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This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations, to discuss the implications of the ongoing negotiations surrounding the debt ceiling and how federal higher education programs could be impacted.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Wednesday sent a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to university, college, and school district leaders encouraging them to work together to use Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds and other federal resources to increase the number of college students supporting school-aged children as tutors, mentors, student success coaches, and other student support roles.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday testified at a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, urging the need for increased funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) in the fiscal year 2024 budget. Specifically, the Biden administration requested $2.7 billion for the office, which is a $620 million increase above the 2023 enacted level. Cardona said the increased budget would help FSA to operate student aid programs, protect against cybersecurity breaches, improve student loan servicing, ensure the implementation of FAFSA simplification, and more. “Failing to provide the requested increase to FSA for a second year in a row would result in reduced services for students, families, and borrowers in addition to putting the systems that hold sensitive data for over 40 million Americans at risk,” Cardona said in his written testimony.

Are you looking to test your knowledge from the news of the week? Check out our weekly quiz highlighting some of our coverage and updates from the past week. (Hint: Read through this week’s issues of Today’s News for answers.) Be on the lookout for a new quiz each Friday and let us know if any of our questions stumped you!

Please join us in congratulating Christine Morris, who was promoted from director of financial aid to executive director of financial services at Excelsior University, and Misty Pippin, who was promoted from financial aid counselor to assistant director of student financial services counseling at Jacksonville University. Celebrate your own career developments by completing the "Movers and Shakers" form to share the news with your colleagues.

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