NASFAA transmitted its Higher Education Act Reauthorization recommendations on December 19 to the House of Representatives Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness. The recommendations cover all the major areas of concern to the profession: Federal Pell Grants, FSEOG, LEAPP/SLEAPP, Part B and D loans, Federal Work-Study, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Methodology, General Provisions, and Return of Funds. Our format identifies the issue (and statutory citation where possible), our recommendation, and rationale. The recommendations were due December 31.
NASFAA President Dallas Martin in his transmittal letter wrote: "NASFAA developed these recommendations using a fourteen-member Reauthorization Task Force to carefully analyze existing law and to solicit and develop proposals from our members. An Advisory Group of more than 75 individuals also provided valuable input. We believe that the resulting recommendations, approved by NASFAA's Board of Directors, accomplish the goal of improving current programs, and more effectively meeting the goals and objectives of this Act, especially to provide greater access to a postsecondary education for our nation's citizens, reduce regulatory burden, and promote accountability in the wise use of taxpayer's funds."
Some work remains before we are finished completely with our recommendations.
- First, five issues are yet to be decided, and will be addressed by the Board of Directors Executive Committee in early January. This is necessary because when the Board approved most of our Reauthorization Task Force's recommendations at a November meeting, it sent a small number of items back to the Task Force for reconsideration. (The Board rejected outright one Task Force proposal recommending phasing-out school as lender HEA authority over two years. Consequently, the official NASFAA position on this issue is that we recommend the Congress continue allowing schools to act as lenders for their graduate students, but we also will clarify that proceeds accruing to the school, after subtracting administrative costs, must be invested in need-based student aid programs at the school.)
- Second, we will modify the NASFAA document next month or early in February by adding specific proposed legislative language to implement our recommendations.
The Task Force has acted on all the items sent back to it by the Board for reconsideration. The Task Force accepted and implemented in the final NASFAA document the vast majority of the recommendations for changes identified by the Board. As stated above, five of those recommendations have changed enough to warrant further Executive Committee action.
The NASFAA HEA Reauthorization document the Association sent to the Hill is on-line for your information. This Word document runs over 100 pages.
We wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
By Larry Zaglaniczny
NASFAA Director of Congressional Relations
Posted December 20, 2002 on www.NASFAA.org, the Web Site of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).
Copyright 2002.
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