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 list...
Sep 21, 2023•39 min
This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary James Kvaal to discuss the administration's Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan, a new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that the administration has been heavily promoting as student loan repayments resume. The conversation dives into the benefits of the plan, the enrollment process, the timeline associated with its implementation, an overview of ED’s student loan ...
Sep 12, 2023•30 min
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 dig into the latest state of play surrounding the federal budgeting process. The team highlights how Congress’ end of September deadline could impact a host of priorities for the Department of Education (ED), including its FAFSA simplification rollout, negotiated rulemaking, and general operations. The group also highlights ED’s new repay...
Sep 08, 2023•43 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin and Rachel are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations, to recap the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that struck down race-conscious admissions policies and the Biden administration's student loan debt cancellation program. The group dives into what impact these decisions will have on college campuses and also provides details as to how schools can make sense of both decisions. The team...
Jul 13, 2023•37 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin is joined by Dana Kelly, NASFAA's vice president of professional development and institutional compliance, and Kristi Jovell, director of student financial services operations and communications at Middlebury College and NASFAA's 2023 National Conference Program Task Force chair. The group discusses what attendees can expect of the 2023 National Conference in San Diego this month, including what sessions they’re looking forward to and what attendees can do for...
Jun 15, 2023•29 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David cover the latest developments concerning the Department of Education’s roll-out of its proposed gainful employment regulations and financial value transparency framework, as well as the removal of the housing status question from the 2024-25 FAFSA. Jill dives into how new GE metrics could impact a variety of schools, as well as what comes next for the negotiated rulemaking process. David shares the impact of the removal of the housing question ...
Jun 08, 2023•33 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Rachel joins Justin and Karen to discuss some breaking news on the Hill concerning the debt ceiling and congressional efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s student loan debt cancellation plan. The team starts out with a discussion on the Senate passing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) seeking to rescind Biden’s debt cancellation plan and the fallout from the bipartisan vote. Rachel then provides an update on the debt ceiling deal, and how the measure is expected ...
Jun 01, 2023•36 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David discuss recent developments related to the Federal Work-Study program and how financial aid professionals can navigate the wind-down of COVID flexibilities. Jill details a recent information collection request from the Department of Education and concerns related to the extent of the collection. David then highlights the murkiness of the end dates of the public health emergency and the general COVID-19 national emergency and in what ways those ...
May 18, 2023•26 min
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 the implications of the ongoing negotiations surrounding the debt ceiling and how federal higher education programs could be impacted. The conversation dives into congressional negotiations and how the issue differs from the annual budgeting process. The group then turns to the student loan servicing landscape, the latest on the r...
May 11, 2023•34 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin is joined by NASFAA Policy Analyst Megan Walter and Scott Cline, senior vice president of enrollment management and auxiliary services at California College of the Arts. The group discusses the mission and goals of the cand its efforts to improve college financial aid offers. Megan then shares initial responses to the initiative’s drafted principles and standards, glossary, and aid offer examples. NASFAA members can submit their own comments to these documents...
May 04, 2023•34 min
This week on a special episode of “Off the Cuff,” Justin is joined by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a discussion on the latest issues impacting the higher education policymaking landscape. The discussion dives into the Pell Grant program and the prospect of short-term Pell, Scott’s bill aiming to address the student loan system, the rollout of FAFSA simplification, and much more. Justin also spoke with Scott about his educatio...
Apr 27, 2023•39 min
This week on a special episode of "Off The Cuff," Justin is joined by Samantha Hicks, assistant vice president of financial aid and scholarships at Coastal Carolina University. Sam speaks with Justin about her experience of growing up in poverty and navigating higher education. During the conversation Sam also touched on her career in financial aid, which began back when she was a student worker at Coastal Carolina University. This is our third episode in the Voices series where we'd like to tal...
Apr 20, 2023•32 min
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 the road map for the Department of Education’s 2024-25 FAFSA release, and President Joe Biden’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2024-25 and what it means for higher education funding. Jon dives into the main takeaways from the budget proposal, and how the process could unfold in a divided government. Karen then catches listeners u...
Mar 30, 2023•41 min
This week on a special episode of "Off The Cuff," Justin is joined by Alex DeLonis, the director of financial aid at Wabash College. Alex speaks with Justin about his experience as a first-generation college student and the issues he dealt with growing up in poverty. Alex then discusses how he began his career in financial aid at Harper College through the Federal Work-Study program to now being a director of financial aid. This is our second episode in the Voices series where we’d like to talk ...
Mar 23, 2023•31 min
This week on a special episode of “Off the Cuff,” Justin is joined by Michael Itzkowitz, the former director of the College Scorecard under the Obama administration, in a wide-ranging discussion focused on data and accountability metrics in higher education. Michael, the founder and president of the Higher Education Advisory Group and a non-resident senior fellow at Public Agenda, goes on to share his insights on varying metrics and outcome data, as well as his thoughts on short-term Pell Grants...
Mar 16, 2023•46 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David discuss highlights from NASFAA’s FAFSA Simplification Implementation Working Group and cover some important details concerning late disbursements and retroactive payments. Jill dives into a pair of recent NASFAA surveys that capture financial aid offices’ preparedness for the impending rollout of FAFSA simplification changes, and also highlights a recent poll digging into the implications of a FAFSA housing question that will no longer be asked...
Mar 09, 2023•27 min
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 recap and debrief how President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation program fared in oral arguments heard by the United States Supreme Court. The group then discusses the Department of Education’s (ED) updated guidance on third-party servicers and the removal of the question on the 2024-25 FAFSA that asks students whether they will live...
Mar 02, 2023•44 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin, Jill, and David discuss updated guidance from the Department of Education (ED) about third party servicers. Jill dives into the guidance, including what concerns institutions should have and what it means to be classified as a third party servicer. She also debriefs the listening sessions ED plans to hold in March on incentive compensation. Additionally, David discusses issues that arise when a student is enrolled in multiple programs at the same institution....
Feb 23, 2023•38 min
This week on a special episode of “Off the Cuff,” Justin is joined by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a conversation that focuses on the policymaking landscape for higher education. The discussion dives into a number of topics including short-term Pell Grant legislation, implementation of FAFSA simplification, oversight on the administration’s higher education policies, and the committee’s higher education agenda for the upcoming...
Feb 16, 2023•50 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin is joined by NASFAA’s 2022-23 National Chair Brad Barnett, FAAC®, associate vice president for access and enrollment management/director of financial aid and scholarships at James Madison University, to kick off our new Voices From the Aid Office series. The discussion focuses on Brad’s professional and personal background and provides a glimpse into the ways in which his experiences have shaped his commitment to helping students pursue their postsecondary goa...
Feb 09, 2023•39 min
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 new data from the Department of Education on how Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants helped students and what President Joe Biden’s decision to end the COVID-19 national emergency means for financial aid. The team also discusses new data from the White House about Biden’s student loan cancellation program, and th...
Feb 02, 2023•38 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin, Jill, and David put the latest artificial intelligence (AI) software to the test and cover the nuance of “unusual circumstances” for FAFSA simplification. Jill kicked things off with a recap of how ChatGPT, a chatbot that can be used for natural dialogue processing, fared in answering a number of financial aid-related questions. David covers the difference between special and unusual circumstances and how it relates to FAFSA simplification. Hugh then caught m...
Jan 19, 2023•37 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's incoming senior vice president of government relations, to discuss the new Congress’ higher education agenda along with the Department of Education’s regulatory roadmap for 2023. The team kicks things off with a recap of the fiscal year 2023 omnibus, which brought a $500 increase to the maximum Pell Grant award, before moving on to the fallout and implications that the House’s historic s...
Jan 12, 2023•47 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin, Jill, and David discuss how rescinding the national emergency could impact financial aid and how the rollout of FAFSA Simplification will bring about changes to professional judgment. Jill dives into how House Republicans will bring a vote to the floor, once they assume the majority in January, that would rescind the president’s national emergency declaration. David covers updates to professional judgment, which adds criteria around special circumstances and ...
Dec 14, 2022•33 min
This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's assistant vice president for government relations, to discuss a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on financial aid offers. The report found that many institutions are not providing students clear and standard information in their financial aid offers, often not including or understating the net price, which could confuse students and their families. The discussio...
Dec 08, 2022•38 min
This week on a special edition of “Off the Cuff” Justin is joined by Karen, Jackie Cottom, NASFAA’s instructional content specialist, and Tony Erwin, FAAC®, Blue Icon’s principal consultant, to break down their impressions of Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) annual training conference. The team highlighted their main takeaways from a number of sessions and impressions of updated guidance coming out of the department on a host of regulatory issues. Plus, the team dives into some outstanding questions ...
Dec 01, 2022•43 min
This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by Lanae Erickson, senior vice president for social policy & politics at Third Way, to sort through the impact that last week’s midterm elections will have on higher education policy for the 118th Congress. Justin and Lanae cover the latest news on leadership dynamics in both chambers and the varying policy debates that will likely take center stage in a divided government, and discuss how the higher education system can best...
Nov 17, 2022•44 min
This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin, Jill, and David discuss the latest news coming out of the Department of Education (ED) with updates on how the department will implement provisions from the FAFSA Simplification Act for the 2023-24 award year and a flurry of final rules that were recently released. Jill dives into how those final rules – borrower defense to repayment, interest capitalization, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), total and permanent disability discharge, closed school disch...
Nov 09, 2022•39 min
