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A vast majority of borrowers who have federal Direct Loans (DL) are taking advantage of the payment suspension enacted under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, according to a quarterly report released this week by Federal Student Aid (FSA) outlining federal aid applications, loan disbursements, delinquencies, and other measures of student aid programs.

The school had the same satisfactory academic progress (SAP) policy for a long time, but recently hired a new Director of Financial Aid. The director reviewed the institution's policies and procedures but did not see where the school evaluated students at the end of the second academic year to ensure students have academic standing consistent with the school's graduation requirements. Is this a required review? Think you know the answer? Read on to see if you got it right!

Due to a system-wide outage with our webinar platform provider, the Foundations of Academic Calendars webinar originally scheduled for September 23 has been rescheduled to Friday, October 2 at 1:00 p.m. ET. If you cannot join us for the live event, remember that all NASFAA webinars are recorded for on-demand viewing at your convenience. There's still time to register.

While the continued future of on-site events is unknown, NASFAA is currently planning an in-person convening at National Harbor, Maryland — just outside of Washington, D.C. — next June for NASFAA 2021, and we need your great ideas for engaging, relevant, and interesting conference sessions. All types of session proposals are welcome, from those focused on advocacy, training, and professional development, to sessions structured as open-forum discussions. As you construct your proposal, we urge you to construct your session with an eye toward inclusion, ensuring speakers from all different backgrounds — particularly those from marginalized groups — are represented. All proposals must be received by Saturday, October 31, 2020. Refer to our Presenters and Moderators page for more information.

Have you looked at NASFAA's events calendar recently? Despite the ongoing pandemic, NASFAA's staff and elected officials are speaking and presenting now more than ever! Throughout the month of October, NASFAA President Justin Draeger will make virtual appearances at the MASFAA Annual Conference, the RMASFAA Annual Conference, the CASFAA 2020 Conference, and more. Vice President of Policy and Federal Relations Megan Coval is also scheduled for six speaking engagements in October and November, including at NSPA 20/20 Vision Live, the SCASFAA 2020 Virtual Conference, the NHASFAA Conference, the FASFAA Virtual Clock Hour Workshop, and more. Head to the Events Calendar to get all the details on these and other upcoming events. 

Thinking about advancing your career and becoming a financial aid director? Blue Icon Advisors has professional coaching just for you! Aspiring Director Group Coaching will prepare you for a leadership role while providing practical skills you can apply in your current position. Topics include being a successful director, compliance, enrollment management, and policies and procedures. Register today for the next session starting November 2.

You probably know the benefits of a Standards of Excellence peer review: enhanced efficiency, meeting enrollment management goals, and increased student satisfaction, to name a few. But how do you know if your school really needs one? Take our quiz today to find out if your school may be putting itself at risk for increased findings during a program review that could result in fines and/or liabilities from the Department of Education. 

As part of the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System implementation planned for Sept. 27, 2020, the Department of Education (ED) will make additional changes to the COD System to support the reporting requirements for withdrawn students who qualify for a Title IV waiver under the CARES Act. These changes supplement the work completed on Aug. 2, 2020 and explained in a July 30, 2020 Electronic Announcement. 

The Department of Education (ED) announced the draft of the Fiscal Year 2020–24 Strategic Plan is now available for review and feedback on StudentAid.gov at StudentAid.gov/strategicplan. This strategic plan illustrates an exciting new direction for Federal Student Aid (FSA) through the Next Gen FSA initiative to modernize our services, operations, and workforce for the 21st century. In its final form, the strategic plan will be our road map for the future.

Federal Student Aid (FSA), as required by the Public Health Service Act (the Act), is publishing this list of Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) borrowers who have defaulted on their loans as of August 1, 2020. This information is also made available for use by organizations authorized by the Act.

The Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education proposes priorities, requirements, a definition, and selection criteria under the Perkins Innovation and Modernization Grant Program, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 84.051F. The Assistant Secretary may use the priorities, requirements, definition, and selection criteria for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2020 and later years. 

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