FAA Message Board
The FAA Message Board is updated each week.
A February 2014 Dear Colleague Letter (
DCL ANN-14-04) from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces the availability of an online, self-paced training module about the cohort default rate process and default management. ED will inform the financial aid community of additional training modules on this topic via Training Announcements that will be posted on the
Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website in the coming months.
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February 24 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) reminds institutions that participate in the Title IV federal student aid programs that they are responsible for the accurate and timely reporting of students' enrollment status information to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The announcement also provides access to resources that provide more information about NSLDS enrollment reporting requirements.
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February 25 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces that Sallie Mae will separate into two distinct companies — Navient and Sallie Mae — in the fall of 2014. ED's announcements summarizes how this change will affect federal student loan borrowers and their schools, and also includes a “Questions and Answers” section.
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February 25 e-Message announces that ISAC is
suspending the announcement of 2014-15 Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants for all students whose initial 2014-15 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is received by the Central Processing System (CPS) on or after Friday, February 28, 2014. Beginning Saturday, March 1, 2014, MAP records in suspense status will: be reflected in the MAP component of the GAP Access portal; show on the appropriate screens and reports; and, appear in the MAP Eligibility File Extraction.
Plan to participate in upcoming training opportunities, including a March 26 webinar on ISAC’s military programs. Financial Aid 101 workshops (for individuals who are new to financial aid) and Financial Aid 201 workshops (for experienced financial aid staff) are also scheduled during the first week of March. Specific dates, times and participation details can be found in a
February 21 e-Message.
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February 11 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces online availability of mock-ups of the final versions of the 2014-15 Student Aid Report (SAR) and the 2014-15 SAR Acknowledgement. The Portable Document Format (PDF) files, which are available in English and Spanish, may be used as a training tool for staff or for financial aid presentations.
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February 18 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announces that fiscal year 2011 (FY2011) three-year draft cohort default rates and accompanying documentation have been distributed via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) to all eligible domestic and foreign schools, guaranty agencies, and lenders. The electronic announcement provides background information, distribution details, and the time period for challenging a school's FY2011 three-year draft cohort default rate.
Online registration for the 2014 ILASFAA Annual Conference (The Places We've Been, the Places We'll Go - Celebrating 45 Years), which will take place April 2-4 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield, is available at the
ILASFAA Conference mini-site (late fees will be charged for any registration submitted after March 14, 2014). A tentative conference schedule is also available.
The proposed omnibus rules amendments for ISAC-administered programs for the 2014-15 academic year, as published in the February 7, 2014 Illinois Register, can be accessed from the e-Library's
ISAC Administrative Rules page. In addition, a summary of the proposed omnibus rules amendments may be accessed from the same page. Note that, while the Illinois Register cover and Table of Contents list proposed changes for other agencies, only information pertaining to ISAC-administered programs is included in the e-Library posting. Details regarding the public comment period (which ends on Monday, March 24, 2014) are also included. The 2014-15 proposed omnibus rules amendments have an anticipated effective date of July 1, 2014.
You may have families asking how college tuition payments will impact their taxes. Several valuable online resources are available to assist college students and their parents with the tax filing process. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has posted its
Higher Education Tax Benefits: 2013 Tax Year guide. Families should also be encouraged to check out the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Tax Benefits for Education: Information Center, the 2013 edition of
IRS Publication 970 (Tax Benefits for Education), and the
IRS Student Loan Interest Deduction Tax Topic (topic 456).
Two new online resources from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are available to assist veterans and members of the military: the
GI Bill® Comparison Tool, and the
VA GI Bill Feedback System. The comparison tool provides information about Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, as well as the schools and training programs available to education beneficiaries (further details may be found in a
February 4, 2014 “VAntage Point” blog posting). The feedback system seeks to protect students and Post-9/11 GI Bill investments by providing a way to report negative experiences with colleges and universities (for more information, see the
January 30, 2014 "Joining Forces" blog posting from the White House).
According to a
January 24 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), effective Friday, March 7, 2014, any Federal Student Aid (FSA) User ID that has not been used within the past 90 calendar days will be suspended and any FSA User ID that has not been used within the past 365 calendar days will be deactivated. In addition, the number of challenge questions that a user must answer in order to reset their password will increase from one to three, and users will be prompted to establish a total of five challenge questions during the password reset process. As a reminder, an FSA User ID and password are necessary to log in to all systems behind FSA's Access and Identity Management System (AIMS).
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January 24 electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provides the financial aid community with general information about how federal loan servicers will report student loan interest payments for 2013.
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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