By Catherine Mueller Students wanting to better understand financial aid for college can do so by looking at the big picture. To make the financial aid process more manageable, Mapping Your Future has developed a list of the five major steps a student must take to receive financial aid. Granted, each one of the steps involves […]
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Higher Ed News Vol. 17 – Issue 24 Keeping up the FAFSA momentum After years of hard work among financial aid and college access professionals, it was precious good news. 2026-2027 FAFSA information to be verified and acceptable documentation Financial aid professionals can now plan for the upcoming FAFSA verification season with the latest
Mapping Your Future Higher Ed News – December 4, 2025 Read More »
Tip of the Week Keeping up the FAFSA momentum After years of hard work among financial aid and college access professionals, it was precious good news. More than a quarter of all high school seniors (26 percent) in the country have completed a 2026-27 FAFSA, an 11.7 percent increase over the previous year, according
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By Marlene Seeklander With a deadline looming, higher education officials will need to get skilled on using a new portal for reporting foreign gifts and contracts. On January 2, 2026, the Department of Education (ED) will launch a new Section 117 reporting portal, in which they said they “have attempted to incorporate many comments provided by
By Marlene Seeklander Schools will want to make note that a new version of the COD Common Record Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema 5.0d is now available. In a November 25 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education stated that in spring 2026, they will implement Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) functionality that will support the processing
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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals will soon see updates to the Application for Approval to Participate in the Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs, also known as the E-App. In a November 26 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education outlined the updates that will be implemented on December 7, 2025 and are designed to improve the
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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals will soon have the opportunity to watch the cash management webinar – Charges and Credit Balances. In an update to an earlier Electronic Announcement, FSA announced that the Charges and Credit Balances webinar has been rescheduled and will be held on Wednesday, December 10, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. (Eastern). No registration
Federal Student Aid reschedules Charges and Credit Balances webinar Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals can now plan for the upcoming FAFSA verification season with the latest guidance from the Department of Education. In a November 26 Dear Colleague Letter, the Department of Education details the changes in verification for 2026-27 and provides suggested text for schools to use in requesting additional documentation from students.
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Early Awareness E-News December 2025Vol. 17 – Issue 12 The importance of a FAFSA Submission Summary The FAFSA Submission Summary may be the unsung hero of the financial aid process. Latest ACT news available via on-demand virtual events School counselors must keep current on a lot of topics, but trying to attend scheduled webinars can
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By Marlene Seeklander Students who apply for scholarships know it’s the smart way to pay for a college education. Scholarships are sometimes referred to as “free money” since it usually doesn’t have to be repaid. Scholarships are also a recognition of a student’s accomplishments – recognition that can sometimes lead to other opportunities or be included
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