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Federal Update

This update highlights the federal administration's priorities for increasing college access, making college more affordable, and improving outcomes for students. It covers initiatives such as the First Lady's Reach Higher Initiative, FAFSA simplification, experimental sites, the America's College Promise proposal, and more.

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Federal Update

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  1. Federal Update April 2016

  2. Administration Priorities

  3. Administration Priorities President’s 2020 Goal: By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Themes: • Increasing access • Making college more affordable • Improving outcomes

  4. Access

  5. Access: First Lady’s Reach Higher Initiative • Exposing students to college/career opportunities – encourage students to reach for the best college they can attend • Encouraging academic planning and summer learning • Understanding financial aid • Supporting high school counselors

  6. Access: FAFSA • Promoting FAFSA Completion • FAFSA Simplification • Early FAFSA • Prior-Prior Year

  7. Access: Experimental Sites • Second Chance Pell Pilot Program • Waivers to allow incarcerated individuals to receive Pell Grants for postsecondary education • Dual Enrollment • Waivers to allow students who are enrolled in high school to receive Pell Grants for enrollment in Title IV-eligible postsecondary programs

  8. Affordability

  9. Affordability: Front End Strategies • America’s College Promise • Increase in Pell Grant funding • First in the World (FITW) • Competency-Based Learning • Educational Quality Through Innovative Partnerships (EQUIP)

  10. Affordability: America’s College Promise • Proposal would make two years of college free and universal • Students would be able to secure an associate’s degree or certificate, earn the first half of a bachelor’s degree, and gain skills needed in the workforce at no cost

  11. Affordability: First in the World • Discretionary grant program designed to spur innovation to drive down costs while maintaining quality • Program focuses on students most likely not to persist and graduate • Tests and evaluates practices for cost effectiveness, maintains quality, and facilitates replication

  12. Affordability: Experimental Sites • Competency-Based Learning • Creates flexibility by allowing students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of content • Educational Quality Through Innovative Partnerships (EQUIP) • Accelerates and evaluates partnerships with non-traditional providers

  13. Affordability: Back End Strategies • Student Aid Bill of Rights • Income-Driven Repayment Plans • Pay As You Earn (PAYE) • Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE)

  14. Affordability: Student Aid Bill of Rights

  15. Affordability: REPAYE Regulations • Negotiations held February - April, 2015 -- consensus reached on a Revised Pay As You Earn repayment plan (REPAYE) that extends the 10 percent income cap to all borrowers regardless of when they borrowed • Published final regulations October 30, 2015 • Early implementation in December 2015

  16. Affordability: Student Aid Bill of Rights • Protects Social Security benefits of borrowers with disabilities who may qualify for a loan discharge or other repayment options • Ensures that the debt collection process for defaulted Federal student loans is fair, transparent, and reasonable (compensation of collection agencies, guidance provided to collection agencies, ensuring accurate information provided)

  17. Outcomes

  18. Outcomes • College Scorecard • Accreditation Executive Actions and Legislative Proposals • Gainful Employment Regulations • Consumer protections and information • Debt to earnings ratios

  19. Outcomes: College Scorecard • Interactive tool – new data recently added • Highlights key indicators about institutions’ costs and value • Helps students and families decide where to enroll for postsecondary education • Allows comparison of schools based on simple criteria

  20. Outcomes: College Scorecard • Scorecard data include: • Costs • Graduation Rates • Loan Default Rates • Loan Repayment Rates • Average Amount Borrowed • Employment • Earnings

  21. Outcomes: Accreditation • Executive actions and a legislative proposal designed to: • Increase transparency in the accreditation process • Increase coordination within the Department and among accreditors to improve institutional oversight • Encourage greater attention to outcomes within current accreditor review processes

  22. FY 2017 Budget

  23. FY 2017 President’s Budget • Pell Grant Program • Higher award amount for more than 12 credits per term • Summer Pell for students who complete at least 24 credits in regular academic year

  24. Early FAFSA Prior – Prior

  25. Prior-Prior and Early FAFSA • Outreach • Toolkit Posted to IFAP • Professional Judgment • More Expected • Pell schedules and campus-based awards

  26. Prior-Prior and Early FAFSA • Verification • Use of DRT Will Reduce Selection for Verification • Documentation of income/taxes from 2016-2017 can be used for 2017-2018 • Eliminating Tracking Group V6 (Low Income)

  27. Prior-Prior and Early FAFSA • Conflicting Information • Occurrences reduced if DRT used for both 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 • FOTW warnings if 2017-2018 reporting income/taxes not equal to 2016-2017 reported amounts

  28. Prior-Prior and Early FAFSA • Conflicting Information – The CPS Will – • Perform an automatic review to determine if there might be conflicting information between the two FAFSAs • Flag for institutional resolution only those 2017-2018 ISIRs where the potential conflict, once resolved, would have a significant impact on the student’s 2017-2018 EFC.

  29. Perkins Loan Program(DCL GEN-16-05)

  30. Perkins Loan Program • Federal Perkins Loan Program Extension Act of 2015. • Extends program through September 30, 2017 • Eliminates the Perkins Loan five-year grandfathering provisions • Places requirements on the eligibility for undergraduates to receive a loan

  31. Perkins Loan Program • Federal Perkins Loan Program Extension Act of 2015. • Effectively eliminates the eligibility for graduate students to receive Perkins Loans.  • Requires school disclosures • Requires return of federal share of revolving fund after October 1, 2017

  32. Regulatory Update

  33. Borrower Defenses

  34. Borrower Defenses to Repayment • Negotiation sessions: • Session 1: January 12-14, 2016 • Session 2: February 17-19, 2016 • Session 3: March 16-18, 2016 • Expect to publish proposed rules this summer • Expect to publish final rules by November 1, 2016

  35. Borrower Defenses to Repayment • Issues discussed • Procedures for borrower to establish a defense to repayment • Criteria to identify acts or omissions of an institution that constitute defenses to repayment • Standards and procedures that ED will use to determine school liability from borrower defenses

  36. Direct Loan REPAYEPayment Plan

  37. REPAYE Regulations • Negotiations held February - April, 2015 -- consensus reached on a Revised Pay As You Earn repayment plan (REPAYE) that extends the 10 percent income cap to all borrowers regardless of when they borrowed • Published final regulations October 30, 2015 • Implemented on December 17, 2015

  38. REPAYE Regulations • Extends 10% of income repayment cap to all borrowers regardless of when they borrowed • Repayment period = 20 years for undergraduate loans and 25 years if graduate loans included • PAYE still available; not a replacement plan

  39. Program IntegrityCash Management

  40. Cash Management Regulations • October 30, 2015: Final regulations published • July 1, 2016: Regulations effective • Ensure that students receiving Title IV, HEA funds: • Have convenient access to their funds • Do not incur unreasonable financial account fees • Are not led to believe they must open a particular financial account to receive their funds 40

  41. Debit Card Provisions: Who is covered?

  42. Debit Card Provisions: Overview

  43. Correct and Timely Reporting

  44. Correct and Timely Reporting • COD – • Program information • NSLDS – • Enrollment, including academic program • GE Reporting • CPS – • Professional Judgement • Results of V4 and V5 Verification

  45. Protecting Student Information

  46. Protecting Student Information • Under various Federal and state laws and other authorities, including the HEA; FERPA; the Privacy Act of 1974; the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; state data breach and privacy laws; institutions may be responsible for losses, fines and penalties (including criminal penalties) caused by data breaches.

  47. Protecting Student Information • Dear Colleague Letter GEN-15-18 • Reminds institutions (and their third-party servicers) of their continuing obligations to protect data used in all aspects of the administration of the Title IV Federal student financial aid programs.

  48. Protecting Student Information • The SAIG Enrollment Agreement includes a provision that the institution – • Must ensure that all Federal Student Aid applicant information is protected from access by or disclosure to unauthorized personnel.

  49. Gainful EmploymentSee DCL GEN-15-12

  50. The HEA provides that to be Title IV eligible an educational program must: • Be offered by a public or non-profit institution and leads to a degree; or • Prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.

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