Brought to you by:

Regent. Regent Education is excited to be at the NASFAA National Conference 2026. Stop by Booth 600 to spin the wheel, connect with our team, and explore new ideas. Be sure to register for one of our featured sessions to hear practical insights from financial aid leaders across the community.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) joined the NASFAA 2026 National Conference just one day before monumental federal student aid policy changes take effect, as financial aid professionals eagerly awaited additional guidance and clarification on the regulations they’re tasked with implementing. 

Less than a week after a federal court temporarily halted (or “stayed”) key parts of the Department of Education’s (ED) narrowed professional degree definition, ED issued an Electronic Announcement (EA) (GENERAL-26-42) clarifying how schools should treat professional degree programs for loan limit purposes.

The Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday released its final rule covering the new Student Tuition and Transparency System and Earnings Accountability (STATS) framework, created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), also referred to as the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (WFTCA). Most changes are effective July 1, 2027, with an option for early implementation beginning July 1, 2026. 

A federal judge on Tuesday evening struck down the Department of Education’s (ED) final rule on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) employer eligibility, vacating it entirely just hours before its scheduled July 1 effective date.

Get the recognition you deserve by earning the FAAC^® designation. If your application has already been approved, purchase the Certified Financial Aid Administrator^® Knowledge Exam. Schedule your session online until the 21st of this month, or any of the upcoming testing windows. If you haven’t applied yet, take advantage of the waived application fee and complete your application online right away. Learn more about the testing process and make sure you meet all of the technical requirements. Utilize candidate resources to review for the exam.

If you're new to the financial aid profession, or your office has new staff members unfamiliar with NASFAA's tools and resources, check out our New Financial Aid Administrator Toolkit to learn more about self-study guides, live and on-demand webinars, and our Student Aid Reference Desk, which serves as a central hub of all the essential financial aid resources you need. NASFAA has a handful of other resources that can help support your training efforts, including online courses that allow you to interact with colleagues seeking the same training.

VIEW PREVIOUS ISSUE

Contact us to submit questions, content or to purchase advertisements.