Financial aid professionals recognize that an up-to-date and complete Policies and Procedures manual is the first step in complying with federal financial aid regulations.
However, because of immediate responsibilities, financial aid professionals sometimes find maintaining a Policies and Procedures (P&P) manual overwhelming. And that overwhelming feeling can be intensified when starting a new job where the P&P is long outdated, only covers a few procedures, or doesn’t even exist.
With the upcoming changes resulting from the Budget Reconciliation Bill, now is a good time for financial aid professionals to look at the P&P and make necessary updates.
If the manual is outdated or non-existent, financial aid professionals can create the P&P by starting with the federal requirements for the basis. Other topics can be added after the federal requirements are addressed.
Some resources from Federal Student Aid (FSA) and NASFAA that may be helpful include:
