By Marlene Seeklander Students in a handful of select locations could have the opportunity to complete the 2027-28 FAFSA early as a part of the Department of Education’s beta testing. On August 7, the Department updated a July 21 Electronic Announcement and announced that they have launched the first phase of the 2027-28 beta testing with […]
2027-28 FAFSA beta testing phase one launched Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Starting your senior year is an exciting time in life. During your senior year, you will finalize your college choice, if you haven’t already. This year will be filled with admission applications, scholarship essays, financial aid information, and the need to meet deadlines. Throughout your senior year, continue to build your resume by
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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 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
FAFSA results now available in real time Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander A financial aid offer is often a key component of the college decision making process. Financial aid offers are not always alike and comparing offers can be challenging. To effectively review offers, here are some key points: While financial aid offers may differ in appearance from college to college, this sample College Financing
Financial Aid Offers – A closer look Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Financial aid professionals and software providers now have another resource to prepare for 2027-28 financial aid awards. In a July 22 update to a May 5 Electronic Announcement, the Department said it made two updates to the 2027-28 FAFSA Specifications Guide, adding an ISIR Test File for the upcoming year under Volume 9
2027-28 FAFSA student record file now available for testing Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander During your senior year, you made a lot of decisions, including finalizing your college choice. This year was filled with submitting admission applications, scholarship essays, financial aid information, and deadlines. Below are the tasks you should complete during the month of July: Congratulations! It’s time to get ready to start your life after
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By Marlene Seeklander Financial aid professionals will want to make note of recent updates to the FAFSA Specifications Guides for various award years. The Department of Education recently announced updates to several important volumes of the guides. The following volume has been added to the 2027-28 FAFSA Specifications Guide: In the 2026-27 FAFSA Specifications Guide, updates were
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By Marlene Seeklander Students interested in pursuing a major in video games or computer science-related majors may want to look into some scholarship opportunities for these majors. Scholarships enable students to pay for an education and avoid student loan debt. In addition, scholarships are recognition of a student’s accomplishments – something that can be included on
By Marlene Seeklander Student loan borrowers will see an increase in interest rates starting July 1 for Direct Loans borrowed on or after July 1, 2026. The new interest rates were announced by the Department of Education in a June 4 Electronic Announcement. The interest rate is a fixed rate for the life of the loan. For
Interest rates on federal student loans to increase Read More »
