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Millions of student loan borrowers in default, totaling billions of dollars

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By Marlene Seeklander More than 9 million borrowers with $220 billion in outstanding federal student loans are in default, according to the latest data available. The amount of student loans in default represents more than 13 percent of the total $1.64 trillion federal portfolio. In a recent announcement, the Department of Education (the Department) said it […]

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2026-27 FSA Handbook Volumes 4 and 5 now available

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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals now have two essential volumes of the 2026-27 FSA Handbook available to them. The Department of Education announced that the following volumes of the 2026-27 FSA Handbook are now available: The digital Federal Student Aid Handbook is available on FSA’s Knowledge Center. Any questions or suggestions about the FSA Handbook

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Updated guide for helping students who have exceeded student loan limitations

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By Marlene Seeklander As new federal student loan limitations are implemented, financial aid professionals may see more students who have exceeded Federal Direct Loan annual or aggregate loan limits. The Department of Education recently announced the availability of the updated NSLDS Reaffirmation User Guide (June 2026) for working with students who have exceeded loan limits. The

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Outage alert for StudentAid.gov on June 27-28

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By Marlene Seeklander The StudentAid.gov website will be unavailable June 27-28, 2026. Federal Student Aid announced that they will be performing extended maintenance to the StudentAid.gov site on June 27-28. Beginning on Saturday, June 27 at 4 p.m. (Eastern) until approximately 1 p.m. (Eastern) on Sunday, June 28, the site will be unavailable. During the outage, users will be unable

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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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Federal student loan borrowers to get rate reduction for enrollment in autopay

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June 19, 2026 By Catherine Mueller Federal student loan borrowers could save some money on their student loans if they enroll in autopay. On June 18, The U.S. Department of Education announced that federal student loan borrowers enrolled in auto pay will be eligible for a 1 percent interest rate reduction beginning July 1. Borrowers who

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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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