By Marlene Seeklander Schools and other organizations will soon be able to test the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system for the 2026-27 award year. In a January 7 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education announced that the FSA Partner and School Relations Center will allow school testing of the COD system for the 2026-27 award […]
COD school testing for the 2026-27 award year available soon Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander More students completed the 2026-27 FAFSA as of late December – at a rate more than double the previous year, according to the Department of Education. In a recent press release, the Department announced that more than 5 million 2026-27 FAFSA forms have been successfully submitted by students and families, an increase of
Historic milestone reached in FAFSA completions Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid administrators often face a complex process for determining eligibility for mid-year transfer students. Mid-year transfer students – those who transfer from one school to another during the award year – understandably want to transfer their financial aid to their new school. However, the process of determining eligibility and packaging Title IV
FSA offers “Mid-year Transfer Students” learning track Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Hopefully, your holiday “to do” list doesn’t include working on Christmas or New Year’s day, but if you need to, be aware that some Federal Student Aid offices are taking a break or will have modified hours. Federal Student Aid (FSA) announced that their federal offices and Federal Student Aid processors and contact
Holiday hours for Federal Student Aid and Mapping Your Future Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Schools with existing Federal Perkins Loan portfolios will want to make note of important information to ensure they stay in compliance. In a December 11 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education provided information on the required capital distribution from the school’s Perkins Loan Revolving Fund as part of the wind-down of the Federal
Important reminders for schools with Federal Perkins Loan portfolios Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander After several years of hosting a virtual conference, the Department of Education is once again hosting an in-person training conference. In a December 15 Electronic Announcement, the Department announced that the in-person Federal Student Aid (FSA) Training Conference will be held March 4-6, 2026 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
Federal Student Aid Training Conference to be held March 4-6, 2026 Read More »
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
More than $1 billion in federal student aid fraud halted in 2025 Read More »
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.
Additional volumes of 2025-26 Federal Student Aid Handbook now available Read More »
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
EDExpress 2024-25 has workaround for FISAP Total Income Calculation issue Read More »
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
