the 2011-12 Award Year. This announcement provides important information about COD batch processing suspension and website outage information and COD system processing function enhancements and modifications for 2011-12.NASFAAMon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7080The new Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) borrower Web site (www.myedaccount.com) was taken down on Oct. 13, but the site is again operational. The Department will continue to closely monitor the functioning of the new website and keep the school community informed as necessary.As a result of the transition to the new Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) borrower website and start-up issues experienced this first week, many more borrowers than usual have been calling the Direct Loan Servicing Center for assistance. Due to the high volume, borrowers have then experienced difficulty getting through to the call center and/or longer than normal wait times. While it will not be immediate, ED anticipates steady progress towards acceptable call center access and response time now that the borrower website is available.NASFAAMon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7011During the period March 9-10, 2012, the Department of Education (ED) plans to implement Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System functionality that will support the processing of Federal Pell Grant, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant, Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, and Federal Direct Loan awards for the 2012-13 Award Year. In conjunction with this implementation, ED will begin using a new version of the COD Common Record Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema. The new schema version is 3.0e.NASFAATue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7013On Friday, Oct. 7, 2011 the Department of Education posted to the Financial Partners Portal website the 22 Voluntary Flexible Agreement proposals that were submitted to the Department by FFEL Program Guaranty Agencies.NASFAATue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7012As described in the June 23, 2011 electronic announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website, the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented new guidelines on June 25, 2011 for assigning Social Security Numbers (SSNs) that include assigning SSNs in previously unused numeric ranges. In a follow-up July 8, 2011 electronic announcement, the Department of Education provided interim guidelines for assisting students assigned SSNs after June 25, 2011, and indicated that a permanent solution would be implemented on Oct. 23, 2011.NASFAATue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6982Recently  questions have arisen regarding treatment of remedial coursework under the new Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements. According to the Department of Education (ED), any Title IV-eligible coursework needs to be subject to an assessment of progress. However, if remedial coursework is auxiliary to, rather than part of, the student’s program of study, it does not necessarily have to be incorporated into the progress assessment of the regular program. Thus, a school may assess the remedial work under some different standard, as defined by the school’s SAP policies.NASFAAThu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6980Average taxpayers provide more in subsidies, including state appropriations and research and development funding, to elite public and private schools than to the less competitive schools that their children are more likely to attend, according to a new report by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI). The report found that while public institutions generally receive a larger share of taxpayer subsidies through state appropriations - which has declined over the past few years - the cost per student increases at all types of institutions the more selective their admissions process. These selective institutions are, however, more likely to receive research and development funding, which increases taxpayer investment.NASFAAThu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6983<p>On Oct. 4, 2011, the Department of Education (ED) updated a Sept. 26 announcement to reflect the extension of the outage period associated with the removal of data for closed award years. ED will suspend batch processing beginning at 8 p.m. (ET) on Friday, Oct. 7, 2011. Records submitted after this will be held and processed after 2 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011. In addition to this outage, routine website maintenance that occurs each Sunday will also be completed as scheduled. </p>NASFAAThu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6928<p>Higher education officials attending the regulatory burden portion of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance's (ACSFA) public hearing Friday unanimously agreed that duplicative and unnecessarily burdensome regulations take up too much time and too many resources in the their postsecondary institutions. ACSFA is currently in the process of producing a final report on regulatory burden in higher education, and invited members of the higher education community to provide their recommendations for the committee moving forward.</p> <p> </p>NASFAAMon, 03 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6881<span>The House approved a stop-gap spending bill known as a </span>continuing resolution (CR) Tuesday<span> </span>to maintain funding for federal programs through Nov. 18 and give Congress more time to the finalize fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget. <span>President Obama plans to sign the CR today. </span>The CR buys Congress a few more months to settle the fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations process, since they failed to pass individual appropriations bills before the beginning of FY 2012 on Oct. 1.NASFAAWed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6876<p>Online reporting functionality for gainful employment is now available on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), including the NSLDS Professional Access website. Detailed information about the use of NSLDS for reporting gainful employment data is provided in the NSLDS Gainful Employment User Guide, available on the NSLDS User Documentation page of the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website, as well as from the "Resources" section of the Gainful Employment Information Page. </p>NASFAATue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6806<p>The Department of Education (ED) posted a Training Announcement (ANN-11-20) informing schools of an Oct. 13, 2011 webinar on the new gainful employment regulations. This webinar will provide an updated technical overview of the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) gainful employment reporting process and has been updated with the most current information.</p>NASFAAWed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6794<p>President Obama's plan to reduce the deficit by increasing taxes on the wealthy and cutting entitlement spending went to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or the super committee, Monday. The plan includes $3 trillion in deficit reduction recommendations, twice as much as the super committee is tasked with finding, but many Republicans have already expressed opposition. Though the debt reduction plan does not make any cuts to education spending, it does provide an additional $50 billion in the adjusted baseline over 10 years to maintain the $5,550 maximum Federal Pell Grant award. </p> <p> </p>NASFAATue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6754Institutions continue to increase tuition to cover declines in other revenue sources like state appropriations so students and families continue to pay a larger share of higher education costs, according to a new report by the Delta Project, an organization dedicated to studying college spending with the aim of improving affordability. The increases in tuition revenue allows institutions to maintain, but rarely increase spending per full-time student. The report “Trends in College Spending 1999-2009: Where Does the Money Come From? Where Does It Go? What Does It Buy?” examines national college spending and revenue trends in the years leading up to and including the beginning of the current recession, from 1999 to 2009.NASFAAThu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6682President Obama proposed a new plan to stimulate the economy through job growth in front of a joint session of Congress last evening. The price tag associated with the package is a projected $447 billion, all of which would be paid for as part of the president's long-term deficit reduction plan. While the President only made a small reference to higher education, including a pitch for college access, his proposal includes $5 billion for infrastructure at community colleges.NASFAAFri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6679The 2012-13 Packaging Technical Reference provides instructions and record layouts for schools and other organizations that need to integrate their software or systems with the EDExpress 2012-13 Packaging module (available January 2012). Record layouts are included for all imports from external systems, such as Packaging Import External Add, Packaging Import External Change, and Packaging Import Add Funds. Packaging module setup guidance and setup worksheets are also provided.NASFAAFri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6636On Oct. 29, 2010, the Department published in the Federal Register final regulations on program integrity issues (75 FR 66832). These final regulations make a number of changes to the regulations governing the student assistance programs authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The regulations were generally effective July 1, 2011, except for revisions to Subpart E of part 668 of the Student Assistance General Provision regulations, Verification and Updating of Student Aid Application Information, which are effective July 1, 2012.NASFAATue, 06 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6587The Department of Education has posted the updated 2011-12 ISIR Guide. The ISIR Guide assists financial aid administrators (FAAs) in interpreting student information on the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). ISIRs contain processed student information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), as well as key processing results and National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) financial aid history information. ISIRs are sent electronically to institutions by the Central Processing System (CPS).NASFAAWed, 31 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6586The Department of Education has posted the updated 2011-12 SAR Comment Codes and Text reference guide. The reference guide is designed as a stand-alone guide as well as a companion to the 2011-12 EDE Technical Reference. The guide includes a description of changes to the SAR comments for 2011-12, and also provides the complete text for all 2011-12 comments. The Aug. 2011 update includes a revision to add comment 147 as a result of the new Social Security Administration (SSA) guidelines for assigning Social Security Numbers (SSNs).NASFAAWed, 31 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6531Over the past several months, Federal Student Aid (FSA) has observed that many schools are routinely requesting that the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System print and mail paper Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) to each borrower. To reduce the number of paper MPNs printed unnecessarily, FSA remind schools that a paper MPN should only be printed and mailed to a borrower when the borrower asks for paper MPN and the school does not print paper MPNs or does not have the paper form available.NASFAAMon, 29 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6462The U.S. and state governments lose out on billions in tax revenue because four in 10 college students are unlikely to earn their degree within six years, according to a new report by the American Institute for Research (AIR). The AIR study finds that of the 1.1 million full-time students who entered a four-year college in 2002 seeking bachelor degrees, almost 500,000 did not graduate within six years. AIR estimates that in 2010 these students cost the U.S. $3.8 billion in lost income that would have resulted in $566 million more in federal income taxes and $164 million more in lost state income taxes. In all, the 40 percent of freshmen in 2002 who failed to earn their degree costs the country $4.5 billion in 2010.NASFAATue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6453This Electronic Announcement provides guidance regarding documentation of the one-year extensions of the effective date of the regulations at 34 CFR 600.9(a) and (b), which set forth the requirements for an institution of higher education, a proprietary institution of higher education, and a postsecondary vocational institution to be considered legally authorized by a State. The program integrity final regulations provide that institutions unable to obtain State authorization may receive a one-year extension of the effective date of the regulations to July 1, 2012, and if necessary, an additional one-year extension to July 1, 2013.NASFAATue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6446This notice makes corrections to minor technical errors in the October 28, 2009 final regulations to implement requirements relating to education loans that were added to the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Department of Education amended regulations for the Student Assistance General Provisions, Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and Federal Direct Loan Program to implement certain provisions of the HEA that involve school-based loan issues and that were affected by the statutory changes.NASFAAMon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6390"Additional funding may still be required in order to maintain the current eligibility parameters of the [Pell Grant] program in FY2012," according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. Congress provided $17 billion in mandatory funding to shore up the Pell Grant program as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), but it may not be enough. The additional mandatory funds will make it easier to maintain the $5,550 maximum Pell, because lawmakers won't have to designate as much discretionary funding to the program to maintain the maximum award.NASFAATue, 16 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6221<p><span>After months of intense deficit reduction negotiations, both chambers of Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011 just hours before the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline. The House passed the bill Monday with a 269-to-161 vote, and the Senate voted 74-26 today to pass the $2.4 trillion debt-ceiling bill. P</span>resident Obama signed the bill shortly after the Senate vote.<span> The package includes additional mandatory funding for the Pell Grant program for fiscal years (FY) 2012 and 2013, elimination of the in-school loan interest subsidy for graduate and professional students and elimination of Direct Loan repayment incentives. In this article, NASFAA provides a detailed summary of the bill and how it will affect federal student aid programs.</span> </p>NASFAAWed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6229<p>This letter announces Federal Student Aid's instructor-led, Fundamentals of Title IV Administration training workshops scheduled for October 2011 through September 2012. Each workshop is four and one-half days in length and is conducted at one of the Department of Education’s regional training facilities. This announcement provides important information about the Fundamentals of Title IV Administration training workshops.</p>NASFAAWed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5974The Department of Education, Federal Student Aid (ED/FSA) are inviting state student aid grant agencies, join the Department in providing financial aid applicants from your state the ability to leverage data provided through the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) that will streamline the collection of information your state needs to determine applicants' eligibility for your state grant program(s).NASFAATue, 19 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5957The attachment to this announcement provides a summary of Direct Loan and FFEL borrower interest rates that will be effective beginning July 1, 2011. The top chart provides the rates for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2006 that have fixed rates for the life of the loan. The bottom chart provides rates for loans that were first disbursed between July 1, 1998 and June 30, 2006. These loans have variable interest rates that are reset each year.NASFAAMon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5962<p>The Department of Education announces the posting of the draft 2012-2013 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference, including the 2012-2013 Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) Record Layout and the 2012-2013 ISIR Cross-Reference table. The EDE Technical Reference provides record layouts for schools or other organizations that need to design software systems to interface with Federal Student Aid's application processing system to process student financial aid applications.</p>NASFAAMon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5914<p>Negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders on a package that would raise the debt ceiling and lower the national deficit could directly impact student aid funding for fiscal year (FY) 2012. This week, President Obama will continue to meet with congressional leadership to negotiate a deficit reduction package that would include enough spending cuts to convince Republicans to raise the debt ceiling before the Aug. 2 deadline when the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debt.</p>NASFAAWed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5883Members of the U.S. House of Representatives found themselves at odds, mostly along party lines, over the Department of Education's (ED) new Gainful Employment rule in a joint subcommittee hearing Friday. The Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training convened the joint hearing with the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending to address ED's final regulations governing the definition of gainful employment, which will affect the eligibility of certain educational programs for Title IV student assistance at all types of institutions.NASFAAMon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5882In Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #11, the Department of Education provided information on how an institution can determine whether an educational program is a Gainful Employment Program. This announcement provides guidance on the status of a degree program where a student may, in addition to earning the degree, also receive a certificate.NASFAAMon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5881As described in the June 23, 2011 electronic announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website, the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented new guidelines on June 25, 2011 for assigning Social Security Numbers (SSNs) that include assigning SSNs in previously unused numeric ranges.  The Department of Education is continuing to evaluate the impact this change will have on all Federal Student Aid systems and processes.NASFAAMon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5820Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) introduced a bill that would repeal the state authorization and credit hour definition regulations that took effect July 1. The Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act is the Senate companion to House bill H.R. 2117, which passed last month by a bipartisan vote of 27-11.NASFAATue, 05 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5819This presentation offers guidance to reporting Gainful Employment Data. Institutions must annually submit information on students enrolled in programs leading to gainful employment in a recognized occupation. The final Gainful Employment rule, published on June 13, 2011, defines "gainful employment" to be when a substantial number of the GE Program’s students are repaying their Title IV loans (repayment rate) and have a reasonable debt burden (debt to earnings ratio).NASFAATue, 05 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5764Each year in June, ED produces an overview of all three campus-based aid (CBA) programs for an award year: the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work-Study (FWS) and Federal Perkins Loan programs.  A good resource for those interested in national and state statistical comparisons, the Federal CBA Data Book 2011 provides information on fiscal and recipient data for the 2009-2010 award year as well as the institutional allocation data for the 2011-2012 award year.NASFAAWed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5763<p>This announcement provides the variable interest rates applicable to the Federal Stafford, Federal SLS, Federal PLUS, and Federal Consolidation loan programs for the period July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012. Interest rates for variable-rate loans under these programs are determined annually.</p> <div></div>NASFAAWed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5758<p>This Electronic Announcement reminds all holders of loans eligible for consolidation into a Direct Consolidation Loan of the long-held policy for handling underpayments and overpayments that may occur when the Department of Education pays off the underlying loans. This guidance does not apply to payoffs of federally-owned loans serviced by the Department’s federal loan servicers. For both underpayments and overpayments, the tolerances provided below apply to the aggregate eligible balance of principal, interest, fees, and collections costs.</p>NASFAAWed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5746<p>In Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #3 published on May 20, 2011, the Department of Education provided a correction to information in GEN-11-10 related to teacher preparation programs. GEN-11-10 identified both proprietary institutions and postsecondary vocational institutions together in the description of what educational programs are and are not GE Programs. However, any educational program that leads to a certificate or other non-degree credential awarded by a public or private non-profit institution, regardless of the length of the program, is a GE Program.</p>NASFAATue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5677<p>The New America Foundation's Education Policy Program has released the latest version of its Federal Education Budget Project (FEBP) website, designed to help you keep track of institutional financial aid numbers, demographics and outcomes. The FEBP also provides up-to-date information on every institution of higher education in the country, including the latest information on federal financial aid programs, trends and policy initiatives.</p>NASFAATue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5663The Department of Education announces the posting of EDExpress for Windows 2011-2012, Release 3.0, on the Department's FSAdownload website. Release 3.0 adds enhancements to the Federal Direct Loan module to store the new Previous Application ID field sent in PLUS Application Acknowledgment (CRSP12OP) files and require a valid SAR/ISIR transaction number on PLUS and Grad PLUS loan records. Additionally, Release 3.0 updates the 2011-2012 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules used by the Packaging and Pell Grant modules.NASFAATue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5662The Department of Education announces the availability of Federal Direct Loan Tools for Windows, Release 11.0, a supplemental software product for Direct Loan participants. DL Tools is available for download on our Federal Student Aid Download website. Volume IV of the 2011-2012 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference, which includes external import record layouts and other information for system administrators, is also available on the FSAdownload website.NASFAATue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5640<p> </p> <p>The Department of Education makes two correction to the notice document 2010-12812 appearing on pages 30139 through 30142 in the issue of Tuesday, May 24, 2011.</p> <p> </p>NASFAAFri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5614The U.S. House Education &amp; Workforce Committee approved a bill yesterday to repeal U.S. Department of Education’s regulations regarding the definition of a credit hour and state authorization for distance learning programs. The committee approved the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act (H.R. 2117) by a bipartisan vote of 27-11. The bill would effectively block the Department’s current attempt to define a credit hour and would also prohibit them from doing so in the future. It would also prohibit the implementation of the state authorization regulation.NASFAAThu, 16 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5602The Perkins Loan Program is currently set to expire in 2014, however President Obama has proposed reforming — and thereby extending — the program in his fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget request. Department officials and campus leaders gathered in Washington, DC yesterday to discuss the Perkins Loan Program, the challenges it faces and reform efforts.  The meeting was convened by Northeastern University and the U.S. Department of Education and the discussion was led by Northeastern’s president Joseph Auon and featured introductory remarks from the Department's Under Secretary Martha Kanter.NASFAAWed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5601<p>On June 13, 2011, the Federal Register published final regulations on Program Integrity: Gainful Employment - Debt Measures. Although these regulations go into effect July 1, 2012, the regulations published October 29, 2010 retain their effective date of July 1, 2011. The Department of Education has also identified two instances where internet links within the Federal Register document are incorrect.</p>NASFAAWed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5594Awards for the Federal Work-Study (FWS), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), and Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) programs, authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, for the 2011-2012 Award Year (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012) have been approved for the schools listed in the attached three reports. Each report covers specific states, and the schools are listed alphabetically within the state in which they are located.NASFAAWed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5555NASFAA joined several other higher education associations in signing onto a letter supporting legislation that would halt the Department of Education's regulations on state authorization and the definition of a credit hour.NASFAAMon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5556The Department of Education has a particularly strong interest in ensuring that institutions that are heavily reliant on Federal funding promote student academic and career opportunities. These final gainful employment regulations are designed to (1) provide institutions with better metrics and more time to assess their program outcomes and thereby a greater opportunity to improve the performance of their gainful employment programs before those programs lose eligibility for Federal student aid funds, and (2) identify accurately the worst performing gainful employment programs. At the same time, the final regulations require that these federally funded programs meet minimal standards because students and taxpayers have too much at stake to allow otherwise.NASFAAMon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5553This is second in a series of announcements that provides processing information for schools participating in the Federal Direct Loan Program. This announcement provides an overview of the Direct Loan funding process, including introductory funding definitions, initial funding, funding increases, requesting funds and contact information.NASFAAMon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5552The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS), one of the Department of Education’s five federal loan servicers, plans to transition to a new loan servicing system in fall 2011.  In addition to the new system, the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) will launch new websites for schools as well as Federal Direct Loan borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients. This is the first in a series of announcements through which ED will inform the community of the transition.NASFAAMon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5536A new report finds that net price calculators (NPCs) have the potential to help students and parents gather and compare college expenses and financial aid information, but suffer from limitations due in part to a lack of comparability from institution to institution. The report, titled, "The Bottom Line: Ensuring That Students and Parents Understand the Net Price of College," was conducted by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance to advise the U.S. Department of Education on the implementation of NPCs in accordance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008, which requires each institution to provide an NPC on its website by fall 2011, using a Department of Education template as guidance.NASFAAFri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5528This article is the first of three summarizing the new gainful employment regulations.  Part one introduces the final rule and details one of the three measures: repayment rate.NASFAAThu, 09 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5522This announcement includes charts showing the variable interest rates applicable to the Federal Stafford, Federal SLS, Federal PLUS, and Federal Consolidation loan programs for the period July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012. Interest rates for variable-rate loans under these programs are determined annually.NASFAAThu, 09 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5507Some institutions are offering, or wish to offer, an opportunity for a student to attend a program for a relatively short period, which sometimes is called a "trial" or "conditional" period, without incurring program charges or receiving Federal Title IV student assistance, unless and until the student continues beyond the end of that period and enrolls as a regular student. To ensure equitable and consistent treatment of students when institutions offer such programs, this letter describes a type of trial period that provides an opportunity for a student to take classes on a trial basis before deciding to continue attending the program as a regular student.NASFAAWed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5487In recent years, the origination fee for Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans has been incrementally reduced each July 1 as part of the changes to the student loan programs made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA). The up-front interest rebate has also been declining each July 1. The origination fee reduction made for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2010 was the last such reduction required under HERA. Therefore, the origination fee and up-front interest rebates will not change for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2011.NASFAATue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5486<p>Institutions that offer a Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP) Program can apply to the Department’s Federal Student Aid office to have their CTP Program approved so that eligible students may be considered for Federal Pell Grant, Federal Work-Study, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant funds. This guidance includes the steps an institution must take to apply to have a CTP Program determined to be eligible to participate in the Title IV Federal aid programs.</p>NASFAATue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5494While the Department of Education is in the process of preparing additional Dear Colleague Letters on other topics of the October 29, 2010 regulations, we provide the following guidance related to satisfactory academic progress (SAP) reviews for students in clock  hour programs. The institution’s SAP policy must establish the maximum timeframe and the pace component for students in an educational program. The required SAP evaluations ensure that the student is making appropriate academic progress to complete his or her program within the context of these time-based parameters.NASFAATue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5484The Gainful Employment Webinar #1 Implementation of Disclosures and Reporting Requirements presentation conducted on May 25 and May 26 is now available in PDF format. The webinar features guidance on gainful employment authorities, regulations, effective dates, disclosure and reporting requirements and resources.NASFAATue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5496The Department of Education has announced deadline and submission dates for the receipt of documents and other information from institutions and applicants for the Federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, for the 2010-2011 award year.NASFAATue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5447The final gainful employment regulations retain the framework of the proposed regulations, but ED made significant modifications in response to many concerns expressed by the higher education community. This article provides an overview of the gainful employment measures defined in the final regulations, and the penalties institutions face if they don't meet the new standards. We will provide a more in-depth analysis of the rules next week and a webinar for members later this month.NASFAAFri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5432This Electronic Announcement provides operational guidance on the implementation of the new regulatory requirements related to the addition of a new gainful employment (GE) program by an institution. For new GE Programs where the first day of class will begin on or after July 1, 2011 and before Oct. 1, 2011, notification must be provided no later than July 1. For new GE Programs where the first day of class will begin on or after October 1, 2011, institutions must provide notification to the Department at least 90 days prior to the first day of class.NASFAAThu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5411<p>In recent school reviews, the Department of Education (ED) has seen a few schools that are submitting their professional judgment (PJ)  adjustments to the Central Processing System (CPS) without identifying them as PJ adjustments. This practice makes PJ adjustments indistinguishable from corrections. With the new targeted verification regulations effective for the 2012-13 award year, ED needs to know which changes are corrections so that it can properly identify error-prone data elements.</p>NASFAAWed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5414<p>May 31 -- Congress is considering proposals to create a more sustainable maximum award level, roll back some of the need analysis changes enacted in previous legislation and set stricter lifetime time limits on eligibility for Pell Grant aid, according to a May 2011 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. The report examines the current state of the Pell Grant program and the funding challenges for the fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget caused by the growing number of applicants and expanded eligibility. </p>NASFAAWed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5399<p>Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Final Guidance Interpreting the Provisions of Public Law 100-503, the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, 54 FR 25818 (June 19, 1989), and OMB Circular A-130, Appendix I, notice is hereby given of the renewal of the computer matching program between the U.S. Department of Education (ED) (the recipient agency) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (the source agency). After the ED and VA Data Integrity Boards approve a new computer matching agreement (CMA), the computer matching program will begin on the effective date.</p> <p> </p>NASFAATue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5379More than 8 million students received Pell Grants in 2009-10, up from 6.2 million in 2008-09, according to the U.S. Department of Education's 2009-10 Federal Pell Grant Program End-of-Year Report. The increase in Pell recipients fueled rising costs for the Pell program as total program spending increased from $18.3 billion in 2008-09 to nearly $30 billion in 2009-10. The current debate in Congress over reducing the deficit has made the growing Pell Grant program a target for spending cuts. Though Congress is just beginning the FY2012 budget process, the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate will have to reach a compromise before they come to a final agreement on spending levels.NASFAAFri, 27 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5381Federal Student Aid is pleased to announce the availability of the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Computer-Based Training (CBT). The updated component simulations and CBTs will be posted over the next several months (May - September 2011). To assist a school in determining when each simulation or CBT is posted, we include the month and year after each file name.NASFAAFri, 27 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5371May 26 -The Senate rejected the House-passed budget resolution yesterday that would have reduced Pell Grant funding to fiscal year (FY) 2008 levels. As expected, the vote fell primarily along party lines, with all Democrats voting against the measure, along with five Republicans. The Budget Resolution passed in the House on April 15, and proposes deep cuts to all non-defense discretionary programs.NASFAAThu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5370The higher Stafford Loan limits enacted for the 2007-08 academic year (AY) didn't drive up the price of higher education, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report published yesterday. In addition, GAO found that the higher loan limits didn't increase undergraduate enrollment. GAO also found that the percentage of borrowers taking out maximum loan amounts declined after loan limits were raised.NASFAAThu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5351In the next step of the fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget process, the The House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to approve House-set FY 2012 spending limits for the 12 appropriations subcommittees.  The spending limit for the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee - known as the 302(b) allocations - is $140 billion, nearly $42 billion less than President Obama proposed in his FY2012 budget request. It is up to the subcommittee to determine how to reduce program spending by that amount, but the size of the federal student aid programs will make them a likely target for cuts.NASFAAWed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5355NASFAA joined 30 higher education associations to urge the U.S. Department of Education to reconsider its proposed changes to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations.NASFAAWed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5341The Final Funding Worksheets for the 2011-2012 Campus-Based Authorizations recalculated with funding levels provided in the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 were updated on May 20, 2011 to include 2011-12 Perkins Program Level of Expenditure data and are now available on the Self-Service page on the eCampus-Based (eCB) website. There were no changes to the 2011-12 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant or Work Study final awards that were provided on May 17, 2011.NASFAATue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5342The Secretary announces the annual updates to the tables that will be used in the statutory "Federal Need Analysis Methodology" to determine a student's expected family contribution (EFC) for award year 2012-2013 for the student financial aid programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The Title IV programs include the Pell Grant, Perkins Loan, Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Direct Loan, and the Teach Grant Programs.NASFAATue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5316<p>The draft FY 2009 national student loan cohort default rate is 8.9 percent. The draft rate increased from the national FY 2008 official rate of 7.0 percent and the national FY 2007 official rate of 6.7 percent. The FY 2009 draft cohort default rates represent the percentage of borrowers in the Federal Family Education Loan and Federal Direct Loan programs who began repaying their loans between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009, and who defaulted on or before September 30, 2010.</p>NASFAAMon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5308<p>On April 20, 2011 the Department posted Dear Colleague Letter GEN-11-10 providing institutions with guidance on the new gainful employment program regulatory requirements. This Electronic Announcement corrects the information provided in the Dear Colleague Letter related to teacher certification programs at all types of institutions.</p>NASFAAMon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5318Volume 6 is presented below as a master PDF file, comprising a table of contents and all chapters, followed by separate PDF files for each chapter of the Volume. Scroll down the page to see all the hyperlinked titles for each chapter (listed as attachments). Opening the PDF files requires version 4.0 or greater of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.NASFAAMon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5310The Department of Education has posted a list of Frequently Asked Questions to provide information and operational guidance on the requirements of the new gainful employment regulations. Institutions must review the final regulations as published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2010, to ensure that they are in compliance with all of the GE Program requirements.NASFAAMon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5275Think that gainful employment rules don’t apply to public or private non-profit institutions? Think again! Gainful employment rules apply to all non-degree programs, including certificate programs, offered by public and non-profit institutions and virtually all academic programs offered by proprietary institutions.NASFAAThu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5244The 2011-2012 version of the ISIR Analysis Tool is now available through the FAA Main Menu of the FAA Access to CPS Online website. The ISIR Analysis Tool is designed for any school that wants to review and analyze its Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) data and better understand certain characteristics about its Title IV applicant population and verification process (either selected by the U.S. Department of Education or defined by the school).NASFAATue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5169On May 15, 2011, the Department of Education plans to implement COD System functionality that changes how a school will use the Additional Eligibility Indicator (AEI) for the 2011-2012 Award Year and forward. Additionally, a school will no longer be able to award or disburse more than 100 percent of the student's Scheduled Federal Pell Grant (SFPG).NASFAAWed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=4823If you're a male over the age of 18 and looking to apply for federal financial aid, you will be are required to register with Selective Service. Virtually all men living in the United States and U.S. citizens living abroad are required by law to register at the age of 18 with Selective Service. Failure to register for Selective Services law could harm your eligibility for federal student loans and grant programs, job training and employment.NASFAATue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5127The Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (P. L. 112-10), was enacted on April 15, 2011 and provided final FY 2011 appropriations for the Campus-Based programs. As a result of this legislation, Campus-Based Funding Authorizations originally announced in the Electronic Announcement dated April 1, 2011 were affected by the revised 2011-2012 funding levels and awards have been recalculated for all schools. Final funding worksheets and the 2011-2012 Statement of Account for each of the Campus-Based programs will be posted to the eCampus-Based (eCB) website during the week of May 9, 2011.NASFAAMon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5126<p>On October 29, 2010, the Department published in the Federal Register final regulations on several program integrity issues. These regulations are (except for the new verification rules) effective July 1, 2011. The changes to §668.22, known as the Return of Title IV Funds regulations, apply to students who withdraw from payment periods or periods of enrollment that begin on or after July 1, 2011. This means that they do not apply to students who withdraw from a 2011 crossover payment period even if the student received Title IV, HEA program funds from the 2011-2012 award year for that crossover payment period.</p>NASFAAMon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5036The Higher Education Act provides that the Federal share of awards made to students under the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Program may not exceed 75 percent.  The 25 percent non-Federal share of FSEOG awards must come from an institution's own resources, including institutional scholarships and grants, tuition or fee waivers, State scholarships and grants, and foundation or other charitable organization funds.  In response to inquiries concerning the use of State scholarships for FSEOG matching purposes, the Department had determined that all State scholarship and grant amounts, except for amounts from the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) and the Grants for Access and Persistence (GAP) awards, are eligible to be used to meet the non-Federal share requirement for the FSEOG Program.NASFAAMon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5006<strong>April 28 --</strong> The Department of Education released guidance on the impact of the fiscal year (FY) 2011 long-term continuing resolution (CR) on the Pell Grant Program for award year 2011-12. The letter confirms that the long-term CR eliminates second scheduled Pell awards beginning with award year 2011-12, but also maintains a maximum award of $5,550 for the upcoming academic year.NASFAAThu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=4976NASFAA's leaders rely on members' input to strengthen the association. We encourage you to share any comments, concerns, issues or ideas related to the association with a NASFAA Representative-At-Large (RAL) on the NASFAA Board of Directors. The RALs deliver members' input on NASFAA's products and services and general federal aid policies and issues to the association's leadership. The process only works with your involvement, so let your voice be heard!NASFAAMon, 06 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6066On July 13th, the Department of Education (ED) published both a notice in the <em>Federal Register</em> and a Dear Colleague Letter (GEN-11-13) identifying the data elements from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that must be verified for the 2012-13 award year. The guidance also defines acceptable documentation for the items subject to verification. Revamped verification regulations become effective on July 1, 2012; schools must follow the new regulations for any verification they complete for the 2012-13 award year.NASFAATue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=4941This is the first in a series of announcements providing processing information for schools participating in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Each announcement is intended to provide operational guidance about a particular aspect of the Direct Loan process.NASFAAFri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5715The Department of Education has modified the NSLDS Professional Access website to permit lenders and lender servicers access to borrowers only when there is an existing relationship between the organization and the borrower on NSLDS.  Lenders and lender servicers no longer have access to a borrower's information solely to determine if a relationship can be established.NASFAAFri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5730The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) will launch new websites for schools as well as Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) borrowers and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant recipients. Questions and Answers (Q&amp;As) about the transition to the new system and websites for the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) are available for school customers in the News and Updates section of the current Direct Loan Servicing Online for Schools website.NASFAAMon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5729In a May 27, 2011 Electronic Announcement on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals website, we provided an update on the completion of the initial wave of enhanced reporting of Federal Direct Loan Program loans serviced by the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) under its new ED Servicer code, 583. The reporting was completed on May 29, 2011.NASFAAMon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5784Congress has required the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to deliver two estimates on proposed changes to the federal Perkins Loan program. One estimate projects savings from Perkins reform while the other projects costs.  Which will Congress choose and what do these conflicting estimates mean for the 2012-13 Pell Grant shortfall that was to be partially plugged with savings from Perkins? Read on to find out.NASFAAThu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5783<p><p>Growing concern over cuts to the Pell Grant program has many in the higher education community examining ways to modify the program to mitigate cost and dissuade Congress from reducing the maximum award. In its advocacy efforts, and in evaluating any potential changes to student aid programs or funding, NASFAA adheres to a set of core principles, originally created by NASFAA members as part of the NASFAA Reauthorization Taskforce and updated during the National Conversation Initiative.</p> </p>NASFAAThu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5777The Department of Education announces the availability of the report, "Analysis of the Experimental Sites Initiative: 2009-10.” This report contains findings from 79 schools participating in the seven currently active experiments.NASFAAThu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5842For the quarter ending June 30, 2011 the average rate used to compute special allowance will be 0.19 percent. For loans made prior to January 1, 2000, the Special Allowance rate is calculated by using the average of the bond equivalent rates of the 91-day Treasury bills as published by the Department of the Treasury. For the quarter ending June 30, 2011, the average of the rates is 0.05 percent.NASFAAThu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5863The Nelnet Total and Permanent Disability Servicer is now the one entity that processes and services all total and permanent disability discharge assignments and referrals—both general (non veterans) and veterans—for the Department of Education.NASFAAFri, 08 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5941The distance education provision of the state authorization rule was struck down by a U.S. District Court on grounds that institutions were not given proper time to comment or comply with the regulation.  The ruling was part of larger lawsuit against the Department of Education (ED) by the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU), challenging the validity of three areas of the program integrity rules that were released on Oct. 29, 2010: state authorization, misrepresentation, and incentive compensation.NASFAAFri, 15 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5939<p>The Federal Loan School Support Team (FLSST) will enhance the administration of federally-owned loans by providing assistance to schools and soliciting feedback about processing experiences, from origination through repayment. The FLSST will augment—not replace—the Department of Education's established customer service call centers. Schools should continue to use the established customer service call centers to support their day-to-day operations. </p>NASFAAFri, 15 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6016<p>Despite the looming Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline, the Obama administration and congressional leaders have not reached a compromise on spending cuts and tax reform. Several deficit reduction plans have emerged over the past week, but none of them include enough spending cuts to convince Republicans to raise the debt ceiling before the Aug. 2 deadline when the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debt. Negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders on a package that would raise the debt ceiling and lower the national deficit could include provisions to reduce student aid funding for fiscal year (FY) 2012.   </p>NASFAAThu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5996This letter provides guidance on one area of the final regulations published on October 29, 2010, addressing program integrity issues: the Return of Title IV Funds. The enclosure to this letter provides additional guidance on one area of these final regulations: the Return of Title IV Funds - i.e., the provisions governing the treatment of Title IV, HEA grant and loan funds when a student withdraws from an institution.NASFAAThu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6020This announcement provides important information about the 2010-11 Campus-Based Reallocation Form and reallocation process. This form is used in the Federal Work-Study (FWS) and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) programs to release unexpended portions of a school’s 2010-2011 allocations or to request supplemental 2011-2012 FWS funds for community service jobs.NASFAAFri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6023Volume 1 is presented below as a master PDF file, comprising a table of contents and all chapters, followed by separate PDF files for each chapter of the Volume. Scroll down the page to see all the hyperlinked titles for each chapter (listed as attachments). Opening the PDF files requires version 4.0 or greater of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.NASFAAFri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6030The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting Guide includes a table of contents, three chapters, and an appendix. This guide assumes reader familiarity with basic computer terminology and concepts. The NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide is attached in Microsoft Word Format and in Portable Document Format (PDF).NASFAAFri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6021<p>This announcement is to provide schools with information that we e-mail to state and territorial education agencies soliciting the submission of updated lists of low-income schools and educational service agencies for inclusion in the Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits. This directory is also known as the Teacher Cancellation Low-Income Directory (TCLI Directory). The website is now available to accept listings for the 2011-2012 school year as well as any changes to prior years, as appropriate.</p>NASFAAFri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6061This announcement contains the Department of Education's "Gainful Employment NASFAA 2011" presentation delivered at the National NASFAA Conference last week in Boston. The presentation is available in Microsoft Powerpoint (PPT) and Portable Document Format (PDF).NASFAAMon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6067TEACH Grant Exit Counseling is now available on the NSLDS Student Access website for students, and corresponding enhancements to the NSLDS Professional Access website are now available for schools. The addition of TEACH Grant Exit Counseling to NSLDS means that the Department of Education now offers a full range of exit counseling tools in one location.NASFAATue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6111This letter reviews the conditions and documentation that support the use of dependency overrides by financial aid administrators and offers several examples of such dependency overrides. In unusual circumstances, financial aid administrators are given the authority to determine that a student is independent; this is a dependency override. Dependency override decisions must be made on a student-by-student basis, and the basis for each determination must be well documented in the student’s file.NASFAAThu, 28 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6141The House postponed its vote on Speaker of the House John Boehner’s debt reduction plan Thursday. According to reports, House Republicans were unhappy that the House bill included $17 billion in supplemental spending for Pell Grants, which some compare to welfare. NASFAA strongly urges lawmakers to reject any proposals to balance the budget on the backs of low-income students.NASFAAFri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6133One of the methods that schools can use to report required gainful employment data to the U.S. Department of Education is using the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Professional Access website. When the online reporting option is implemented on Sept. 26, 2011, schools may use the NSLDS Gainful Employment Submittal Template to assist with the online reporting process.NASFAAFri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6134<p>The Department of Education (ED) will conduct a public meeting to discuss and offer recommendations for improvements to student financial aid offer forms, as required by section 484 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). To inform the discussion at the public meeting, ED invites written comments on how to improve the information to be included in financial aid offer forms. The meeting will be held on Sept. 13, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the U.S. Department of Education.</p>NASFAAFri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6218The Department of Education has made available the updated 2011-12 Federal School Code (FSC) List of Participating Schools on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. The Federal School Code List contains the unique codes assigned by the Department of Education for schools participating in the Title IV federal student aid programs.NASFAATue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6242<p>An update to the Procedures for institutional notification to the Department of new GE Programs using Federal Student Aid’s (FSA's) Application for Approval to Participate in the Federal Student Financial Aid Programs (E-App) is attached to this Electronic Announcement. These procedures, originally included with Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #5, have been updated to reflect an E-App system update effective July 31, 2011. Institutions should now use these updated Procedures for Institutional Notification to the Department of New GE Programs to report new GE Programs.</p>NASFAAThu, 04 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6241The Department of Education (ED) has made available a revised Federal Direct PLUS Loan Application and Master Promissory Note. In addition, ED is now offering the Direct PLUS Loan MPN in Spanish. Detailed implementation guidance for schools that will print the revised Direct PLUS Loan MPN is attached to this announcement.NASFAAThu, 04 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6259The Department of Education (ED) has updated the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Gainful Employment User Guide, now available on the NSLDS User Documentation page on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. Institutions should use information in the updated guide to prepare their systems to submit required gainful employment information to the ED.NASFAAFri, 05 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6282This announcement and its attachments provide updated information about the required processes for liquidating a Federal Perkins Loan portfolio when a school ends participation in the Perkins Loan Program as well as processes for assigning Perkins Loans to the Department of Education. The assignment form, as approved by the Office of Management and Budget, and instructions for the form are also included.NASFAAMon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6283The Department of Education has created a new e-mail address to facilitate the process for schools discontinuing participation in the Federal Perkins Loan Program and liquidating their Perkins Loan portfolios. The specific purpose of the new e-mail address is for communication between schools and the Department's Perkins Liquidation Team concerning the Perkins Loan portfolio liquidation process.NASFAAMon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6317Final regulations published in the Federal Register on Oct. 29, 2010 require institutions that participate in the student financial assistance programs to report certain information about students who are enrolled in Title IV-eligible educational programs that lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation (GE Programs). The purpose of this announcement is to provide institutions with more information on how to submit the explanation if there was an unusual situation (such as a natural disaster) that prevents an institution from providing all of the required information.NASFAAWed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6316Federal Student Aid announces the posting of the draft Application Processing System Specifications for Software Developers for the 2012-13 cycle. Testing of these specifications will not be complete until January 2012. Software developers should be prepared to receive updates to the specifications until that time.NASFAAWed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6331The attached announcement provides information on the submission by FFEL Guaranty Agencies of proposals for Voluntary Flexible Agreements (VFAs) in response to a Federal Register notice that was published on May 31, 2011.NASFAAThu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6330<p>Federal Student Aid announces the availability of the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Computer-Based Training (CBT). To prepare users for downloading and navigating the COD CBT, this announcement provides information on COD CBT components, system requirements, use and navigation.</p>NASFAAThu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6355Congressional leadership has chosen the 12 members that will comprise the bipartisan Super Committee -— a group  tasked with developing legislation to create at least $1.5 trillion in future deficit reduction by Thanksgiving. The Super Committee is mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and could have a direct impact on future student aid funding levels.NASFAAFri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6354This Federal Perkins Loan provider Technical Update provides clarification regarding the effective date to be reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) in connection with loan status code “VA.”  The update is in Microsoft Word Format and in Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF file requires version 4.0 or greater of the free Adobe Acrobat reader.NASFAAFri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6353This Guaranty Agency (GA) Technical Update provides clarification regarding the effective date to be reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) in connection with loan status code “VA.” The update is in Microsoft Word Format and in Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF file requires version 4.0 or greater of the free Adobe Acrobat reader.NASFAAFri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6352The Obama administration’s revamped Voluntary Flexible Agreement (VFA) program provides guaranty agencies an opportunity to reinvent themselves.NASFAAMon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6371These Frequently Asked Questions provide information and operational guidance on the requirements of the new gainful employment regulations. Institutions must review the final regulations as published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2010, to ensure that they are in compliance with all of the GE Program requirements. The listing of Frequently Asked Questions will be updated periodically and include the date of the update. If you have questions that have not been addressed, please submit them to the GE Questions mailbox at <a href="mailto:GE-Questions@ed.gov">GE-Questions@ed.gov</a>.NASFAAMon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6427Americans now overwhelmingly believe that college degrees are essential to addressing the employment and financial uncertainty facing our country, according to a new Gallup study done in conjunction with Lumina Foundation. The survey of 1,001 Americans finds that 95% think a postsecondary degree is very or somewhat important for financial security and 47% agree that people who have a college degree have a good chance of finding a quality job (10% disagree).NASFAAFri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6510The second ACA payment for the 2010-11 Award Year is based on records that the COD System has processed from the date the Department of Education (ED) processed the first ACA payments for the 2010-11 Award Year (February 14, 2011) up to the date that ED process the second ACA payments for the 2010-2011 Award Year.  ED began processing the second ACA payments for all schools on Aug. 22, 2011.  Schools will begin to see these payments deposited directly into their bank accounts over the next few weeks.NASFAAFri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6509The third and final ACA payment for the 2009-2010 Award Year is based on records that the COD System has processed from the date the Department of Education (ED) processed the second ACA payments for the 2009-2010 Award Year (August 23, 2010) up to the date that ED process the third and final ACA payments for the 2009-10 Award Year. ED began processing the third and final ACA payments for all schools on August 22, 2011. Schools will begin to see these payments deposited directly into their bank accounts over the next few weeks.NASFAAFri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6515As explained in previous communications, Federal Student Aid awarded four new contracts in June 2009 to provide additional servicing capacity for loans owned by the Department of Education. These loans include Direct Loan Program loans and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans purchased by the Department under the authority granted the Secretary in the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act (ECASLA) and through methods commonly referred to as a “PUT.”NASFAAFri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6508On September 2, 2011, the Department of Education (ED) will send the message class "MESSAGTB" via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) to all user mailboxes. The EDconnect transmission software will automatically request, download, and import this new message class table with a user's next connection to the SAIG network. Once the MESSAGTB file has been imported, the new message class table will be used from that point forward.NASFAAFri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6513<p>In light of the recent earthquake in Virginia and storms in the Atlantic, a disaster may impact the ability of your institution or your students to fulfill obligations related to the Federal student assistance programs. The Department of Education (ED) encourages all institutions that have not done so already to provide ED with alternate contact information for critical personnel.</p>NASFAAFri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6566The Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) will begin the first of three communication campaigns on August 29, 2011. Through this campaign, each borrower who has one or more web payments scheduled for debit after September 30, 2011 will receive an e-mail or a virtual phone message from the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS). The individual will be provided with the two options for handling the affected web payments. As always, borrowers may contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) to ask questions and/or validate the legitimacy of the communication.NASFAATue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6602This letter provides a summary of changes made to the Direct Loan Program by the recently enacted Budget Control Act of 2011. Effective for loans made for periods of enrollment (loan periods) beginning on or after July 1, 2012<em>,</em> graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive Federal Direct Subsidized Loans. The terms and conditions of Direct Subsidized Loans received by any student for loan periods beginning before July 1, 2012, for either graduate or undergraduate study, are not affected by this change.NASFAAThu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6601This announcement provides further information on courses of study that are designed to provide students with coursework necessary for enrollment in a gainful employment program.  Generally, to receive Federal student assistance from programs, a student must be enrolled in an educational program that leads to a degree, certificate, or other credential awarded by the institution. However, there is one exception to this statutory requirement, where an otherwise eligible student at a public, private nonprofit, or proprietary institution of higher education may receive Direct Loan Program funding for one period of 12 consecutive months during which the student is enrolled in a course of study.NASFAAThu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6598<p>Federal Student Aid (FSA) has made the available the fourth group of updated modules of the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Computer‑Based Training (CBT). FSA will post the remaining CBT modules over the next several months. </p>NASFAAThu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6614<p>NASFAA President Justin Draeger recommended to the Department of Education (ED) key elements and model formats to improve award letters for students and their families.</p>NASFAATue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6707On Monday, Sept. 12, 2011, the Department of Education (ED) distributed the FY 2009 Official Cohort Default Rate (CDR) notification packages to all eligible domestic and foreign schools. In this announcement, ED provides information about distribution of the official rates and the begin dates for appealing the official rates.NASFAATue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6708This guide contains information about the publication of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 cohort default rates for originating lenders, current holders, and guaranty agencies participating in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, as mandated by the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. The term cohort default rate, for any fiscal year where 30 or more student borrowers enter repayment, is the percentage of those borrowers who enter repayment on certain FFEL Program loans during a particular fiscal year and default within the same fiscal year or within the next fiscal year.NASFAATue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6706This announcement provides a "Briefing on National Default Rates." Some schools have a small number of borrowers entering repayment. At other schools, only a small portion of the student body takes out student loans. In such cases, the cohort default rate should be interpreted with caution.NASFAATue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6762<p>With only weeks until the end of fiscal year (FY) 2011 on Sept. 30 and Congress far from completing the FY 2012 budget, lawmakers are again looking to pass a Continuing Resolution to give them more time to finalize the FY 2012 budget. In compliance the Budget Control Act of 2011 passed this summer to raise the debt ceiling, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) introduced a FY 2012 Continuing Resolution (CR) that includes a 1.409 percent cut to projected FY 2012 spending to meet an overall $1.043 trillion cap. Though it is unclear how the House CR would affect the Department of Education’s budget, the Pell Grant Program and other financial aid programs will most likely not be affected by this short-term spending bill.</p>NASFAAFri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=5005This letter provides institutions with information about the 2011-2012 Pell Grant Program Payment and Disbursement Schedules, changes made to the eligibility of students for second Scheduled Awards and changes to the requirements for awarding a Federal Pell Grant for a 2011 crossover payment period. In addition, this letter reminds institutions that 2010-2011 is the last award year for the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and National SMART Grant (SMART Grant) programs.NASFAAThu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6782This is the third in a series of announcements providing processing information for schools participating in the Federal Direct Loan Program. Each announcement is intended to provide operational guidance about a particular aspect of the Direct Loan process.NASFAAMon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6783<p>In a September 12, 2011 Electronic Announcement posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professional (IFAP) website, the Department of Education (ED) communicated that it distributed the fiscal year (FY) 2009 Official Cohort Default Rate (eCDR) notification packages to all eligible domestic and foreign schools via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). The eCDR package consisted of a rate notification letter and the Loan Record Detail Report (LRDR) for Cohort Year 2009 in both report and extract format. ED has discovered an issue with the LRDRs for some schools.</p>NASFAAMon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6784<p>On September 15, 2011, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the appointment of James W. Runcie as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Department’s Federal Student Aid office (FSA). Runcie joined Federal Student Aid in 2009 as an advisor and was named Deputy Chief Operating Officer in 2010. He has served as the Acting Chief Operating Officer since June. </p>NASFAAMon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6826<p>The Senate Appropriations Committee's fiscal year (FY) 2012 Labor-H spending bill protects the maximum $5,550 Pell Grant for award year 2012-13 by eliminating the in-school interest subsidy on undergraduate federal student loans for the six-month grace period and redirects those savings into the Pell program. All other student aid programs, including the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), are funded at the same level as last year. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives rejected a temporary, stop-gap spending bill that would have maintained funding for federal programs from the end of FY 2011 on Sept. 30 through Nov. 18. With just a week until the end of the fiscal year and Congress far from completing the FY 2012 budget, lawmakers need to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to fund programs while they debate 2012 spending levels.</p> <p> </p>NASFAAThu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6829The Default Reduction Assistance Program (DRAP) assists schools in bringing defaulted Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) borrowers back into repayment before their accounts are sent to collection agencies. A letter is sent from the Department of Education (ED) on official letterhead to defaulted Perkins Loan borrowers. It explains the serious consequences of default including the inability to obtain other federally supported financial assistance, withholding of federal and state income tax refunds, salary garnishment, and damage to credit history.NASFAAThu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6839The Department of Education (ED) has made available an updated National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Gainful Employment User Guide, now available on the NSLDS User Documentation page of the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. Institutions should use information in the updated guide to prepare their systems to submit required gainful employment information to ED.NASFAAFri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6840During the period Oct. 21-22, 2011, the Department of Education (ED) will update the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System to begin accepting single disbursement loans from schools whose cohort default rate for each of the three most recent fiscal years for which data are available is less than 15 percent.NASFAAFri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6854New survey shows college rankings produced by <em>U.S. News and World Report</em> leave students and families confused about college quality.NASFAAMon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6856This announcement contains a letter from FSA Chief Operating Officer James W. Runcie. The letter was emailed to presidents of institutions of higher education that are currently participating in the federal student aid programs. This letter discusses the gainful employment regulatory reporting requirements and the resources that are available to institutions to assist them with these requirements.NASFAAMon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6855Since June 2011, the Department of Education (ED) has communicated that the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS), one of ED's six federal loan servicers, plans to transition to a new loan servicing system. In addition to the new system, the ACS will launch new websites for schools as well as Federal Direct Loan borrowers and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant recipients. The implementation of the new system and websites is scheduled for Oct. 10, 2011.NASFAAMon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6852Federal Student Aid (FSA) is moving into the next step in ensuring an efficient and effective multi-servicer, borrower-centric approach to servicing. FSA will further expand its federal loan servicer team through contracts awarded under the HCERA/SAFRA Not-For-Profit (NFP) Servicer Program solicitation. This solicitation offered NFP entities the opportunity to submit proposals individually or in teams for servicing borrower accounts on FSA's behalf. Whether individual or team award, FSA customers will know and face one servicer. The Department of Education will annually measure each servicer’s performance in the areas of borrower satisfaction and default management and use the results to assign additional volume when applicable.NASFAAMon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6894In this notice of proposed rulemaking, the Department of Education (ED) proposes to eliminate the notification process for new gainful employment programs by amending the Gainful Employment—New Programs final regulations to establish a smaller group of gainful employment programs for which an institution must obtain approval from the Department. ED believes that with these changes, these proposed regulations will significantly reduce burden on institutions and the Department while still ensuring the effectiveness of the debt measures established in the Gainful Employment—Debt Measures final regulations.NASFAAWed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6921<p> </p> <p>To cut federal spending, Congress eliminated subsidized loan eligibility for graduate and professional students effective with enrollment periods beginning on or after July 1, 2012. The elimination of Direct Subsidized Loan eligibility for graduate and professional students will mean a sharp increase in the number of students who are eligible for only unsubsidized student financial assistance and therefore, are not subject to ED’s verification requirements. Note, however, that graduate and professional students may still be selected for verification by the Central Processing System (CPS).</p> <p> </p>NASFAAThu, 29 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6905On Sept. 27, 2011, the Department of Education (ED) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM) that proposes changes to the regulations to streamline the application and approval process for new educational programs that qualify for student financial assistance under title IV of the HEA. The deadline for submitting comments to this NPRM is Nov. 14, 2011. Please carefully review the information in the NPRM for the procedures to be used for the submission and review of comments.NASFAAThu, 29 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6912<p>This electronic announcement provides information on how institutions disclose information for gainful employment programs when the institution offers more than one educational program with the same CIP Code and Credential Level. The first thing an institution should do is to review the CIP Code it had assigned to its educational programs to ensure that it has assigned the most appropriate and descriptive CIP Codes.</p>NASFAAThu, 29 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6934Schools that do not have any academic programs subject to gainful employment regulations  must report that fact to the Department of Education (ED) by October 1, 2011. NASFAA staff have confirmed this guidance with ED. Some schools mistakenly believe that gainful employment regulations do not apply to any of their programs. ED estimates that 5,000 out of the 6,000 Title IV-participating schools have at least one program subject to gainful employment rules (GE program).NASFAAFri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6953<p>Schools may be clear on the changes to the satisfactory academic progress (SAP) regulations, however what may be less apparent is how to make them work for their student populations. Institutions may find themselves scratching their heads when dealing with students who left their institution years ago for SAP issues and are now returning.  The questions:  Under what status should these students return?  If the school reviews SAP each payment period and the student was not making SAP when last enrolled, can the student be placed on financial aid warning for one payment period?<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"> </span>Based upon guidance received from the Department of Education (ED), assuming students return under the same status they left, if an institution reviews SAP after each payment period, these students could return under financial aid warning for their first payment period.  </p>NASFAATue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=6952The Department of Education (ED) is expanding its federal loan servicer team. In this announcent, ED notifies the community that MOHELA is now a member of its federal loan servicer team. ED will transfer existing Federal Direct Loan Program borrower accounts to MOHELA beginning late Oct. 2011. The transferred accounts are currently assigned to the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) and belong to borrowers who have no loans in an in-school or grace period. ED will include all of a borrower’s loans in the transfer to MOHELA.NASFAATue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7039Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org, says "net price" is flawed and offers several recommendations to increase accuracy of college cost.<br />NASFAAWed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7032<p>The percentage of undergraduates taking out private loans nearly tripled from 5 percent in 2003–04 to 14 percent in 2007–08, according to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics. The statistical report, The Expansion of Private Loans in Postsecondary Education, examines trends in private student loans and in combination of both federal and private loans, as well as the characteristics of private student loan borrowers. The report found that of all institutions, students at for-profit institutions comprise the largest share of borrowers of private loans. Students from middle-income families also comprise a larger share of borrowers of private loans, compared to students from low- and high-income families.</p>NASFAAWed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7030On October 11, 2011, the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS), one of the Department of Education’s federal loan servicers, implemented a new loan servicing system.  In addition to the new system, the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) launched new websites for schools as well as Federal Direct Loan borrowers and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant recipients. The new system and websites are now operational.NASFAAWed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7045The Department of Education has posted its presentations from NASFAA's 2011 National Conference in Microsoft Powerpoint (PPT) on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. Subjects include verification, gainful employment regulations and direct loan reporting, and much more.NASFAAThu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7048The Department of Education has posted the complete version of the 2012-13 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference. The EDE Technical Reference provides programmer specifications, record layouts, and other detailed information for schools or other organizations that need to design software systems to interface with Federal Student Aid's application processing system.NASFAAThu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7064The Department of Education has posted an updated National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Gainful Employment Submittal Template on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) website, under the Software and Associated Documents link. Designed to be used with the Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet application, the template provides schools with the option to upload and submit to NSLDS up to 50 records/rows of gainful employment data at a time.NASFAAFri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7061<p>Volume 3 of the 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook, "Calculating Awards &amp; Packaging," is now available. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and Verification Guide and six numbered volumes. Each volume is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website after being reviewed and approved by the appropriate offices in Federal Student Aid and the Office of Postsecondary Education.</p>NASFAAFri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7062Volume 5 of the 2011-2012 Federal Student Aid Handbook, "Overawards, Overpayments, and Withdrawal Calculations," is now available. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and Verification Guide and six numbered volumes. Each volume is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.NASFAAFri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7121The number of undergraduates receiving institutional merit aid exceeded the number receiving institutional need-based aid at public four-year institutions in 2007-08, according to a new report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In 1995–96, more students received need-based institutional grants from private nonprofit (43% need-based vs. 24% merit) and public four-year institutions (13% need-based vs. 8% merit), according to the report. By 2007-08, there was an increase in the prevalence of merit based aid. More students received merit-based institutional grants at four-year public institutions (18% merit vs. 16% need-based). At private nonprofit four-year institutions 42 percent received institutional merit aid and 44 percent received institutional need-based aid.NASFAAWed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7141By October 29, 2011, all postsecondary institutions receiving Title IV funding that enroll full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduate students must have a Net Price Calculator (NPC) on their institution’s website. As the deadline fast approaches, you may be wondering if you have to label your school's calculator as a "net price calculator" on your website. You are not alone; several members have recently asked NASFAA this question. NASFAA recently received guidance from the National Center for Education Statistics, which is part of the Department of Education, on this subject.NASFAAThu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7133The Department of Education has posted the Gainful Employment Webinar #3, "Adding a New Gainful Employment Program," conducted on Sept. 26, 2011. An educational program is Title IV eligible only if the program is offered by a public or non-profit institution and leads to a degree; or is offered at any institution and "leads to gainful employment in a recognized occupation."NASFAAThu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7140<p>The Department of Education notifies the community that a reporting error that triggered a National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) postscreening for approximately 8,000 2011-12 Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs). On Oct. 3, 2011 the Educational Credit Management Corporation (Guaranty Agency 706, ECMC-CA) incorrectly reported a loan status of DW (Default Write-off) for approximately 150,000 Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans. The status of these loans had been previously reported in a status of DP (Default Paid) on NSLDS.</p>NASFAAThu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7172The Department of Education (ED) has posted a PDF version of Gainful Employment Webinar #4, "Additional Information on the NSLDS Gainful Employment Reporting Process" from Oct. 13 and 14, 2011. ED has established a process to submit, view, and update GE data using the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The NSLDS Gainful Employment User Guide provides instruction for GE reporting enrollment and file layout and submission instructions.NASFAAFri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7230<p>Obama administration officials announced three initiatives aimed at lowering monthly student loan payments for certain borrowers and to better inform students before they borrow. This is an initial summary of the three initiatives.</p> <p> </p>NASFAAWed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7231NASFAA members testified about the successful transition to Direct Loans yesterday before the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.<br />NASFAAWed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7228This letter provides guidance on the Title IV, Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) program eligibility of educational programs offered through written arrangements between U.S. and foreign institutions. These final regulations made a number of changes to the regulations, including provisions addressing written arrangements between two or more institutions, or organizations acting on behalf of a foreign institution, to have each of those parties provide part of an educational program.NASFAAWed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7248Every year, NASFAA recognizes outstanding individuals, committees, and state and regional associations for their achievements and contributions to the profession. Award winners will be announced at the 2012 National Conference being held July 22-25 in Chicago. Nominations are due Feb. 28, 2012, but there is no need to wait. Submit your nominations online today.NASFAAThu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7249The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Oct. 26 that it is partnering with the U.S. Department of Education to launch a “Know Before You Owe” project to create a model financial aid disclosure form for students and parents.NASFAAThu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7250Despite enrollment and tuition increases, the net cost of tuition and fees has only increased slightly as federal financial aid continues to grow to meet the demand, according to a College Board report released yesterday. “Between 2005-06 and 2010-11, federal grant aid to undergraduate and graduate students combined increased by 141 percent after adjusting for inflation, and savings to taxpayers through federal tax credits and deductions for education increased by 108 percent,” according to the latest <span style="font-weight: normal; ">Trends in Higher Education report</span>.NASFAAThu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7245On Oct. 25, 2011, the Obama Administration announced several steps it is taking to increase college affordability by making it easier to manage student loan debt. Key initiatives include a “Pay As You Earn” repayment plan and a short-term consolidation opportunity that will  be offered through the Department of Education (the Department) from January – June 30, 2012. This Electronic Announcement is the first in a series of communications through which we will inform the financial aid community about the availability of Special Direct Consolidation Loans.NASFAAThu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7244<p>On Oct. 26, 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the Bureau) will begin taking feedback on a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet—an effort to improve the financial aid offer form—and is especially looking for input from current and prospective college students and their families. The development of the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet—a model financial aid offer form—builds on the discussion at the Department of Education’s Sept. 13, 2011 public meeting.</p>NASFAAThu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7243The Department of Education has made available Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Computer-Based Training (CBT). The COD CBT consists of component simulations and CBTs. These simulations explain the COD website screens and functionality available to a school administrator. There are 14 lessons with text to guide a user through each area of the COD website. By entering fictitious data, the user can explore basic navigation and functions of the COD website and practice locating and creating information in a safe environment that includes tips for assistance.NASFAAThu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7251This Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs notice invites postsecondary educational institutions to participate in experiments under the Experimental Sites Initiative. Each experiment will be designed to test whether proposed changes to current requirements improve the administration of the Title IV programs. Applications to participate in any experiment must be received by the Department of Education no later than Dec. 12, 2011 in order for an institution to receive priority to be considered for participation in an experiment.NASFAAThu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7262The National Education Association (NEA) estimates how federal education funding would be impacted by the 7.8 percent cut mandated by the Budget Control Act if Congress is unable to enact $1.2 trillion in budget savings by Jan. 15, 2012. The Pell Grant program is exempt from these cuts, but other programs face multi-million dollar cuts that would impact millions of students.NASFAAFri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7264This letter announces Federal Student Aid's instructor-led, online training session that provides a primer on the Direct Loan Program and its systems. This webinar updates two sessions from the previously-offered Direct Loan Webinar Training Suite. Concepts, terminology, and other information needed to understand how the program works and how to manage and administer Direct Loans will be covered. Topics include processing responsibilities, origination, promissory notes, disbursement, funding, reconciliation and closeout, and servicing.NASFAAFri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7270The Department of Education (ED) announces its intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare proposed regulations governing the student loan programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act. The committee will include representatives of organizations or groups with interests that are significantly affected by the topics proposed for negotiation. ED requests nominations for individual negotiators who represent key stakeholder constituencies for the issues to be negotiated to serve on the committee and we set a schedule for committee meetings.NASFAAFri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7280Oct. 31, 2011 - NASFAA has published a new resource to help students and families evaluate colleges and universities and estimate the out-of-pocket costs, or "net price," of higher education. NASFAA's issue brief highlights some of the consumer information colleges provide and analyzes what this information says about a school and some of the limitations of the data.NASFAAMon, 31 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7282The Department of Education has released the Oct. 14 Gainful Employment Webinar #4, regarding additional information on the NSLDS Gainful Employment Reporting Process. Certain institutions must annually submit information on students enrolled in programs leading to gainful employment in a recognized occupation.NASFAAMon, 31 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7339<p>New report indicates grant aid continues to help offset lower income levels and higher tuition rates.</p>NASFAAThu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7338As a reminder, every organization enrolled for a Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) account is required to review and validate its assigned TG numbers by Dec. 16, 2011. The Department of Education notified the community of this requirement in an electronic announcement posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website on Oct. 12, 2011. Currently, approximately 67 percent of SAIG Mailbox accounts and 77 percent of FAA Access accounts still require validation.NASFAAThu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7332The Department of Education has posted the 2012-13 SAR Comment Codes and Text reference guide. The reference guide is designed as a stand-alone guide as well as a companion to the 2012-2013 EDE Technical Reference. The guide includes a description of changes to the SAR comments for 2012-13, and also provides the complete text for all 2012-13 comments.NASFAAThu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7360<p>In light of a new report that suggests some institutions are struggling to comply with new consumer information requirements, we would like to highlight the many resources NASFAA provides to help members comply with the complex  and ever growing disclosure</p>NASFAAFri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7358Federal Student Aid has made a substantive revision to Volume 3 – Calculating Awards &amp; Packaging of the 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The revision has been added to the Errata and Updates for 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook page and the updated PDF files are now available.NASFAAFri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=3967<p>Recent budget deals have already cut $30 billion from the student aid programs, sacrificing some students’ benefits to pay for others. Here are several ways you can take action to save student aid.</p>NASFAAMon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7484<p>NASFAA supports the Department of Education’s (ED) proposed changes to the requirements related to new gainful employment programs and appreciates ED’s efforts to reduce administrative burden wherever possible, NASFAA President Justin Draeger wrote in official comments submitted on Nov. 14. Final rules published on Oct. 29, 2010 included requirements for institutions to notify ED before offering a new educational program that provides training leading to gainful employment in a recognized occupation (gainful employment program).</p>NASFAAThu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7498Nov. 15, 2011 was the required reporting date for submitting data on institutions’ Gainful Employment Programs. If your institution has not submitted all of its required gainful employment data, it must do so as promptly as possible. The Department of Education's Program Compliance teams will determine, on an individual institutional basis what sanctions, if any, may be imposed on an institution for its non-compliance with the Nov. 15, 2011 reporting date. One of the factors the teams will consider is how promptly the information was reported.NASFAAFri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7508<p> The Department of Education has posted the updated 2011-12 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference, which contains development information for the 2011-12 Award Year. For a complete list of updates, refer to the "November 2011 Change Tracking Log."</p>NASFAAFri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7521To measure customer satisfaction with five of the Department of Education's federal loan servicers—Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS), FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA), Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., Nelnet, and Sallie Mae, an independent vendor will conduct quarterly surveys of borrowers, schools, and federal personnel on behalf of the Department. The independent vendor plans to launch the second quarter telephone surveys of borrower and school customers on Dec. 5, 2011.NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7525The COD School Relations Center will conduct Common Record Manual Verification and Structured Application Testing for the 2012-13 Award Year from Jan. 3, 2012 through Oct. 31, 2012. Optional Unstructured Testing will be available April 2, 2012 through Dec. 3, 2012. The purpose of COD School Testing is to provide an opportunity to test Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and Direct Loan business processes and system software with the COD System using COD Common Record XML Schema Version 3.0e. It also provides an opportunity to make corrections or enhancements to software applications and processes prior to sending data to the “live” production environment.NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7526To comply with mandated government-wide security requirements, and as part of ongoing efforts to ensure the security of the Federal Student Aid data systems, the Department will implement an upgrade to all components of the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG), including TDNgine, TDClient, TDCommunity Manager (SAIG Portal), and EDconnect. The upgrade is planned for February 2012.NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7528"It's just about over for a special deficit-reduction supercommittee, which appears set to admit failure on Monday in its quest to sop up at least $1.2 trillion in government red ink over the coming decade," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "The bipartisan 12-member panel is sputtering to a close after two months of talks in which key members and top congressional leaders never got close to bridging a fundamental divide over how much to raise taxes."NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7527"For two months, the Occupy protests have focused attention on student loan debt. Today, a group that started with the Occupy movement will propose a solution: stop paying," <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> reports. "Under the campaign -- which grew from the original Occupy Wall Street protest and is now known, inevitably, as Occupy Student Debt -- borrowers will pledge to stop repaying their student loans once 1 million people vow to do so as well."NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7530"Colleges and universities are posting more information on their Web sites about whether their students are learning, but most such data are still available only on internal sites, says a report released on Monday by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education </em>reports. "The report, 'Making Student Learning Evidence Transparent: The State of the Art,' is part of a broader effort by the institute to monitor how much information colleges and universities are providing upfront to parents and students.NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7529"Most City University of New York community college students drop out before graduating, squandering the system's resources as enrollment soars, according to a report set to be released on Monday," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "The study by the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan think tank, highlights a problem with national implications: Too many students arrive at community colleges without having learned basic reading and math concepts."NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7531"[A] free program helps low-income teenagers throughout the Northeast work the [SAT/ACT] system too, called Let’s Get Ready," the <em>New York Times</em> reports. "Students are given help filling out college applications, writing essays, practicing interviews and preparing for the SAT. They are also required to write an essay explaining why they want to participate in Let’s Get Ready."NASFAAMon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7524<p>The Congressional deficit reduction "super committee" announced yesterday that they are unable to agree on how to reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next decade. The committee was charged with creating $1.2 trillion in budget savings by midnight on Nov. 23. Failure to develop a deficit reduction plan triggers automatic, across-the-board cuts to certain government programs in the 2013 fiscal year (FY). This gives Congress nearly a year to pass a bill to prevent the automatic cuts.</p>NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7544Congress passed and President Obama signed another stop-gap spending bill -- known as a continuing resolution (CR) -- last week to keep the government funded through Dec. 16. The CR passed by a vote of 298-121 in the House and 70-30 in the Senate. Federal agencies have been operating under a a CR that expired on Nov. 18. Congress passed the CRs because it has been unable to agree to a fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget.NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7537The best thing about working in the financial aid office is delivering the great news to students and families that they are able to fund a higher education and improve their lives. However, with federal, state and institutional budgets being cut deeper all the time, you may find yourself having to deliver bad news to your students more often than you would prefer.NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7539Exceptional student leaders are invited to apply for the<a href="http://reagan.convio.net/site/R?i=vfwvj_rzXw7bSrKlSq1-SQ" title=" 2012 GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program" target="_blank"> 2012 GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program</a>, which honors the legacy of President Ronald Reagan. Twenty college-bound students who demonstrate exemplary leadership, drive, integrity, and citizenship will be awarded $10,000 renewable scholarships (up to $40,000 per recipient).NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7546The Department announces that the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) started reporting again to the NSLDS on Nov. 19. In October, ACS implemented a new loan servicing system and web sites and temporarily suspended reporting. ACS is now working to catch up on the manual processing of transactions that could not be completed during the extended system outage period. Until that work is completed, schools and borrowers may notice some information pertaining to disbursement adjustments, requests for deferments and forbearances, enrollment status changes, and payment application may not be updated in the NSLDS.NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7545The Department reminds schools that Direct Loan disbursements, disbursement adjustments, and refunds of cash should be reported or submitted in whole dollar amounts only. The use of pennies in Direct Loan processing will impact a school's ability to successfully complete its monthly reconciliation because its Net Drawdowns may not match the Net Disbursements reported to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System.NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7541The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Transfer Student Monitoring/Financial Aid History Processes (TSM/FAH) and Batch File Layouts for 2012-13 are attached in Microsoft Word and PDF Formats. The layouts describe the file formatting for the TSM/FAH batch files. These layouts replace the NSLDS TSM/FAH Processes and Batch File Layouts dated Oct. 27, 2010, and include description updates and layout changes.NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7552Nov. 22, 2011-NASFAA President Justin Draeger talks to the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education about the looming cuts to student aid. </em>NASFAATue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7570As a result of recent regulatory changes, foreign institutions that are not legally authorized by the countries where they are located to directly award educational credentials are no longer eligible to participate in the Direct Loan Program. Institutions that have lost eligibility as a result of the new rules are not permitted to award Direct Loans to new students. However, they may continue to award Direct Loans to students who obtained such loans prior to the loss of institutional eligibility and who maintained continuous enrollment.NASFAAMon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7571The special consolidation initiative will offer eligible borrowers who currently have at least one Direct Loan Program loan or Department-held (also referred to as ED-held) FFEL Program loan and at least one commercially-held FFEL Program loan the opportunity to bring all of their loans together with one servicer by consolidating their commercially-held FFEL Program loans into a Special Direct Consolidation Loan. FFEL lenders and servicers will assist the Department in completing the Special Direct Consolidation Loan process, just as they do with the traditional consolidation process.NASFAAMon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7576The Loan Verification Certificate (LVC) will serve as the means by which the Department of Education (ED) collects certain information from commercial holders of Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans that a borrower wishes to consolidate into the Direct Loan Program under a special initiative announced by the White House in an Oct. 25, 2011 fact sheet titled "Help Americans Manage Student Loan Debt.'' Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before Jan. 27, 2012.NASFAAMon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7635College tuition is continuing to rise, but much faster than spending or costs, according to a report introduced by the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training in a hearing yesterday. Yesterday’s subcommittee hearing, entitled "Keeping College within Reach: Discussing Ways Institutions Can Streamline Costs and Reduce Tuition," was supplemented with a report by the Delta Project, an independent non-profit policy research organization,  that showed that even though the cost of tuition is rising – as much as 8.3 percent at public four-year universities in the past year - institutions enrolling the most students spend the least on their education.NASFAAThu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7634NASFAA members have a great resource for regulatory or compliance questions—and it doesn’t require you to search on the web or dig through all those papers and binders in your office.  The AskRegs service gives financial aid administrators personal assistance with their regulatory and compliance questions. Your questions are fielded by financial aid experts in NASFAA’s division of Training and Regulatory Assistance, who thoroughly research each question and provide a comprehensive answer, including regulatory citations, if applicable.NASFAAThu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7654The Secretary of Education amended the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). These amendments aim to ensure that the Department of Education continues to implement FERPA in a way that protects the privacy of education records while allowing for the effective use of data. Improved access to data will facilitate States' ability to evaluate education programs, to ensure limited resources are invested effectively, to build upon what works and discard what does not, to increase accountability and transparency, and to contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in education. These regulations are effective Jan. 3, 2012.NASFAAFri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7679The Department of Education (ED) has made available the indexed version of the 2010-11 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and Verification Guide and six numbered volumes. Each volume is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website after being reviewed and approved by the appropriate offices in Federal Student Aid and the Office of Postsecondary Education..NASFAATue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7686The Department of Education (ED) has made available Volume 2 – School Eligibility and Operations of the 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and Verification Guide and six numbered volumes. Each volume is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website after being reviewed and approved by the appropriate offices in Federal Student Aid and the Office of Postsecondary Education.NASFAATue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7685Federal Student Aid has made a substantive revision to Volume 5 – Overawards, Overpayments, &amp; Withdrawal Calculations of the 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The revision has been added to the Errata and Updates for 2011-12 Federal Student Aid Handbook page and the updated PDF files are now available.NASFAATue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7683The Department of Education (ED) has posted an update to the 2012-13 Application Processing System Specifications for Software Developers. In this version, ED revised the Complete Reject Edits section to update the parameters for Reject 20 edits (4030-4034).NASFAATue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7684On Dec. 9, 2011, the Department of Education (ED) will send the message class "MESSAGTB" via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) to all user mailboxes. The EDconnect transmission software will automatically request, download, and import this new message class table with a user’s next connection to the SAIG network. Once the MESSAGTB file has been imported, the new message class table will be used from that point forward.NASFAATue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7752The Department of Education plans to implement two transfer initiatives related to borrowers who have more than one servicer of their Federal Direct Loan Program loans and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Purchased loans, more simply referred to as their federally-owned loans. These initiatives involve Direct Loans and FFEL Purchased loans with multiple servicers and rehabilitated/reinstated loans with the Student Loan Servicing Center (ACS).NASFAAThu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7744The Department of Education has posted update to the 2012-13 ISIR Guide. The ISIR Guide assists financial aid administrators (FAAs) in interpreting student information on the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). ISIRs contain processed student information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), as well as key processing results and National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) financial aid history information.NASFAAThu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7751Dec. 7, 2011 - The <em>Triangle Business Journal</em> cites NASFAA regarding the rate of improper Pell Grant payments, which declined from 3.1 percent a year ago to 2.7 percent in 2011.NASFAAThu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7760Dec. 7, 2011 -  The <em>Community College Times </em>interviews NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty about student financial aid fraud. Chitty said that "colleges are addressing the issue, though media reports rarely focus on the successes of preventing such crimes."NASFAAThu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7769The Department of Education (ED) expects to post 2012-13 Verification Worksheets to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website within the next several weeks. “Because of the regulatory changes in verification that are effective with the 2012-13 Award Year, the Department of Education has been working extensively with the financial aid community, including NASFAA, to develop revised verification worksheets that schools can use at their option and/or modify to meet their requirements,” an ED official wrote in the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Tech Listserv yesterday.NASFAAFri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7767The Department of Education (ED) added unpaid (with a balance greater than zero) collection accounts and charge offs in their review of PLUS applicants’ credit history, effective with the COD release at the end of October. An applicant has an adverse credit history if on the date of the credit report, the applicant is 90 or more days delinquent on any debt, or has been the subject of a default determination, bankruptcy discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment, or write-off of a debt under title IV of the Act during the five years preceding the date of the credit report.NASFAAFri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7771The Department of Education (ED) has posted the updated 2012-13 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference. The EDE Technical Reference provides programmer specifications, record layouts, and other detailed information for schools or other organizations that need to design software systems to interface with ED's application processing system.NASFAAFri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7766The final updated FSA Conference presentations have now been posted online. If you were not able to attend the FSA conference this year, all sessions were recorded and are now posted directly on FSA's website homepage.NASFAAFri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7764The Department of Education announces an upcoming change to the login process for the NSLDS Professional Access website. Beginning Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011, National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) users will no longer enter their NSLDS ID and password to log in to the website. Instead, a Federal Student Aid User ID (FSA User ID) and password will be used to authenticate each user’s identity prior to allowing access to the NSLDS Professional Access website.NASFAAFri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7775Dec. 8, 2011 - Jon Christian and Abraham White cite NASFAA in an article in <em>Campus Progress </em>about efforts by some members of Congress to cut financial aid spending. "One of the critiques of the program, improper payments of Pell Grant funds, should be less of a worry now as such instances fell by 13 percent in 2011, according to the Office of Management and Budget. ...The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators also noted that the payment error rate for the Pell Grant program is lower than the 4.7 percent error rate for the rest of the government - and significantly lower than the 8.6 percent error rate for the Medicare fee-for-service program."NASFAAFri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7858In January 2012, the Department of Education (ED) will begin another peak processing period for the 2011-12 Award Year. All system-generated responses are processed once a day at 2:30 a.m. (ET) for activity that occurred the preceding day. As with batches, in the unlikely event system-generated response processing takes longer than 24 hours, the COD School Relations Center will contact affected schools on the next business day.NASFAAThu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8579This letter provides guidance to institutions on the eligibility of students who received Title IV student financial assistance in a prior award year without having a valid high school diploma. One of the eligibility conditions that must be met for student financial assistance under Title IV of the HEA is that the student must have “a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education (high school diploma) . . . or the recognized equivalent of such certificate (GED), . . .” or meet one of several defined standards.NASFAAFri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7888Congress reached a deal on the fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget last night after several days of disagreement and stalemate. The deal included the nine remaining appropriations bills needed to fund the federal government for the rest of FY 2012. The bill includes award year 2012-13 funding levels for the federal student aid programs and maintains a $5,550 maximum Pell Grant for the 2012-13 award year by cutting spending on other student aid programs and restricting eligibility. The Senate has not yet voted on the bill due to policy disagreements outside of education, but student aid provisions are unlikely to change in any further negotiations.NASFAAFri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7889This is a reminder of the upcoming change to the login process for the NSLDS Professional Access website. Beginning Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011, National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) users will no longer enter their NSLDS ID and password to log in to the website. Instead, a Federal Student Aid User ID (FSA User ID) and password will be used to authenticate each user’s identity prior to allowing access to the NSLDS Professional Access website.NASFAAFri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7879As noted in a Nov. 15, 2011 electronic announcement posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website, the Department of Education would like to remind schools that the street address for sending paper Master Promissory Notes (MPNs) and Endorser Addenda to the Department via express or overnight delivery changes Monday, Dec. 19, 2011.NASFAAFri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=7895The purpose of the Request for Title IV Reimbursement or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 form is to gather financial information from the institution in order to process claims for payment. The Department of Education (ED) Payment Analysts compare data on the form with disbursement records in the Common Origination and Disbursement System to determine what amount will be paid to the institution under the restricted method of payments.NASFAAFri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8155The U.S. Department of Education is expected to issue a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) in the near future to explain the provisions of the 2012 budget agreement signed into law shortly before Christmas. NASFAA has raised a number of questions regarding effective dates, which may be addressed in the DCL.NASFAAFri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8154The student loan negotiated rulemaking committee approved for consideration 25 student loan regulatory issues Thursday, allowing the Department of Education (ED) to draft proposed rule language that will form the basis of negotiation during the second week-long session next month and a final session in March. The ultimate result will be a package of proposed rules to be published for public comment before promulgation of final rules. Thursday’s discussion focused largely on bringing consistency to regulatory language across federal loan programs, regarding issues such as eligibility, criteria, payment standards, reporting requirements and metric standards.NASFAAFri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8145The Department posted Payment and Disbursement Schedules to determine Pell awards for the 2012-13 Award Year (July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013) for full-time, three-quarter-time, half-time, and less-than-half-time students. All 2012-13 Pell awards must be based on the these schedules. The maximum award for 2012-13 is the same as 2011-12, so the vast majority of EFCs have the same Scheduled Award amount. However, statutory changes to minimum awards make 4995 the maximum Pell eligible EFC for 2012-13 , less than the 5273 EFC maximum for 2011-12.NASFAAFri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8143The Department has posted a PowerPoint presentation containing screen shots of the 2012-13 FAFSA on the website to help you with the 2012-13 processing cycle. The presentation does not contain shots of every  screen, but it provides a detailed look at changes on the &amp;quot;live&amp;quot; version of FAFSA on the Web for 2012-13.NASFAAFri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8206<p>In a letter to the Department of Education, NASFAA stresses the value and function of financial aid administrators (FAAs) as Federal Student Aid (FSA) begins to finalize a Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2012-16. In the Jan. 17 letter, NASFAA recommends the Department more clearly define the role of financial aid administrators and their relationship with FSA, while making room for improved communication between the two groups and enhanced evaluation of administrative burden. NASFAA also recommended that the plan better address the complexities of rising college costs, and that FAAs be given more opportunity to provide feedback on FSA’s five-year strategic plan.</p>NASFAAThu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8214<p>This Dear Colleague Letter provides information on changes made to the Title IV student assistance programs in the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Budget Bill. The FY 2012 Budget Bill, enacted on Dec. 23, 2011, maintains a $5,550 maximum Pell Grant for award year 2012-13, but makes several substantive changes to student eligibility, need analysis, and student loans. This DCL seeks to provide institutions with information on implementation and interpretation of the following provisions:</p> <p>• Auto-Zero EFC Income Threshold</p> <p>• Ability-to-Benefit</p> <p>• 2012-13 Federal Pell Grant Amounts</p> <p>• Minimum Federal Pell Grant Award and Maximum EFC</p> <p>• Federal Pell Grant Duration of Eligibility</p> <p>• Grace Period Interest Subsidy</p> <p>• Calculation of Special Allowance Program</p> <p>ED is still examining how to identify students who have exhausted their Pell eligibility under the new provision to reduce eligibility from 18 to 12 semesters. NASFAA Chair Pam Fowler and NASFAA President Justin Draeger met with FSA Chief Operating Officer Jim Runcie yesterday afternoon to discuss the implementation of the new provisions of the budget bill. ED expects to have additional details on the identification and notification process in the coming weeks. </p>NASFAAThu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8192The Department of Education (ED) announced the start of the application period for the Special Direct Consolidation Loan opportunity through the Federal Direct Loan Program. On Jan. 17, 2012, ED implemented the online application for this short-term special consolidation opportunity that will be available to eligible borrowers through June 30, 2012.NASFAAThu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8191The Department of Education is implementing a number of technology security initiatives in 2012. One of the initiatives is a security process called Two Factor Authentication (TFA). Through TFA, when logging in to certain Federal Student Aid systems, an authorized user will be required to use a traditional User ID and Password as well as provide a One-Time Password (OTP).NASFAAThu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8195Jan. 18, 2012 - <em>Reuters</em> interviews NASFAA Director of Communications Haley Chitty about seeking student financial aid for college. "Savvy consumers can minimize the financial burden of higher education by maximizing the amount of aid they go after, and there's a lot of money to be had," Chitty said.NASFAAThu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8215Jan. 19, 2011 - <em>Diverse</em> reports on NASFAA's college access forum on Capitol Hill. The article highlights the debate about the structure and sustainability of the Pell Grant program in the panel discussion "The Future Role of Federal Pell Grants."NASFAAThu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8242In a message posted to the Federal Student Aid mailing list (FSATech listserv), the Department of Education (ED) said it expects to post the 2012-13 Verification Worksheets to the IFAP website in the next several weeks. ED also said it expects to post the Application and Verification Guide of the 2012-13 Federal Student Aid Handbook later this month.NASFAAFri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8232Tentative funding levels and corresponding worksheets for the Campus-Based Programs for the award period July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013 will be posted to the eCampus-Based (eCB) website by Feb. 1, 2012.NASFAAFri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8246Jan. 19, 2011 - Beckie Supiano writes in the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Innovations</em> blog about a NASFAA Perspectives series article written by Mark Kantrowitz on the Occupy Wall Street movement. "Kantrowitz writes that refusing to repay loans will hurt borrowers more than the government or other lenders, and that mass loan forgiveness is not the best way to stimulate the economy."NASFAAFri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8258This letter announces the approval of a Loan Verification Certificate (LVC) for use in connection with the making of Special Direct Consolidation Loans through the Federal Direct Loan Program. It also provides Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program lenders and lender servicers with guidance on completing the LVC and explains the LVC process.NASFAAMon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8255The Department has identified  students eligible to receive a 2012-13 Renewal FAFSA and began distributing e-mail reminders and printed reminders on Jan. 18, 2012. Reminders distribution will continue through Feb. 10.NASFAAMon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8256Federal Student Aid (FSA) has launched its new Twitter account @FAFSA. FSA plans to use Twitter to support an ongoing conversation around student financial aid. To kick this off, Martha Kanter, the Under Secretary of Education, will host “FAFSA Office Hours” where she will answer students’ FAFSA questions live on Twitter. The event will take place on Jan. 26  at 4:30pm EST and will be the first in a monthly series of Q&amp;A sessions that FSA will host on Twitter.NASFAAMon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8259On June 13, 2011, the Secretary of Education published a notice of final regulations in the Federal Register for Program Integrity: Gainful Employment--Debt Measures (Gainful Employment--Debt Measures) (76 FR 34386). In the preamble of the final regulations, the Department of Education (ED) used the wrong data to calculate the percent of total variance in institutions' repayment rates that may be explained by race/ethnicity. ED's intent was to use the data that included all minority students per institution.NASFAAMon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8263"Two years ago, the cost of James Jackson's freshman year at Fayetteville State University was covered by scholarships and grants," the <em>Fayetteville Observer</em> reports. "Now, Jackson is $5,000 in debt and worried about having enough money to graduate. He and thousands of other students in the state's university system are feeling a financial squeeze as tuition, fees, room and board, and other costs go up while federal financial aid goes down."NASFAAMon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8262"State support has declined from 47 percent of the school’s operating budget in 1991 to 11 percent," the <em>Washington Post</em> editorial board writes. "Tuition has skyrocketed, faculty have been furloughed, classes are bigger and California students have been turned away in favor of out-of-state residents, who pay more."NASFAAMon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8291Attempts to clarify the TEACH Grant requirement that an eligible institution provide a "high quality teacher preparation program" at the Teacher Preparation Negotiated Rulemaking committee meeting Friday were met with hesitation over the potential implications of overly prescriptive or burdensome language, particularly as the White House hopes to transform the program in the near future. The Obama administration has plans to establish a $185 million state teacher preparation reform grant program that would revamp and upgrade the $110 million TEACH Grant program. Negotiators at Friday’s meeting expressed concern that any regulatory language to define a "high quality teacher preparation program" as a matter of institutional eligibility for the TEACH grant program would likely form the basis for the regulatory language under the "Presidential Teaching Fellows" program, which may entail different intentions and objectives.NASFAATue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8272As announced in the “Notice of the 2011-12 Award Year Deadline Dates for the Campus-Based programs,” published in the Federal Register Feb. 2, 2011, the deadline to request a waiver of the 2012-13 Award Year penalty of Federal Work Study (FWS) and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) for the underuse of 2010-11 Award Year funds is Feb. 10, 2012.NASFAATue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8273The Department of Education has posted the updated 2012-13 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference. The 2012-13 COD Technical Reference contains development information for the 2012-13 Award Year.NASFAATue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8290On Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, the G5 website was unavailable due to system maintenance work that was not able to be completed during the regular weekend maintenance window. As a result, users are not able to access the G5 website to conduct any transactions. The Department of Education is working to complete its work and restore normal operations as soon as possible.NASFAATue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8276Jan. 23, 2011 - Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson write in the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Innovations</em> blog about NASFAA's forum on "The State of College Access" and the future of the Pell Grant program.NASFAATue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8452Applications for funding of up to $1,000,000 are currently being accepted for innovative projects that engage low-income students in financial education and encourage savings. The Assets for Independence program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supports the creation of Individual Development Account (IDA) matched savings programs, where students’ savings are matched at up to an 8-to-1 rate.NASFAAMon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8516As discussed in E-Announcement 2012-01-31 announcing the release of a series of verification questions and answers, sample<em> 2012-13 Verification Worksheets</em> are now available. Financial aid administrators (FAAs) may, but are not required, to use these worksheets in the verification of FAFSA information for the 2012-13 award year.NASFAAMon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8501The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) maintains a website containing Q&amp;As pertaining to the Program Integrity final regulations that were published on Oct. 29, 2010. OPE recently updated this website with regard to incentive compensation and return of title IV.NASFAAMon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8499As explained in previous communications, Federal Student Aid awarded four new contracts in June 2009 to provide additional servicing capacity for loans owned by the Department of Education. This announcement is intended to share the customer service performance results for the second quarter with the financial aid community.NASFAAMon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8523Feb. 3, 2011 - <em>Fox Business</em> interviews NASFAA Director of Communications Haley Chitty about student loans. "It’s tricky to start to think what your monthly payment will be and what that percentage of your income the payment will be four years out," Chitty said.NASFAAMon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8569More than 80 percent of bankruptcy attorneys reported that potential clients with student loan debt have increased in the last four years.  In other words, bankruptcy attorneys are serving more clients with student loan debts than in the past.  Conducted by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA), the recently released survey, “Student Loan ‘Debt Bomb’: America’s Next Mortgage-Style Economic Crisis,” reports that 2010 college graduates carried a student loan debt average of $25,250, which is up 5 percent from the previous year, and for non-traditional students in the 35-49 age group, the loan debt burden increased by almost 50 percent.NASFAAThu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8564This letter announces an instructor-led, online training session that provides information on how the Department of Education calculates the gainful employment debt measures and the resulting implications for institutions. Both the repayment rate and the debt-to-earnings ratios will be discussed. The webinar will also include a discussion of the implications for an institution when the calculation of the debt measures results in the GE Program being designated as a failing program or as an ineligible program.NASFAAThu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8565The Department of Education is implementing a number of technology security initiatives in calendar year 2012. One of the initiatives is a security process called Two Factor Authentication (TFA). Through TFA, when logging in to certain Federal Student Aid systems, an authorized user will be required to use a traditional User ID and Password as well as provide a One-Time Password (OTP). The OTP will be generated by a registered token device that is in the physical possession of the user.NASFAAThu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8582Feb. 10, 2012 -- The Obama administration plans to kick off the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget process on Monday by releasing the President's FY2013 Budget Request. Administration officials have said that the FY13 Budget request will include additional details about the college affordability policy proposals mentioned by President Obama in his recent State of the Union address. Here's what we'll be looking for in the budget request.NASFAAFri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8584Looking for a week in review for student financial aid news? Look no further. NASFAA has created a new student aid news video series to provide financial aid administrators and students with the latest information. Check out the first video and be sure to tune in next week!NASFAAFri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8583<p>The New America Foundation disputes the argument that federal student loan interest rates are unfavorably high for student borrowers given the government’s low cost of borrowing, in an issue brief released Thursday. The "Student Loan Interest Rates: History, Subsidies, and Cost" issue brief details the history of federal student loan interest rates and legislative changes to the federal student loan program. It also makes the case that federal student loan interest rates are still favorable even in today’s low rate environment, and that current rates provide borrowers with subsidies and better terms than are available in the private market.</p>NASFAAFri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8566<p>On Feb. 9, the Department updated this announcement to reflect the revised outage period associated with the Federal Student Aid website outages scheduled for February 12, 2012. Website impact will be from 2:00 A.M. (EST) until 9:00 A.M. (EST) on Sunday, February 12, 2012. In addition to this outage, routine Web site maintenance that occurs weekly from 5:00 A.M. (EST) until 9:00 A.M. (EST) each Sunday will also be completed as scheduled.</p>NASFAAFri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8453Colleges and universities offer IDAs to their students either by starting their own programs or by partnering with existing programs in the community. This article will give more information about developing partnerships with existing IDA programs.NASFAAMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8599This announcement provides information for EDconnect users about the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) upgrade being implemented over the next several months to upgrade TDNgine, TDClient, TDCommunity Manager (SAIG Portal), and the EDconnect software. The upgrade to the EDconnect software will require all EDconnect users complete a process that will involve enrolling for a new EDconnect Entitlement service and obtaining an FSA User ID and password.NASFAAMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8600Beginning Feb. 13, 2012 and continuing through April 2012, the Department plans to implement the next transfer initiative related to borrowers who have more than one servicer of their Direct Loans and FFEL purchased loans. The Department's goal is to execute each transfer in a manner that is as orderly and smooth as possible for the affected borrowers.NASFAAMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8601The Secretary of Education publishes a semiannual agenda of Federal regulatory and deregulatory actions. The purpose of the agenda is to encourage more effective public participation in the regulatory process by providing the public with early information about pending regulatory activities.NASFAAMon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8594Feb. 10, 2012 - <em>Fox Business News</em> quotes NASFAA Communications Director Haley Chitty in an article on steps students should take once the student loan grace period is over.NASFAAFri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8719This letter provides information about the change in the interest rate on Direct Subsidized Loans made to undergraduate students that will apply to new loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2012. It also responds to questions from institutions about the continued eligibility of dependent undergraduate students to receive up to $2,000 in additional Direct Unsubsidized Loan funds. Finally, this letter reminds institutions of upcoming changes made to the Direct Loan Program by the Budget Control Act of 2011.NASFAAThu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8720At this time, all Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) funds for the 2009-10 Award Year should have been disbursed to students. In general, schools are to submit Pell Grant disbursements to the Department of Education no later than 30 days after making an actual disbursement or becoming aware of the need to adjust a student’s previously reported disbursement.NASFAAThu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8760The Department of Education (ED) has released preliminary COD system implementation plans for the 2012-13 award year. The released plans will allow most loan records to be sent to COD much earlier than originally estimated.NASFAAFri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8768If the nation is to improve college completion rates, the federal government should reassess the structure of financial aid systems and programs for non-traditional students, according to a new report by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. The report, “Pathways To Success: Integrating Learning With Life and Work to Increase National College Completion,” focuses on ways to improve college completion rates among non-traditional students to help meet President Obama’s goal to have the world’s highest rate of college completion by 2020.NASFAAFri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8740The Department of Education (ED) is in the process of implementing an upgrade to all components of the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG), including TDClient, TDCommunity Manager (SAIG Portal) and the EDconnect software. The upgrade to the SAIG is related to ED's ongoing effort to comply with mandated government-wide security requirements and to ensure the security of the Federal Student Aid data systems.NASFAAFri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8759NASFAA joined 22 higher education groups urging lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote for legislation that would repeal the credit hour definition and state authorization regulations that took effect July 1, 2011. The House is scheduled to vote on the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act (H.R 2117) this week. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate, but Senators have not voted on it. NASFAA has opposed the state authorization and credit hour regulations in the past.NASFAAMon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8750<p>For the third year in a row, NASFAA’s Financial Affairs Committee is pleased to report that membership dues will hold steady next year. NASFAA’s 2011-12 fiscal year was highlighted by a successful conference in Boston and high membership recruitment and retention (96 percent). NASFAA’s membership has surged to its highest levels in more than a decade, reaching 2,941 institutional members, adjusted for collegiate systems, as of January 2011. </p>NASFAAMon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8782To measure customer satisfaction with six ED federal loan servicers—Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS), FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA), Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., MOHELA, Nelnet, and Sallie Mae, an independent vendor will conduct quarterly surveys of borrowers, schools, and/or federal personnel on behalf of the Department of Education. The independent vendor plans to launch the third quarter telephone surveys of borrower and school customers on March 1, 2012NASFAAMon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8849The Department of Education is aware of the community’s questions about the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System’s readiness for award processing for the 2012-13 Award Year. ED plans to add COD System functionality in three phases – the first system implementation will be in March 2012, the second system implementation will be in April 2012, and the third system implementation will be in July 2012.NASFAAWed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8824On March 5, 2012, the Department of Education (ED) will send the message class "MESSAGTB" via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) to all user mailboxes. The EDconnect transmission software will automatically request, download, and import this new message class table with a user’s next connection to the SAIG network. Once the MESSAGTB file has been imported, the new message class table will be used from that point forward.NASFAAWed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8825The data submitted electronically in the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate through FISAP on the web is used by the Department of Education to determine the institution's funding need for the award year and monitor program effectiveness and accountability of fund expenditures. The Reallocation form is part of FISAP on the web.NASFAAWed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8842"The cost of college and the accompanying burden of student loan payments are having an enormous impact across many segments of our economic landscape," former JP Morgan Sales Manager Larry Doyle writes for the <em>Sense on Cents</em> blog for <em>Business Insider</em>. "From basic consumer spending habits to decisions on living arrangements and so much more, recent college grads are facing a decidedly different economic future than their counterparts a decade or two ago."NASFAAWed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8858Feb. 29, 2012 - Equal Justice Works refers to NASFAA's coverage of the student loan negotiated rulemaking process in <em>U.S. News and World Report's Student Loan Ranger</em> blog.NASFAAThu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8875Teacher Preparation Negotiated Rulemaking continued with a second round of negotiations this week. Proposed changes to the Teacher Education Assistance for Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program led the session agenda. Tentative agreement was reached on proposed changes to three out of the five TEACH Grant issues raised by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).NASFAAFri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8915<p>At NASFAA’s 2012 Legislative Symposium Monday in the Washington, DC area, government officials highlighted the lack of any solid plan or proposal to maintain the Pell Grant program in the 2014 fiscal year (FY), when the program is expected to reach a $7.5 billion shortfall. The symposium ties into NASFAA's Leadership and Legislative Conference, which provides intensive preparation for NASFAA members in leadership positions or about to assume such positions.</p> <p> </p>NASFAATue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8913NASFAA joined the American Council on Education (ACE) and six other associations to urge the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to immediately issue the final version of student health insurance coverage regulations or delayed the regulations until the 2013-14 academic year.NASFAATue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8926NASFAA has seen a recent uptick in inquiries from members asking for determinations of when students are considered to have completed high school and received diplomas, general educational development (GED) certificate, or perhaps equivalent certificates of high school completion. It's important to remember that this is not a Title IV or U.S. Department of Education determination. It is the state's determination.NASFAATue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8914On the morning of Monday, March 5, 2012, the Department of Education (ED) distributed the FY 2009 Draft Cohort Default Rate notification packages to all eligible domestic and foreign schools. In this announcement, ED provides information about the distribution of the 3-Year Draft Cohort Default Rates. ED previously distributed the 2-Year Draft Cohort Default Rates separately on Monday, February 27, 2012.NASFAATue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8927March 5, 2012 - In an article about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's effort to begin collecting complaints regarding private student loans, the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> references the bureau's Ombudsman Rohit Chopra's speech at NASFAA's 2012 student-aid symposium.NASFAATue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8947Financial aid administrators took to Capitol Hill Tuesday to advocate against the standardization of award letters and for support of Federal Student Aid funding. The congressional meetings were part of NASFAA's Leadership and Legislative Conference, which provides intensive preparation for state and regional association members in leadership positions or about to assume such positions. Though most lawmakers and their staff were well aware of the more pertinent financial aid issues dominating the agenda, ears perked at news of how a certain proposal to standardize award letters might affect institutions and students.NASFAAWed, 07 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8960<p>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has begun accepting complaints from borrowers on private student loans, in an effort to assist borrowers experiencing problems taking out private loans, repaying their private loans or managing a loan that has gone into default and may have been referred to a debt collector.</p> <div> </div>NASFAAWed, 07 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8944At this time, all Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) funds for the 2009-10 Award Year should have been disbursed to students. In general, schools are to submit ACG disbursements to the Department of Education no later than 30 days after making an actual disbursement or becoming aware of the need to adjust a student’s previously reported disbursement.NASFAAWed, 07 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8992The Lender's Application Process is submitted by lenders who are eligible for reimbursement of interest and special allowance, as well as Federal Insured Student Loan claims payment, under the Federal Family Education Loan Program.NASFAAFri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8991Collection of this information is used for immigration status confirmation which reduces the potential of fraud and abuse caused by ineligible aliens receiving Federally subsidized student financial assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.NASFAAFri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=8990March 9, 2012 - <em>USA Today</em> interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about the President's proposal that Congress prevent the July 2012 interest rate hike on some federal student loans. "We're just going to have to see how much public pressure there is to keep this subsidized Stafford loan interest rate low," Draeger said.NASFAAFri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9047Last week Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-MI) introduced HR 4170, the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012, in the House of Representatives. This bill would forgive the balance on student loans to eligible borrowers who make 10 years worth of payments. In addition to helping struggling borrowers, HR 4170 is intended, on a broader level, to increase economic recovery.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9030As part of his FY 2013 budget request, and a larger college affordability plan, President Obama proposed the creation of a College Scorecard to enable students and families to compare college costs before making a decision on postsecondary education.  NASFAA recently submitted comments on a draft Scorecard after the administration’s request for public comment. NASFAA thanked the administration for making clear and accurate consumer information a priority, but offered several areas of improvement that would make the Scorecard a more relevant, universal and stronger tool.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9040This announcement contains Gainful Employment Webinar #6, titled Calculation of Debt Measures and Implications for Institutions.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9032The IRS Data Retrieval Tool offers Title IV applicants and parents of dependent applicants the option to transfer certain tax return information from an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website directly to their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) web application or correction. This data transfer process, in place since the 2009-10 Award Year, reduces time, effort, and data entry for FAFSA applicants and their parents. It also improves data accuracy and consistency, and institutions have seen a reduction in verification obligations due to their students’ use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9028This announcement contains the NSLDS Loan Exit Counseling Extract Record Layouts for Lenders and Lender Servicers. Loan Exit Counseling Completion Extract (EXTC02) for lenders and lender servicers provides lenders and lender servicer users with a detailed report of students who have completed Loan Exit Counseling and have a relationship with the lender or lender servicer.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9027This announcement contains the Technical Update, GA-2012-02: New GA Loan Exit Counseling Report Delivery. The three Loan Exit Counseling Reports are now available from the Web Report List under the Report Tab on the NSLDS Professional Access website.  The options for how the loan exit data may be received have been expanded.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9026This announcement contains the NSLDS Loan Exit Counseling Extract Record Layouts for Schools. Loan Exit Counseling Completion Results Report (EXTC01 and EXTC05) provides school users with a detail report of students who have completed Loan Exit Counseling for the requesting school during a designated timeframe.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9025This announcement contains the NSLDS Loan Exit Counseling Extract Record Layouts for Guaranty Agencies (GAs). Loan Exit Counseling Completion Report (EXTC03) provides GA users with a detailed report of students who have completed Loan Exit Counseling and have a relationship with the GA.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9024The Technical Update, LLS-2012-02: New Lender/Lender Servicer Loan Exit Counseling Report Delivery, is attached in Microsoft Word Format and in Portable Document Format (PDF). The Loan Exit Counseling Reports have transitioned from the Report List to the Web Report List under the Report Tab on the NSLDS Professional Access website.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9023This newsletter describes loan exit counseling report enhancements to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) and the NSLDS Professional Access website. These enhancements include the addition of the Loan Exit Counseling Summary report to the list of scheduled reports available to schools, and the ability to download reports directly from the NSLDS Professional Access website.NASFAATue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9053A school must meet the community service expenditure requirements under the Federal Work Study (FWS) Program, unless it is granted a waiver from the Secretary. This announcement explains how a school requests a waiver of the community service expenditure requirements under the FWS Program for the 2012-13 Award Year.NASFAAWed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9052Each year, the Department of Education reminds schools of the correct process for making a refund of cash (i.e., returning unused Direct Loan funds) to the Department. All Direct Loan funds that are not disbursed to student or parent borrowers within three business days (or within seven calendar days in certain circumstances) must be returned to the Department.NASFAAWed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9075The student loan delinquency rate may be much higher than previously estimated, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY). According to the FRBNY, after adjusting the past due rate calculation to exclude borrowers in grace periods and forbearance, the delinquency rate is 21 percent, compared to the unadjusted original rate of 10 percent.NASFAAThu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9073The Department of Education (ED) initiated an e-mail notification campaign this week directed at 2012-13 applicants and their parents who did not, for various reasons, use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on FAFSA on the Web on their initial application. The e-mail text erroneously states that the "federal tax deadline has passed." The deadline for filing 2011 federal tax returns continues to be April 17, 2012.NASFAAThu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9082Regulations require institutions that participate in the student financial assistance programs to report certain information about students who enrolled in Title IV-eligible educational programs that lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation (GE Programs). The regulations provide that the Secretary establishes the deadline dates for reporting GE Program information from the most recently completed award year.NASFAAFri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9081On March 5, 2012, the Department of Education released the EDconnect 8.0 software as part of its upgrade to all components of the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). Upon user installation, it was reported that SAIG users whose FSA User ID contained a special character (e.g., an apostrophe) were unable to log in to EDconnect 8.0. This issue has been resolved with a new version, EDconnect 8.1, which is now available on the Federal Student Aid Download (FSADownload) website.NASFAAFri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9150Congress should reinstate a provision in the bankruptcy code to allow borrowers to discharge private student loan debt in bankruptcy said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) at a hearing held Tuesday by the Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. Last year, Durbin proposed the Fairness for Struggling Students Act to eliminate the 2005 provision that amended the bankruptcy code to prohibit private student loans from being discharged in bankruptcy.NASFAAWed, 21 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9157March 21, 2012 - <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about the proposed GOP fiscal year 2013 budget request that would further limit eligibility for Pell Grants and change the accounting mechanism for federal student loans in a way that would make the loan program more costly. "It’s troubling that anyone would think our long-term path to prosperity includes cuts to education spending," Draeger said.NASFAAWed, 21 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9175Amid allegations that some for-profit institutions have employed aggressive tactics to recruit veterans for their education benefits, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-IA, and a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would require education counseling services for every veteran eligible for education assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).NASFAAThu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9174The Department of Education has made available the recorded version of its online, instructor-led training session for business officers related to key aspects of managing funds at institutions participating in the Title IV federal student aid programs. The webinar addressed recent questions raised by the financial aid community related to the business office and the administration of the Title IV programs, as well as provided an open question and answer period with policy staff.NASFAAThu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9172In the spring of 2012, the Department of Education (ED) will release the FY 2011 GE Informational Rates. GE data submitted to the Department by schools this past fall was used to calculate these Informational Rates. Institutions will receive, for each of its GE Programs, Informational Rates for the <em>Debt-to-Earnings Annual Rate</em>, <em>Debt-to-Earnings Discretionary Rate</em>, and <em>Repayment Rate</em>, as well as <em>Loan Medians for Disclosures</em>. For the <em>Loan Medians for Disclosures</em>, institutions will receive three medians, one each for the GE Program’s: Title IV loan debt, private loan debt, and institutional financing debt.NASFAAThu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9183"Some student loan borrowers with the biggest debt loads didn't fully understand what they were getting into when they borrowed the money, a survey of those borrowers has found," <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> reports.NASFAAThu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9194Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended the spending required for the Obama administration’s proposed college affordability initiatives (outlined in Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request) at a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on Thursday.NASFAAFri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9208This letter reminds the community of Federal Student Aid’s recorded training session that provides a review of monthly Direct Loan reconciliation in an interactive format. This 70-minute training session, first announced in December 2010, is intended for financial aid and business office personnel who are responsible for reconciling and funding Direct Loans. Staff who are new to financial aid or new to the Direct Loan Program will benefit from this training.NASFAAFri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9193On Jan. 8, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), posted a new Document Verification Request (G-845) form and instructions on their website. Schools should begin using the new G-845 form, rather than the G-845 that expired on June 30, 2008 (as prior guidance instructed), as soon as possible.NASFAAFri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9192Federal Student Aid's Conference Services Team announced that the 2012 Federal Student Aid Conference will be held at The Peabody Orlando in Orlando, FL. The conference will take place Nov. 27 – Nov. 30, 2012. Information on registration and lodging will be posted within the next few months.NASFAAFri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9239High-debt student loan borrowers could benefit from additional counseling, according to a recent survey performed by National Economic Research Associates (NERA) on behalf of the Young Invincibles, a national organization representing the interests of 18 to 34 year-olds. The survey of 1,162 undergraduate and graduate student loan borrowers demonstrates an alarming lack of understanding of various aspects of student loans.NASFAATue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9238The ED announces Federal Student Aid’s instructor-led, online training session that provides an overview of the Direct Loan reconciliation and closeout processes.NASFAATue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9240The ED announces implementation of additional improvements to the Special Direct Consolidation Loan online application process that should make it even easier for borrowers to apply. The following provides more information regarding the Special Direct Consolidation Loan Information and the Online Application Process and Eligibility Identification Improvements.NASFAATue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9256Nearly 82% of the 3.3 million full-time, first-time (FTFT) undergraduate students attending Title IV institutions during the 2009-10 academic year received some form of financial aid, according to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The data is included in the report titled <em>First Look</em> which collate findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) spring 2011 data collection.NASFAAWed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9259Portions of the current student loan negotiated rulemaking process will be delayed by a technical issue, creating two rulemaking packages, one with a likely effective date of July 2013 and the other with an effective date of July 2014. The Department of Education does plan to make available the proposed rules for public comment and the final rules regarding Income-Based Repayment, Income-Contingent Repayment and Total and Permanent Disability by Nov. 1, 2012, to be effective in July 2013. Proposed rules related to those issues will be published first and separately from the others given their importance to the Obama administration’s mandated student loan initiatives.NASFAAWed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9260Republican education leaders in the House and Senate asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide information about the U.S. Department of Education's administration of the Direct Loan Program among concerns about loan rehabilitation and debt collection practices.NASFAAWed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9263<p>March 27, 2012 - The <em>Colorado Daily</em> interviewed NASFAA's Director of Communications Haley Chitty about discretionary and mandatory Pell Grant funding.  </p> <p></p>NASFAAWed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9258ED announces the first Pell Grant Administrative Cost Allowance Payments for the 2011-2012 award year.NASFAAWed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9278Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended President Obama's fiscal year (FY) 2013 education budget request and criticized House Republican's FY 2013 budget proposal at a hearing held yesterday by the House Education and the Workforce Committee.NASFAAThu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9283Through further refinement of draft regulatory revisions, the Department of Education (ED) continues to work with representatives from schools, guaranty agencies, servicers and student and consumer groups to clarify process issues, documentation and terminology to the rules that govern total and permanent discharges in the final student loan negotiated rulemaking session. In the third of three week-long meetings, the student loan committee is negotiating 25 student loan regulatory issues that will ultimately result in a package of proposed rules to be published for public comment before promulgation of final rules.NASFAAThu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9282The third phase of the of the 27th edition of the NASFAA Self-Evaluation Guide for Institutional Participation in Title IV and Other Federal Programs is now available. This edition of NASFAA's Self-Evaluation Guide serves as an in-house self-assessment tool to help your institution prepare for required audits of the institution's administration of the Title IV and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) student financial assistance programs during the 2011-12 award year.NASFAAThu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9281U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) convened his fifth annual college and university presidents conference in Washington, D.C. today with more than 50 presidents from colleges and universities across Ohio. Brown’s forum – the first of its kind – is aimed at connecting educators with business leaders to advance regional economic development.NASFAAThu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9324The White House has released a state-by-state analysis of the impact of fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget outline passed by House Republicans last week.  The analysis outlines the consequences of the GOP budget on education for each state, including funding reductions for the Pell Grant and Federal Work Study Programs.NASFAAMon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9290NASFAA recently received guidance from the Department of Education (ED) regarding the return of Title IV funds and programs offered in modules. Learn about the scenario NASFAA presented to ED.NASFAAMon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9325Negotiators reached consensus on proposed regulatory language Friday on 25 student loan regulatory issues that will now result in two packages of proposed rules to be published in the Federal Register for public comment before promulgation of final rules. Consensus means that there is no dissent by any member of the negotiating committee on any of the issues addressed. Disagreement on any one issue would give the Department authority to propose regulatory language as it sees fit on all the issues, though historically the Department honors tentative agreements that were reached on individual issues.NASFAAMon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9310<p>This letter from the ED provides information regarding enhancements that will be made to the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Process. It also includes important reminders about school NSLDS Enrollment Reporting responsibilities.</p> <div> </div>NASFAAMon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9311<p>This letter provides corrections to GEN-11-19/FP-11-01, which announced the approval of the revised version of the form called “Loan Discharge Application: Unpaid Refund” for use by borrowers in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program and in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.</p> <div> </div>NASFAAMon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9389NASFAA has received a number of member inquiries concerning the status of ability-to-benefit determinations to establish a student’s eligibility for Title IV funds. For students who are or were enrolled in a Title IV-eligible program prior to July 1, 2012, institutions may use one of two methods to establish a student’s ability to benefit as an alternative to a high school diploma or its equivalent. Students who first enroll in a program of study on or after July 1, 2012, will no longer have the option of establishing Title IV eligibility under either ability-to-benefit provision. Some confusion has arisen due to only partially-updated language in the 2012-13 FSA Handbook.NASFAAFri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9388<p>In this announcement, the the Department of Education provides specific operational implementation information about the two changes the Budget Control Act of 2011 made to the Direct Loan Program. Specifically, the Budget Control Act eliminated the Up-Front Interest Rebate effective for all Direct Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2012 and eliminated graduate or professional student eligibility for Direct Subsidized Loans effective for loans with loan periods beginning on or after July 1, 2012.</p>NASFAAFri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9402The Secretary announces the annual updates to the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan formula for 2011. Under the Federal Direct Loan Program, borrowers may choose to repay their loans (Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Direct PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students, and Direct Consolidation Loans) under the ICR plan, which bases the repayment amount on the borrower's income, family size, loan amount, and the interest rate applicable to each loan.NASFAAFri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9439NASFAA joined NACUBO and 12 other higher education associations in signing onto a letter urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to halt the reinstatement of a policy that would offset veteran debts against Post-9/11 G.I. Bill tuition and fee payments. Currently, VA can recover a debt owed by a veteran from the housing stipend and other payments that go directly to the veteran, but tuition and fee payments funded by VA education benefits have been exempt from debt recoupment since 2009. If the tuition and fee exemption is eliminated, it could expose veterans to greater debt liabilities from not only VA, but from the postsecondary institution from which the tuition and fee payments are recouped.NASFAAThu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9453Despite some technical disagreements, higher education experts at an Education Sector panel discussion Wednesday agreed that the higher education community needs to form a singular, unified issue campaign to put the Pell Grant program on sustainable long-term footing. The panel discussion, titled "Is the Pell Grant Program Sustainable?," focused on the immediate issue of student aid funding in the Obama Administration and GOP fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget proposals, but also on the broader issue of providing opportunity for low-income students and finding a long-term solution to preserve Pell and other student financial aid programs.NASFAAThu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9452The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced the next phase of its "Know Before You Owe" student loan project by releasing a beta version of the "Financial Aid Comparison Shopper," an interactive, online tool designed to help students and families compare the costs of post-secondary education at various institutions. The CFPB calls this beta version a "thought starter" and says it is just the first step in  developing a tool to help students and families make informed higher education decisions.NASFAAThu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9479<p>NASFAA has been alerted to a company claiming to offer financial aid services for a fee. Student Financial Resource Center (SFRC) offers financial aid counseling for a $59 fee. The California-based company asks students and parents to fill out a "student aid profile application" by a specific deadline and pay a processing fee. Once the company receives the application and fee, students and parents are supposed to receive a "financial aid package" including a list of available financial aid awards. Students and families should be wary of paying a fee for services they can receive for free through a number of other resources, including NASFAA’s Students and Parent Resource page.</p>NASFAAFri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9468The Department of Education is implementing a number of technology security initiatives in calendar year 2012. One of the initiatives is a security process called Two Factor Authentication (TFA). Through TFA, when logging in to certain Federal Student Aid systems, an authorized user will be required to use a traditional User ID and Password as well as provide a One-Time Password (OTP).NASFAAFri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9467The Department of Education has posted the updated 2012-13 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference, which contains development information for the 2012-13 Award Year.NASFAAFri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9484This letter announces Federal Student Aid's two-day series of instructor-led, online training sessions that will assist schools with developing an effective default prevention plan. The training conference relates to key aspects of managing student loan delinquency and default. The series of sessions will assist schools with understanding which borrowers are defaulting and why, and how to use this important information to build an effective default prevention strategy.NASFAAMon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9485The Department of Education has made available Volume 5 – Withdrawals and the Return of Title IV Funds of the 2012-2013 Federal Student Aid Handbook. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and Verification Guide and six numbered volumes. Each volume is posted on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website after being reviewed and approved by the appropriate offices in Federal Student Aid and the Office of Postsecondary Education.NASFAAMon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9491Federal Student Aid has made a substantive revision to Volume 1 – Student Eligibility of the 2012-13 Federal Student Aid Handbook by correcting the "Ability-To-Benefit (ATB) test" section of Chapter 1. The revision has been added to the Errata and Updates for 2012-13 Federal Student Aid Handbook page, and the updated PDF files are now available.NASFAAMon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9492<p>This Electronic Announcement announces increased flexibility to lenders and servicers on the standards for accepting documentation of borrowers' income for IBR purposes, and modifies that guidance by providing that a lender or servicer may accept an unsigned copy of the borrower's tax return, unless the lender or servicer has questions about the validity of the copy of the tax return submitted by the borrower.</p>NASFAAMon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9547The House Committee on Education and Workforce is seeking feedback from borrowers and schools on servicing issues related to the Direct Loan Program.  Specifically, the lawmakers are asking borrowers to share experiences they have had related to loan rehabilitation, debt collection, privacy concerns, and poor customer service.  Feedback can be provided through the committee's Facebook page, or by emailing DLFeedback@mail.house.gov. Last month, Republican education leaders in the House and Senate asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide information about the U.S. Department of Education's administration of the Direct Loan Program amid concerns about loan rehabilitation and potential violations of Fair Debt Collection laws.NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9546<p><p>Senate Democrats introduced legislation yesterday that would limit how postsecondary institutions use the funding they receive from federal student aid programs. The "Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act" would prohibit the use of Pell Grants, federal student loans, military education benefits and other forms of federal student aid by postsecondary institutions for advertising, marketing and recruitment practices. While the majority of colleges and universities devote a small percentage of their revenue to advertising, marketing and recruiting, Sens. Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) said the proposal would help address concerns about allegations of deceptive recruiting practices at for-profit institutions.</p> </p>NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9554April 23, 2012 - <em>University Business</em> mentions NASFAA's professional credentialing program in an article about job opportunities and training for financial aid administrators. "A job posting could read something like a hybrid circus performer: juggler/tight-rope walker/magician with excellent communication, supervisory and financial management skills, and at least five years of experience in financial aid."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9556"President Obama's tuition tax-credit program has benefited more upper-middle class families than previous programs did, says a new report from Education Sector, a nonpartisan think tank for education reform," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "Using Internal Revenue Service data collected by the College Board, the report compared tuition tax breaks from 1999 to 2009, when the president's American Opportunity Tax Credit program was enacted."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9553"As the cost of attending U.S. colleges and universities surges, student-loan debt is turning into 'a significant drag on the housing market,' according to Pierre Lapointe, a Brockhouse &amp; Cooper Inc. strategist," <em>Bloomberg</em> reports. "The chart of the day shows tuition expense has risen about three times as fast as wages since 2001 before accounting for inflation, according to data from the Labor Department."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9552"More than half of student borrowers fail to max out government loans before taking out riskier private loans, according to research by the nonprofit Project on Student Debt," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "In 2006, Barnard College, in New York, started one-on-one counseling for students applying for private loans. Students borrowing from private lenders dropped 74% the next year, says Nanette DiLauro, director of financial aid."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9551"Where do for-profit colleges get the money they spend on all those highway billboards and television and radio ads?" the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "Mostly from the government, at least indirectly. Federal money, most of it through the financial aid that students get, accounts for up to 90 percent of for-profit colleges' revenue -- even more in some cases if veterans attend the school on the GI bill."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9550"It is true that wealthy private colleges and universities enjoy tax breaks by virtue of their nonprofit status," Osamudia R. James, associate professor of law at the University of Miami, writes for the <em>New York Times</em>. "But private nonprofits, like their public counterparts and unlike for-profit colleges, put their wealth to good use, generously providing financial aid for their students, financing research from which we all benefit, and offering cultural and learning experiences for the communities in which they operate, often at no cost."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9555"There is no question that public higher education is in crisis in the United States, but the causes of that crisis are neither the tax breaks for the private institutions, nor the rising sticker price at public institutions of higher education," R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of the College of New Jersey, writes for the <em>New York Times</em>. "Rather, the causes lie in the failure of state governments and public institutions of higher education to appreciate fully the 'new normal' for higher education and in the radical shift in state governments’ sense of responsibility for funding public higher education."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9549"Last week, Rep. Virginia Foxx expressed her lack of tolerance for people with student loans," <em>Equal Justice Works writes in U.S. News and World Report's Student Loan Ranger</em> blog. "Having worked her way through school without borrowing a dime, Foxx believes there is no reason students should have large amounts of student debt."NASFAAThu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9578With student aid funding under continual threat, a new report by the Education Sector details how eliminating education tax breaks that increasingly benefit upper-income students could help shore up more funds for programs like the Pell Grant program that support low-income students. Using IRS data collected by the College Board, the report, "Moving On Up: How Tuition Tax Breaks Increasingly Favor the Upper-Middle Class," shows that in the years between 1999 and 2001, nearly 83 percent of the higher education tax benefits went to families earning less than $75,000 per year. In the last three years, however, families making between $100,000 and $180,000 received nearly a quarter of the benefits, while the share of middle-income families receiving those benefits sharply declined.NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9577"Four months after <em>The Chronicle</em> broke news of widespread problems with the Education Department's new debt-management system, tens of thousands of defaulted borrowers remain in financial limbo, unable to clear their credit histories," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "Meanwhile, delays in issuing wage-garnishment orders continue to cost the government millions in lost recoveries each month."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9576"President Obama begins an all-out push on Friday to get Congress to extend the low interest rate on federal student loans, White House officials said, an effort that is likely to become a heated battle along party lines," the <em>New York Times</em> reports. "If Congress fails to act, the interest rate on the loans, which are taken out by nearly eight million students each year, will double on July 1, to 6.8 percent."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9575"Law school graduates are leaving college with an average of $100,433 in debt at a time when new lawyers outnumber legal jobs, according to a survey from <em>U.S. News &amp; World Report</em>," <em>Bloomberg</em> reports. "Graduates of California Western School of Law have an average of more than $153,000 in loans, the most among law schools nationwide, according to <em>U.S. News</em>, which surveyed 195 law schools."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9574"Albert Lord, chief executive officer of student lender SLM Corp., challenged claims that education debt is ballooning to dangerous levels," the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em> reports. "'We don't see anything of any evidence close to a bubble,' Lord said today on a conference call with analysts."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9573"Small private liberal arts colleges with a regional orientation, such as the University of Charleston - a 1,339-student college in West Virginia with an endowment of about $30 million - have historically looked to the elites in the field, such as Williams and Swarthmore -- institutions with similarly sized student bodies but more than $1.5 billion in endowment funds -- as the trend-setters," <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> reports.NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9572"By any economic measure, the strain to pay for college has increased over the decades," the <em>Des Moines Register</em> reports. "Since the 1960s, the price of college in the U.S. has more than doubled, federal data show. In 1965, the average price of tuition, room and board was $9,817 in today’s dollars."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9571"California State University graduate students will continue to receive tuition grants next fall, after the financially-strapped system decided this week not to reallocate $80 million of the financial aid funds for other uses," the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> reports. "Students learned last week that Cal State was considering eliminating tuition grants for graduate students and launched an online petition drive, gathering 2,500 signatures to save the aid."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9570"A decades-old scholarship fund that redistributes tuition money collected from all public university students is for the first time drawing scrutiny from outraged legislators," the <em>Des Moines Register</em> reports. "The University of Iowa, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa have responded to sharp questioning from Republican lawmakers with a pledge to disclose that about 20 percent of every student’s tuition bill pays for scholarships based on need and academics."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9569"Politicians love to hand out tax freebies to affluent families, who are more likely to also be voters," Lynn O'Shaughnessy writes for <em>CBS News MoneyWatch</em>. "What's inexcusable is that the government has been handing out billions of dollars in tax goodies to well-off families at the same time that they have been attacking the programs aimed at helping poor families pay for college."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9568"'We have to get Hispanic voters to vote for our party,' likely GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told an audience of supporters at a Florida closed-door fundraiser on Sunday night," Elizabeth Weingarten writes for the <em>New America Foundation's Campaign 2012</em> blog. "He was reacting in part to recent polls of Latino voters that show President Obama leading the former Massachusetts governor by a wide margin."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9567"When 2001 came around, I have to admit part of me was a little disappointed that it was the new millennium and technology hadn't advanced enough to give us things like robot butlers, flying cars, and houses on the moon," Altius Education founder and CEO Paul Freedman writes for the <em>Huffington Post Higher Education</em> blog. "When I think about higher education today, I feel the same way."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9566"Every few weeks now a petition pops up in my Facebook newsfeed urging the government to forgive all student debt," Kayla Webley writes for <em>Time Magazine's MoneyLand</em> blog. "The comment from the person posting the petition usually goes something like this, 'Guessing this will never happen, but can’t hurt to sign on!' The petition now has nearly 670,000 signatures."NASFAAFri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9596To receive GE notification packages, institutions must sign-up on the SAIG Enrollment website by April 27, 2012. Institutions that do not sign-up to receive the GE notification package by April 27, 2012 will be able to view their GE Informational Rates and request their GE back-up data by accessing the NSLDS Professional Access website; however, the GE rate letters will not be available on the NSLDS Professional Access website.NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9597April 23, 2012 - <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> interviews NASFAA President Justin Draeger about the current proposals to stop the student loan interest rate hike on subsidized Stafford loans. "We’re looking at a temporary solution, and an expensive temporary solution," Draeger said. "We are interested in working with everyone to try to find a long-term solution to this issue."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9594"President Barack Obama will use a tour of three election battleground states next week to push Congress to prevent the doubling of interest rates on federal student loans -- an effort aimed at re-energizing his support among younger voters," <em>Reuters</em> reports. "If lawmakers fail to act, rates on the loans will double on July 1 to 6.8 percent -- this at a time when other loans boast near-record-low rates, with the average for a 30-year mortgage standing at 3.9 percent this week."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9595"Experts say there are a number of ways to reduce, rework or even get rid of your federal loans, depending on your circumstances and what kind of work you're willing to do," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "Change your payment plan. If your monthly loan bill is more than you can comfortably pay, the government offers federal-loan holders a number of different repayment plans."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9593"With Republicans increasingly concerned about losing Hispanic voters this November, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Thursday pressed his party to embrace a compromise measure allowing young illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status," the <em>New York Times</em> reports. "'We have these very talented young people in America who find themselves in limbo through no fault of their own,' said Mr. Rubio, acknowledging that he has kept the Romney campaign apprised of his actions."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9592"Libby Buchmeier was 21 and married when she first enrolled in college classes," the <em>Des Moines Register</em> reports. "She dropped out and has since enrolled in classes a few times. Her message to young people is: 'Get your degree when you’re young.'"NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9591"California State University graduate students won a reprieve this week when officials decided to continue offering financial aid that helps about 20,000 postgrads pay for school," the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> reports. "Students learned last week that Cal State was considering eliminating State University Grants for graduate students, while maintaining the funding for undergrads."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9590"Universities and student loan organizations have developed counseling and education programs in recent years in response to growing concerns over student debt," the <em>Des Moines Register</em> reports. "The nonprofit, which has loans out to more than 220,000 Iowans, launched the 'Student Loan Game Plan' last year."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9589"What if public universities charged tuition at different rates according to how much each student’s courses cost the institution to teach?" Daniel de Vise writes for the <em>Washington Post College Inc</em>. blog. "'Differential tuition' as a pricing concept doesn’t get much discussion in higher education; it’s easy to get lost in the variables."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9588"Repeated warnings that student loan rates will double in July unless Congress prevents it may be causing unwarranted fears for people with college debt," Kathleen Pender writes for the <em>San Francisco Chronicle's Net Worth</em> blog. "College debt is a big election year issue and many news stories and press releases omit or downplay the fact that the impending rate increase - to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent - will affect only one type of federal student loan: subsidized undergraduate Stafford loans."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9586"At a time when American employers are complaining they can't find enough highly-skilled and well-educated workers, a political battle is shaping up over the looming rise in the cost of student loans," John W. Schoen writes for <em>MSNBC's EconomyWatch</em> blog. "The Obama administration Friday kicked off a push to delay a scheduled increase in the interest rate charged on so-called Stafford loans for college."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9587"The for-profit college industry gets about $32 billion of its approximately $35 billion annual revenue from federal financial aid," United Republic Senior Fellow David Halperin writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "Fifteen of the largest for-profits get 86 percent of their money from federal student aid programs -- such as Pell grants, student loans, and the G.I. Bill."NASFAAMon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9666<p><p>In an unexpected turn of events, Republicans unveiled their own bill yesterday that would keep the subsidized Stafford Loan interest rate for undergraduate students at 3.4 percent for one additional year. The Republican bill (H.R. 4628) comes on the heels of a Democratic bill introduced in the Senate (S. 2343) that would also keep interest rates at 3.4 percent for one additional year. In a departure from what has become normal operating procedure, neither of these bills offset the expense of the interest rate reduction by cutting another student aid program.</p> </p>NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9665In correspondence from the Department of Education (ED) to NASFAA on recent changes to the provision that limits the duration of a student’s Pell Grant eligibility, ED acknowledged the concerns of NASFAA members and outlined plans to address them. In the fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget, Congress amended statutory language to reduce the duration of a student’s eligibility to receive a Federal Pell Grant from 18 semesters (or its equivalent) to 12 semesters (or its equivalent). The change applies to all Federal Pell Grant eligible students effective with the 2012-13 award year.  Because processing for the 2012-13 year has already begun, some students risk losing all or a portion of their Pell Grant even after being told they qualify by the Department and their school.NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9643The Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations (COHEAO) will host a webinar on Friday, April 27 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), "Financial Literacy Compendium:  Review of Great Programs on Campuses." COHEAO offers webinars of particular interest to financial aid administrators at a discount for NASFAA members.  If your school or organization is a member of NASFAA, you may register at a discounted rate of $59.  If your school or organization is a member of COHEAO, you may register at the member rate of $49.NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9647The Department will be publishing a notice in the <u>Federal</u> <u>Register</u> announcing its intent to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare proposed regulations for the Federal Student Aid programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). This notice will announce two public hearings at which interested parties may suggest issues that should be considered for action by the negotiating committees.NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9648Final funding worksheets and the 2012-13 Statement of Account for each of the Campus-Based programs were posted to the eCampus-Based (eCB) website on March 30, 2012. In past years, Campus-Based funds were not made available in G5 until July 1. Beginning with the 2012-13 Award Year, Campus-Based funds will be made available earlier than July 1. This change provides more consistency with fund availability across all programs.NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9655The Department of Education has made available the report, “Analysis of the Experimental Sites Initiative: 2010-11.” This report contains findings from the 76 schools participating in the seven currently active experiments, including loan proration practices for graduating borrowers, credit of Title IV funds to prior term charges and alternative exit loan counseling procedures.NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9642<p>The Department of Education is recruiting participants for the beta test of Direct Loan (DL) Tools for Windows, Release 12.0. Beta testing is scheduled to run from May 14 through May 25, 2012. Beta test volunteers should be current users of the DL Tools, Release 11.0 software (released in June 2011) and have 2011-12 School Account Statement (SAS) files available for use during the beta test. </p>NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9663"Throughout American history, almost every generation has had substantially more education than that of its parents," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "That is no longer true."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9664"As President Obama continued his tour of swing-state colleges Wednesday, parties in both chambers of Congress offered legislation to keep student-loan interest rates low past the November election," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "Without action by Congress, the interest rate on new subsidized Stafford loans to undergraduate students will double, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, on July 1."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9661"When students get into college, they often don't know how much they're paying or where exactly the money is coming from. They're in the dark," <em>NPR</em> reports. "What do institutions do about this? Well, that's where it gets a little strange."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9660"The surging student loan burden has the attention of President Obama and Congress," the <em>Christian Science Monitor</em> reports. "The interest rates will affect the cost of college for a wide range of borrowers, middle- and low-income alike. The Pell grants, in addition to determining whether many low-income students can enter college at all, leave recipients with a lower debt load upon graduation."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9662"A national advocacy group for student veterans that kicked out 40 chapters at for-profit colleges this month for allegedly providing misleading information to prospective students plans to release on Thursday the names of 26 chapters that remain suspended," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "The group has since reinstated 14 chapters, with up-to-date contact information, after verifying that they are indeed led by students."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9658"While Wesleyan has a solid need-based aid program, it can’t afford to be as generous as some other selective colleges," Beckie Supiano writes for the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Newly Minted</em> blog. "And Wesleyan competes for students not only with top-tier colleges that are poised to give more support to needy students, but also with institutions that offer merit aid."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9659"For some high-school students, getting good grades, taking AP courses, excelling in sports, and scoring well on the SAT is all that’s needed to get into a four-year university," Joanna Chau writes for the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Newly Minted</em> blog. "But many first-generation college students have an additional hurdle, and that’s in gaining confidence and assurance that they can pay for it."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9657"As the May 1 deadline to accept financial-aid offers approaches, <em>TIME Moneyland</em> spoke to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com, to thwart many of the common misconceptions families have when it comes to financing a college education," Kayla Webley writes for <em>TIME Magazine's Moneyland</em> blog. "Student loans help families manage their cash flow by spreading out the cost of college over many years, but they do not lower the expense."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9656"On Tuesday, congressional Democrats announced plans to introduce legislation that would extend the current low interest rates on government-subsidized student loans, responding to the major public relations push from President Barack Obama," Joy Resmovits writes for the <em>Huffington Post Politics</em> blog. "But while the issue has ginned up cable news chatter and drawn attention to a host of grassroots student debt relief efforts, it is a relatively minor front in the administration's college affordability battle."NASFAAThu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9624Republicans and Democrats have both agreed to provide one-year extension to the 3.4 percent interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans; now they have until July 1 to agree on a way to pay for it. Tuesday, Senate Democrats introduced a bill (S.2343) that would amend tax law by closing a small business tax loophole for some shareholder-employees of S Corporations to cover the cost of extending the 3.4 percent rate. On Wednesday, the Republicans unveiled a plan to keep the subsidized Stafford Loan interest rate at 3.4 percent for one additional year by repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund, a disease prevention fund created by the Affordable Care Act.NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9645<p>In regards to our 2012 National Conference, NASFAA has received a number of questions. We have a compiled a list of frequently asked questions for your convenience. We hope that this will help alleviate some of your concerns.  If you receive a question that you cannot answer, feel free to direct the inquiry to the appropriate staff member listed at the end of the FAQ article.</p>NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9672This letter provides general guidance to institutions that contract with third-party servicers to administer any aspect of their participation in the title IV, Higher Education Act (HEA) programs. The letter provides specific guidance to institutions that use contractors to deliver title IV credit balances to their students directly or through a contractor-supplied financial institution such as a bank or a credit union.NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9669The Department of Education has completed the closeout of all 2010-11 awards for the Campus-Based programs based on the official reporting in a school's Fiscal Operations Report section of the Fiscal Operations Report for 2010-11 and Application to Participate for 2012-13 (FISAP).NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9684"President Obama will issue an executive order today that is designed to protect veterans, servicemembers, and their families from deceptive marketing practices by educational institutions that target them for their federal education benefits, the White House announced," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "The executive order, which Mr. Obama will announce during a visit to Fort Stewart, in Georgia, contains new rules for how institutions receiving military and veteran education benefits recruit students, disclose financial information, and track student outcomes."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9682"As the general election approaches, President Obama and Mitt Romney are working to win over every voting bloc they can," according to <em>U.S. News and World Report</em>. "Most recently, the two candidates have been ardently courting the women's vote and those still carrying student loans. It might be worth the candidates' worthwhile to lump the two voting blocs together."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9681"Virtually any other kind of debt -- including medical bills, mortgage, credit cards and car loans, even gambling losses-- can be discharged in bankruptcy, allowing the 'honest but unlucky' a chance to restore their footing through an arduous restructuring overseen by a court," the <em>Associated Press</em> reports. "But under a 2005 law passed by Congress to protect lenders, private student loans fall under the same nearly-impossible-to-clear category as child support payments and criminal fines."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9680"Consider recent research on 529 college savings plans, named for the section number of the federal tax code from which they were created," <em>CBS News</em> reports. "These state-sponsored investment accounts permit withdrawals for college expenses to be made free of federal taxes."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9683"College students held demonstrations in several U.S. cities on Wednesday to mark the day total U.S. student loan debt was expected to reach $1 trillion, with some burning student loan documents and others demanding a right to 'debt-free degrees,'" <em>Reuters</em> reports. "The demonstrations for 'One Trillion Dollar Day' come as President Barack Obama was visiting colleges to push Congress to extend the low interest rates on college loans to more than 7.4 million students."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9678"Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have endorsed extending low Stafford Loan rates, but that’s a mistake--there are better ways to subsidize higher education and support students who are struggling to pay tuition," Josh Barro writes for <em>Forbes Magazine</em>. "Indeed, there are already a lot of different ways that American governments subsidize higher education."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9679"Obama started the year speaking of 'an economy built to last,'" Fareed Zakaria writes for the <em>Washington Post</em>. "He should return to this theme and frame this campaign as a choice between investments and budget cuts. The Republican Party is wholly committed to the idea that large-scale budget cuts will by themselves produce economic growth."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9676"Student-aid programs that require a complicated application process or that involve multiple programs with different eligibility criteria, different eligible expenses, and unpredictable award levels are less effective than those that are transparent, predictable, and easy to access," Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson write for the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Innovations</em> blog. "Despite strong evidence that simple programs are more likely to increase college enrollment and success, there is considerable resistance to simplification."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9677"Yes, the interest rate on some federal student loans is set to double this July from 3.4% to 6.8% unless Congress acts," Jason Delisle writes for the <em>New America Foundation's Higher Ed Watch</em> blog. "And every news story and sound bite on the issue tells us the big numbers at stake."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9673"At a time when American higher education is under fire for dismal graduation rates that have eroded the nation's leadership in college degree-holders, this public university in western Pennsylvania will graduate a record number of students, and do so more quickly than in years past," Jon Marcus writes for the <em>Hechinger Report</em>. "That's because Slippery Rock has built in aggressive new measures to help students succeed -- and eliminated many obstacles that make success so elusive almost everywhere else."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9675"Even if rates are kept down, the student loan program doesn't come close to meeting the challenge of soaring tuition," David Brodwin, cofounder and board member of American Sustainable Business Council, writes for <em>U.S. News and World Report's Economic Intelligence</em> blog. "It doesn't allow America's youth to acquire the skills they need to compete in a tough global marketplace."NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9674"This week, President Obama booked appearances at three flagship public universities to talk about college affordability and urge Congress to keep federal student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent instead of the usual 6.8 percent for another year," Jenna Johnson writes for the <em>Washington Post Campus Overload</em> blog. "Obama’s first visits were to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado in Boulder, campuses where students take on less debt than the average college student, according to a Project on Student Debt report"NASFAAFri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9706President Obama issued an executive order Friday that ties military and veteran education benefits to marketing and recruitment practices at postsecondary institutions. The measure also calls for the establishment of new outcome measurements, financial disclosure requirements and enhance enforcement and compliance mechanisms.NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9701President Obama has vowed to veto a Republican bill passed by the House Friday that would keep the subsidized Stafford Loan interest rate for undergraduate students at 3.4 percent for one additional year by repealing part of Obama’s health care act. The bill passed by a vote of 215-195. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it would cost just under $6 billion to keep the subsidized interest rate at 3.4 percent for an additional year. The House Republican plan (H.R. 4628) would pay for the interest rate extension by repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund, a disease prevention fund created by the Affordable Care Act.NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9697In 2011, the Department of Education began implementing a security process called Two Factor Authentication (TFA). (See Foreign School Update FS-2011-04 and Foreign School Update FS-2011-05.) Through TFA, when logging in to certain Federal Student Aid systems, an authorized user is required to use a traditional User ID and Password as well as provide a One-Time Password (OTP).NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9696New versions of TDClient and EDconnect were posted to the Federal Student Aid Download (FSAdownload) website in early March 2012. These upgraded software products must be used by all TDClient and EDconnect users by May 27, 2012. Currently, over 80 percent of institutions have not yet completed this important upgrade.NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9695This August 31, 2011 Electronic Announcement has been superseded by an updated Electronic Announcement posted on April 27, 2012, which provides updated policy guidance related to the Title IV eligibility and gainful employment status of preparatory courses of study.NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9712"To attract more parents to college-savings plans, states are making a new round of changes to deliver lower-cost, better-performing investments," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "In some states, investors are getting new plan managers, new investment options or both."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9715"Price calculators were supposed to make estimating the cost of going to college easier," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "But some families are feeling burned by them. Beginning last fall, nearly every public and private college in the U.S. began providing an online 'net-price calculator,' as mandated by Congress."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9713"The growth of student debt is stirring debate about whether the government should step in to ease the burden by rewriting the bankruptcy laws—again," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reports. "In 2005, Congress prohibited student debt from being discharged through bankruptcy, except in rare cases, because of concerns that many young graduates—who often have no major assets such as a house or a car—would be tempted to walk away from loan obligations."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9714"Despite the rising cost of higher education, degree holders make more over the course of their careers than those who do not go to college, while also facing lower levels of unemployment," according to <em>U.S. News and World Report</em>. "Therefore, the debt most students face is manageable and considered a wise investment."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9711"Because of levitating costs, college these days is a luxury item," Frank Bruni writes for the <em>New York Times</em>. "What’s more, it’s a luxury item with newly uncertain returns. Yes, many of the sorts of service-industry jobs now available to people without higher education are less financially rewarding than manufacturing jobs of yore, and so college has in that sense become more imperative."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9709"Does it make sense for the government to take taxes from the big majority of Americans who never managed to win college degrees in order to subsidize the pricey education of the fortunate few who get to attend top universities?" Michael Medved writes for <em>The Daily Beast</em>. "Why is it fair to increase burdens on stressed-out working families so the feds can reduce future interest payments on student loans for members of the elite?"NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9710"President Barack Obama 'slow-jams the news?' Is this a nakedly bold pitch for the youth vote or what?" Clarence Page writes for the <em>Chicago Tribune</em>. "I'm talking about the president's appearance Tuesday night on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.'"NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9708"According to a report by Georgetown University, over the next six years, we will need 22 million new workers with college degrees," Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI) writes for <em>U.S. News and World Report's Debate Club</em> blog. "At the current rate, we will fall short of that number by at least 3 million."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9707"Private student loans are an oft-ignored part of the student debt problem, since they are often conflated with federal loans," Education Sector policy analyst Amy Laitinen writes for <em>U.S. News and World Report's Debate Club</em> blog. "But private students loans are almost always more expensive than and lack the protections of federal loans."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9704"A modified version of the Dream Act is being pushed by a Republican senator from Florida who’s been mentioned as a possible candidate for vice president," Maureen Downey writes for the <em>Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Get Schooled</em> blog. "The compromise would grant students who are the children of illegal immigrants a new kind of nonimmigrant visa that would let them live in this country legally for a period of time."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9703"The facts below show how students of color depend on financial aid to finance their college education and how they are uniquely impacted by student debt," Sophia Kerby writes for <em>Campus Progress</em>. "Students are having trouble paying back their college loans. Studies show that only 37 percent of students are able to repay their loans on time."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9702"It seems simple: College is expensive and interest rates are at historic lows, so rates on federal student loans shouldn't suddenly double," Cato Institute scholar Neal McCluskey writes for <em>U.S. News and World Report's Debate Club</em> blog. "But this isn't simple at all. Despite constant talk about the huge value of education, and the need to get many more people into college, aid is driving massive overconsumption of higher education and squandering billions of student and taxpayer dollars."NASFAAMon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9748The closeout deadline for the 2010-11 Direct Loan Program Year is Tuesday, July 31, 2012. This is the last processing day before the end of the program year, so all school data must be received and accepted by this date to be included in a school's final Ending Cash Balance for the year.NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9744The Department of Education has posted the Federal Perkins Loan Program Status of Default as of June 30, 2011, known as the Orange Book. The Orange Book is a report that lists each school that participated in the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program during the 2010-11 Award Year and provides a cohort default rate for each school.NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9743The Department of Education has made available the updated 2012-13 Federal School Code (FSC) List of Participating Schools on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website. The Federal School Code List contains the unique codes assigned by the Department of Education for schools participating in the Title IV federal student aid programs. Students enter these codes on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to indicate which postsecondary schools will receive the processed application results.NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9756The Pell Grant Expansions under the PGE is a two-part, five-year demonstration study sponsored by the Department of Education that focuses on the effects of expanded access to Pell grants on students' employment and earnings outcomes.NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9754"Employers say they'll hire 10 percent more new graduates this year than they did in 2011, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, so you may get a decent paycheck," <em>Reuters</em> reports. "Here's a post grad to-do list. Get health insurance. Sure, you're young and healthy, but an uninsured accident or appendectomy could crush your finances for years."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9753"All Californians will pay the same low tuition for classes at Santa Monica College--if they can get off the wait list," according to <em>U.S. News and World Report</em>. "Student protests forced the school's board of trustees to suspend its plan to charge a premium for access to new sections of high-demand classes."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9752"The lessons of the U.S. mortgage crisis seem to be lost on policymakers tackling student debt," Daniel Indiviglio writes for <em>Reuters</em>. "A decade ago, government subsidies and guarantees helped expand the 'dream' of homeownership to many Americans who would have been better off renting."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9758"Students traditionally have a soft spot for their alma maters," Dave Lindorff writes for the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>. "But as growing numbers of students run up debt in the high five and even six figures to pay for college, that may change. Especially when they discover their old school is actively blocking them from getting a job or going on to a higher degree."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9757"In the last month, I have talked with students at six institutions that represent nearly every corner of our diverse higher-ed system: Arizona State, the University of Central Florida, Valencia College, Franklin &amp; Marshall College, Southern New Hampshire University, and just this week, Georgetown University," Jeff Selingo writes in the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Next</em> blog. "My conversations with the students weren’t meant to be scientific survey, but rather a collection of anecdotes and ideas for this blog and my book on the future of higher ed."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9755"A few weeks ago, we reported that Student Veterans of America revoked charter membership at a number of for-profit schools," Alex Horton writes for <em>Veterans Affairs' VAntage Point</em> blog. "The schools were charged with violating the terms of their agreement with SVA, which includes a clause stipulating the chapters would be run by student Veterans."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9751"Given his vantage as one of the super-rich, Mr. Romney seems to be ignorant of the financial hurdles that the vast majority of college and university students must negotiate to get a decent education,"  Paul Stoller, anthropology professor and author, writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "Until recently he, like the conservative base of the GOP, supported doubling the interest rates on student loans. As for the loans themselves: no problem."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9750"All now agree that college or advanced training is more important than ever, yet we are making it less and less affordable," civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "College tuition is soaring because the state contribution to budgets is being slashed."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9749"Quality, affordability, accessibility, diversity and student success," Saint Paul College President Rassoul Dastmozd writes for the <em>Huffington Post College</em> blog. "These things are at the very core of community colleges, and it makes us all stronger. It certainly continues to make Saint Paul College stronger."NASFAAWed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9780"Still unsure of your plans for the fall? If you're considering enrolling in college, it's not too late--as long as you're interested in one of 362 schools," according to <em>U.S. News and World Report</em>. "Though most colleges enforce a May 1 decision deadline, there are still spots available for entering freshmen at many private colleges and some public institutions, according to the Space Availability List released by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) on May 3."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9787"In 2007 -- long before President Obama pushed to make college attainment a national priority and three years before the phrase 'completion agenda' first appeared in these pages -- a group of public university systems put themselves on the spot," <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> reports. "Working with (and to some extent prodded by) Education Trust, which promotes the educational success of low-income and minority students, the 22 systems of two-year and four-year colleges and universities committed to increasing their attainment levels, in large part by closing the gaps in performance between underrepresented students and their peers within a decade."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9786"Four of five students at Shepherd College don't graduate within four years, and fewer than half, 46 percent, graduate within six years, according to school data," the <em>Charleston Daily Mail</em> reports. "However, Shepherd is ahead of the curve compared to the 43.8 percent average six-year graduation rate for West Virginia universities, according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9785"Are you a Florida State College at Jacksonville student who received a letter telling you to repay a Pell Grant? Let The Times-Union know, if so," the <em>Florida Times-Union</em> reports. "School administrators say about 200 students should have received correspondence about the federal grants for the 2010-11 academic year. Almost 1,000 got money they shouldn't have because they--and the college--didn't file required paperwork."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9784"All workers face wage cuts and job losses during a recession, when the supply of labor outstrips demand," American Enterprise Institute scholar Andrew Biggs writes for the <em>Wall Street Journal</em>. "But in this recession, new college graduates have been particularly hard hit."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9783"It’s nothing new to say that U.S. higher education is under attack," Rhonda McClellan and Joshua Powers write for <em>Inside Higher Ed</em>. "For decades now, policy makers, the media, and pundits have questioned the value of a college education."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9782"The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) recently released a significant commission report that begins to articulate a positive path for change for two-year colleges," Richard Kahlenberg writes for the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Innovations</em> blog. "Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s Future, was issued by a high-level 38-member panel, and had the backing of major players in higher education: the Gates and Kresge foundations and the ACT and Educational Testing Service."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9781"Charles Miller, chair of the Spellings Commission, reminded me the other day that that panel in its report referred to the federal financial aid system as 'dysfunctional,'" Richard Vedder writes for the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education's Innovations</em> blog. "I think I (as a member of the commission) picked the word and Charles seized upon it. More than five years have passed, and the system now has been promoted to 'uber dysfunctional.'"NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9779"Dear Mr. President: High school counselors and college admissions officers stood a little taller last week when you took your case public for federal financial aid," Patrick O'Connor, Roeper School director of college counseling, writes for the <em>Huffington Post</em>. "Since financial aid is on everyone's mind, and your Executive Order pen is still warm, I hope you're willing to use it one more time -- because the truth is, a lot of aid is being wasted for no reason at all."NASFAAFri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9840<p>States should re-examine their grant programs to increase educational attainment, according to a report released yesterday at an event held by the Brookings Institute. A panel of student aid experts presented key findings from the institute's 41-page report, "Beyond Need and Merit: Strengthening State Grant Programs," written by the 14-member Brookings Institute State Grant Aid Study Group. </p>NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9831May 8, 2012 - <em>Daily Finance</em> cites NASFAA's website as one of the top five websites for financial aid information. "The site offers information under its 'Students, Parents &amp; Counselors' tab, where entities dole out financial aid, eligibility for financial aid, and a state-by-state look at various financial-aid programs available."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9836"Social justice is central to the mission of Dominican University, a small private Catholic college in suburban Chicago. Serving poor immigrants is part of its history," <em>USA Today</em> reports. "So as the school began to get more applications where Social Security numbers weren't provided, there was never a question of turning qualified undocumented students away, President Donna Carroll says."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9837"States will have to use student-aid grants more efficiently to get the most value from that spending and increase the number of college graduates, recommends a new report being released on Tuesday," the <em>Chronicle of Higher Education</em> reports. "A major key to doing that is to eliminate the 'dichotomy' between need-based and merit-based student aid, says the report, which was written by researchers at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9834"It's no surprise that another consequence of the difficult economy is that parents continue to struggle to pay for their children's college costs," <em>CBS News</em> reports. "According to the most recent study by Sallie Mae, 'How America Pays for College 2011,' the amount parents paid towards college costs from savings and income has fallen from 36% to 30% over the past two years."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9845"Federal programs exist that will forgive the remainder of your federal student loan debt if you work in the public sector or for a registered nonprofit for 10 years and keep current with your payments," <em>Fox Business</em> reports. "Others allow you to stretch out your loan payments if your income falls below a certain level and will forgive the remainder of your debt after 25 years."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9844"Tuition will rise about 8.5 percent, on average, next year at Mississippi's eight public universities," <em>Businessweek</em> reports. "The increase was approved Monday by the College Board, finalizing an amount that was discussed last month. In-state students taking two semesters of full-time classes will pay an average of $5,906 for the 2012-13 school year."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9833"If you took a poll of North Carolina residents, higher education would likely be way down on the list of things the state government should cut, University of North Carolina President Thomas Ross said Monday during a summit on higher education in Michigan," the <em>Detroit Free Press</em> reports. "That attitude hasn't been reflected in Michigan over the last decade, several speakers told the crowd at the event, hosted by Business Leaders for Michigan."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9832"Interest rates on federal subsidized Stafford loans were cut from 6.8% to 3.4% during the current economic downturn," Mark Kantrowitz and Mark Schneider write for <em>TIME Magazine</em>. "This 'temporary' reduction is scheduled to expire this summer, halfway through an election year. With potentially millions of student votes at stake, President Obama, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney and some members of Congress are racing to support an extension."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9842"Last year, Peter Thiel established the Thiel Fellowship, which gives college students under the age of 20 $100,000 and two years' time to pursue their entrepreneurial ideas," William Wei writes for <em>Business Insider's War Room</em> blog. "One catch, though: Thiel Fellows are required to drop out of college for the two years of the fellowship."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9843"The House Republican majority recently passed a budget that deeply slashes Pell Grants for nearly 10 million college students and allows student loan interest rates to double in July," Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) writes for <em>The Hill's Congress Blog</em>. "While Democrats began working to prevent this interest rate increase, which would cost the average college student about $1,000 per year of school, one Republican member deemed it and rising college costs a 'distraction' from our real problems."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9841"The president continues to demagogue the issue of interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for no justifiable reason," Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Chad Miller write for the <em>National Review's Corner</em> blog. "His presidential opponent agrees that the rate should be kept low, the Republican-led House has passed legislation to actually keep the rate low, and the House also offset the deficit impact to avoid sticking the taxpayers with the bill."NASFAAWed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9850As described in E-Announcement 2011-09-02, the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) maintains a website containing Q&amp;As pertaining to the Program Integrity final regulations that were published on Oct. 29, 2010. OPE recently updated this website with information about retaking coursework and return of Title IV Funds.NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9860May 9, 2012 - "Unless you live in a cave, you’ve seen the alarming headlines highlighting 'exploding' college costs and 'crushing' student loan debt," NASFAA President Justin Draeger writes for <em>University Business</em>. "Because the media is trying to grab readers’ attention, these articles often use the most startling cases of these serious problems without providing context needed to fully understand the complexity of these issues."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9859"As U.S. lawmakers consider how to keep interest rates on certain student loans from escalating, a growing number of students have sought help through a bipartisan 2009 initiative," <em>Reuters</em> reports. "With a November 6 presidential election looming, both President Barack Obama and his presumed Republican challenger Mitt Romney have targeted student loans as a growing problem for American families and the struggling U.S. economy."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9858"It wasn't that long ago that high school seniors and their parents met astronomical college loans with a shrug and a signature: Whatever it took to send junior to his 'first choice' school was a small price to pay," <em>Reuters</em> reports. "Now, opinion seems to have moved 180 degrees in the opposite direction."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9857"About one out of every five U.S. households owe more on credit cards, medical bills, student loans and other debt than they have in savings and other liquid assets, according to a University of Michigan report out this morning," the <em>Detroit Free Press</em> reports. "The report also predicts continuing trouble ahead for home mortgages, with 1.7% of families surveyed in 2011 saying that it is 'very or somewhat likely' that they will fall behind on their mortgage payments in the near future."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9856"The underfunded College Illinois savings program was plagued by weak financial controls and conflicts of interest between top administrators and companies hired to invest millions from the prepaid tuition fund, according to a report issued Wednesday by the state auditor general's office," the <em>Chicago Tribune</em> reports. "The report covers 2006 to 2011, a period when the commission that oversees the program approved a series of what some considered risky investments for the fund — including $12.8 million that went to ShoreBank just two years before the bank collapsed."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9854"Democrats have seized on a looming increase in the interest rate on certain federal student loans as their latest wedge issue, hoping to portray Republicans as caring more about the wealthy than they do about working-class and middle-income college students," Jon Healey writes for the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>. "Underneath all the politicking, however, is a lesson for the younger generation about federal budgeting."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9855"The interest rate on the popular Stafford federal student loan program is set to double in July, after the Senate could not reach agreement on Tuesday on a way to keep the rate at 3.4 percent," Mark Kantrowitz and Lynn O’Shaughnessy write for the <em>New York Times</em>. "President Obama has blamed Republican obstruction for the looming rate increase; Mitt Romney says the lower rate should be extended but hasn’t specified how to pay for it."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9853"Obama’s policies are designed to dole out money to college students, not promote better outcomes, which would make them poor policy even if there were no budget crisis," Katrina Trinko writes for the <em>National Review</em>. "For instance, the plan makes no effort to incentivize academic effort or excellence: 'A' students and 'D' students are equally eligible for Pell Grants, federal student loans, and the American Opportunity tax credit."NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9852"Your Student Loan Ranger has been talking quite a bit recently about the importance of disclosing information to student loan borrowers," Equal Justice Works writes for <em>U.S. News and World Report's Student Loan Ranger</em> blog. "Last week, we discussed how the focus on the interest rate increase on subsidized Stafford loans--which we don't favor--can obscure systemic problems such as reporting requirements designed to provide consumer information that aren't working well."<br />NASFAAThu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9874The White House convened a room of financial experts, nonprofit leaders and students Thursday to develop a path forward for a national campaign to promote financial literacy in all aspects of life, including early learning and college planning. Created by President Obama in 2012, the Advisory Council on Financial Capability, charged with developing policy recommendations to improve the financial capability of young Americans, launched a new financial literacy tool, called "Money as You Grow." The tool includes 20 lessons designed to help families, community organizations, nonprofits and businesses to promote financial literacy for children starting at age 3 to 18 and onward.NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9873The Department is in the process of implementing an upgrade to all components of the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG). These upgraded software products must be used by all TDClient and EDconnect users by May 27, 2012. To date, <strong>78 percent</strong> of institutions have not yet completed this important upgrade and risk losing access to their SAIG Mailbox(es).NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9872On  May 12, 2012 the Department plans to execute extended maintenance activity that will  impact all functions of the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) mailbox servers.  Please review this information to evaluate impact on your school or  organization during the period when SAIG functions will be unavailable.NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9871The Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) report is a web-only report that is available in a school's Reporting Newsbox on the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) website. Until the COD System, the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), and the Central Processing System (CPS) are updated in July 2012 with prior years Pell Grant data, the Pell Grant LEU report will be the only tool a school can use to evaluate LEU data for Pell Grant recipients whose total LEU is greater than or equal to 450 percent.NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9869"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is investigating Corinthian Colleges Inc., the company said last week, with a broad inquiry that may revolve around Corinthian’s institutional student loan program," <em>Inside Higher Ed</em> reports. "The CFPB is seeking to 'determine whether for-profit postsecondary companies, student loan origination and servicing providers, or other unnamed persons, have engaged or are engaging in unlawful acts or practices relating to the advertising, marketing or origination of private student loans,' according to the Corinthian filing, which apparently quotes from the CFPB’s civil investigative demand."NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9868"[T]here's another mostly hidden, rarely publicized percentage rate coming out of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) that ought to be getting attention: If you default on your student loan, you're subject to a penalty up to 25% of the amount in default," <em>Forbes</em> reports. "Remarkably, according to a DOE spokesperson, one in six students in default are assessed the 25% penalty after collection efforts of more than 14 months."NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9881"The Mitch Daniels Early Graduation Scholarship, which began in 2011, is for public-school students who graduate from high school in three years," the <em>Indianapolis Star</em> reports. "The scholarship is a one-time award of $4,000, and it goes directly to a qualified in-state college or university. Eligible students must graduate at the end of their junior year with a Core 40 diploma."NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9882"Scott Seibring, IWU director of student aid, said the average debt was $31,200 among students who graduated last year and had borrowed money -- an amount 'fairly similar' to other private liberal arts universities of IWU's size," <em>The Pantagraph</em> reports. "One way IWU tries to help its students keep down their debt is through a 10-month, interest-free payment plan for tuition and fees so students and their families don't have to come up with a large sum all at once."NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9870"If we do not close the gap between college aspiration and college success, we will not only face a long-term economic crisis, but we will also lose that intangible aura of opportunity and wonder that makes the United States a symbol of hope--not just to the world, but, more importantly, in the eyes of our own people," College Board President Gaston Caperton writes in the <em>Huffington Post</em>.NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9880"A recent survey showed that a majority of young people between 18 and 34 admit that they waste money on things they don’t really need and would like to scale back their spending," Liz Davidson writes for <em>Forbes Magazine's Financial Finesse</em> blog. "The good news is that most college students have already been living on a limited budget so they wouldn’t have to make a major adjustment to maintain their frugal lifestyle into their working lives."NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9878"Over the past several weeks, the media has been buzzing with reports about the student loan debt crisis and rising federal loan interest rates," Joseph Audette writes for <em>U.S. News and World Report's My Money</em> blog. "It is a positive signal that these issues are receiving attention from policymakers and late night talk show segments, but the atmosphere surrounding college affordability remains politically charged."NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.nasfaa.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ID&ItemID=9879"Why are Republicans fixated on holding middle class Americans hostage to their campaign to prevent government spending on preventive health services?" Leslie Gerwin, associate director of Law and Public Affairs at Princeton University, writes for the <em>Huffington Post Politics</em> blog. "Senate Republicans have just blocked legislation to keep college loans affordable by adhering to House Speaker John Boehner's promise to condition Republican support for keeping interest rates from doubling by cutting $6 billion from the Prevention and Public Health Fund."NASFAAFri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT