Department of Education

By Marlene Seeklander In addition to the looming deadlines for financial value and transparency reporting, another important deadline is approaching for some institutions of higher education. The Department of Education recently released an Electronic Announcement for institutions of higher education (IHEs) that are owned or controlled by a foreign source or receive a gift or enter […]

By Marlene Seeklander Another tool is available to schools for the 2025-2026 award year set-up. The Department of Education has posted Volumes 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the 2025–2026 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference, with the remaining volumes coming in early 2025. This resource includes development information for the 2025-2026 award year. Questions

By Marlene Seeklander As the focus on the value of career training increases nationwide, the Department is reminding financial aid offices about exceptions to the ability-to-benefit requirements. Students who otherwise might not be eligible for financial aid because of the ability-to-benefit standards, may be eligible for financial aid in specific career programs, but only if the

By Marlene Seeklander Borrowers who qualify for Total and Permanent Disability Discharge will see some changes in 2025, impacting how they track their progress to forgiveness. The Department of Education announced  that as part of the new Unified Servicing and Data Solution loan servicing environment, designed to improve the borrower experience and repayment outcomes for approximately

By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals have probably noticed that recent ISIR loads have included some reprocessed 2024-25 FAFSA records. A recent Electronic Announcement from the Department of Education details information about the reprocessed records, with each being assigned a separate Reprocessing Reason Code. The reprocessed record categories include: Ongoing Conflicting Information The Department also acknowledged

By Marlene Seeklander If you aren’t able to do your job because you’ve lost access to critical federal financial aid systems, you may want to check if your account needs confirmation. The Department of Education announced that they have removed access to enrolled services for accounts that had not been actively confirmed. Primary Destination Point Administrators

By Marlene Seeklander Students and families, who understand a college’s cost of attendance, can better prepare for the expense. For colleges and universities, providing cost of attendance information is an important compliance issue. The Department of Education reminds Title-IV eligible schools in a December 2024 FSA Enforcement Bulletin that institutions must make cost of attendance information

By Marlene Seeklander Another tool is now available as you begin processing for the 2025-26 award year. The Department of Education announced that the Application and Verification Guide of the 2025-26 Federal Student Aid Handbook is now available. Financial aid administrators and counselors use this guide when helping students with the financial aid process, filing the

By Marlene Seeklander TEACH Grant recipients now have a streamlined process to manage their participation in the program. In a December 16 update to an earlier Electronic Announcement (LOANS-24-05), the Department of Education announced that the TEACH Grant Program has moved to StudentAid.gov and the processing of TEACH Grant forms has resumed. With this new process,

By Marlene Seeklander Delays in COD processing can be frustrating as you prepare to disburse aid, so you may want to make note of the peak processing times. In a recent announcement, the Department of Education reminds schools that starting in January, processing for the 2024-25 award year will ramp up. A few reminders to help