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The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has provided NASFAA with the Federal Student Aid Service Centers, Training and Technical Assistance Contacts sheet. The contact sheet is intended to help ensure financial aid administrators contact the area within ED that can most appropriately address the school's issues or questions.

Regional and state associations can now access 2018-19 training materials for use at association conferences, training institutes, and other training events. NASFAA Authorized Events provide a suite of materials (study guides, instructor guides, slide decks and slide handouts) for each available topic. If events are utilizing instructors who have earned a NASFAA Credential in the respective topic, participants have access to test for the credential as well, at no additional cost beyond the event they are attending. Look for NASFAA Authorized Events at a state or regional conference or training opportunity near you.

If a school has voluntarily ended and liquidated its participation in the Federal Perkins Loan Program and all Perkins liquidation requirements have been met, does the school still need to conduct Perkins exit counseling? The short answer is no. View the full answer to this question for more detailed information about guidance NASFAA received from the Department of Education on this issue, and search for answers to your other pressing regulatory and compliance questions, in NASFAA's AskRegs Knowledgebase.

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of NASFAA’s daily newsletter and website? How about the podcast, or various other NASFAA projects? NASFAA’s new video series has all your answers — meet the communications team over the next few weeks and discover how each member keeps NASFAA up and running everyday. Hear from Laura Aberant, NASFAA’s web content specialist, about how her Federal Work Study (FWS) job led her to the career she has today, and what qualities she admires in her coworkers. Learn more about Laura and the team here. 

The regulations that govern the verification of Title IV Federal student aid application information are set forth in 34 CFR Part 668 Subpart E (34 CFR 668.51-668.61). In accordance with these regulations, a school is required to complete verification of information submitted by an applicant on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in connection with the calculation of the applicant's expected family contribution (EFC) for the Title IV Federal student aid programs if the applicant has been selected for verification.

This Electronic Announcement provides institutions with important preliminary information about the system, web, and software modifications the Department is making to reflect the revised 2018–19 Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant) payment and disbursement schedules, including changes it must implement to the Central Processing System (CPS), the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System, and the EDExpress for Windows software.

"New secondary education efforts and funding to support it might help incarcerated individuals with re-entry into communities," according to The Sheridan Press. "...Pell Grants for prisoners were banned in the 1994 crime bill passed under President Bill Clinton, according to Erica L. Green, a reporter for The New York Times...NASFAA asked to eliminate the tie between student eligibility and drug convictions, which would open funding to certain incarcerated individuals."

"A national accreditor at the center of the collapse of two for-profit college chains got another lease on life after a court ruling kicked back to the Department of Education a 2016 decision withdrawing federal recognition and, later, the Trump administration restored that recognition pending further review," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Every year, the Department of Education issues billions of dollars in student loans. And every year, outside companies are contracted to collect on those loans. The loans themselves are the subject of fierce debate among the higher-education crowd—but how they are collected tends to draw the most ire," The Atlantic reports.

"Student debt is often thought of as a young people's problem, but it's becoming increasingly clear that it's also plaguing older Americans," MarketWatch reports.

"Lawrence University embarked on an ambitious plan in 2014 to join the exclusive ranks of so-called full-need colleges -- those that provide financial aid to cover all tuition and fees for admitted students with 'demonstrated financial need,'" according to Inside Higher Ed.

"When Antwan Wilson, who resigned as chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools in February, skirted the local school-lottery system in an ill-fated effort to get his daughter into a top D.C. high school instead of a 'low performing' neighborhood school, he exposed a painful truth: Too many public high schools are failing, especially those serving low-income students of color. The chancellor lost his job, but the students in such schools are losing much more. These are the very students who, if they enroll in college, are most likely to drop out before completing degrees," Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University and Forward50 member, writes for The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The University of Georgia has named Anthony Jones, director of financial aid at Appalachian State University, the new director of the Office of Student Financial Aid following a national search. Jones succeeds Bonnie Joerschke, who retires at the end of June.

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