Review of Recent Announcements

As a service to its participating schools and lenders, Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority offers the following review of recent announcements and releases from the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, and related sources.  These reminders cover topics of general interest and importance that relate to the administration of federal student aid.

Electronic Announcements

Date: June 30, 2008
Summary: The U.S. Department of Education announced the posting of EDExpress for Windows 2008-2009, Release 3.0. The first of three planned enhancements, this release implements provisions of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act and other regulatory changes. The release can be found at FSA Download.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/063008EDExpressWin3.html

Date: July 01, 2008
Summary: FSA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register that proposes changes to the regulations related to the Federal Perkins Loan, the FFEL, and the DL Programs. The comment period for the NPRM ends August 15, 2008. The Electronic Announcement contains a link to the Federal Register.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/070108LoansNPRM.html

Date: July 01, 2008
Summary: FSA posted a reminder of the discontinuation of “late” late disbursements effective July 1, 2008. However, the period for making a late disbursement has been extended from 120 days to 180 days.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0701DisconLateDisbursement.html

Date: July 21, 2008
Summary: Attached to this announcement is a report containing the count of the Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAs) received by the Central Processing System (CPS) from each state for the 2007-2008 and the 2008-2009 award years.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0721NumberofApplicationsState.html

Date: July 21, 2008
Summary: This announcement has attached reports containing a count of the FAFSAs received by the CPS from each school for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 award years. Each report identifies the source of the application, whether paper, electronic, or Web.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/072108AppsRecbySchoolbySource.html

Date: July 28, 2008
Summary: An updated, CCRAA-compliant version of Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) on the Web has been made available by FSA. The non-year-specific application is used to calculate the earned and unearned portion of Title IV program assistance.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0728CCRAAOperImpGuidance.html

FFEL Variable Interest Rates

Date: July 01, 2008
Summary: FSA published charts showing the variable interest rates applicable to the Federal Stafford, Federal SLS, Federal PLUS, and Federal Consolidation loan programs for the period July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.
http://ifap.ed.gov/ffelvarrates/0701FFELVarIntRate.html

Dear Partner/Colleague Letters

July 07, 2008
Summary: FSA announced the approval of revised versions of the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application and Teacher Loan Forbearance Request forms for use by borrowers in the FFEL Loan Program. The forms are attached to the DCL.
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0811.html

Conferences and Presentations

Summary: FSA has posted several presentations on a variety of subjects from the 2008 NASFAA Conference. They can be found on the IFAP website at the following address.
http://ifap.ed.gov/IFAPWebApp/currentCPresentationsYearPag.jsp?p1=Association+Meeting&p2=c

Any questions related to this Bulletin should be directed to UHEAA Policy and Training at 801.321.7166, or by e-mail to mjohnson@utahsbr.edu.

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