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today’s news for Thursday, November 30, 2017

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At Edfinancial, getting your students to the finish line is what matters most. Whether it’s answering questions about enrollment, explaining financial aid processes or preventing student loan default, we can help your students succeed. Find out how we do it by visiting us at www.edfinancial.com/HES/Casestudies

NEWS FROM NASFAA

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that House Republicans this week plan to release a comprehensive bill containing proposals for the Higher Education Act reauthorization. NASFAA staff have been in contact with the House education committee and have discussed items that may be in the bill over the last several weeks, but as is our practice, NASFAA will wait for actual legislative language before issuing comment and analysis. Keep an eye on our Twitter, Facebook, and Today's News for updates as they become available.

A. Wayne Johnson, chief operating officer of the Department of Education's (ED) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), unveiled detailed plans for a mobile FAFSA app Wednesday at the FSA Training Conference, the first of many steps he said the office is taking to improve its customer experience.

Sessions held Wednesday at the 2017 Federal Student Aid Training Conference in Orlando offered some important updates for financial aid administrators on a wide array of topics including: Subsidized Usage Limit Applies (SULA) calculations, PTAC guidance on the release of information, the Additional Eligibility Indicator for year-round Pell Grants, Form G-845, and the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP). 

In the newest issue of NASFAA's Journal of Student Financial Aid (JSFA), Lindsey Tonsager and Caleb Skeath discuss how education researchers can avoid violating disclosure restrictions outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) while collecting data. The authors suggest that researchers either use de-identified information that is not prohibited by FERPA, or comply with the law by securing consent from a student before using identifying information. Read the full article, which includes an overview of FERPA's legal framework, and others in the latest issue of JSFA.

 Compliance Engine Logo

As the first group of students become eligible to receive year-round Pell, having updated policies and procedures in place is of utmost importance for schools. The Policies and Procedures (P&P) Builder Module of NASFAA's Compliance Engine makes documenting the process easy. Section 3: Financial Aid Programs provides a place to store your school's policy regarding year-round Pell, how a student becomes eligible, and the procedures for awarding it to students. This is a must-have in case of state or federal audits. View this, and the other great features of the NASFAA Compliance Engine.

x - HEADLINES

National News

"The Education Department and senators are working on ways to make it easier for students to apply for financial aid by allowing them to answer fewer questions and do so on their phones," Bloomberg BNA reports. NASFAA President Justin Draeger is quoted.

"For at least 5 million students each year, applying for financial aid doesn’t stop when they submit the FAFSA. If your application gets audited—a process technically known as 'verification'—you can wind up in a holding pattern, unable to move forward until you are able to track down and submit additional documentation to prove what you reported on the form was accurate," Money reports. NASFAA is mentioned in this article.

"The nation's college financial aid officers are once again calling for the elimination of origination fees, often referred to as a hidden tax on federal student loans. Origination fees – the cost the government collects when a student loan is issued – don't receive a lot of attention in the national conversation on student debt," according to U.S. News & World Report. NASFAA is mentioned in this article.

"Simplifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) would remove a key barrier to college access, particularly for lower-income students, said Nancy McCallin, president of the Colorado Community College System, at a U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing Tuesday," Community College Daily reports. NASFAA President Justin Draeger is mentioned in this article.

"The federal government sets aside roughly $600 million in grants for colleges that serve large populations of minority students, and the proposed reauthorization of the Higher Education Act by House Republicans maintains that funding—with a few new catches," The Wall Street Journal reports.

Blogs & Think Tanks

"U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Tuesday that students will soon be able to use their mobile phones to apply for financial aid for college," according to Education Week's High School & Beyond blog. "The move is the latest in a series of steps—stretching back into the Barack Obama administration—to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, the form students fill out to apply for federal college loans and grants. DeVos made the announcement today at a training conference for financial-aid professionals." NASFAA President Justin Draeger is quoted.

x - INDUSTRY NEWS

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