By Marlene Seeklander Schools with Federal Perkins Loan portfolios that they are assigning to the Department of Education will need to make note of the transition to a new servicer. In an August 3 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education (the Department) announced that they are transitioning the servicing of federal held Federal Perkins Loans from […]
Federal Perkins Loan Servicer change announced Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals can now access a key volume of the 2026-27 Federal Student Aid (FSA) Handbook. The July 30 Dear Colleague letter from the Department announced the availability of Volume 7 – The Federal Pell Grant Program, which provides information to assist schools in determining student eligibility for and calculating Federal Pell Grants. The
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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals may get answers to the many questions about implementation of new regulations with some upcoming training sessions. Federal Student Aid (FSA) announced on July 31 that they are continuing to offer new webinars and virtual office hours during August for the financial aid community, allowing them to receive answers to
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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals have two new training resources available to help them with some of the recent changes. The FSA Training Center announced the release of two new training courses to help Financial Aid Administrators (FAAs) use the new FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP) functionality that supports Workforce Pell implementation and real-time fraud detection.
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By Marlene Seeklander An updated 2026-27 Federal School Code List, which plays a key role in the FAFSA, has been released by the Department of Education (the Department). The Department announced the availability of the updated 2026–27 Federal School Code (FSC) List of Participating Schools. Although it’s usually not necessary, students can enter these codes on
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By Catherine Mueller To thwart would-be fraudsters, the financial aid application now includes an identity screening process. Earlier this year, the Department of Education launched a new, real-time fraud detection capability for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Every applicant will be evaluated in real-time through a risk-based identity screening. Applicants who display
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By Catherine Mueller Students completing the FAFSA will no longer have to wait to view their FAFSA Submission Summary. This summer, the U.S. Department of Education announced 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 of a 2025-26 or
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By Marlene Seeklander The Department of Education has again pushed back its planned publication of all foreign sources of ownership, gifts or contracts involving those institutions of higher education required to submit reports. In a July 24 update to a July 6 Electronic Announcement, the Department has agreed to delay the planned publication of the names
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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals now have a new enrollment reporting guide, updated with information on reporting enrollment statuses related to the new Return to Title IV Funds withdrawal exemption. On July 27, the Department of Education announced an updated version of the Enrollment Reporting Guide. The guide provides step-by-step instructions for NSLDS enrollment reporting.
Updated NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide (July 2026) now available Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander The Federal Trade Commission is reminding student loan borrowers how to avoid debt relief scams, after news of a court-issued orders banning Nevada-based operators from engaging in the debt relief industry. In a July 21 press release, the FTC said that Dennise Merdjanian, an operator of a student loan debt forgiveness scheme, will
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