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Oracle. The time is now to innovate and address the disparity in higher education affordability. Oracle Student Financial Planning is a fully automated, contactless way to provide financial aid. Learn how Oracle can help you build your financial aid office of the future and empower students to reach their academic goals.

While vaccine mandates at institutions of higher education are increasing following the announcement that the Pfizer vaccine was granted full approval by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), they are still not the norm on campuses, according to a recent poll conducted by College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). About 37% of institutions will mandate vaccination for those returning to campus in the fall. When it comes to masks though, nearly 70% of respondents said masks would be required for all, regardless of vaccination status. The poll was conducted in August and 386 institutions responded to the survey. View more survey results here.

The Department of Education (ED) announced an update to previous guidance concerning the wind down of the Perkins Loan Program, in which the secretary requires all institutions to assign to the Department all Perkins Loans that have been in default for more than two years. Institutions will now have through June 30, 2022 to either assign or purchase those specified loans, per ED’s updated announcement. Additionally, if ED determines that an institution has shown insufficient effort in assigning, purchasing, or providing acceptable collections records to the department, the school’s financial aid office can expect to receive a warning letter in “early” 2022 reminding them of the requirement to take action on these loans by the June 30 deadline.

Tune in to the webinar tomorrow, Wednesday, September 1, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. ET to learn about the effects of grant aid on a range of college student outcomes from a meta-analysis of findings from 86 studies released between 2002-20. Presenters will review how effects varied across categories of grant aid, and other program characteristics, and consider the connection between student financial aid practice and research. Register here.

New Director Group Coaching, provided by NASFAA's Blue Icon Advisors, is ideal for financial aid administrators with less than one year of experience at the director level. You'll work alongside a small group of other new financial aid directors as you discuss compliance-related matters, develop an operational calendar, learn about how to identify and support your staff's professional development needs, and draft a strategic plan to work toward and bolster the goals and activities of your office. The first meeting date for the next six-week cohort is September 17. There are only four seats remaining; register today to secure your spot.

NASFAA’s remote proctoring vendor, ProctorU, produced a short video to illustrate the process of connecting to your proctor and taking the online exam. The video is a great way to acquaint yourself with the remote proctoring experience. Keep in mind your experience may be slightly different, as the certification knowledge exam has some different requirements than the exam used for the purposes of this video. Make sure you meet all of the technical requirements to sit for the certification knowledge exam.

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