NASFAA COVID-19 News Coverage
Stay tuned here for the latest COVID-19 news related to financial aid administration and policy.
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Biden Signs Bill to End COVID-19 National Emergency, Prompting Questions for Financial Aid Community
April 12, 2023 - President Joe Biden on Monday signed a bill that ended the COVID-19 national emergency, about a month before it was set to expire along with a separate public health emergency, leaving questions regarding what that means for pandemic flexibilities an... -
Biden Administration Details How HEERF Aid Assisted an Estimated 18 Million Students
February 2, 2023 - The White House on Wednesday unveiled a new fact sheet and report detailing how the administration’s pandemic relief has provided an estimated 18 million students with direct financial aid since the start of 2021. -
Biden to End Pandemic’s Emergency Declaration on May 11. Here’s What It Means for Financial Aid
February 1, 2023 - President Joe Biden on Monday announced that the White House will end the ongoing national emergency declarations tied to the coronavirus pandemic on May 11. The administration has used the authority granted by the emergency powers as justification f... -
New Congress Could Seek to End Biden’s Pandemic Flexibilities, With Impacts for Higher Ed
January 6, 2023 - President Joe Biden could be forced to issue his first presidential veto in the coming months should the new Congress successfully terminate the national emergency declaration tied to the coronavirus pandemic, which the administration has used as jus... -
HEERF Year 3 Reporting Period Set to Open March 6
December 16, 2022 - This week, the Department of Education's (ED) Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) Reporting Helpdesk emailed institutions' designated HEERF grant contacts information about Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) annual reporting for the third ... -
ED Releases Recommendations on How Colleges Could Spend Leftover COVID-19 Funds
November 15, 2022 - The Department of Education (ED) on Monday released a letter listing recommendations colleges could take to use unspent COVID-19 relief money in order to expand career programs and pathways for students. -
Pandemic Still Impacts College Pricing and Student Aid, Annual Report Finds
October 24, 2022 - After the pandemic started many institutions froze tuition for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years. But as the pandemic began to wane and students returned to campus, more institutions raised tuition and fees for the 2022-23 academic year than in ... -
Addressing Burnout in Higher Education
October 20, 2022 - Like much of the American workforce, higher education employees said they felt burnt out and exhausted during the COVID-19 pandemic — a phenomenon that led to resignations across campuses and teams being short-staffed. A new brief from the Amer... -
NASFAA Report Highlights Student, Institutional Experiences With COVID-19 Pandemic Funds
October 5, 2022 - A new report out today from NASFAA documents the experiences students and institutions had with emergency COVID-19 funding, including how institutions doled out those funds to students, and what those students used the emergency funds for – lik... -
Federal Student Loan Servicers Violated Federal Consumer Law, CFPB Report Finds
October 3, 2022 - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Thursday released a report that found federal student loan servicers illegally hampered borrowers’ access to federal student loan payment relief and cancellation programs. -
Survey Highlights Pandemic’s Initial Impact on Recent College Graduates
September 28, 2022 - A new longitudinal study gives insight into how the initial months of the pandemic impacted 2015-16 bachelor’s degree earners, with a particular focus on trends related to enrollment, student debt and repayment, work, and family experiences. -
Some Borrowers Are Getting Their Pandemic Payments Refunded in Order to Maximize Loan Forgiveness
August 30, 2022 - After President Joe Biden announced his plan for student loan cancellation last week, one of the first questions that started to surface was: What about borrowers who have already paid off their student loans? As it turns out, those borrowers who mad... -
Updated: Biden Takes Executive Action on Student Loan Cancellation, Extends Repayment Pause
August 24, 2022 - This article has been updated to note that the relief includes current students and borrowers who have federally-held undergraduate, graduate, and Parent PLUS loans where the first disbursement was on or before June 30, 2022. A previous version of th... -
ED Awards Final HEERF Aid to Postsecondary Institutions With Greatest Unmet Need
July 14, 2022 - The Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday awarded $198 million in Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds III (HEERF III) created under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to assist students at 244 colleges and universities and provide resources to th... -
HEERF Quarterly Reporting Form Changes
February 24, 2022 - The Department of Education (ED) on February 16 released planned revisions to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) quarterly reporting form for public comment in the Federal Register. The majority of the revisions to the form include ad... -
White House Extends Coronavirus National Emergency
February 23, 2022 - The White House on Friday extended the national emergency amid the coronavirus pandemic that was first declared in March 2020. The national emergency was set to expire on March 1, 2022 without an extension. Declaring a national emergency gives the fe... -
Lawmakers Press ED Under Secretary on Implementation of Pandemic Aid
November 18, 2021 - A pair of House Education and Labor subcommittees convened on Wednesday to delve into the Biden administration’s implementation of education-related COVID-19 relief aid. Appearing before the subcommittees, Department of Education (ED) Under Sec... -
College Pricing and Student Aid Reports Highlight Pandemic’s Growing Impact on Higher Ed
October 27, 2021 - Institutions of higher education are continuing to see the pandemic’s impact on student aid and college pricing in ways that are taking a toll on student engagement, according to a pair of new reports released today. The reports, released annua... -
ED Releases Revised Annual Data Collection Form for Final Public Comment
October 15, 2021 - Late last week, the Department of Education (ED) published its second round of changes to the annual data collection form for Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) dollars in the Federal Register for public comment. This will be the final co... -
GOP Leaders Demand ED Detail Student Loan Repayment Planning
September 29, 2021 - The top Republican lawmakers on the House and Senate education committees are once again calling on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to detail how the Department of Education (ED) plans to address a number of logistical challenges to restarting stu... -
New Data Shows Varying Rates of Decline for Student Transfers
September 2, 2021 - Over the course of the first full academic year of the pandemic, institutions of higher education lost 191,500 transfer students, a markedly stark decline that nearly tripled the previous year’s losses in which current trends show... -
NASFAA Signs Onto Amicus Brief Refuting Allegations That Colleges Profited From the Pandemic
August 30, 2021 - In a recently filed amicus brief NASFAA has joined more than a dozen higher education organizations in contesting allegations that colleges somehow saw their financial fortunes padded by a windfall of federal funding due to the ongoing ... -
New Analysis Highlights Disproportionate Benefits of Student Loan Moratorium
August 25, 2021 - Citing the ongoing costs the federal government is incurring as a result of the pause in student loan repayments and interest accrual, a nonpartisan think tank is urging the Department of Education (ED) to keep its word and ensure the pause ends when... -
ED Announces Over $3 Billion in Additional HEERF Money for Under-Resourced Institutions
July 30, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED) on Thursday announced that an additional $3.2 billion in Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) is being allocated, most of it going to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Servin... -
ED’s Internal Watchdog Provides Best Practices for Identifying Pandemic Relief Fund Fraud
July 20, 2021 - The Department of Education's (ED) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has unveiled a new guide to summarize fraud reporting requirements for institutions’ funding related to pandemic relief. The recently published resource comes on... -
Panel Highlights Emergency Broadband Benefits Available for Higher Ed Students
July 2, 2021 - The outset of the pandemic forced institutions of higher education to quickly pivot to online and remote learning but many students found themselves lacking access to affordable and high-quality internet. Now, more than a year into the ... -
ED Releases Revised Annual Data Collection Form for Public Comment
July 1, 2021 - Last Thursday, the Department of Education (ED) published a revised draft annual data collection form for Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) dollars in the Federal Register for public comment. The form is to be complete... -
Higher Ed Advocacy Groups Call for Extension of Student Loan Repayment Pause
June 24, 2021 - A group of 125 higher education advocacy organizations are calling on President Joe Biden to extend the current pause on payments and interest accrual for federally-held student loans until the administration fixes the student loan syst... -
California Higher Ed Students Reflect on Pandemic’s Impact
June 22, 2021 - As states begin to administer their reopening plans following sharp declines in COVID-19 cases and increased vaccinations, some are beginning to offer reflections on how the pandemic has impacted their students. California, which was he... -
New Report Details Pandemic’s Impact on Undergraduate’s Finances, Communications With Schools
June 21, 2021 - As vaccination rates increase and COVID-19 cases continue to decline, a new report with responses from more than 60,000 undergraduate students aims to take stock of students’ wellbeing and experiences at the onset of the coronavir... -
Senate Hears Higher Ed Testimony on Campus Reopenings and Impact of Emergency Funds
June 18, 2021 - In a hearing centered around reopening institutions of higher education, a group of higher education panelists provided the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee with insights as to how campuses have utilized co... -
Officials Share Reopening Guidance With Institutions of Higher Education
June 11, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED), in partnership with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Wednesday hosted a webinar aiming to highlight how institutions of higher education should approach potential ... -
Finalized Spring Enrollment Numbers Shows Significant Drop
June 11, 2021 - College enrollments in the past year have dropped by 3.5%, a decline that, according to a new report, accounts for 603,000 fewer students attending institutions nationwide. The biannual report, published each December and May, is a part... -
House Leaders Request GAO Report Detailing Pandemic’s Impact College Hunger
June 9, 2021 - A pair of House committee leaders are requesting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the impact of the pandemic on student hunger, citing concern over the growing number of college students experiencing food insecurity... -
State of Impending Emergency: How Recovery From the Pandemic Could Complicate Student Loan Repayment
June 8, 2021 - The pandemic has put many seasonal rituals on hold — a surprisingly welcomed one being monthly student loan bills. While there were concerns over the logistics in administering the pause, getting the entire system back into repayment, with a so... -
New College Board Report Offers Snapshot Into College Enrollment and Retention
June 7, 2021 - As the health and economic impact of the pandemic continues to unfold, higher education is merely at the beginning stages of coming to terms with how the crisis has upended the lives of students. A new report from the College Board aims... -
NASFAA Survey Shows Financial Aid Offices Anticipate Continued Increase in Appeals
June 2, 2021 - Financial aid administrators continue to anticipate increases in professional judgment (PJ) requests into the 2021-22 award year, with 64% expecting increases as compared to the 2020-21 award year. A new survey from NASFAA, released tod... -
Inspector General Report Finds Several Closed Schools Drew HEERF Money
May 21, 2021 - More than $1 million in Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants were awarded to and drawn down by closed schools, according to a new report by the Department of Education’s (ED) internal watchdog. The report from ED’s Office... -
HEERF Reporting Requirement Updates
May 12, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED) has confirmed that institutions will be required to post the Quarterly Institutional Public Reporting Form (which was updated on May 11) and the Quarterly Student Public Reporting Form for HEERF II and H... -
ED Issues HEERF III Guidance, All Grants Now Include DACA, Undocumented, and International Students
May 11, 2021 - On Tuesday, the Department of Education (ED) released new guidance on the third round of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants authorized by the American Rescue Plan. The department also released institutional allocation... -
Policy Deep Dive: What's Included in HEERF III FAQs
May 11, 2021 - On Tuesday, the Department of Education (ED) released new guidance on the third round of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants authorized by the American Rescue Plan. The department also released institutional allocation... -
Financial Aid Offices Learn to Adapt, Embrace Uncertainty as Another Decision Day Passes Amid Coronavirus
May 10, 2021 - There is no shortage of ways the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has upended the higher education calendar, particularly as it relates to enrollment and admissions schedules. While the May 1 National Decision Day — when high school s... -
ED Reminder: Schools Should Not Draw Down HEERF Dollars all at Once, Unless Spending It all at Once
May 10, 2021 - NASFAA is aware that schools are receiving “Dear Project/State Director” email notices reminding them that they should not draw down all of their HEERF II dollars at one time unless they are also paying obligations with (liq... -
College Enrollment Data Shows Worsening Outlook
April 30, 2021 - Following President Joe Biden’s call for the federal government to make more investments in higher education and a rosy report on the U.S. economic recovery, new data is painting a bleak picture for undergraduate enrollment, now a... -
GAO Report on CARES Act Provides Update on Status and Use of Funds
April 22, 2021 - With more reporting data now readily available, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a new report on how institutions have utilized funding provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In ... -
Demographic Changes and Pandemic Fallout Could Alter Higher Ed Enrollment Trends
April 19, 2021 - The past academic year has been a shock to the higher education system and the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic have made a looming demographic crisis more tangible. At a time when schools are coping with declines in first year... -
IRS: COVID-19 Emergency Aid Grants to Students Are Not Taxable
April 1, 2021 - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a notice posted this week made clear that emergency financial aid grants received by students due to the coronavirus pandemic will not be counted as taxable income. This applies to any grant a stude... -
ED: Borrowers With Privately-Held FFEL Loans Will Receive Retroactive Relief
March 30, 2021 - Borrowers with Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) who haven’t received relief amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will now experience a reprieve, as the Department of Education (ED) on Tuesday announced a pause on interest ac... -
Department of Education Releases SAIHE Eligibility Criteria, Application
March 29, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED) on Monday published its application for the $113.5 million in Supplemental Assistance to Institutions of Higher Education (SAIHE) grants that were authorized under section 314(a)(3) in the Coronavirus Re... -
ED Waives Documentation Requirements for Borrowers With Total and Permanent Disability Discharges
March 29, 2021 - Borrowers who received loan discharges through the total and permanent disability (TPD) process will not be required to go through the burdensome income documentation process for the duration of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Dep... -
Continued Federal Student Loan Moratorium Highlights Struggle for Private Borrowers
March 22, 2021 - Individuals who hold certain federally-backed student loans have not been required to make any payments for the past year, but those with private loans have instead had to seek out their own relief. While borrowers are made aware of the... -
ED Provides Additional Flexibilities to HEERF Grants
March 19, 2021 - On Friday, the Department of Education (ED) released new guidance on the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants authorized by Congress in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and later supplemen... -
Congressional Panel Discusses Future of Higher Education Policies Post COVID-19
March 18, 2021 - The House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment on Wednesday held a hearing to discuss how Congress should focus on higher education investments in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.&nb... -
$350 Billion for State and Local Governments Comes at Crucial Time for Higher Education Budgets
March 17, 2021 - Those overseeing state budgets hit hard by the impact of the ongoing pandemic may be able to breathe a sigh of relief after President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act into law last week, which will direct $350 billion... -
NASFAA Joins Effort Providing Recommendations for Transitioning Millions of Borrowers Back Into Repayment
March 16, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED) and Federal Student Aid (FSA) will have a significant burden in transitioning millions of borrowers back into making payments on their federal student loan when the extended pause on payments, interest a... -
Provision in Latest Covid Package Requires Institutions to Conduct Outreach Regarding Use of Professional Judgment
March 15, 2021 - A provision included in the American Rescue Plan, signed into law on Thursday, requires institutions receiving aid from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to use a portion to conduct direct outreach to financial aid appl... -
American Council on Education Estimates New HEERF III Allocations
March 15, 2021 - President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, accomplishing a top legislative priority for the new administration. Approved by Congress on Tuesday, this most recent coronavirus relie... -
Biden Signs American Rescue Plan Into Law, Sending $40 Billion to Higher Education
March 12, 2021 - President Biden on Thursday signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law, providing additional coronavirus relief that will allocate about $40 billion in funding for higher education. The signing of the legislation marks t... -
House Clears COVID Aid, Now Ready for POTUS Signature
March 11, 2021 - The House has cleared the Senate’s revisions to President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority: pandemic relief that will offer an expansion of funding for higher education. The bill, dubbed The American Rescue Plan Act, pas... -
COVID Aid One Step Closer to Enactment With Senate Revisions
March 8, 2021 - The Senate remained in session throughout the weekend to wrap up revisions and procedural hurdles to the House’s coronavirus relief plan. The amended package was passed on a party-line vote 50-49, and will now be sent back to the ... -
OIG Report Highlights Institutional Compliance and Usage of HEERF
March 3, 2021 - The Department of Education’s (ED) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued new findings into how institutions of higher education are utilizing funds provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,... -
House Passes First Round of COVID Relief Under Biden Administration
March 1, 2021 - Following a weeks-long drafting and extensive markup process, the House early Saturday morning passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan which closely mirrors President Joe Biden's initial proposal, unveiled at the outset of his pr... -
Department of Education Provides Answers to Outstanding HEERF II Questions
March 1, 2021 - On Friday, the Department of Education (ED) provided written responses to several outstanding questions sent by the community related to the second round of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II) aid that was authorized under... -
Following Deep Cuts Due to Pandemic, Some State Higher Ed Budgets Look to Rebound With Additional Federal Aid
February 17, 2021 - As governors throughout the country release proposals for their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, the potentially turbulent shape of some states’ funding for higher education is beginning to come into focus. With the ongoing p... -
House Committee Advances Education Portion of COVID Relief Package, With $40 Billion for Higher Ed
February 10, 2021 - The House Education and Labor Committee advanced the education portion of the fiscal year 2021 budget reconciliation on a party line vote Tuesday, following a lengthy markup session that was frequently held up by amendments submitted by... -
Pandemic Could Hit Higher Ed With More Than $180 Billion in Budget Deficits
February 9, 2021 - Potential revenue losses for institutions of higher education by fiscal year 2021 could come to a total of $183 billion, according to a new study that analyzed revenue shortfalls. Paul Friga, a public higher education consultant for the... -
House Education Committee Releases Bill Text for Coronavirus Relief Package
February 9, 2021 - The House Committee on Education and Labor on Monday released the bill text for the education portion of the fiscal year 2021 budget reconciliation ahead of Tuesday’s markup session. The reconciliation bill includes nearly $40 bil... -
Democrats Begin Reconciliation Process, Paving Route to Further COVID Aid
February 2, 2021 - Congressional Democrats have begun the reconciliation process by unveiling a joint budget resolution, setting the stage for a legislative package that if enacted could bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold and push through a numbe... -
ED Extends HEERF Annual Reporting Deadline to February 8
February 1, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED) on Thursday notified Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grantees that the annual reporting deadline has been extended to Feb. 8, 2021, to provide schools with additional flexibility. ED notif... -
NASFAA Urges ED to Clarify that Undocumented, International Students Eligible for Emergency Aid
January 29, 2021 - In a letter to the Department of Education (ED) on Thursday, NASFAA joined dozens of associations representing four- and two-year public and private colleges and universities urging the department to allow undocumented students, Deferre... -
ED Reminds Financial Aid Administrators of Professional Judgment Authority Amid Pandemic
January 29, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED) published a Dear Colleague Letter Friday afternoon reminding financial aid administrators (FAA) about their authority to perform professional judgment (PJ) adjustments in the case of a student with a cha... -
NASFAA Urges FCC to Implement Simple Verification Process for Emergency Broadband Program
January 26, 2021 - NASFAA, in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is urging the agency to make the verification process for a newly available benefit for federal Pell Grant recipients as simple as possible, so as not to deter qualifie... -
10 HEERF AskRegs Q&As You Shouldn't Miss
January 25, 2021 - With a new batch of higher education funding coming to institutions via the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), there are many procedural and regulatory questions to navigate. Read on for the top 10 HEERF AskRegs Q&am... -
Institutions Question Which Costs Can Be Covered With HEERF II Funds
January 22, 2021 - The passage of the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act authorized more than $21 billion in supplemental Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II) dollars for institutions to spend on emergency student grants as well as to defra... -
Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Absent from Biden’s Coronavirus Relief Proposal
January 20, 2021 - President-elect Joe Biden released his administration’s pandemic relief package last week, calling for $170 billion to be directed toward education with $35 billion set aside for higher education. But noticeably absent from the pr... -
Higher Ed Leaders Reflect on CARES Act Emergency Funds and Lessons for Future Aid
January 20, 2021 - In a webinar hosted by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice on Tuesday, a group of higher education leaders provided insight into their institutions’ efforts to equitably allocate emergency funding for students thro... -
Biden to Direct ED to Extend Student Loan Relief Through September
January 20, 2021 - Upon being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday will call on the Department of Education (ED) to extend the federal student loan administrative forbearance period, the pause in inte... -
Biden Unveils Top Legislative Priority: Pandemic Relief, With Expanded Higher Ed Funding
January 15, 2021 - Ahead of his inauguration next week, President-elect Joe Biden pitched his administration’s top legislative priority — a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, including $170 billion directed toward education. Overall, the p... -
ED Announces Distribution Details for $21 Billion in Additional HEERF Aid
January 14, 2021 - The Department of Education (ED) on Thursday released the details of how colleges and universities can distribute the more than $21 billion in COVID-19 relief aid recently approved by Congress — and for which purposes those funds ... -
Low-Income Students Most Impacted by Schools’ Reopening Decisions, Report Finds
January 13, 2021 - When the COVID-19 pandemic hit institutions of higher education in early March, schools faced a myriad of challenges and important decisions, but none more significant than whether to remain open to students or to cancel in-person instr... -
Stimulus Relief Won’t Be Enough to Fill Institutions’ Budget Gaps, Ratings Agency Warns
January 11, 2021 - Institutions of higher education will face significant challenges brought about by budget shortfalls due to the ongoing pandemic, and the recently passed federal stimulus package will fall far short of being enough to offset the impact,... -
Biden Pledges to Extend Student Loan Relief
January 11, 2021 - President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team announced that the incoming administration would continue the federal student loan administrative forbearance period, the pause in interest accrual, and the suspension of collections act... -
American Council on Education, Association for Public & Land-Grant Universities Estimate New HEERF Allocations
January 8, 2021 - Two higher education groups, the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Association for Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), have simulated the distribution of the new Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) dollars ... -
ED Publishes Clarification on Previously-Announced Reopening of HEERF Application Process
January 6, 2021 - Today, the Department of Education (ED) published a clarification to its Dec. 23, 2020 Federal Register (FR) notice announcing the reopening of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) application process for funding under Sec... -
ED Extends 12/31 Coronavirus Indicator Deadline
December 21, 2020 - The Department of Education (ED) is extending the timeframe for schools to add the Coronavirus Indicator for disbursements of Title IV funds for the 2020–21 Award Year until September 30, 2021 because of the ongoing impacts of the... -
Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Announces COVID-19 Relief Deal
December 14, 2020 - A bipartisan group of lawmakers has announced an agreement on additional federal relief to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The $748 billion package, the Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020, contains a number of provisions related ... -
ED Extends End Dates for COVID-19-Related Waivers, Issues New Flexibilities
December 14, 2020 - On Friday, the Department of Education (ED) issued a Federal Register (FR) notice extending the end dates of COVID-19-related waivers and modifications, and also introduced several new flexibilities using its authority granted by the Hi... -
Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Announces COVID Relief Deal
December 14, 2020 - Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Announces COVID Relief Deal (Dec. 14) -
ED Extends COVID-19 Related Regulatory Flexibilities
December 11, 2020 - The Department of Education (ED) published in the Federal Register today several new flexibilities, as well as new end dates for existing flexibilities related to the COVID-19 pandemic. ED last extended most flexibilities through the en... -
Survey: Majority of Borrowers Feeling Unprepared to Resume Payments on Student Loans
December 8, 2020 - A small amount of borrowers say they feel prepared to begin making payments on their student loans again when the forbearance period comes to an end, according to a new survey. The survey and accompanying white paper from Ascendium Educ... -
Student Loan Debt Relief Measures Extended 1 Month Through January
December 4, 2020 - The Department of Education (ED) on Friday announced borrowers will receive a one-month extension of the federal student loan administrative forbearance period, the pause in interest accrual, and the suspension of collections activity. ... -
Regulatory Flexibilities, Addressing the COVID-19 Challenge, and Legislative Updates at FSA Training Conference
December 3, 2020 - During the second day of Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) annual training conference, Department of Education (ED) officials highlighted regulatory flexibilities in the wake of the coronavirus and efforts to incorporate feedback from stakeholders in... -
Attention: HEERF Grant Reporting Contact Information Due to ED Tomorrow
December 3, 2020 - In a recent email to institutions' primary IPEDS contacts, the Department of Education (ED) requested that grantee institutions submit contact information for campus officials who should receive an email from ED later in December with l... -
With Time Running Out, Will ED Act on Debt Relief?
December 1, 2020 - With less than two months until Inauguration Day, the Department of Education (ED) will need to decide if it will address the impending deadline on the student loan moratorium or allow the pause to lapse, effectively forcing President-e... -
Citing 'Billions of Dollars Left Unspent' From CARES Act, ED Launches Online Portal to Track Use of Emergency Funds
November 23, 2020 - The Department of Education (ED) has unveiled a new tool that provides information on how states and institutions of higher education are utilizing funds provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and ha... -
FSA Expecting Heavy Burden in Transitioning Borrowers Back Into Repayment, Annual Report Shows
November 19, 2020 - Federal Student Aid (FSA) and its loan servicers will face a significant burden in attempting to convert millions of borrowers back into repayment all at the same time once the automatic forbearance period comes to a close at the end of... -
Federal Trade Commission Warns Financial Aid Startup to Stop ‘Potentially Misleading’ Students About CARES Act Emergency Grants
November 18, 2020 - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a letter warned Frank, a startup aimed at helping students apply for financial aid, that it is potentially misleading students about the company’s ability to help them access emergency grants ... -
Nearly Half of Borrowers Not Confident in Ability to Make Loan Payments as COVID Relief Due to Expire Soon, Survey Finds
November 16, 2020 - With the payment and interest forbearance period on federally-held student loans set to expire at the end of the year without action from Congress, nearly half of borrowers in a new survey said they were not confident they could resume ... -
With Lame Duck Session Now in Sight, Here Are 3 Things to Watch
November 3, 2020 - Following the presidential election there will still be a little over a month of the legislative calendar for the current administration and Congress to work through before newly elected candidates are sworn into office for their full terms — a... -
New Survey Finds Americans Split on Students Returning to Campus, With Sharp Divide Along Party Lines
October 30, 2020 - Americans are almost evenly divided on whether colleges and universities made the right decision to bring back students this semester as the COVID-19 pandemic continued, according to a new survey. Fifty percent of respondents in the pol...
