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: September 02, 2008
Summary: Official FY 2006 Cohort Default Rates were released on September 15, 2008.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/090208IFAPPreCDRPosting.html

Date: September 04, 2008
Summary: FSA announced the availability of the 2008-2009 Federal School Code List of Participating Schools.  An Excel spreadsheet is provided in addition to the PDF version.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0904FederalSchoolCodeBookAugust2008.html

Date: September 05, 2008
Summary: The Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education has created a new Web site through which it will disseminate information on the implementation of HEOA, which reauthorized the Higher Education Act.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/090508HEOAWebpageandHearings.html

Date: September 09, 2008
Summary: FSA released a draft of the 2009-2010 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  Comments are invited from the community, but must be received by October 28, 2008.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/090908Draft0910FAFSA.html

Date: September 18, 2008
Summary: FSA completed testing of Microsoft Windows Vista (Vista Ultimate and Home Premium) as an operating system for the EDESuite PC products, and released identified issues and the applicable workarounds and resolutions.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0918MicrosoftVistaEDESuiteTesting.html

Date: September 23, 2008
Summary:  The September 2008 version of the Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) was posted. R2T4 on the Web is an online, non-year-specific application that calculates the earned and unearned portion of Title IV program assistance as required by section 484B of the Higher Education Act.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/092308R2T4WebRelease.html

Date: September 26, 2008
Summary: To enable installation on PCs running the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, FSA posted an updated version of EDExpress for Windows 2007-2008 Release 3.1 and Student Status Confirmation Report (SSCR) for Windows Release 3.0 to the Federal Student Aid Download Web site.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/092608EDESuiteRelVista.html

Date: September 30, 2008
Summary: An updated listing of TEACH Grant Eligible Institutions was posted by FSA.  The listing will be updated as more institutions are approved.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/093008TEACHGrant.html

Date: October 1, 2008
Summary: Posted on the FSADownload Web Site was the EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010 Packaging Technical Reference. The guide provides instructions and record layouts for schools and other organizations that need to integrate their software or systems with the Packaging module, which will be available January 2009.
http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/1001EDExpressPkgingTechRef0910.html

NSLDS Reference Materials

Date: September 09, 2008
Summary: FSA released the 2008 version of the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide in both PDF format and Microsoft Word format.
http://ifap.ed.gov/nsldsmaterials/090908NSLDSEnrollReportGuide.html

Dear Partner/Colleague Letters

Date: September 18, 2008
ANN-08-13
Summary: Financial Aid Basics workshops were announced by Federal Student Aid.  Intended for new financial aid staff, the workshops are scheduled January 2009 through September 2009.  The Announcement contains the link to Training for Financial Aid Professionals where interested persons may register for the desired workshop.
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/0918FinancialAidBasicswkshps.html

Default Rate Materials

Date: September 16, 2008
Summary:  FSA released the “Cohort Default Rate Guide for Guaranty Agencies and Lenders” for 2006 in both PDF format and Microsoft Word format.
http://ifap.ed.gov/drmaterials/FY06CohortDefaultRateGuideGALender.html

FSA Handbook

Date: 2008-2009
Summary: 2008-2009 Federal Student Aid Handbook Errata and Updates were issued by FSA. (The updates are published periodically and can be found any time on the 2008-2009 FSA Handbook landing page.)
http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/0809FSAHandbookErrata.html

Federal Register

Date: September 29, 2008
FR: September 29, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 189) Page 56567
Summary: The Department of Education invites interested persons to comment on the Student Aid Report (SAR).  Listed by the Department are several topics on which comment is requested. Comments must be received on or before November 28, 2008.
 http://ifap.ed.gov/fregisters/FR09292008SAR.html

Date: October 2, 2008
FR: October 2, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 192) Pages 57342-57343
Summary: The Department of Education invites interested persons to comment on the Application for Approval to Participate in the Federal Student Financial Aid Programs. Listed are several topics for which the Department specifically wants feedback.  Comments must be received on or before December 01, 2008.
http://ifap.ed.gov/fregisters/FR10022008.html

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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