Author name: Marlene Seeklander

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Reporting Federal Work-Study Earnings to COD System for 2025 calendar year

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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals now have instructions for the reporting of student-level earnings for the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program for the 2025 calendar year. In a June 23 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education outlines the operational guidance for schools as they begin reporting Federal Work-Study earnings for the 2025 calendar year. The implementation

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Updates to FAFSA Specifications Guides

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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals will want to make note of recent updates to the FAFSA Specifications Guides for various award years.   The Department of Education recently announced updates to several important volumes of the guides. The following volume has been added to the 2027-28 FAFSA Specifications Guide: In the 2026-27 FAFSA Specifications Guide, updates were

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Tip of the Week – June 24, 2026

Newsroom, Financial Literacy, Latest, Mapping Your Future features, Newsletters, Student Loans, Tip of the Week / By

Tip of the Week Achieving the dream; the greatness of financial aid A time to celebrate. Just in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary, the NASFAA conference will be in Washington, D.C., next week and celebrating its own 60th anniversary. The conference, of course, is an important time to get the latest information on the

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New functionality added to foreign ownership, contracts and gifts reporting portal; institutions can now update older reports

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By Marlene Seeklander Institutions required to report on foreign ownership, contracts, and gifts, now have a new functionality in their reporting portal that should make updating older reports easier compared to the previous manual process. In a June 18 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced that, effective immediately, institutions of higher education (IHEs) can now

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Department of Education offers guidance on which programs to add to federal report

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By Marlene Seeklander In what is likely an attempt to have all bases covered, schools have been adding programs to the Eligibility and Certification Approval Report (ECAR) that aren’t required. The Department of Education (ED) said it wants the practice to stop – in part to reduce the workload on schools. In a June 15 Electronic

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Enhancements to FSA Partner Connect to improve user experience

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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals entering the “digital front door” for Federal Student Aid (aka FSA Partner Connect) will notice some enhancements to the platform. In a recent Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education stated that the FSA Partner Connect has had a number of enhancements made to it to make things easier for their

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Scholarship opportunities for students pursuing video game and computer science-related majors

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By Marlene Seeklander Students interested in pursuing a major in video games or computer science-related majors may want to look into some scholarship opportunities for these majors. Scholarships enable students to pay for an education and avoid student loan debt. In addition, scholarships are recognition of a student’s accomplishments – something that can be included on

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Tip of the Week – June 17, 2026

Newsroom, Financial Literacy, Latest, Mapping Your Future features, Newsletters, Student Loans, Tip of the Week / By

Tip of the Week Updated interest rate information available on Mapping Your Future website July is just around the corner and that means student loan borrowers will see slightly higher interest rates starting July 1. To help your students know the upcoming July 1 interest rates, Mapping Your Future staff recently updated several references to

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 FSA Training Center to update award-year specific training courses

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By Marlene Seeklander The clock is ticking for financial aid professionals to complete award-year specific training courses on the FSA Training Center. On July 2, the FSA Training Center will remove training courses specific to the 2025-26 award year and replace them with the 2026-27 award year courses on July 3. The FSA Training Center includes

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2027-28 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide now available

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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals now have access to financial aid eligibility calculations for the 2027-28 award year with the release of a new guide from the Department of Education. In a recent Electronic Announcement, Federal Student Aid said that the 2027–28 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide is available for download.

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