"A rapidly growing list of colleges have announced closures in the past few days in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus," Money reports. 

"Since Seattle-area campuses started shutting down at the end of last week, more than 200 institutions nationwide have announced they will suspend normal operations as of Wednesday, according to one crowd-sourced document tracking closures. All together, more than three million college students may be affected.

...

Financial aid administrators on every campus have the power to adjust individual student’s financial aid or estimated family contribution–the amount the government calculates you can afford to pay–through a process called ;professional judgement.' The Education Department’s new guidance says financial aid offices can consider changes brought on by disruptions caused by the new coronavirus, but that the process for handling them will not change. That means each student will have to individually ask for a review and will need to provide documentation, such as a paystub or letter of termination, to prove their circumstances have changed.

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators recommends families look on the financial aid office website or reach out to the financial aid office directly to find out how they should proceed with a professional judgment request."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 3/13/2020