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"[T]his year, students and colleges are facing new hurdles as they scramble to comply with shifting U.S. Department of Education guidance on what student-authorized data can be shared and with whom," NASFAA President Justin Draeger writes in an opinion article published today by U.S. News & World Report. "Last September, the department upended long-standing guidance and practice by reinterpreting the existing law to prohibit schools from sharing students’ financial aid application information with other financial aid awarding entities, even with student authorization — creating another unnecessary hoop for students to jump through in order to receive their financial aid information."

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin, Megan, Stephen, and Allie discuss the Trump administration's budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2019 released earlier this month, and whether Congress will support its proposed cuts to student aid programs. The team also delves into what’s going on at the Department of Education, such as its request for comments on the current practice for discharging student loans in bankruptcy, and its announcement that it has opened solicitation for its new student loan servicing platform. Allie recaps what happened — or didn’t happen — at last week’s negotiated rulemaking session to rewrite borrower defense to repayment regulations. Plus, Megan outlines the letter NASFAA sent to the Senate education committee with concerns and suggestions regarding a proposal to create a system of risk-sharing among the federal government, institutions, and students.

NASFAA is currently aware of several issues related to IRS Request Flags and IRS Data Field Flags resulting from the use of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT). The issues detailed in this article have previously been reported by some schools to CPS TECH, and NASFAA is seeking guidance from the Department of Education (ED) on how it intends to resolve them. In the meantime, for contradictory transactions, NASFAA can only recommend taking the most conservative approach, such as collecting a tax transcript instead of relying on the IRS DRT data to complete verification.

In response to a call for feedback on the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), NASFAA yesterday submitted a letter on behalf of financial aid administrators providing recommendations for Congress as the HEA process moves forward. The letter and attached document, “Making Financial Aid Work for All,” point to the recommendations from NASFAA’s Reauthorization Task Force (RTF) formed in 2012 and a number of succeeding issue-oriented task forces. The letter reminds committee leaders that “financial aid administrators remain committed to the principle that no student should be denied access to a postsecondary education due to a lack of financial resources.”

Student Aid Index topics are updated on a regular and rolling basis. Our list of recently updated topics currently includes the program review subtopic under the broader audit and program reviews section and Pell Grant reconciliations. The Index provides a unique mix of references, including regulation, the Federal Student Aid Handbook, Dear Colleague Letters, and even original NASFAA content. The Index can be accessed from any mobile device, so you can have your answer anytime, anywhere. We value your feedback. Please use the feedback form to tell us what we're doing well or what you'd like to see more of.

Pursuant to a recent court order, the Department of Education is extending the public comment period until March 1, 2018, for the submission of comments on the application of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) for initial recognition and the compliance report submitted by the American Bar Association (ABA).

"Weeks before the Education Department sent a letter to a for-profit college in Illinois saying it would relax requirements for institutions affected by a troubled accreditor’s loss of federal recognition, the department was alerted that the institution might be abusing federal financial-aid rules," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. 

"Most community colleges don't view graduation rates alone as a measure of success. For many of them, transfer and job placement are equally viewed as successes," Inside Higher Ed reports. "But a new survey from Gallup shows that there are other ways, particularly after graduation, to measure the success of two-year colleges."

"Virginia legislators are seeking to mitigate the personal and economic consequences of their constituents' student loan debt by creating a state-level ombudsman to troubleshoot problems and educate borrowers regarding college loans," according to The Virginia Gazette.

"Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are at it again. In 2015, these leaders achieved a bipartisan update to the nation’s elementary and secondary education programs and they are teaming up once again to tackle one of the nation’s biggest challenges: reforming our costly higher education system," Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, writes in an opinion piece for The Hill.

"Recently two proposals have emerged that would essentially allow individuals to tap Social Security today in exchange for lower benefits in the future. The first was Congressman Tom Garrett's (R-Va.) Student Security Act of 2017, which would allow young people to pay off a portion of their student loans today in exchange for a reduction in their future Social Security benefits. ... While alleviating the burden of student debt and offering paid parental leave are both laudable goals, I bristle at the idea of using Social Security to address either of these problems," Alicia Munnell writes in an opinion piece for MarketWatch.

"As seen from Washington over the past few years, the education debate has been dominated by school choice, K–12 accountability, college costs, and free speech on campus. But the real action on education tends to be in the states — which are constitutionally responsible for providing education and where roughly one-third of each year's budget is typically devoted to funding K–12 and colleges. As the 2018 elections loom, with 36 gubernatorial contests getting underway, it's worth looking at what would-be governors are talking about and how that relates to the Washington conversation," Rick Hess and Sofia Gallo write for the American Enterprise Institute.

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