Department of Education Invites Your Opinions

The Department of Education begins two targeted efforts at listening to the financial aid community this week. One of those efforts affords financial aid administrators and others an opportunity to suggest issues for the next round of negotiated rulemaking that will likely take place this fall. If there are any regulatory requirements that you would like to put forward for reconsideration or improvement, you may make oral comments at one of three public hearings, or submit written testimony to the Department.

The second effort is a series of forums dedicated to simplification and persistence. Forums will be held the next day after the negotiated rulemaking hearings at the same location. Two forums will be run concurrently at each meeting:

Approaches to the Department's financial aid communications and processes (including the FAFSA) that could improve college planning, preparation and access;
Ways that Federal postsecondary programs could play a stronger role in fostering persistence and degree attainment.

The public hearings on negotiated rulemaking are scheduled for 9 am - 4 pm as follows:

June 15, 2009 at the Community College of Denver
June 18, 2009 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
June 22, 2009 at the Community College of Philadelphia.

The forums will be held 9 am -- 1 pm as follows:

June 16, 2009 at the Community College of Denver
June 19, 2009 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
June 23, 2009 at the Community College of Philadelphia.

Further information about the sites, including addresses and directions, is available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2009/negreg-summerfall.html.

A public record of the negotiated rulemaking hearings will become available, but not of the forums. NASFAA would therefore appreciate hearing from any members who attend or participate in the forums; please send your impressions, notes, or comments to policy@nasfaa.org.

You may wish to review the recommendations in NASFAA's National Conversation Initiative (NCI, at http://www.nasfaa.org/redesign/nci/ncicenter.html) that focus on simplification. The first 12 recommendations of NCI specifically focus specifically on ways to simplify the financial aid process. NASFAA has also drafted a sample FAFSA that shows how the NCI proposals would impact that form.

Posted 06/15/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.