This week on "Off the Cuff," David and Hugh discuss summer aid processing, focusing on rules for crossover payment periods and school flexibilities. The conversation specifically walks through the flexibilities offered to schools when assigning a header or a trailer to the award year and provides examples of summer and crossover periods. David then explains some issues a school must be aware of for crossover payment periods and more.
May 29, 2025•27 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh, Jill, and Sarah discuss how the resumption of student loan repayments and the Department of Education’s (ED) planned resumption of collections will impact cohort default rates (CDR). Sarah and Jill provide some important background information on CDR and how the payment pause has impacted the accountability metric. Jill then walks listeners through a recent electronic announcement from ED urging schools to share repayment information with student borrowers....
May 15, 2025•18 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Melanie is joined by Rachel, Hugh, Sarah, and Nalia to dive into how the congressional budgeting process could impact student financial aid. To kick things off, Melanie and Hugh discuss the latest developments in the reconciliation process, where a House committee recently advanced portions of the package that would make some drastic changes to programs housed within the Department of Education (ED). Sarah then provides members with a recap of three deep dive explain...
May 08, 2025•45 min
This week on a special episode of "Off The Cuff," Beth is joined by NASFAA’s new president and CEO Melanie Storey to answer questions submitted from NASFAA members. Melanie answers several questions, ranging from challenges with FAFSA simplification, the state of federal student aid, the current political climate, the future of the financial aid profession, and much more. Join us in welcoming Melanie to the NASFAA team!
May 01, 2025•54 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Maria is joined by Jill, Megan, and Nalia to discuss several issues impacting the world of higher education. First, Megan debriefs listeners on this week’s news that the Department of Education (ED) will resume the collections process for defaulted federal student loans. Then, Jill discusses the upcoming negotiated rulemaking (NegReg) public hearing on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and other topics. Megan also provides a brief update on two lawsuits against ...
Apr 24, 2025•22 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," David and Maria discuss two topics associated with end-of-year issues, late disbursements and unofficial withdrawals. David kicks off the discussion on late disbursements by first going through some basic rules and then discussing different scenarios institutions may experience. From there, David and Maria discuss unofficial withdrawals, R2T4, and students who stopped attending an institution before the term ends. The duo ends the discussion by answering questions on...
Apr 17, 2025•20 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Jill and Sarah discuss NASFAA's submitted comments on the upcoming 2026-27 FAFSA and an updated resource, NASFAA's R2T4 decision trees. Jill highlights several key points NASFAA made in its submitted comments on the 2026–27 FAFSA, including the importance of the intended use of FAFSA data, FA-DDX working for contributors without a Social Security number, and more. Sarah then walk listeners through the latest R2T4 regulations, which were published in early January und...
Apr 10, 2025•19 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Beth is joined by Jill and Hugh to discuss some of the latest headlines impacting student financial aid. Kicking things off on an exciting note, Beth provides some background on NASFAA’s new President & CEO, Melanie Storey, who will be joining the team on May 1. Jill then shares some breaking news concerning ED’s planned negotiated rulemaking session focusing on regulations that would streamline current federal student financial assistance programs with a focus o...
Apr 03, 2025•22 min
This week on “Off The Cuff,” David and Hugh are joined by Tonya to discuss consumer information. The team works through a number of checklists that institutions should be aware of and dives into some potential blind spots or commonly misunderstood compliance requirements. David and Tonya then walk listeners through administrative capability requirements, guidance concerning Constitution and Citizenship Day educational programming, and more.
Mar 20, 2025•23 min
This week on “Off the Cuff,” Beth is joined by Karen, Allie, and Hugh to dig into the Department of Education’s (ED) plan to lay off nearly 50% of its workforce and the potential impacts on student financial aid programs. The team discusses many questions raised by the action and what we’ve learned since Tuesday’s announcement. Karen and Hugh then discuss the chances of a government shutdown this weekend and provide updates on where things stand with a House-passed spending bill that could keep ...
Mar 13, 2025•43 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Jill and Sarah discuss FAFSA updates concerning a new definition for Federal Tax Information (FTI) and 2026-27 guidance. Jill kicks things off by detailing the new FTI definition and its implications for data sharing policies. Sarah then walks through last week’s electronic announcement from the department outlining the specifications guide for the 2026-27 FAFSA. Sarah then shares some updates on the identity verification process.
Mar 06, 2025•21 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Beth and Karen are joined by Megan and Jill to discuss multiple updates from the Department of Education (ED). Karen kicks off the episode by debriefing listeners on ED's Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) that directed institutions to cease using race preferences as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, and other institutional programming, or be at risk of losing federal funding. Megan then discusses the latest updates with income-driven repayment (IDR) ...
Feb 27, 2025•43 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Allie and Karen are joined by Megan and Nalia to discuss the latest news reports that President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would seek to dismantle the Department of Education. Karen and Megan debrief listeners on what NASFAA knows so far and walk through the complex roadmap that would be required to actually terminate ED. From there, Nalia updates listeners on a special budget tool known as the reconciliation process, which Congress is ...
Feb 05, 2025•27 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," David and Hugh work through some possible blindspots for standards for academic progress (SAP) and discuss how institutions can review their policies and procedures to ensure they are up to date with the latest regulatory requirements. David kicks things off with a walkthrough of qualitative and quantitative components that schools should be measuring and explains how institutions can calculate those requirements. David then provides more details on the evaluation an...
Jan 30, 2025•26 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Jill and Sarah discuss some last-minute actions from the Biden administration impacting NSLDS Postscreening Results and the upcoming gainful employment (GE) and financial value transparency (FVT) reporting process. Jill kicks things off with a recap of the NSLDS postscreening functionality along with a new report that is now available to schools. Sarah then provides listeners with an update on beta testing for batch corrections and explains what the department’s reop...
Jan 23, 2025•18 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Beth and Karen are joined by U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary James Kvaal. With just a little under a week until a new administration takes over, James discusses ED's priorities over the past four years, including FAFSA simplification and student loan debt relief. The group also digs into the upcoming gainful employment (GE) and financial value transparency (FVT) institutional reporting deadline. Finally, James wraps things up by discussing what is next f...
Jan 14, 2025•42 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Beth and Karen are joined by Jeremy Singer, the president of College Board, who earlier this year was hired by the Department of Education (ED) to serve as FAFSA executive advisor for the launch of the 2025-26 FAFSA. During the episode, Jeremy reflects on his tenure at ED, which ended earlier this month, and answers questions from Beth and Karen on the rollout of the 2025-26 form, including beta testing of the new FAFSA. The team also discusses communication from the...
Dec 18, 2024•50 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Jill and Sarah recap last week's Federal Student Aid (FSA) Virtual Training Conference and detail what could happen with Biden administration regulations under the incoming Trump administration. Sarah kicks off the conversation by highlighting important information folks may have missed at the FSA conference, including FAFSA updates, batch corrections functionally, FA-DDX availability, and more. Jill then outlines possible paths the Trump administration may take with...
Dec 12, 2024•25 min
This week on “Off The Cuff,” Hugh and David are joined by Tonya Hsiung, NASFAA U Program Manager, to discuss and answer some common questions, misconceptions and topics that catch some members by surprise in various NASFAA U courses. Topics discussed include loan fees, cost of attendance (COA), professional judgement (PJ), the Pell Grant recalculation date and more. David and Tonya provide a variety of examples and scenarios throughout the conversation and remind listeners that they can sign up ...
Nov 14, 2024•21 min
This week on “Off the Cuff,” Hugh, Jill, and Sarah discuss the latest news on Gainful Employment (GE) and Financial Value Transparency (FVT). Sarah kicks things off with a recap of recent updates to the reporting requirements and new announcements concerning draft completers lists and NSLDS reports. Sarah and Jill then walk through some common questions on these recent updates and provide more details on where listeners can find information for the upcoming January 15 reporting deadline.
Nov 07, 2024•21 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Beth, Jill, Rachel, and Nalia discuss FAFSA updates and how the 2024 election may shape financial aid policy for the next administration. Jill kicks things off by debriefing listeners on several fixes the Department of Education (ED) has made to issues in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 FAFSA cycles. Then, Nalia and Rachel lead a discussion on what a Harris or Trump presidency could mean for financial aid policy. The team also briefly discusses how NASFAA develops its advoca...
Oct 31, 2024•39 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," David and Hugh discuss multiple updates with the 2024-25 FAFSA, starting off with the latest processing timelines for the 2024-25 paper FAFSA. David then debriefs listeners on how to handle conflicting information related to Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs). The team also talks about resources from the Department of Education (ED) listing known issues with the 2024-25 FAFSA. David ends the episode by reminding listeners that the new deadline for gain...
Oct 24, 2024•25 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Sarah and Hugh discuss 2024-25 changes in documentation requirements related to Jay Treaty students and dig into the background of this guidance within the FSA Handbook. From there, Sarah debriefs listeners on several resources both NASFAA and the Department of Education (ED) have for institutions that were impacted by recent natural disasters. Sarah then explains some timely electronic announcements and Dear Colleague Letters that can help students and schools affec...
Oct 17, 2024•22 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Beth and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to discuss new updates with the FAFSA and the appropriations process. Karen begins by debriefing listeners on the latest news surrounding the 2025-26 FAFSA, which began its beta testing this week. She also provides listeners with an update on the reprocessing of 2024-25 Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) ...
Oct 03, 2024•31 min
This week on “Off the Cuff,” Hugh, David, and Sarah discuss all things concerning professional judgment (PJ). David provides some key background information on PJ, including details on terminology and policy considerations for institutions. Sarah then catches listeners up on what is new for PJ in 2024-25, along with updates made due to FAFSA changes. The team then goes through different scenarios and whether or not they involve the use of professional judgment.
Sep 26, 2024•34 min
This week on “Off the Cuff,” Hugh and Jill discuss the latest news surrounding the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan, and income-driven repayment (IDR) plans in general. Jill kicks things off with a background discussion on how the SAVE plan came to be through the negotiated rulemaking process and then catches listeners up on the legal challenges that have threatened the program. The conversation then highlights how financial aid administrators can help borrowers navigate thro...
Sep 19, 2024•21 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Beth, Karen, Jill, and Hugh are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to discuss the latest news surrounding the 2025-26 FAFSA and the department’s planned “beta” period for the form. The team then discusses the department’s upcoming institutional reporting deadline for gainful employment (GE) and financial value transparency (FVT) regulations and highlights a recent bipartis...
Sep 12, 2024•37 min
This week on a special edition of “Off the Cuff,” Allie, Beth, and Karen, are joined by 2024-25 NASFAA National Chair Kristi Jovell of Middlebury College and National Chair-Elect Heidi Carl of Purdue University to break down the latest development from the Department of Education (ED) concerning batch corrections and the 2024-25 FAFSA. The team dives into the implications for schools and students, how ED could provide relief to financial aid professionals, and continuing advocacy efforts around ...
Aug 01, 2024•45 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Karen, Jill, and Hugh discuss the latest news surrounding Gainful Employment (GE) and Financial Value Transparency (FVT) regulations, as well as NASFAA's advocacy campaign to request that Congress take action to require the Department of Education (ED) to delay upcoming institutional reporting requirements. The team then debriefs the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the "Chevron deference" and how it could impact higher education policy. From there, Karen and Jil...
Jul 18, 2024•47 min
This week on a special episode of "Off The Cuff," Justin, Karen, and Allie are joined by former OTC podcast hosts, Stephen Payne, executive director of external relations at Muhlenberg College, and Megan Coval, interim president of Butler County Community College. Karen kicks off the episode by debriefing listeners on several NASFAA letters. The first letter was sent to the Department of Education (ED) on the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle, and a second letter was sent to Congressional leaders requesting t...
Jun 13, 2024•44 min
