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For the third time in just a few weeks, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made her way to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, this time to testify before the House Committee on Education and Labor on the Department of Education’s (ED) policy priorities. Throughout the more than four-hour hearing, Democrats on the committee put the pressure on DeVos to answer questions on everything from ED’s proposed fiscal year 2020 budget and borrower defense claims processing, to oversight of loan servicers, accreditation, school closures, and the recent negotiated rulemaking session.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP), held a hearing hosted by Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), focusing on how to better hold colleges and universities accountable to students. He said, “I often hear from students asking, ‘Is college worth our time and money?’ I believe there are steps we can take to make our higher education system more accountable, to provide those students and the taxpayers backing their loans, with a clear ‘Yes, college is worth it.’”

On Tuesday, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) re-introduced the Restoring Education and Learning (REAL) Act, a bill that would restore Pell Grant eligibility to incarcerated students. Previously permitted in the Higher Education Act (HEA), a ban was instituted in 1994 and remains in place, although in 2015 the Department of Education (ED) began an Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI) to offer Pell Grants to incarcerated students, in which 65 institutions were chosen to participate.

The Modernizing Title IV Aid to Encourage and Accommodate Innovation in Higher Education Task Force has created 13 recommendations for NASFAA’s Board of Directors to consider adopting at its next meeting in June and is asking for membership feedback to inform the Board’s vote. The task force welcomes your comments and any feedback by Friday, April 19, 2019.

If you’ve seen increases (or decreases) to your Pell or Direct Loan volume lately, that could trigger ED to take a closer look at your operations. NASFAA’s Standards of Excellence Review is a confidential peer review service that looks holistically at your federal student aid operations, and identifies potential issues before ED comes knocking at your door. Complete our information request form to learn more about NASFAA’s peer review services.

During the period of April 24-29, 2019, the Department of Education (the Department) will perform extended system maintenance to its core financial systems, including G5. Review the following information to determine how processing at your school will be affected.

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