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Grace Counseling Outreach. Let us reach your student borrowers through Grace Counseling Outreach before they have a chance to become delinquent. Our highly-trained counselors provide advice and counsel through empowering student borrowers with critical knowledge to avoid delinquency and default. Let us educate your students with their responsibilities and rights. Learn more at Inceptia.org.

While in recent years policymakers have made strides in simplifying the process by which students apply for financial aid, many still face obstacles in obtaining that aid due to the complicated nature of financial aid verification. That’s why the financial aid office at the University of Utah decided to reach out to those students to help walk them through the process by hosting a series of verification open houses.

This is your opportunity to train staff on administration of the Direct Loan programs. This course is not scheduled to be offered again during the 2019-20 season. “This course was terrific! I learned so much and really enjoyed interacting with my peers. All of the instructors were so helpful. I honestly have no complaints!” said a former course participant. NASFAA U's Federal Direct Student Loan Program Online Course is a perfect collaborative learning tool for financial aid professionals and has been designed with the necessary tools, equipment, and subject matter expertise to guide you through the process. This course is not included in the 2019-20 NASFAA U online course schedule. Don’t miss this opportunity. Enroll now.

Attending the NASFAA National Conference for the first time can be an overwhelming experience, even more so if you are attending alone. We want attendees to have a great time and come back year after year. While NASFAA has always hosted a welcome reception for first-time attendees, we continue to look for creative ways to help first-time attendees connect with colleagues. All members of this task force will be required to attend the 2019 NASFAA Conference and participate in conference mentor activities prior to the conference and on-site. Please review the task force charter on the volunteer information page and complete the volunteer form by March 22, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. ET, if interested.

NASFAA's weekly policy podcast "Off The Cuff" is taking a one-week hiatus while some of the team is traveling. We'll be back next week, March 29, with a new episode. In the meantime, be sure to catch up on past episodes, send us your comments, questions, and suggestions, and check out episodes of our leadership-focused podcast, "Director Download."

Twenty years ago, the Standards of Excellence (SOE) Review Program grew out of a beautifully simple idea: Currently practicing financial aid administrators would perform reviews to help their peers improve their financial aid operations. Nearly 300 reviews later, the program remains as relevant as when it began. Read more about the creation of the program and benefits of having an SOE review, and complete our information request form to learn more about this review service.

On March 31, 2019, FSA will implement several enhancements to improve the FSA ID experience. These enhancements are part of the continuous improvement of Federal Student Aid (FSA) systems and are an important step toward realizing the vision for the Next Generation (Next Gen) Financial Services Environment.

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