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, 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 can be used for
Eliminating Tracking Group V6 (Low Income)

27. Prior-Prior and Early FAFSA
Conflicting Information
Occurrences reduced if DRT used for both and
FOTW warnings if reporting income/taxes not equal to 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 ISIRs where the potential conflict, once resolved, would have a significant impact on the student’s 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 REPAYE Payment Plan

37. REPAYE Regulations
Negotiations held February - April, 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 Integrity Cash 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?
Tier 1 (T1) Arrangement
U.S. school with third-party servicer; and
Servicer processes Title IV aid; and
Aid disbursed to contracted account or;
Information about contracted account is provided to student
Tier 2 (T2) Arrangement
U.S. school that has a contract with provider; and
Provider is not a third-party servicer; and
One or more Title IV credit balance recipient; and
Product is marketed to students through school communication, student IDs, or cobranded cards

42. Debit Card Provisions: Overview
All T1 and T2
Student choice menu
No automatic opening of accounts
Privacy restrictions
Contract disclosure
All T1
ATM network
Fee restrictions
Contracts negotiated in best interest of students
Average student cost disclosure
T2 (more than de minimis)
Fee-free ATM

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 Employment See 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.

51. Which Programs are GE Programs?
At public institutions and non-profit institutions, all non-degree programs are GE Programs except -
Programs of at least two years in length that are designed to be fully transferable to a bachelor’s degree program, and
Preparatory coursework necessary for enrollment in an eligible program

52. GE Program Certifications
Each GE Program is:
Approved by accrediting agency and State.
Is programmatically accredited if that is required for that profession in the state.
Graduates qualify to meet licensing or certification exam requirements to work in the state, if any.

53. Gainful Employment Disclosures
Beginning in 2017, in addition to program information required disclosures could include:
D/E rates
Program cohort default rates
Loan repayment rates
Median loan debt
Percent borrowing

54. Gainful Employment Disclosures
Beginning in 2017, in addition to program information required disclosures could include:
Completion rates
Withdrawal rates
Placement rates

55. Experimental Sites

56. Experimental Sites Current – Pell for short-term career programs
Pell for students with a bachelors degree
Reduced Unsubsidized Loans

57. Experimental Sites New – FWS for High School Tutors
Prior Learning Assessments
Competency Based Education
Limited Direct Assessment

58. Experimental Sites Coming – Expanded Competency Based Education
“Second Chance Pell” for incarcerated students
Dual Enrollment – High school and postsecondary
Loan Counseling

59. Thank You