December 2023

Preparing for the 2024-25 Award Year: Understanding the FAFSA Simplification Act

December 28, 2023

By: Tiffany Motyka, Ed.D., FAS Senior Consultant

The term simplification is defined as ‘to make simpler’ or ‘to make more intelligible’. However, the FAFSA Simplification Act can appear to any college or university like the new requirements are the opposite. The changes began in the 2021-22 Award Year when limitations on student eligibility related to Selective Service registration, drug convictions, and subsidized usage limitations were eliminated. These changes were very welcome to the Financial Aid community. However, things began to get more serious in the 2023-24 Award Year when changes to the statutory definition of cost of attendance (COA), professional judgment requirements, determinations of independence, and the application process for unaccompanied homeless youth and foster care youth were published. These updates required institutions to change long-held language and terminology and specified the dynamics of the cost of attendance figures and the Professional Judgement processes.

Amid the 2023-24 Award Year changes, there was also a looming responsibility schools were trying to grapple with for the coming 2024-25 Award Year. Students would be asked to complete a reformatted FAFSA, become “contributors”, and provide consent for a more streamlined transference of newly designated Controlled Unclassified Federal Tax Information (FTI). The 2024-25 FAFSA would not be available until New Year’s Eve, a change from the October 1^st date many families and schools were used to. This delay, however, would not soften the severity of what was then to become the biggest changes of the FAFSA Simplification Act, the Student Aid Index (SAI). This concept would require changes to financial aid vernacular and long-lived terminology shared among students, parents, financial aid administrators, and student information systems. The SAI calculation would eliminate the need for certain FAFSA information and instead of zero being the best option, a negative SAI could result. New markers such as AGI, poverty thresholds, family size, state of residence, and federal means-tested benefits would now allow families to be automatically eligible for maximum Pell Grant or minimum Pell Grant, but the Simplified Needs Test (SNT) and Auto-Zero calculations from previous years would be eliminated.

As the financial aid community began to digest the FAFSA Simplification requirements, they also began to wonder how the technology will be ready for the 2024-25 Award Year. First, schools would need to sign up for a new Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) mailbox just to import the new FAFSA submissions due to the CUI designation of the Federal Tax Information. Programs like TDClient and EdConnect would have to be updated to cooperate with the new mailbox. However, the largest burden seemed to fall at the feet of the student information system companies. They must ensure the new SAI calculations are formulated correctly, the new FAFSA fields are included, and old ones removed, the vernacular is changed, a mechanism is included to report campus-based earnings to COD, and most importantly the software releases are provided to schools in a timely manner. The SIS companies must ensure schools have a way to determine cost of attendance when the FAFSA no longer offers housing choice. The proration of Pell Grant awards must now be based on enrollment intensity and not a prorated disbursement as in prior years. Year-round Pell Grant cannot be limited to only half-time enrolled students. Negative SAI figures must be used for determination of Pell Grant but cannot be used to determine need. Systems must ensure that there is only one Student Aid Index, no matter the number of terms enrolled. The outcry of concern from current users was visceral and began to sharpen the focus of the SIS companies. The financial aid community provided insight and regulatory interpretation and demonstrated the important relationship between financial aid administrators and the necessary technology to support aid recipients.

Once the Student Information Systems are delivered and contain all required updates, institutions still must make updates needed to comply with the FAFSA Simplification Act. These changes include ensuring the newly revamped FAFSA/ISIR comment codes are updated and correlate to any documentation or action required from the student, parent, or school. Cost of Attendance designations often include housing choice but since that question has been removed from the FAFSA, schools will need to determine how to identify and include that designation in the COA without postponing student awarding and disbursement. Any FAFSA fields that were removed and updated which resulted in new SIS fields will need to be updated in any existing rules, algorithms, and schedulers. Other stakeholders will need to be updated on the changes and ensure all marketing materials are updated to remove old information such as EFC. Federal work-study earnings must be provided to and accepted by the Department of Education to ensure that information is included in the FAFSA data. The administrative burden is intense but necessary to ensure the goals of the FAFSA Simplification Act come to fruition. Colleges and universities are preparing for these changes by communicating with each other, assisting student information systems with feedback on releases to come, and educating families on the new FAFSA and awarding processes. The additional effort amongst the financial aid community and its stakeholders can make a tremendous difference in the lives of the students and families we serve.

Are you facing staffing challenges at your institution that will affect your ability to handle the upcoming federal changes?

Contact FAS today for a quick consultation on how we can help you discover solutions tailored to your unique needs. Reach out at 770.988.9447 or via email at info@FinancialAidServices.org. We look forward to connecting with institutions ready to overcome challenges and elevate their financial aid and student business services.

About FAS

Financial Aid Services (FAS) has served higher education for over 30 years. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, FAS provides consulting, staffing, processing, and assessment services to assist institutions with improving operational efficiency, student satisfaction, and regulatory compliance in financial aid and student business services. FAS’ accomplished team averages 28 years of experience and has a combined 1,600 years of higher education experience. With clients in 49 states, FAS has successfully served over 1,800 institutions nationwide. The Company’s extensive experience combined with industry-leading expertise and focus on superior client outcomes, enables FAS to deliver lasting results to its clients and the students they serve. Visit www.FinancialAidServices.org for more information.

FAFSA Simplification or Complication?

December 21, 2023

By: Heather Hollandsworth, Ed.D, FAS Senior Consultant

As most in higher education know, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is undergoing many changes for the 2024-2025 cycle. Gone are questions that likely had little impact on the federal methodology that determines Pell Grants etc. Gone is the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) that has been around since at least 1992, according to the New York Times (Lieber, 2020). Of course, the abject confusion that surrounds the FAFSA, EFC, and aid programs has not changed.

Now, with the FAFSA Simplification Act starting in the 2024-2025 cycle, we have a new application that is significantly different than before. Reduced to approximately 46 questions from over 100 previously, the new FAFSA can encourage students to file for financial aid programs. However, there will be many complications….to start:

Financial aid professionals, students, institutions, and student information systems have a lot of learning to do. Everything will need to change and with that will be a multitude of questions and issues that arise. So, what do we need to do?
Financial Aid professionals need to be sure to read the documentation that Federal Student Aid or National/Regional/State Associations have released, attend training and webinars, and stay in touch with colleagues as learning from each other in this atmosphere is critical, and we need to be able to create opportunities for students to learn more about the changes and how to file. Those in the financial aid profession are the direct link to the students. They are depending on us to have their back and to reduce the confusion of the changes.
The FAFSA simplification may lead to an increased demand for support services due to a surge in applicants seeking assistance and guidance from financial aid offices. Financial aid administrators might experience higher demand for one-on-one consultations, workshops, and information sessions as students and families navigate the changes and seek clarification on the modified application process. Managing the increased volume of inquiries while maintaining quality support services could present a challenge to financial aid professionals.

Financial Aid folks are like no other and strive to do their best to ensure students are and can be successful even in a complicated world. They work tirelessly to complete required processes so that students have open access to education. They are the unsung heroes of higher education, now more than ever.

Even though all of this change is stressful, I believe that this is just the transformation we need for financial aid. More students are likely to receive Pell grant than ever before, less questions to answer, and once everyone is comfortable with how the new application will work, subsequent years will be easier to administer.

I encourage everyone to take a deep breath and know that better days are coming. Let us learn together and encourage students to complete the FAFSA, even though it might be frightening right now. It will be worth it in the end.

SOURCE: Lieber, R. (2020, December 30). Fafsa’s expected family contribution is going away. good riddance. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/your-money/fafsa-expected-family-contribution.html

Are you facing staffing challenges at your institution that will affect your ability to handle the upcoming federal changes?

Contact FAS today for a quick consultation on how we can help you discover solutions tailored to your unique needs. Reach out at 770.988.9447 or via email at info@FinancialAidServices.org. We look forward to connecting with institutions ready to overcome challenges and elevate their financial aid and student business services.

About FAS

Financial Aid Services (FAS) has served higher education for over 30 years. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, FAS provides consulting, staffing, processing, and assessment services to assist institutions with improving operational efficiency, student satisfaction, and regulatory compliance in financial aid and student business services. FAS’ accomplished team averages 28 years of experience and has a combined 1,600 years of higher education experience. With clients in 49 states, FAS has successfully served over 1,800 institutions nationwide. The Company’s extensive experience combined with industry-leading expertise and focus on superior client outcomes, enables FAS to deliver lasting results to its clients and the students they serve. Visit www.FinancialAidServices.org for more information.

Contact FAS today for a quick consultation on how we can help you discover solutions tailored to your unique needs. Reach out at 770.988.9447 or via email at info@FinancialAidServices.org.We look forward to connecting with institutions ready to overcome challenges and elevate their financial aid and student business services.

That’s Classified!

December 21, 2023

By: Tiffany Motyka, Ed.D., FAS Senior Consultant

In the last few years, many legislative agendas have made updates to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to improve the federal financial aid process.

These Higher Education Act updates were the result of:

Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act (FUTURE Act) of December 2019
FAFSA Simplification Act in December 2020
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022
FAFSA Simplification Act Technical Corrections Act (FSATCA) of March 2022

These legislative agenda items have paved the way for a better FAFSA user experience and more protection to family income data. To ensure the student application experience is safe and seamless, the federal tax information (FTI) supplied by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the FAFSA was designated as Controlled Unclassified Information/Specified Tax (CUI//SP-TAX). This means all information with this designation falls under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) confidentiality protections.

Due to this protective designation of the Federal Tax Information data an applicant would have to provide active, annual consent for the information to be used for awarding purposes. According to FSA Electronic Announcement General-23-24, “To provide approval and consent, FAFSA contributors (including parent(s) or spouse) must agree to:

the Department’s use and disclosure of their information (e.g., name and Social Security number) to match with the IRS;
the disclosure of their FTI by the IRS to the Department;
the use of their FTI by a Department official to determine an applicant’s eligibility for federal student aid and the amount for which they are eligible; and
the redisclosure of FTI by the Department to an eligible institution, state higher education agency, or a designated scholarship organization (e.g., institutional or state financial aid).”

The submitted Federal Tax Information (FTI) is held in the FTI Module (FTIM) which was created to ensure broader security for the data received. This means each eligible institution of higher education would need access to a second Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) Mailbox. This mailbox is the tool that allows colleges to securely exchange batch data with FSA Application Systems, which includes FAFSA data and FTI. According to Federal Student Aid, “The new SAIG agreements will require compliance with the protection of the FTI provided to our partners by the Department, including return information obtained in support of the administration of the federal student aid programs, and an acknowledgement of the criminal and civil penalties for the unauthorized inspection or disclosure of FTI.”

For more information on FTI and how this applies to the 2024-25 Award Year financial aid processes, please refer to:

Electronic Announcement GENERAL-23-34, APP-22-26, and GENERAL-23-09
IRS Publication 1075 – Tax Information Security Guidelines
Guidance on the Use of Financial Aid Information for Program Evaluation and Research

Are you facing challenges at your institution?

Contact FAS today for a quick consultation on how we can help you discover solutions tailored to your unique needs. Reach out at 770.988.9447 or via email at info@FinancialAidServices.org.We look forward to connecting with institutions ready to overcome challenges and elevate their financial aid and student business services.

About FAS

Financial Aid Services (FAS) has served higher education for over 30 years. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, FAS provides consulting, staffing, processing, and assessment services to assist institutions with improving operational efficiency, student satisfaction, and regulatory compliance in financial aid and student business services. FAS’ accomplished team averages 28 years of experience and has a combined 1,600 years of higher education experience. With clients in 49 states, FAS has successfully served over 1,800 institutions nationwide. The Company’s extensive experience combined with industry-leading expertise and focus on superior client outcomes, enables FAS to deliver lasting results to its clients and the students they serve. Visit www.FinancialAidServices.org for more information.

One-Stop Shopping: Is this effective customer service for students?

December 14, 2023

By: Heather Hollandsworth, Ed.D, FAS Senior Consultant

Higher education can feel like a merry-go-round for students. Now, more than ever, students need assistance navigating the myriad of changes in higher education policy and procedures.

I recommend that institutions of higher education consistently review their methodology of providing student services on campus. It is decidedly important that students have at least a basic knowledge of what to expect with any changes in educational policy from a federal, state, or institutional perspective that could impact their educational goals.

To this end, creating or moving towards a one-stop student-centric experience may be the best course of action for many institutions. As a financial aid professional for over twenty years, I saw firsthand how confused and uncertain students were with most educational topics, whether it was financial aid, how to pay their balance, or even how to register for classes. Many would be bounced across campus from one office to another trying to find answers to questions about financial aid, student accounts, and/or registration. For this purpose, I define a one-stop shop student-centric experience as a streamlined approach that consolidates communication from essential administrative services, such as financial aid, student accounts, and bursar offices.

A One-Stop Shop does not look the same for all institutions. It could be:

A central location for all student-centric offices on the campus
A call center for the institution where students have one point of contact for assistance
An effective staff cross-training initiative
Or institutions could create a vision for their student population.

There is no right or wrong way to create a one-stop shop experience for students institutions will be different based on the students they serve.

For those institutions that have a large population of on-campus students, a central location may be the best option so that students are not pushed from building to building to find help. Nel Noddings (2013) ascertained that “Everywhere we hear the complaint “nobody cares” and our increasing immersion in bureaucratic procedures and regulations leads us to predict that the complaint will continue to be heard. As human beings we want to care and be cared for” (p. 7).

Simple. Succinct. Right? Just show the students that we care – we all know that as financial aid professionals, we will take any steps that we can to ensure that our students are cared for. However, with the increasing number of policy changes, especially from a federal standpoint (Can you say FAFSA Simplification?), we are all inundated with more and more work, and our focus is placed on compliance versus student satisfaction.

Research tells us that students need and want a centric student services model at their institution.

Johannes (2012) stated that “institutions must find a way to defragment the student experience and build cooperative, collaborative, student-centric delivery of these services. The one-stop student services model was created in an attempt to make the delivery of student service functions a better experience for the current population of university students ( 2).
Altieri (2019) explained that “…plenty of tasks still require students—at some of the busiest times of the year—to find offices they never knew existed (and that can’t seem to communicate with each other), to submit the right paperwork with the right signatures, and to wait in line only to have to repeat the process to complete yet another task in yet another building across campus” (p. 45).

So, look at how your student customer service paradigm works. Poll the students to see what they think and what they want and then talk to administrators about making effective changes to best assist the students. This could impact enrollment and retention over time, which is the main goal of any institution. Plus, campus offices could more effectively communicate and get students the important information they need.

References

Altieri, F. M. (2019). The next generation of one-stop student service centers: Part one. College and University, 94(2), 45-48. https://www.aacrao.org/research-publications/quarterlyjournals/college-university-journal/issue/c-u-vol.-94-no.-2-spring

Johannes, C. L. (2012). One-stop student services a student perspective [ProQuest LLC]. In ProQuest LLC. http://gateway.proquest.com.proxymu.wrlc.org/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88- 2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqm&rft_dat=xri:pqdis s:3516494

Noddings, N. (2013). Caring a relational approach to ethics and Moral Education. University of California Press

FISAP Corrections Due by December 15, 2023

December 7, 2023

By: Dawn Patak, Ed.D., FAS Senior Consultant

The deadline for corrections to the FISAP is fast approaching. Changes, corrections, or edits to the Fiscal Operations Report for 2022–23 and the Application to Participate for 2024–25 (FISAP) must be submitted to the Department of Education no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern time (ET) on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023.

Important Points to Remember:

Click “Submit”: Saving data is not the same as submitting the FISAP. Ensure all data is entered accurately and submitted by the deadline. Corrections can be made until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 15, 2023. Save and submit corrections as needed.
Timely updates of FAA contact information are important in order for the correct individuals to receive notifications. Changes can be made while submitting the FISAP or via the COD website.
Verify reported expenditures for the 2022–23 award year to prevent negative balances. Consistency with G5 drawdown information is crucial.
Schools are not required to resend signature pages when changes/corrections are made to a previously submitted FISAP.
Corrections for validation edit errors must be submitted by the December 15, 2023, deadline.
Changes after December 15, 2023, must go through the “Change Request” process.

Failure to submit corrections may result in funding reductions. For more information and to get more timely updates: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/fisap-form-and-instructions/2023-06-09/final-2024-25-fisap-form-instructions-and-desk-reference.

Update title :Interview with Dawn

December 7, 2023

As part of our Leadership series, FAS is thrilled to present an in-depth conversation with Senior Consultant Dawn Patak, Ed. D. at Financial Aid Services, LLC. Her research microscopes staffing shortage issues in higher education, specifically within financial aid, and hypothesizes retention strategies in hopes of generating discussion around the consistent shifts in Higher Education.

Dawn Patak is a financial aid professional with over 25 years of experience. My financial aid career began as a financial aid counselor at Alfred University. Over the years, I ascended the ranks, moving into assistant and associate director positions at Keuka College, the University of Rochester, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. I also held a relationship management role with the New York Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC). I worked as an independent contractor consultant with Financial Aid Services in 2016-17 and 2021-22 in between permanent positions as Director of Financial Aid at Finger Lakes Community College, Baltimore City Community College, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. I recently came back to FAS as a Senior Consultant in August 2023.

I have a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Management Science from the State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland and a Master of Science in Education in College Student Development from Alfred University. In May of 2023, I finished my Ed.D. in Leadership for Educational Equity, Higher Education at the University of Colorado Denver.

Can you provide a brief overview of your dissertation topic and its significance?

In November of 2021, higher education media outlets began to discuss the recent increase in financial aid staffing shortages. Staffing shortages create issues within the financial aid office, but also across the institution. Financial aid professionals are instrumental in enrollment management and student success. I chose to research the retention of financial aid administrators as it pertains to job satisfaction to determine why people stay, in hopes of using the results to generate discussion surrounding this issue and educate university leaders on the impact of continued financial aid staffing shortages.

What are the most significant findings of your dissertation? (numbers)

The most significant findings came from the qualitative questions of the survey. This is where the respondents were able to voice their thoughts openly and anonymously. The top three codes/themes of the first open-ended question, which asked respondents to please describe how the stress of the profession of financial aid impacts them personally and professionally, were stress effects on mental/physical health, workload, and lack of supportive leadership. The other open-ended question asked the respondents to list their top three needs for their position, and to briefly explain, if those needs were fulfilled, how they would positively impact students. The top three codes/themes for that question were better pay, better training, and executive leadership support/appreciation.

Were there any unexpected results or insights that emerged during your research?

I wouldn’t say there was anything unexpected in the results. I expected to see concerns around pay, training, and leadership support. As a seasoned professional myself, I have experienced much of what the survey participants discussed in the open-ended question section. Additionally, the literature review suggested similar themes. I think the greatest insight was that when asked, people are willing to talk about their needs and concerns. They discuss the undiscussable, even when you think they might not.

What contributions do you believe your dissertation will make to your academic field or industry?

I believe that my Doctoral Research Project (DRP) can be a springboard to discussions on the executive leadership level of colleges and universities. The institutions of higher education that are experiencing staffing concerns within their financial aid offices should be discussing job satisfaction, organizational culture, and how they can be supportive of their financial aid professionals. Financial aid often takes a backseat to admissions and marketing and that backseat feels lonely and is full of frustration and often lacks communication. Understanding the concerns of your financial aid professionals can go a long way in creating better retention of staff.

How does your research build upon or challenge existing knowledge in the field?

There wasn’t much research concerning financial aid administrators, specifically. Much of the research completed focused on student affairs professionals. My research builds upon the student affairs professionals’ research but also shows the need for increased research focused solely on financial aid administrators.

How has your dissertation opened up new avenues for future research in the field?

I’d like to think that my DRP can open up the desire to bring this research nationwide. The staffing shortages in financial aid are not specific to the community college system that I partnered with. It is my desire to continue this research on a broader scale.

How do you envision your research being applied in real-world contexts?

I envision colleges and universities using my survey or other tools to assess the job satisfaction of their financial aid professionals. While Human Resources may do institution-wide job satisfaction, how much of that information comes from the financial aid staff? (Julia: Struggling with this one…can we discuss?)

Can you discuss any limitations of your study and how they may impact the validity of your findings? (I’m thinking regionality)

This study was a quality improvement project designed for one partner site and is not generalizable to other settings or institutions. However, the findings may be of interest to those in the financial aid profession. In addition, the methodology created a limitation. While the survey results were analyzed with descriptive statistics, it may not have delved deeply enough into all of the reasons for job satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction. The quantitative methods were also narrowly focused. There may have been additional applicable answers to the questions that were not listed.

Looking back, what do you consider the most rewarding aspect of working on your dissertation? The most rewarding aspect of working on my DRP was partnering with the financial aid administrators at CCCS. The financial aid directors’ group was instrumental in some of the survey development. They listened to my ideas, were enthusiastic about the research, and encouraged their staff to participate. I had a 48.1% response rate. In the end, I knew that I had listened to their concerns and had accurately communicated them within my DRP.

Engagement/ CTA : (Click the link to Read the Full research [link to white paper])

Read the full white paper to get the full insights. Follow Dr. Dawn here.

Read the Full Report

Preparing for the 2024-25 Award Year: Understanding the FAFSA Simplification Act

FAFSA Simplification or Complication?

That’s Classified!

One-Stop Shopping: Is this effective customer service for students?

FISAP Corrections Due by December 15, 2023

Update title :Interview with Dawn

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