Nasfaa's Off The Cuff Podcast

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 by June 1, 2023. 

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 educational background, his time on the education committee as previous chair and current ranking member, as well as his legislative outlook for this session.

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 talk to our members about issues that touch on all facets of our lived experiences and highlight equity in financial aid, impacts of staffing shortages, personal experiences with financial aid as a student, and more. Interested in joining us on a future episode? Be sure to fill out our interest form located in the resources section. 

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 up on all things FAFSA simplification, touching on the release of the draft FAFSA, future training, the department’s communication plan, and more. Hugh then updates listeners on some legislative and congressional activity concerning the student loan portfolio.

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 to our members about issues that touch on all facets of our lived experiences and highlight equity in financial aid, impacts of staffing shortages, personal experiences with financial aid as a student, and more. Interested in joining us on a future episode? Be sure to fill out our interest form located in the resources section.

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. Hugh catches listeners up on some new institutional oversight from Federal Student Aid and developments concerning the 2024-25 FAFSA.

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 in 2024-25. David then follows up with discussion on late disbursements, and how they can impact institutions and student eligibility. Hugh catches members up on some initial topline numbers from President Joe Biden’s budget request and updates listeners on a new lawsuit challenging the administration’s freeze on federal student loan repayment and interest accrual.

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 on campus or with parents. Maria then updates listeners on the latest news, including updates to the Sweet v. Cardona settlement, a new report from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on student loan debt relief, and a new lawsuit against ED’s borrower defense rules. 

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. Maria then shares some recent higher education news, including a new report of institutional endowments and upcoming protests as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments of President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief program next Tuesday. 

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 session. Justin also spoke with Dr. Foxx about her personal background and experience in higher education and learned more about her daily life as a member of Congress.

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 goals. In upcoming episodes, we’d like to talk to our members about issues that touch on all facets of our lived experiences and highlight equity in financial aid, impacts of staffing shortages, personal experiences with financial aid as a student, and more. Interested in joining us on a future episode? Be sure to fill out our interest form located in the resources section.

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 the Office of Federal Student Aid’s  annual performance review. Maria then updates listeners on the latest news, including the announcement that Biden will release his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year on March 9.

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 members up on some of the latest news surrounding student loan debt cancellation, the implementation of a new enrollment management system at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and some legislative action on Capitol Hill.

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 speaker election will have on higher education policy and the latest announcements concerning the department’s income-driven repayment (IDR) regulations and additional accountability initiatives.

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 unusual circumstances. Maria then shares some recent higher education news, including updates to the ongoing legal challenges to President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief plan and who could chair the House Education and Labor committee.

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 discussion then turned to President Joe Biden’s extension of the pause on student loan repayment and interest accrual and year-end spending. 

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 for FSA concerning FAFSA simplification implementation and also highlights their general experience with the virtual conference platform. Have a question or general comment about the conference? Be sure to submit them through our feedback form below.

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 deliver strong outcomes for students. Lanae also provides listeners with the results of polling on public perception of both political parties and discusses how the student loan portfolio could be complicated by the legal challenges to Biden’s debt cancellation plan.

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 discharge, and false certification – differ from the proposed rules issued in July. David covers updates to the FAFSA simplification rollout and details how financial aid offices will be impacted by changes to cost of attendance, professional judgment, provisional independent student status, and Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) restoration on their campuses. Hugh then shares some recent higher education news, including updates on the most recent results of the midterm elections and where things stand on President

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 the temporary block on President Joe Biden’s plans for student loan cancellation and what we expect to happen next. The discussion then turned to changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and the midterm elections. Maria then updates listeners on the latest news, including new data from the College Board about college pricing and student aid, and other legal updates to Biden’s student debt relief plans.