Nasfaa's Off The Cuff Podcast

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.

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 portfolio, and more. Justin and Under Secretary Kvaal also go on to discuss some of the administration’s upcoming priorities for higher education, new regulations, the federal budget, and much more.

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 repayment plan and discusses some summer news coverage concerning perceptions of investments, and risks associated with higher education.

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 then highlights what comes next for the on-ramp to student loan repayment and interest accrual, which will begin this September. Rachel and Justin also update listeners on NASFAA’s 2023 National Conference as well as some timely information from this week’s virtual conference.

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 fun in San Diego. Follow along with the conversation from the National Conference online using #NASFAA2023. Can’t make it to San Diego this year? You can still register for the NASFAA Virtual Conference, which takes place July 10-14. 

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 from the 2024-25 FAFSA and how schools can work through the packaging process. Hugh then catches listeners up on some higher education news coming from the White House, including a debt ceiling resolution and the latest on student loan cancellation.

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 to impact federal funding for the upcoming fiscal years. The team then digs into some updates concerning SNAP eligibility.

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 can impact schools. Hugh then catches listeners up on some news of the week, which included ED’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for an overhaul of gainful employment as well as Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s remarks on the Hill this week concerning the department’s budget and oversight requests from Congress.

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 return to repayment timeline, and a discussion on NASFAA’s latest task force providing schools with a toolkit to prepare. Hugh catches members up on some recent news concerning House Republicans’ efforts to rescind the administration’s debt cancellation program and ED updates on PSLF applications.