President Joseph R. Biden signed H.R. 8932, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Deadline Act (the Act), which amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) to make the FAFSA available by October 1, every year, rather than January 1. It also requires the Department to certify to Congress by September 1 whether the FAFSA will be ready by the October 1 statutory deadline, and if it will not be ready on time, then the Secretary of Education may be required to testify before Congress regarding the anticipated (1) failure to meet the deadline, and (2) financial impact on students and families. The Act’s new deadline is effective for the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced the availability of a new resource page on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Training Center that consolidates Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) training information in a centralized location. The training information is intended to assist schools with understanding and complying with the FVT/GE regulations and processes and includes several pre-recorded webinars, presentations, and links to additional training resources.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment | Students
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is soliciting comments addressing State Plans and annual revisions under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. The Department proposes to revise the income-contingent repayment plan (ICR) to provide data specifications for the numerators and denominators used to calculate the law’s performance indicators. The proposed revision is to aid in ensuring that the performance indicators are consistent with the statute and reduce collection of potentially duplicative information, give States more time to report outcomes, and improve accuracy and completeness of data. Comments may be submitted through January 2, 2025.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced the availability for the 2024-2025 FSA Assessments. The Assessments are available to provide institutions with a system of evaluating program compliance and opportunities to correct problems on topics such as: Creating a Policies and Procedures Manual; Consumer Information; Default Prevention & Management; Direct Loans; Federal Perkins Loans: Cancellation, Due Diligence, Forbearance, and Deferment; Fiscal Management; FSEOG; FWS; Institutional Eligibility; Return of Title IV Funds; Satisfactory Academic Progress; Student Eligibility; and Verification.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available for all students, about ten days before the originally scheduled December 1, 2024, goal. This roll-out follows the four rounds of beta testing the Department engaged in while trying to improve the application’s internal systems and processes. In addition to the release of the application, the Department also released a number of resources to help students, families, and partners who help applicants with FAFSA.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published guidance for avoiding discriminatory use of artificial intelligence. The resource was published in response to Executive Order 14110: Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, and provides information on the legal analyses the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) uses to determine whether discrimination exists and various examples of conduct that could constitute discrimination. The resource explores the role of AI in race, color, or national origin discrimination, sex discrimination, disability discrimination, and multiple bases of discrimination.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Sex Discrimination
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Deadline Act would require the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) to make FAFSA available by October 1, every year, replacing the current January 1 flexibility and imposing a firm statutory deadline of October 1. Further, the bill requires the Department to certify to Congress by September 1 whether or not the FAFSA will be ready by October 1, and if it is not, then the Secretary of Education may be required to testify before Congress regarding (1) the anticipated failure to meet the deadline, and (2) the anticipated financial impact on students and families. The bill passed the Senate and the House unanimously and is now set to be sent to President Joe Biden.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
The American Council on Education (ACE) sent a letter to Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Smith, Chairman Reed, and Ranking Member Wicker of the Armed Services Committee expressing concerns regarding the House draft of the NDAA, which includes provisions that could restrict academic collaborations with institutions in other countries and further impose career restrictions on researchers who engage in U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) projects. The letter expressed additional concerns with Section 220 of the Senate draft of the bill as it would allow the DOD to withhold funding from institutions that violate Title VI, a measure that would both duplicate and complicate existing enforcement by the U.S. Department of Education.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Export Controls | Higher Education Act (HEA) | International Ventures | Research
The American Council on Education (ACE) sent a letter to the Senate Majority Leader and Minority Leader expressing support for the Stop Campus Hazing Act (the Act) and proposing certain technical adjustments to the Act to strengthen the legislation. Specifically, the letter seeks clarification regarding the definitions for “hazing” and “student organization,” and also asks that the bill be amended to reduce the Campus Hazing Transparency Report (CHTR) to a once per year requirement.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Student Conduct | Student Organizations | Students
The American Council on Education (ACE) sent a letter to the Speaker of the House and Minority Leader of the House offering support for H.R. 8932, the FAFSA Deadline Act. The proposed bill would move up the statutory deadline for the annual release of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from January 1 to October 1 each academic year. The letter cites overall first-year enrollment declines of 5% this year, which it attributes, at least in part, to issues with the 2024-25 FAFSA.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
