Legislative Relations

SCASFAA Legislative Relations Update
March 25, 2015

(GEN-15-02) Subject: 2015-2016 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1502.html
Summary: The attachments to this letter contain the 2015-2016 Award Year Federal Pell Grant Program Payment and Disbursement Schedules.

 (GEN-15-03) Subject: Wind-down of the Federal Perkins Loan Program
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1503.html

Summary: This letter provides information on the wind-down of the Federal Perkins Loan Program and schools’ limited authority to continue to make loans to certain students beyond September 30, 2015.

 (GEN-15-04) Subject: Statement of Policy for Nonprofit College Access Organizations Presumed to Qualify as Additional Designated Entities Under the FAFSA Completion Initiative
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1504.html

Summary: This letter announces the criteria under which nonprofit college access organizations are presumed to qualify as designated entities eligible to receive FAFSA® Filing Status Information under the FAFSA® Completion Initiative.

(GEN-15-05) Subject:  2015-2016 Unusual Enrollment History Flag
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1505.html

 (General) Subject: Application and Verification Guide [2015-2016 Federal Student Aid Handbook] http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/020915AVGAvailability1516.html

  On Campus, Obama Makes Case for Plans Including Free Community College
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/us/politics/on-campus-obama-makes-case-for-plans-including-free-community-college.html?_r=1
President Obama discussed free community college plan funding and what would be required of students who participated.

 Why your Facebook friends could scupper a student loan
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/09/facebook-friends-student-loan-finance-earnings
The article provides data from the UK about student loan corporations who are beginning to look at Facebook friends as a predictor of defaulting on loans. 

U.S. Cuts Off Student-Loan Collectors for Misleading Debtors
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-28/u-s-cuts-off-debt-collectors-for-misleading-student-borrowers
There are six services that the DOE claims were misleading students and not offering Income Based Repayment plans.  Navient is the focus of the article, because they are the biggest (formally a part of Sallie Mae).

 
'Bill of Rights' for Student Borrowers
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/10/obama-administration-will-create-student-loan-complaint-system-centralized-payments
“In remarks at the Georgia Institute of Technology, President Obama discussed what White House officials have dubbed a Student Aid Bill of Rightsthat includes a series of executive actions aimed at helping the growing share of Americans who owe student loans held by the federal government.” The full memo can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/10/presidential-memorandum-student-aid-bill-rights. The following are some highlights copied from the memo that describe what the Department of Education would do:

·        Develop and implement a simple process for borrowers to file complaints regarding Federal financial aid

·        Provide data from the complaint system to other enforcement agencies

·        Publish a report summarizing and analyzing the content in and resolution of borrower complaints and feedback received through the process.

·        Require all Federal Direct student loan servicers to provide enhanced disclosures to borrowers and strengthened consumer protections and  shall include disclosures to borrowers regarding loan transfers from one servicer to another and notifications when borrowers become delinquent or have incomplete applications to change repayment plans.

·        Direct all Federal Direct student loan servicers to apply prepayments to loans with the highest interest rate to ensure consistency across servicers, unless otherwise instructed by borrowers.

·        Give borrowers the opportunity to authorize the Internal Revenue Service to release income information for multiple years for the purposes of automatically determining monthly payments under income-driven repayment plans.

·        Establish a centralized point of access for all Federal student loan borrowers in repayment, including a central location for account information and payment processing for all Federal student loan servicing, regardless of the specific servicer.

·        Implement actions to ensure that the debt collection process for defaulted Federal student loans is fair, transparent, charges reasonable fees to defaulted borrowers, and effectively assists borrowers in meeting their obligations and returning to good standing.

·        Develop a plan to identify Federal student loan borrowers who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and determine which beneficiaries qualify for a total and permanent disability discharge of their student loans under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

·        Stop collection on qualified borrowers in order to ensure that SSDI benefits are not reduced to repay student loans that are eligible for discharge.

 

Sincerely, 

SCASFAA Legislative Relations Committee

 Jenny Beakley

Financial Aid Counselor
Clemson University
G-01 Sikes Hall
Clemson, SC 29634-5123

864-656-2280

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

an opportunity to explore ways the federal government can help support state and local initiatives to improve career and technical education. More information, including witnesses, will be available here. To learn more about this week’s hearings and view a live webcast, visit edworkforce.house.gov/hearings.

Ken Bernard SCASFAA Legislative Relations Chair

September 30, 2013

Dear SASFAA,

Hope everyone is surviving or has survived fall registration.  Speaking of survival…

Bartnicki Boys:

Luke , Luke, Luke…I think he is going to replace Ethan as the one I need to look out for this year.  So far Luke failed to hand in a few homework assignments (“I swear they were in my binder”), received an in-school suspension for fooling around in the hallways and snuck out of the house with his contacts after he was told he had to wear his glasses (“I just don’t look cool in glasses”).   I don’t know if it is hormones, growing pains(he is now 6 feet with a size 14 shoe) or just being a teenage boy, but I will take changing diapers any day over teenage drama.  And just imagine, these issues are occurring with no girlfriend and he doesn’t drive yet!

Speaking of teenagers, I now have two.  Adam just turned 13 this month.  However, Adam is a little different.  During his birthday party he and his friends had a debate over which colleges they were going to get into, who had the highest GPA, held a math contest to see who was the best at math and talked about what AP classes they were going to take in high school (these are all 7^th graders).  However, I am proud of Adam because he got a B on a test and did not have a meltdown.  Baby steps…

Then we have Ethan.   Our little 4^th grader is doing great.  So far he has not gone to see the principle and his behavior chart is almost blank (still likes to talk and I have no idea where he gets that from).   He is in a jump rope club at school where he is the only boy; however, he said that was okay because the girls think he is cool because he is a good jumper.  When I asked him if he likes to go to the club because he likes to jump rope or because he is the only boy, he gives me this sly look and runs away.  And I think Luke’s teenage years are going to be tough.

A few topics to discuss:

Loan Servicing Information

As all of you know our contract with the Direct Loan Servicing Center (ACS) has ended.  The last set of Direct Loans that remained on the Direct Loan Servicing Center’s system was transferred on August 29, 2013.  As a reminder, since January 2013 we have transferred the majority of the Direct Loans on the Direct Loan Servicing Center’s system to FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA), Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., Nelnet, or Sallie Mae.

We delayed full closure of the Direct Loan Servicing Center until September 30, 2013 so that borrowers whose Direct Loans were transferred to new federal loan servicers in August (the last month of our transfer initiative) would have customer service representative support for a short period of time after transfer.   Beginning October 1 through November 15, 2013 the Direct Loan Servicing Center will only provide informational messaging. 

In a recent electronic announcement dated September 20, 2013, we indicated that we need the financial aid community’s assistance in limiting misdirected calls to the Direct Loan Servicing Center for the remainder of September 2013.

Please direct borrowers and financial aid personnel in need of assistance as follows:

• For questions about a loan that has been transferred from the Direct Loan Servicing Center to a new federal loan servicer, please direct borrowers and financial aid personnel to contact the new servicer. Contact information for the appropriate servicer can be found on the Loan Servicing Centers for Schools Contact Information page (http://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/helpContactInformationDetailedList.jsp?lsc=1) on the IFAP Web site.
• For questions or concerns related to credit status and denied credit decision appeals, obligations and responsibilities of Direct PLUS Loan endorsers, and all actions performed on the StudentLoans.gov Web site, please direct borrowers to contact the Student Loan Support Center on 800/557-7394.
• For questions or concerns related to the origination, disbursement, and/or booking of a Direct Loan that a school needs to raise on behalf of a Direct Loan borrower or endorser of a Direct PLUS loan, please direct financial aid personnel to contact the COD School Relations Center on 800/848-0978.

For more information and links to prior announcements, please review the electronic announcement dated September 20, 2013 (http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/092013LSINeedFAALimitMisdirectCallACS.html).

CDRs and Loan Requirement Exemptions

With the recent release of the FY2011 2-year rates and the FY2010 3-year rates I have started getting questions again as to what rates apply to your ability to be exempt from having to wait 30 days for the 1^st disbursement of a 1^st-year, 1^st-time borrower or having to do multiple disbursements in a single term loan period. 

To be exempt from those requirements a school must have 3 official cohort default rates below 15% from the 3 most recently completed fiscal years.  The rates can all be from one rate calculation (e.g. all 2-year rates) or can be a combination of 2 and 3-year rates as long as the rates are for different fiscal years (e.g. FY09 2-year; FY10 3-yr; FY11 2-yr).  Remember that in September 2014, the 2-year transitional rates will cease to exist and all exemptions and sanctions will be based on a school’s official 3-year rates.

Awarding Direct Subsidized Loans

In our recent “150% Direct Subsidized Loan Time Limit” Webinar we indicated that a student can only receive an unsubsidized loan (base or additional) for a loan period if the student has received the full amount of his or her eligibility for a subsidized loan.  Some schools have misinterpreted this information thinking that students cannot receive any unsubsidized loan funds until the entire subsidized loan has been disbursed.  That understanding is incorrect.  All loans should continue to be properly disbursed each payment period or term within the loan period according to our normal disbursement procedures.  Slides 48-51 are reminding schools that before you can award and package unsubsidized loans you must ensure that the student has been awarded and packaged the full amount of their subsidized loan eligibility for the loan period based upon the student’s COA, EFA and EFC. 

To review our 150% webinar recordings please see our Dear Colleague Letter ANN-13-08 (http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/ANN1308.html) for more information and the appropriate links.

FISAP

This is a reminder for all schools that wish to request funding under the Campus-Based programs for the 2014-2015 Award Year and all schools that had Campus-Based expenditures or Perkins Loan activity for the 2012-2013 Award Year to electronically submit a FISAP and required signatures pages via the eCampus-Based (eCB) Web site (cbfisap.ed.gov) by Tuesday October 1, 2013.  Remember that saving data into the FISAP online is not the same as submitting the FISAP. To meet the deadline requirement, the FISAP must be submitted by 11:59 P.M. (ET) on October 1, 2013. 

For more information, please review the electronic announcement dated September 4, 2013 (http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/090413ReminderOct12013DeadlineForSubmitFISAP.html).  If you have any questions about the FISAP submission deadline, contact the Campus-Based Call Center at 877/801-7168. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. until 8:00 P.M. (ET). You may also e-mail CBFOB@ed.gov.

Training

If you will be attending the FSA Training Conference in Las Vegas December 3-6, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, I just wanted to point out that both Mandalay Bay and THEhotel are sold out on some peak nights. Additionally, some rooms might be available at the prevailing rate if the conference rate is not available. Please check back often, as there may be availability due to cancellations, or use your preferred travel websites to secure other lodging.  At this time there are no plans to secure overflow lodging.

I hope everyone has a great week and for those with kids – hang in there!

Your FED,

DAVE

David Bartnicki

Federal Training Officer

ED/FSA/Atlanta

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September 30, 2013

***MEDIA ADVISORY*** Subcommittee to Discuss Opportunities to Streamline Federal Student Aid

                                                                   

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, October 1st at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), will hold a hearing entitled, “Keeping College Within Reach: Simplifying Federal Student Aid.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The Higher Education Act of 1965 established a number of financial aid programs to help low- and middle-income students access postsecondary opportunities. However, over the last few decades the federal student aid system has grown into a complex patchwork of grants, loans, and institutional support programs. Confusing applications, redundant paperwork, and many different loan programs and repayment initiatives have created overwhelming confusion for many students and their families. As the committee prepares to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, Tuesday’s hearing will provide members an opportunity to explore proposals to streamline the federal student aid system and make it easier for students and their families to understand the higher education investment. To learn more about this hearing, visit www.edworkforce.house.gov/hearings.      # # # Ken Bernard SCASFAA Legislative Relations Chair