By Marlene Seeklander With everything on their plate right now, most financial aid professionals are probably not thinking about the 2027-28 award year – yet. For those who like to plan ahead, the updates to the Federal Needs Analysis Methodology have been published for 2027-28. In a June 2 Federal Register Notice, the Secretary of
Federal Need Analysis Methodology for the 2027-28 award year now available Read More »
Selecting a student loan repayment plan It seems that everyone should know by now. For months, we’ve been hearing about the end of the SAVE Plan and the need for borrowers to choose a new repayment plan. But even many of us working in financial aid have to check the details when someone asks about
Tip of the Week – June 3, 2026 Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals and others on the campus can look to the proven practices of other institutions to help prevent FAFSA fraud and protect federal student aid funds. In a May 29 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education provided a comprehensive list of best practices that institutions may want to consider as they
Best Practices for preventing FAFSA fraud and protecting Title IV funds Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Students completing the FASA will no longer have to wait to view their FAFSA Submission Summary. In a June 1 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced that they have launched a processing enhancement that allows students to immediately view their FAFSA Submission Summary when signing and submitting an initial application or correction
Real-Time FAFSA results now available Read More »
Early Awareness E-News June 2026Vol. 18 – Issue 6 Class of 2026 sets FAFSA completion record The class of 2026 has already done great things by setting an all-time high completion rate for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 2026-2027 ACT test dates now available Even though summer break just started for many
Early Awareness E-News – June 2026 Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Congratulations on your graduation from high school! For most people, it’s one of the big milestones in life. Like most high school graduates, you may be just now catching your breath after all the activity surrounding the end of the senior year. It’s a good time for you to relax and reflect on
June checklist for high school seniors Read More »
Higher Ed News Vol. 18 – Issue 11 Hundreds of thousands of FAFSAs selected for identity verification Financial aid professionals will be busy checking student identity after a few hundred thousand FAFSAs were selected for additional verification. Final regulations on Workforce Pell and other Pell Grant student eligibility published Financial aid administrators now have access
Mapping Your Future Higher Ed News – May 28, 2026 Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Anyone interested in the 2027-28 FAFSA can now take a look – or perhaps a second look – at the form. In a May 26 update to an earlier Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced that they are seeking feedback on updated draft 2027-28 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form
Updated 2027-28 FAFSA documents now available for comment Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals who are working hard to implement the latest final regulations now have some resources available from the Department of Education. In a May 20 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced resources available for financial aid professionals and other partners to aid in the implementation of the final regulations through
Resources available for implementing Working Families Tax Cuts Act final regulations Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals now have access to updated financial aid training materials in what should be an easier-to-navigate training center. Federal Student Aid (FSA) recently announced that they made changes to the FSA Partner Connect training that is available on the FSA Training Center. According to the announcement, FSA revised existing training courses
Federal Student Aid announces changes to the FSA Partner Connect training Read More »
