By Marlene Seeklander The 2027-28 FASFA will include a few minor changes when it is released in the fall. At the recent Federal Student Aid (FSA) Conference that was held in Washington, D.C. on March 4-6, the Department of Education presented a session on “FAFSA Updates” to outline some of the upcoming changes to the 2027-28 […]
Minor updates coming to the 2027-28 FAFSA Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals face some new requirements when it comes to returning federal funds for those students who don’t attend or withdraw. Some schools may have already implemented part of the new regulations, but in a March 27 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education reminded schools that all changes to the R2T4 regulations
Colleges reminded about new rules for returning federal financial aid funds Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander In what may be a little break for financial aid professionals, the Department of Education recently outlined how it will enforce – or may not enforce for now – some of the requirements used to determine an institution’s financial responsibility. In a March 20 Electronic Announcement the Department provides clarification to regulatory changes
By Marlene Seeklander Schools can begin reviewing their FY 2023 draft cohort default rate information and prepare to submit any necessary appeals. The Department of Education announced the distribution of the FY 2023 draft cohort default rate (CDR) packages on March 23 to all eligible domestic and foreign schools. The information, sent to the SAIG mailbox
FY 2023 Draft Cohort Default Rates available Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Student loan borrowers on the now defunct federal SAVE plan now face a deadline for selecting a new repayment plan. If a borrower doesn’t act by the deadline later this year, they will be automatically switched to a new plan. In a March 27 announcement, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) said
Federal student loan borrowers on SAVE repayment plan must choose a new plan soon Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals have additional training resources available as they work with 2026-27 FAFSA data. Federal Student Aid (FSA) recently released several Learning Tracks that will assist financial aid professionals as they receive and review 2026-27 FAFSA data. The new Learning Tracks include: To check out these learning opportunities, log into the FSA
2026-27 processing cycle learning tracks available from Federal Student Aid Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Schools that have not yet closed out their 2024-25 Direct Loan Program year need to make note of the upcoming closeout deadline. A March 18 Electronic Announcement reminds schools that Friday, July 31, 2026, is the closeout deadline and last processing day before the end of the program year. This means that all
Closeout deadline for 2024-25 Direct Loan Program year Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals and other industry partners who were unable to attend the recent FSA Training Conference can now view the session recordings. In a March 20 Electronic Announcement, Federal Student Aid (FSA) announced that the session recordings from the recent FSA Training Conference are now available at the following: In the announcement,
2026 FSA Training Conference session recordings now available Read More »
By Catherine Mueller The U.S. Department of Treasury will begin collecting on defaulted federal student loan loans in what is intended as the first step move federal student loans out of the Department of Education. On March 19, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) announced the interagency agreement.
First step taken to move federal student loan administration to U.S. Treasury Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander The Department of Education released new NSLDS layout changes to help the industry prepare for the financial aid procedures required by last year’s federal budget reconciliation. On March 12, the Department of Education announced the availability of the updated NSLDS Transfer Student Monitoring & Financial Aid History User Guide and Record Layouts. A
