FAA Message Board
The FAA Message Board is updated each week.
According to an
April 15 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Federal Student Aid (FSA) has initiated an e-mail notification process to encourage applicants who provided estimated federal tax information on the FAFSA, or who chose not to use the Internal Revenue Service Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT), to go back and submit corrections via FAFSA on the Web. Included in ED’s electronic announcement are details regarding the selection criteria, distribution schedule and text used for the e-mail notification to applicants.
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April 17 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provides the 2014-15 FAFSA Verification - IRS Tax Return Transcript Matrix, which will help financial aid administrators map 2013 IRS Tax Return Transcript information to FAFSA/ISIR data. As a reminder, the IRS Tax Return Transcript does not have line or item numbers, and uses wording that may be different from what is used on the FAFSA.
An April 2014 Dear Colleague Letter (
DCL ANN-14-09) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces availability of an online training module on satisfactory academic progress (SAP), which includes resources to help college staff develop and successfully implement SAP policies. The training is intended for financial aid professionals and all other college staff with responsibilities for monitoring students' satisfactory academic progress.
An April 2014 Dear Colleague Letter (
DCL GEN-14-07) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces that ED will be implementing some significant changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) enrollment reporting process over the next several weeks. The new changes include reporting of additional data, reporting at the academic program level, and more frequent reporting.
Plan to participate in upcoming training opportunities, including an April 30 webinar on 2014-15 budget reporting in GAP Access. Additional webinars are scheduled in May and June, and Financial Aid 101 workshops (for individuals who are new to financial aid) and Financial Aid 201 workshops (for experienced financial aid staff) will also take place in June. Specific dates, times and participation details can be found in an
April 22 e-Message.
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April 21 e-Message announces that, for the first time, colleges are to submit their 2014-15 budget data online via the GAP Access portal. The new online option replaces the paper budget packets that were used in prior years to submit required budget information for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) and the Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) and Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant programs.
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April 15 e-Message announces that ISAC has released additional 2013-14 Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants from suspense status. This second limited release includes eligible students whose Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) receipt dates were March 17, 2013 through (and including) March 19, 2013. These released records are available for payment, and may be viewed in the MAP system. All MAP grants for eligible students with initial FAFSA receipt dates on or after March 20, 2013, remain in suspense status.
In addition, previously held 2013-14 MAP first- and second-term late claims have been released for payment, with results appearing in the MAP system.
All 2013-14 MAP initial claims must be submitted on or before Sunday, June 1, 2014.
Users of GAP Access will be required to change your password when logging in the first time on or after 12 p.m. (noon) on Sunday, April 13, 2014. Due to the recently discovered vulnerability known as Heartbleed, ISAC is requiring the password change as a precaution to ensure the security of GAP Access data. Please note that the My Zone functionalities are not impacted and current passwords can continue to be used until their normal expiration.
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recent USA Today article discusses the results of a study conducted by EverFi and Higher One, which are organizations that help implement financial literacy programs. According to the study, first year college students who were required to take a financial literacy course in high school are much more likely to avoid debt, stay within their credit limit, and pay credit card bills in a timely manner. Building on the success of the high school programs, some colleges are implementing financial literacy sessions as part of freshman orientation, and also developing opportunities for upperclassmen to provide peer counseling to younger students.
An April 2014 Dear Colleague Letter (
DCL ANN-14-08) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces availability of the recorded version of Federal Student Aid's recent webinar on the new Direct Consolidation Loan process, including a detailed walkthrough of the application process on the StudentLoans.gov website. No registration is required to view the recorded training session, which is intended for professionals in the financial aid community interested in learning more about the new process for Direct Consolidation Loans.
The Teacher Education Scholarship Programs (TESP) component of My Zone that allows colleges to complete students' initial certifications online is now available for the 2014-15 academic year. Currently included are certification records for the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program. Details are provided in an
April 7 e-Message.
A March 2014 Dear Colleague Letter (
DCL GEN-14-05) provides important information about a new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "Get Transcript Online" tool, which allows the tax filer to submit an online transcript request to the IRS and, if the request is authenticated, immediately receive the transcript in Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF transcript can then be saved and/or printed for submission to the college.
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March 17 e-Message announces that 2013-14 Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant payment request rosters are now available at My Zone, allowing colleges to submit ING Grant claims data (initial, supplemental and out-of-district) for the spring term. As a reminder, this data must be submitted so eligibility units can be accurately assessed to students' accounts.
The links below have information on topics that were previously listed on the Message Board.
MAP Advising Working Group final report2014-15 State Scholar AnnouncementsISAC State Legislative UpdateInformation regarding Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (for
colleges and
students)
Information regarding Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (for
colleges and
students)
Outreach Calendar/EventsFAFSA Completion InformationImportant Reminders calendar
Prepaid Tuition 
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