FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Allie Arcese
Sr. Director, Strategic Communications
(202) 785-6954
[email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C., JANUARY 17, 2025 — The Department of Education (ED) on Friday announced that it would reopen the reporting period for institutions to submit data for gainful employment (GE) and financial value transparency (FVT) reporting requirements, until February 18, 2025. Despite numerous calls for further extension — from NASFAA as well as members of Congress — due to delays in the Department's publication of critical reports needed for schools to submit accurate data, the Department upheld its January 15, 2025, deadline.
While NASFAA reminded institutions of the importance of timely and accurate data submission, there has been growing concern in the higher education community that the data will not be accurate, even with a few more weeks to submit data.
In response to this news, NASFAA Interim President & CEO Beth Maglione provided the following statement:
"Financial aid professionals — already stretched thin by last year's chaotic FAFSA rollout — worked long hours to meet the federal deadline for gainful employment and financial value transparency reporting. Unfortunately, their efforts were stymied by a glitchy, slow, untested reporting platform and inadequate guidance from federal partners — issues that NASFAA raised for the Department six months ago.
Accurate GE/FVT data could have been a valuable tool to inform students and enhance transparency in higher education. However, even sound policy is undermined by poor implementation. Politically-driven deadlines forced schools to navigate a flawed system, jeopardizing the integrity of the data collected. Many institutions — regardless of their resources — struggled to submit their data on time as they attempted to decipher confusing error reports that sometimes arrived days or weeks after the initial data submission. In the absence of reliable support from the Department, many relied on colleagues to crowdsource solutions for problems that should have been resolved before rollout.
While the Department's decision to reopen the reporting window may suggest an acknowledgment of the challenges institutions faced, it is unclear whether this step will provide meaningful relief to schools or improve the accuracy of the data being reported, particularly as there remains no clear guidance on how schools can correct data they previously submitted. Without addressing the underlying technical and procedural issues, reopening the window risks compounding confusion and prolonging a flawed data collection.
Financial aid professionals remain committed to compliance and supporting students. But they greatly prefer to focus their time on counseling students, not troubleshooting faulty systems. This is not how a federal partnership with America's colleges should function.
As the Department reopens the reporting window, we urge them to take this opportunity to address the system's technical shortcomings, provide clear and actionable guidance, and collaborate with institutions to restore trust in this process."
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The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) is a nonprofit membership organization that represents more than 29,000 financial aid professionals at approximately 3,000 colleges, universities, and career schools across the country. NASFAA member institutions serve nine out of every 10 undergraduates in the U.S. Based in Washington, D.C., NASFAA is the only national association with a primary focus on student aid legislation, regulatory analysis, and training for financial aid administrators.
Publication Date: 1/17/2025