NASFAA has been communicating its HEA recommendations to staff and lawmakers in the House and Senate over the last two weeks. Both the House and Senate bills would reauthorize the majority of federal student aid programs, but the two bills contain some significant differences. This article summarizes several provisions that NASFAA supports. A more comprehensive description of NASFAA's HEA priorities is available in PDF format.

• NASFAA's HEA Student Aid Priorities for Discussion With Members of Congress and Staff

In addition, a comprehensive list of NASFAA's positions and recommendations are provided in the side-by-side comparison of the two versions of the bills attached to this article in PDF format.

• Part A - Pell, ACG, SEOG, & Byrd Scholarship Program
• Part B - Federal Family Education Loan Program
• Part C - Federal Work-Study
• Part D - William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program
• Part E - Federal Perkins Loans
• Part F - Need Analysis
• Part G - General Provisions
• Appendix A - FWS for Students Working For a Political Campaign
• Appendix B - Cooperative Education Amendment
• Appendix C - Illegal Inducements, Preferred Lender Lists, and Code of Conduct
• Appendix D - Coordinating Private Loans with Other Student Aid Proposal

NASFAA supports the following provisions and in some cases recommends modifications or additional amendments.

Pell, ACG, SEOG, & Byrd Scholarship Program (Part A)

Summary

• Increasing the Pell Grant authorization levels to $9,000 beginning in the 2009-10 award year (House bill)
• Raising the minimum Pell Grant award to 10 percent of the appropriated maximum award (Senate bill)
• Year-round Pell Grants to assist students in accelerating their programs (House bill)
• Raising the minimum age for automatic zeros for students whose parent or parents died as a result of military service in Iraq or Afghanistan (NASFAA supports House version of the bill, with additional amendments)
• A fifth year of eligibility for ACG awards (NASFAA supports Senate version of the bill, with additional amendments)
• Increasing the baseline SEOG authorization level from $675 million to $875 million (House bill)
• Eliminating a provision that bases SEOG bonus payments to schools with graduation or transfer rates for Pell recipients above 50 percent and so SEOG appropriations will go to schools with the highest number of Pell eligible students (Senate bill)
• An increase to $800 in the allocation formula allowance for books and supplies and indexed to the CPI in each succeeding year (NASFAA supports Senate version of the bill, with additional amendments)
• Reauthorizing the Byrd Honors Scholarship Program and creating a separate provision for math and science scholarships, which the House is attempting to use to replace the current Byrd Scholarship program (House supports Senate version of the bill, with additional amendments)

• Part A: Side-By-Side Comparison Chart

Federal Family Education Loan Program (Part B)

Summary

• Allowing schools to submit an automatic in-school deferment to NSLDS that would inform lenders (Senate bill)
• Commonsense consumer information dealing with forbearance , changes in loan holder, and the consequences of including a Perkins loan into a federal consolidation (Senate bill)
• Striking a provision in the House HEA bill that would allow third-party servicers to demand information from any other previously attended institutions or lenders, guarantors, or loan holders previously associated with the borrower
• A six month grace period for grad PLUS loans (House bill)
• Limiting the number of times a borrower can rehabilitate a defaulted loan to once per defaulted loan (Senate bill)
• An increase in the number of categories of borrowers who would be eligible for loan forgiveness not to exceed $10,000 (NASFAA supports the House version, with additional amendments)
• Loan repayment assistance for civil legal assistance attorneys (House bill)
• A provision requiring lenders to report repayment status of a loan to all consumer reporting agencies (Senate bill)
• Loan forgiveness for community college students who volunteer as mentors (House bill)
• Standardized Master Promissory Notes (Senate bill)
• Prohibition against lenders, guaranty agencies, secondary markets, credit bureaus and/or servicers from releasing or selling student information that is not related to processing or servicing a loan (Senate bill)
• NASFAA recommends delaying changes in the cohort default rate and instead recommends a study on how changing the cohort default rate definitions affect schools and borrowers before any changes are implemented
• NASFAA recommends striking Senate language that would sunset the school-as-lender program

• Part B: Side-By-Side Comparison Chart
• Appendix C: Illegal Inducements, Preferred Lender Lists, and Code of Conduct

Illegal Inducements, Preferred Lender Lists, and Code of Conduct - Appendix C (Parts B and G)

Summary

• Prohibiting the use of school-specific terminology or symbols that implies school endorsement of private education loans (House)
• NASFAA recommended that lenders and guaranty agencies be allowed to provide required loan counseling and supports the House bill which contains conditions for that counseling.
• Prohibiting institutions from entering revenue sharing agreements with lenders (NASFAA supports the House bill, but recommends including Senate language that would makes an exception for philanthropic contributions from a lender.)
• Banning lender staffing of call centers or financial aid offices with some exceptions (House)
• Prohibiting opportunity pools for private education loans (NASFAA supports the House bill, but suggests some changes)
• Requiring institutions to provide specific loan counseling before borrowers sign their first promissory note (NASFAA supports the House bill, but suggests that the Department provide some of the information)
• Requiring institutional certification of private education loans (House)
• Reforming the private student loan market to increase transparency and consumer protections (NASFAA supports the House bill, but suggests some amendments)

• Appendix C: Illegal Inducements, Preferred Lender Lists, and Code of Conduct
• Appendix D: Coordinating Private Loans with Other Student Aid Proposal

Federal Work-Study (Part C)

Summary

• Increasing the authorizing baseline for FWS to $1.5 billion (House bill)
• An increase in the allocation formula for books and supplies to $800 (NASFAA supports the House and Senate versions, with additional amendments)
• Modifying a provision that would penalize schools that are unable to meet the federal community service commitment (NASFAA supports the Senate version, with additional amendments)
• Additional authorization to use FWS funds to supplement off-campus community service employment (House bill)

• Part C: Side-By-Side Comparison Chart
• Appendix A: FWS for Students Working For a Political Campaign
• Appendix B: Cooperative Education Amendment

William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Part D)

Summary

• Reauthorizing the Direct Loan Program (House bill)
• Additional provisions that guard against identity fraud (House bill)
• Cessation of interest accrual for members of active duty service (NASFAA supports the House version, with amendments)
• Supports the idea of mirroring auditing and reporting requirements in the DL and FFEL programs, but not the way it has been outlined in the House HEA bill. NASFAA supports provisions that would take into account FFELP loan providers who encourage borrowers to consolidate "defaulted"loans into the DL program (NASFAA supports the House version, with amendments)

• Part D: Side-By-Side Comparison Chart

Federal Perkins Loans (Part E)

Summary

• Increasing the authorizing baseline for the Perkins Loan Program to $350 million (House bill)
• Increasing Perkins Loan limits (House bill)
• An increase in the allocation formula for books and supplies to $800 (NASFAA supports the House and Senate versions, with additional amendments)
• A ban on mandatory assignments of defaulted Perkins loans to the Department (House bill)
• Requiring the Secretary to repay schools for loans referred to ED minus no more than 30 percent for ED collection costs (House bill)

• Part E: Side-By-Side Comparison Chart

Need Analysis (Part F)

Summary

• Adding nursing home expenses to the list for which aid administrators may make professional judgment decisions (NASFAA supports the House version, with amendments)
• New definitions for "total income"for dislocated workers (House bill)
• Using the most recent tax information in need analysis through the IRS, but asks that the Department be required to provide Congress with information with exactly how such a process would work and produce statutory recommendations to increase the efficiency and efficacy of the application process (NASFAA supports the House bill, with amendments)

• Part F: Side-By-Side Comparison Chart

General Provisions (Part G)

Summary

• Extending the same discretionary authority the Secretary has to reduce the required number of week in an academic year for schools that measure program length in credit or clock hours (Senate bill)
• Making the FASFSA more consumer-friendly and accessible for people with disabilities (House bill)
• Early, non-binding financial aid estimates (House bill)
• Implementation of the EZ FAFSA and simplified FAFSA on the web applications (NASFAA supports the Senate versions, with amendments)
• Phase-out of the full paper FAFSA at the discretion of the Secretary (Senate bill)
• Maintaining a printable version of the FAFSA online (House bill)
• Real-time SSN data match between the Department and the SSA for PINs (NASFAA supports the Senate version, with amendments)
• Early application and award demonstration program (NASFAA supports provisions in both the House and Senate versions, with amendments)
• Allowing financial aid administrators the ability to override the requirement that students return funds in the event the withdrawal resulted form documented extraordinary circumstances (Senate bill)
• Early awareness of financial aid and eligibility programs (Senate bill)
• Full length authorization of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance
• Negotiated rulemaking provisions that clarify the selection process of negotiators (House bill)

• Part G: Side-By-Side Comparison Chart

In tomorrow's Today's News we will publish a list of priorities developed by the NASFAA Federal Issues Committee so that members may know our highest priorities that we are seeking in the Conference Committee deliberations. NASFAA members may use tomorrow's priority list to contact their congressional representatives.

Posted 03/06/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.