Nasfaa's Off The Cuff Podcast

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 their assistance in securing a delay until July 2025 of the GE/FVT institutional reporting requirements (5:27-14:02). After the policy team update, the whole group reminisces on the early days of the podcast and share special memories as Justin departs from his role next week. 

This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh, Jill, and David discuss several regulatory changes that become effective on July 1, 2024. Jill begins by giving a deep dive on some of the confusing elements of transcript withholding and details the Department of Education's (ED) regulatory approach to the issue. David then provides a brief overview of additional regulations that will also be going into effect on July 1. These more wide-reaching regulations include administrative capability, institutional eligibility to participate in Title IV programs, gainful employment, and more.

This week, on the 300th episode of “Off the Cuff,” Justin, Karen, and Allie discuss the most up-to-date FAFSA news, and preview the unique sessions being offered at the NASFAA National and Virtual Conferences. Karen kicks things off with an update on the Department of Education’s (ED) FAFSA reprocessing work and outlines additional guidance that should be available in the days and weeks ahead. Justin then recaps a recent community letter that a number of higher education groups sent to Congress urging for policies that will strengthen the FAFSA process moving forward. Allie wraps things up with a preview of NASFAA’s conferences and covers a few sessions she is most looking forward to.

This week on “Off The Cuff,” Allie, Jill, and David talk about the latest news on school corrections and dive into a discussion on crossover periods. Jill kicks things off by recapping the most recent electronic announcement from the Department of Education concerning the timelines for school ISIR corrections and processing for paper FAFSA submissions. David then goes over some rules for crossover payment periods and highlights how FAFSA simplification has impacted the process.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin, Karen, and Rachel are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to recap a lengthy House hearing where Education Secretary Miguel Cardona sparred with Republicans over the department’s budget request and the secretary’s record. The team then recapped some exchanges centered on the 2024-25 FASFA and highlighted noteworthy student aid policies that came up during the hearing, which lasted over four hours. The conversation then turned to more updates on the ongoing FAFSA rollout and electronic announcements that could be delivered in the coming days.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin is joined by Jill and Rachel to discuss this week's announcement from the Department of Education (ED) of a temporary FAFSA filing fix for applicants and contributors without a Social Security number. From there, Rachel debriefs listeners on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona's testimony at a Senate appropriation subcommittee hearing this week. The group also discusses last week's announcement that FSA Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray is stepping down from his position this summer.   

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by NASFAA Executive Vice President Beth Maglione and Director of Research Charlotte Etier to discuss Justin's announcement this week that he plans to step down from his role as NASFAA’s president and CEO in June. From there, Karen debriefs listeners on more FAFSA updates, including where we stand with institutional corrections. Plus, Charlotte shares the results of NASFAA's latest poll on when institutions plan to send financial aid offers to students and what their disbursement timing may be. 

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 FAFSA updates of the past week, including news on the Department of Education's reprocessing of affected Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs). From there, Karen walks through the results of this week's NASFAA poll which asked members about their institutions' plans to send financial aid offers to students. Plus, Jon debriefs listeners of the Biden administration's proposed rules on student debt relief, and where the congressional appropriations process stands.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin, Karen, Rachel, and Tim discuss Justin's testimony this week before the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development on the Department of Education's (ED) rollout of the 2024-25 FAFSA. Karen also debriefs listeners on the latest NASFAA poll asking members about which first-year undergraduate student populations, if any, they plan to send aid offers to by May 1. From there, the team discusses the latest FAFSA updates from ED on the status of reprocessing ISIRs, student corrections, and new guidance from the department. Finally, Rachel informs listeners on the latest news on the Biden administration's student debt relief plan. 

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin, Karen, and Tim discuss this week's news that the Department of Education (ED) identified three issues concerning tax data reported on FAFSA applicant records. The team dives into the details of those identified issues, and what the department is doing next — including the latest update to reprocess all affected records. Tim also provides context on how financial aid professionals are currently feeling amid these challenges. 

This week on “Off the Cuff,” Allie, Karen, and Rachel discuss the latest adjustments to the rollout of the 2024-25 FAFSA, including a miscalculation in the SAI formula. The team covers a number of other possible FAFSA issues and outlines what updates they would like to see from the Department of Education (ED) as the rollout begins to ramp up. Rachel then provides an update on the federal budget cycle, where Congress recently completed its work for the fiscal year 2024, and now turns to the president’s budget request containing newly proposed funding levels for ED for fiscal year 2025.

This week on “Off the Cuff” Justin, Karen, Allie, and Tim are back with the latest news on the 2024-25 FAFSA with recent updates from the Department of Education (ED) about the delivery of Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs). The team dives into recent electronic announcements detailing updates, fixes, and troubleshooting issues impacting users without Social Security numbers, rejected ISIRs, and ongoing issues with EDconnect software. The discussion then turns to recent national reporting that provides more context into the ongoing struggles of the 2024-25 FAFSA launch.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by NASFAA Community Manager Tim Maggio to discuss the latest news surrounding the 2024-25 FAFSA, with a focus on the Department of Education’s (ED) planned rollout of Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs). The team walks through each of the steps ED detailed in its recent electronic announcement and provides insight into the key timeline and benchmarks that the department is promising to meet in the coming weeks. Tim then shares some comments from members and the growing concerns that financial aid professionals have expressed over the 2024-25 FAFSA.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Allie and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to discuss an update to the Student Aid Index (SAI) formula from the Department of Education (ED), which allows the Student’s Contribution from Income (SCI) to have a negative calculated value with no floor. However, the team also discusses how a continuing resolution (CR) passed by the House would rescind that update. The team also walks through the latest updates around the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act and the release of 100 system-generated test Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs).

This week on a special episode of "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Bill DeBaun, the National College Attainment Network's senior director of data and strategic initiatives, to discuss the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout. Bill debriefs listeners on trends found in NCAN's FAFSA Tracker, which tracks completion rates for the 2024-25 FAFSA cycle. Justin and Karen also discuss other news from the week, including the additional release of eight test Institutional Student Information Record (ISIRs) and new guidance from the Department of Education (ED) on how to submit the 2024-25 FAFSA if a contributor doesn't have a Social Security number. The team also talks through this week’s announcement that ED began the 60-day comment period for Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency reporting requirements.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Hugh to recap NASFAA's 2024 Leadership & Legislative Conference & Expo, and discuss the Department of Education's (ED) new "FAFSA College Support Strategy." Justin debriefs listeners on the new initiative, explains what NASFAA's partnership entails and how it will aim to help severely under-resourced institutions get ready to receive, and review, Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) in March. Additionally, the team discusses the latest news around the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout, including ED's commitment to release test versions of ISIRs by February 16, and this week's announcement that ED will significantly reduce verification requirements. 

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 this week’s news that institutions and states will begin receiving Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) in the "first half of March." The team breaks down the announcement from the Department of Education, answers frequently asked questions, and shares NASFAA's efforts to advocate for financial aid offices. Additionally, the team debriefs two recent pieces of legislation, Rep. Virginia Foxx’s College Cost Reduction Act and Rep. Bobby Scott’s Roadmap to College Student Success.

This week in a special episode of “Off the Cuff,” the fun with FAFSA never stops! Justin, Karen, and Allie dive into the latest news surrounding the 2024-25 FAFSA timeline that is leading many higher education advocates and students to grow increasingly concerned about the impending time crunch for the annual aid cycle. The team digs into the Department of Education’s (ED) announcement that it will update the tables used to protect a portion of a family’s income and assets from being considered in the Student Aid Index (SAI) by inflation-adjusted amounts and how the department’s mistake will impact the timing of financial aid offers. The team also covers some reaction to the FAFSA rollout in the media and on Capitol Hill.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David recap the latest negotiated rulemaking session that focused on a number of issues, including cash management, distance education, R2T4, and more. Plus, the team dives into reported issues stemming from the FAFSA soft launch, some fixes that have been made available to students and families, and where financial aid professionals can keep tabs on issue alerts and progress.

This week on “Off the Cuff,” Justin is joined by Karen and NASFAA's Tim Maggio to discuss the biggest financial aid news so far in 2024 — the soft launch of the 2024-25 FAFSA. Justin and Karen discuss the current state of the launch, issues and outages that have impacted the form’s availability, and what updates they are looking for from the Department of Education in the weeks ahead. Tim then highlights some chatter from the financial aid community, as well as some social media posts that have highlighted applicant experiences with the rollout and the form itself. The team then dives into some known issues that ED has flagged and the department’s communications campaign.