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Inceptia. Students have plenty on their minds. Add the stress of repayment deadlines and it is the critical decision-making moments that are the difference between if, when, and how they take their next educational steps. Inceptia can extend your reach to reduce repayment concerns and melt with targeted plans to help deliver specific messages to current and prospective students.

The pandemic may be waning, but public colleges are finding themselves in what could be their most vulnerable state of financial affairs than at any other point in recent history, according to a new report on state higher education funding. In its annual State Higher Education Funding report, released on Wednesday, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) found that while state higher education funding has increased for the eighth consecutive year, these increases have largely not been large enough to make up for declines during the last two recessions.

The month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month — a national movement to spread the word about the importance of mental health. Take a look back at an article penned by Philip Hawkins, director of financial aid at The George Washington University Law School, in which he details a highly personal account of his battles with stress and depression. "Sometimes life sneaks up on us and we forget to breathe — to turn away ever so slightly and take that slightest break from what surrounds us — so we can inhale and exhale that slightest bit of foundation-of-life breath to take us through the next set of responsibilities we must face, the next set of work priorities we must complete, the next set of family commitments we must fulfill," he writes. "You see, without breath, we deprive our bodies of oxygen. Without oxygen, our bodies lose their ability to sustain life — we lose our ability to live." Read on for Philip's full article, found on pages 16-17 of the 2017-18 edition of NASFAA Now, the association's annual impact report.

There is nothing in the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) guidance that would require the school to reverse the HEERF grant payment after it has been applied to the student's ledger account under a properly executed written authorization from the student. However, from a public relations perspective, it may be in the school's best interest to allow students to rescind their HEERF authorizations at any time. View the full answer to this question to learn more and search for answers to your other pressing regulatory and compliance questions in NASFAA's AskRegs Knowledgebase.

The Student Aid Reference Desk is pleased to be co-hosting the 38th Student Financial Aid Research Network (SFARN) Virtual Conference along with The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and Trellis Company. The SFARN conference, which will be held June 3-4, 2021, from 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. EDT, is the prime venue for leading financial aid researchers to network, seek input, and share expertise with colleagues from colleges and universities, state and federal agencies, membership associations, and other non-profit organizations. As the COVID-19 pandemic has unmasked many systemic issues with our student financial aid system, the theme for SFARN this year is "Reconstructing Student Financial Aid for Equity." Learn more and register.

Have you looked at NASFAA's events calendar recently? Coming up in June, NASFAA Director of Policy Analysis Karen McCarthy will virtually present at the PNPI Boot Camp, and Vice President of Policy & Federal Relations Megan Coval will virtually present at the GASFAA Annual Conference. Meanwhile, NASFAA President Justin Draeger will virtually present at the FASFAA Director's Roundtable at the end of the month. Head to the Events Calendar to get all the details on these and other upcoming events. 

NASFAA's State Advocacy Task Force was convened in September 2020 and charged with serving as collaborators and innovators as NASFAA explored ways to provide tools and resources in the development of state advocacy and engagement. In its work, the task force created the State Advocacy Tool Kit, which includes the State Legislation Activity Form, State Education Policy Tracker, and the Getting Started: State Advocacy Presentation. The task force also met with experts in higher education state aid policy and grants to better understand current and future trends. We thank the State Advocacy Task Force for their work over the past nine months and value their contributions.

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