Author name: Marlene Seeklander

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More than $1 billion in federal student aid fraud halted in 2025

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By Marlene Seeklander Enhanced controls prevented more than $1 billion in attempted financial aid fraud in the past year, according to the Department of Education. In a December 11 press release, the Department announced by implanting fraud controls they prevented the fraud which included coordinated international fraud rings and AI bots pretending to be students.  The

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Additional volumes of 2025-26 Federal Student Aid Handbook now available

Newsroom, Department of Education, Latest / By

By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals can now add the latest volumes of the 2025-26 Federal Student Aid Handbook to their financial aid reading list. The December 11 Electronic Announcement from the Department of Education announced the availability of Volume 1 – Student Eligibility, Volume 4 – Processing Aid and Managing FSA Funds, and Volume 6 – The Campus-Based Programs.

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February 2026 ACT registration deadline approaching soon

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By Marlene Seeklander Students who want to take the ACT in February, either for the first time or to improve their score, have until early January to register. The regular registration deadline is Friday, January 9 for the February 14 ACT test. After January 9, students can register for the February test up until January 23

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EDExpress 2024-25 has workaround for FISAP Total Income Calculation issue

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By Marlene Seeklander EDExpress users who still need to make corrections to the 2024-25 FISAP now have a workaround for an issue affecting the calculation of total income for dependent and independent students. In a December 9 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education (ED) outlined that the issue only impacts records that have a null or

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EDExpress 2025-26 Service Release 2.0 now available – Adds Maximum Pell field to FISAP reports

Newsroom, Department of Education, Mapping Your Future features / By

By Marlene Seeklander EDExpress for Windows users have a new service release available for their use that will aid in the completion of the 2027-28 FISAP report. In a December 9 Electronic Announcement, Federal Student Aid announced a new service release for EDExpress for Windows 2025–26, Release 2.0. It is available in the Software and Other Tools area of

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Details released about new federal portal for reporting foreign gifts and contracts

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By Marlene Seeklander The Department of Education this month released more information about enhancements to the new foreign gifts and contracts reporting portal. According to a December 3 Electronic Announcement, the new reporting portal will include a tailored, efficient, and institution-specific reporting process while maintaining compliance with Section 117. Based on feedback from nine institutions of

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FAFSA handwritten in a note. Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Students completing the FAFSA to be notified about colleges with lower earnings

Newsroom, Department of Education, FAFSA resources / By

By Marlene Seeklander Students completing the FAFSA now have additional information when deciding which college they may want to attend. In a December 8 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced the implementation of a new lower earnings indicator as part of the FAFSA. This indicator—effective December 7, 2025, and only applicable to first-year undergraduate students—provides

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FAFSA field adjustment resolves issue of reporting an address within the U.S. territories

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By Marlene Seeklander FAFSA users who previously encountered an issue when attempting to report their address within the U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, should no longer encounter an issue. In a December 4 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced that on December 7 an update to adjust some users’ state and country  code information was

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Using the new Section 117 Reporting Portal training webinar

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By Marlene Seeklander Colleges that need to report foreign gifts and contracts will want to make note of an upcoming training webinar. In a December 5 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced that they are offering a training webinar, “Using the New Section 117 Reporting Portal” for schools required to report foreign gifts and contracts.

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