Nasfaa's Off The Cuff Podcast

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by NASFAA Community Manager Tim Maggio to discuss the latest news surrounding the 2024-25 FAFSA, with a focus on the Department of Education’s (ED) planned rollout of Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs). The team walks through each of the steps ED detailed in its recent electronic announcement and provides insight into the key timeline and benchmarks that the department is promising to meet in the coming weeks. Tim then shares some comments from members and the growing concerns that financial aid professionals have expressed over the 2024-25 FAFSA.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Allie and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to discuss an update to the Student Aid Index (SAI) formula from the Department of Education (ED), which allows the Student’s Contribution from Income (SCI) to have a negative calculated value with no floor. However, the team also discusses how a continuing resolution (CR) passed by the House would rescind that update. The team also walks through the latest updates around the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act and the release of 100 system-generated test Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs).

This week on a special episode of "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Bill DeBaun, the National College Attainment Network's senior director of data and strategic initiatives, to discuss the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout. Bill debriefs listeners on trends found in NCAN's FAFSA Tracker, which tracks completion rates for the 2024-25 FAFSA cycle. Justin and Karen also discuss other news from the week, including the additional release of eight test Institutional Student Information Record (ISIRs) and new guidance from the Department of Education (ED) on how to submit the 2024-25 FAFSA if a contributor doesn't have a Social Security number. The team also talks through this week’s announcement that ED began the 60-day comment period for Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency reporting requirements.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Hugh to recap NASFAA's 2024 Leadership & Legislative Conference & Expo, and discuss the Department of Education's (ED) new "FAFSA College Support Strategy." Justin debriefs listeners on the new initiative, explains what NASFAA's partnership entails and how it will aim to help severely under-resourced institutions get ready to receive, and review, Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) in March. Additionally, the team discusses the latest news around the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout, including ED's commitment to release test versions of ISIRs by February 16, and this week's announcement that ED will significantly reduce verification requirements. 

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations, to discuss this week’s news that institutions and states will begin receiving Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) in the "first half of March." The team breaks down the announcement from the Department of Education, answers frequently asked questions, and shares NASFAA's efforts to advocate for financial aid offices. Additionally, the team debriefs two recent pieces of legislation, Rep. Virginia Foxx’s College Cost Reduction Act and Rep. Bobby Scott’s Roadmap to College Student Success.

This week in a special episode of “Off the Cuff,” the fun with FAFSA never stops! Justin, Karen, and Allie dive into the latest news surrounding the 2024-25 FAFSA timeline that is leading many higher education advocates and students to grow increasingly concerned about the impending time crunch for the annual aid cycle. The team digs into the Department of Education’s (ED) announcement that it will update the tables used to protect a portion of a family’s income and assets from being considered in the Student Aid Index (SAI) by inflation-adjusted amounts and how the department’s mistake will impact the timing of financial aid offers. The team also covers some reaction to the FAFSA rollout in the media and on Capitol Hill.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David recap the latest negotiated rulemaking session that focused on a number of issues, including cash management, distance education, R2T4, and more. Plus, the team dives into reported issues stemming from the FAFSA soft launch, some fixes that have been made available to students and families, and where financial aid professionals can keep tabs on issue alerts and progress.

This week on “Off the Cuff,” Justin is joined by Karen and NASFAA's Tim Maggio to discuss the biggest financial aid news so far in 2024 — the soft launch of the 2024-25 FAFSA. Justin and Karen discuss the current state of the launch, issues and outages that have impacted the form’s availability, and what updates they are looking for from the Department of Education in the weeks ahead. Tim then highlights some chatter from the financial aid community, as well as some social media posts that have highlighted applicant experiences with the rollout and the form itself. The team then dives into some known issues that ED has flagged and the department’s communications campaign.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David discuss updates with the negotiated rulemaking process for student debt relief and unpack a new FAFSA term – family size. Jill kicks off the podcast by debriefing listeners on the latest negotiated rulemaking session on student debt relief, including which provisions the committee reached consensus on and where they disagreed. David then goes into the intricacies of family size, including answering different "what about" questions from NASFAA members. This is the last "Off The Cuff" episode for 2023 and NASFAA wishes everyone a happy 2024! 

This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin is joined by Karen and NASFAA’s Sarah Austin to recap Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) 2023 virtual training conference. The team discusses a number of sessions held throughout the four-day event and highlights their biggest takeaways from the conference, including updates on FAFSA simplification, the FAFSA partner portal, new data-sharing guidance, FSA enforcement, topics and conversations brought up in the NASFAA Slack community, and more.

This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by Dr. Tisa Silver Canady, the founder and executive director of the Maryland Center for Collegiate Financial Wellness, to discuss student loan repayment, including some significant changes in the system that occurred in the past three years during the pause on federally-held student loans, and where things stand as repayment resumes. Justin and Tisa break down what repayment options are available to borrowers, discuss the importance of using return on investment as a metric for assessing postsecondary options, and help make sense of confusing messaging over the Biden administration’s attempts to carry out a student debt cancellation program.

This week on “Off the Cuff,” Justin is joined by Karen and Rachel to dig into the Department of Education’s (ED) latest announcement concerning the rollout of the 2024-25 FAFSA. The team discussed ED’s pledge to release the FAFSA by December 31 and highlighted how the delayed delivery of Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) could impact schools. Justin and Karen then discuss what this compressed timeline could mean for financial aid professionals and detail the ways in which NASFAA is urging the department to support financial aid offices and stakeholders. Rachel then highlights the latest developments on federal spending negotiations and how the process could unfold in 2024.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David discuss updates with the negotiated rulemaking process for student debt relief and new changes with FAFSA simplification and the contributor process. Jill first debriefs listeners on last week’s negotiated rulemaking session on student loan debt relief and the Department of Education's proposed regulatory text. David then explains how a student can invite a contributor to complete the FAFSA and other intricacies with the contributor process in completing the 2024-25 FAFSA.   

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to discuss the latest fears from the financial aid community surrounding outstanding questions on the rollout of FAFSA simplification. The team digs into those concerns, offers suggestions on contingency planning, and stresses for aid offices to remain flexible as the department approaches its December rollout. The team then dives into the latest congressional news and updates listeners on the annual appropriations process, previews next week’s negotiated rulemaking session and highlights some reporting on a bumpy transition to student loan repayment.

This week on a special episode of "Off The Cuff," Justin is joined by Chazz Robinson, education policy advisor at Third Way, to discuss his work on Third Way's 2023 Economic Mobility Index (EMI). Chazz explains the methodology for the index, and how some institutions were given high EMI scores. Additionally, Chazz and Justin discuss issues about graduate student debt, and what policy discussions lawmakers are having on the issue. Maria then brings us the news of the week, including new final regulations from the Department of Education, and NASFAA's Professional Judgment survey.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David discuss the first committee session of the Department of Education's (ED) negotiated rulemaking process for student debt relief and the nuances of the "parent of record" term on the 2024-25 FAFSA. Allie and Jill kick things off by running through where things stand in the negotiated rulemaking process, and what topics and solutions negotiators discussed during the two-day session. David then walks the group through different examples of who the parent of record would be on the 2024-25 FAFSA.  

This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education (ACE), to discuss the College Cost Transparency Initiative (CCT) — a coalition of hundreds of institutions aimed at improving transparency of student financial aid offers. Justin and Ted dive into the formation of the CCT task force last year, how higher education advocacy groups and institutions have engaged in the process, the rollout of the initiative’s principles and standards, and future plans for promoting transparency in student financial aid offers. Justin and Ted then go on to discuss what makes them most optimistic about the state of higher education as well as their concerns — and the general landscape of the federal student aid system.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to discuss how Congress avoided a government shutdown and what that means for federal funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid. The team then discusses the upcoming negotiated rulemaking sessions for student debt relief, including the issue paper the Department of Education (ED) released before the October session, and ED's new gainful employment regulations. Justin and Karen also address concerns aid offices have about an influx of borrower defense to repayment claims. 

This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by Andy Brantley, president and CEO at College & University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), to discuss findings from the latest iteration of their higher education employee retention survey. The results of the survey found concerning trends related to the financial aid profession’s retention rates, where a majority of financial aid professionals say they’re at least somewhat likely to look for other employment within a year. Justin and Andy go on to discuss factors underlying the retention crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significant challenges the higher education sector is faced with, and dive into the staying power of remote and hybrid working environments.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David discuss the latest details on the return to student loan repayment and highlight the nuances of a new FAFSA simplification term: “contributors.” Allie and Jill kick things off by running through where things stand with the return to student loan repayment, the on-ramp to repayment, servicer wait times, and the administration’s new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, the Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan. David then helps listeners make sense of a new FAFSA term — “contributor” — which refers to anyone who is asked to provide information on an applicant’s FAFSA. David goes on to offer a number of scenarios in which an individual may or may not be considered as a part of that definition.