1. News to Know Office of Student Financial Assistance Florida Department of Education September 2005

2. Navigating Your Future "Navigating Your Financial Future" is a comprehensive program for default prevention offered to students and their families by the Florida Department Of Education, Office of Student Financial Assistance. Topics include: Financial Aid, Career Planning, Repayment of Your Student Loan Debt, School Life Management, Managing Your Budget, and Managing Your Credit. For more information on how to implement these products at your campus, contact Jacqueline Hill at 850-212- 1108.

3. FY 2003 Official Cohort Default Rates The Department distributed the FY 2003 official cohort default rate notification packages to schools on September 12. 2005. For domestic schools enrolled in the Electronic Cohort Default Rate (eCDR) process, delivery was made to the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) destination point designated by the school. Domestic schools not enrolled in eCDR will not receive notification packages from the Department but may download their cohort default rates and accompanying Loan Record Detail Reports. All foreign schools will continue to receive hard copy notification packages. Time periods for submitting adjustments and appeals begins on September 20, 2005 for domestic schools. National Cohort Default Rate for FY 2003 is 4.5%, down from 5.2% in FY 2002.

4. 2006-2007 FAFSA Updates GEN-05-10 addresses the 2006-2007 FAFSA on the Web Worksheet and Paper FAFSA Distribution Plan.GEN-05-10

5. Meteor and Mapping Your Future Joins Together School users logging into Mapping Your Future's Online Student Loan Counseling FAO Access Area can now view borrower data in Meteor. MYF is a Meteor access provider, authenticating school users so they can access Meteor data without establishing a separate login. School access is the first collaborative effort between MYF and Meteor. MYF volunteers and Meteor advisory and technical team members are working on other projects, including displaying Meteor data for borrowers during their exit counseling sessions on MYF. The joint team is developing a proof of concept for this project and then will look to do a pilot with one or more schools.

6. MYF Online Student Loan Counseling Through our sponsorship of Mapping-Your- Future, the following online student loan counseling is available to your institution free of charge: –Stafford Entrance Counseling –Stafford Exit Counseling –Perkins Entrance Counseling –Perkins Exit Counseling –Stafford and Perkins Combined Entrance Counseling –Stafford and Perkins Combined Exit Counseling –Orientacion de admision del Prestamo Stafford –Orientacion de salida del Prestamo Stafford –Federal Nursing Loan Program Entrance Counseling For more information on how to utilize these free services, contact your Outreach Representative!

7. Mapping Your Future Chat Events October 25, 2005, 6 - 9 p.m. Eastern - Default Prevention Chat Night sponsored by Georgia Student Finance Commission November 15, 2005 - Managing your student loans, including repayment options, consolidation, and cancellation January 17, 2006 - Financial aid and the FAFSA March 21, 2006 - Applying to and paying for college (including student loans) May 16, 2006 - Financial aid and managing student loans and consumer debt August 15, 2006 - Managing your student loans, including repayment options, consolidation, and cancellation All chats are scheduled from 7 – 8 p.m. (unless otherwise specified).

8. Disaster Guidance In an effort to help institutions serving students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, resources are available on the Department of Education Web site with the aim of getting supplies to those schools accommodating affected students. The page can be accessed at: – http://www.ed.gov/katrinahttp://www.ed.gov/katrina NASFAA also has a contact site for those who want to help students impacted by the hurricane and will also serve as a forum where schools, companies, organizations and individuals can come together to offer assistance. Furthermore, institutions, companies and organizations accepting students and supplies are encouraged to fill out the "needs" section of the site to help expedite the donation process. For additional information, visit: –http://www.nasfaa.org/linklists/katrina.htmlhttp://www.nasfaa.org/linklists/katrina.html –http://www.nasfaa.org/katrina.asphttp://www.nasfaa.org/katrina.asp

9. Disaster Guidance Many schools are helping students transfer from institutions impacted by Hurricane Katrina to their own institution so that these students can continue -- and in many cases begin -- their postsecondary educations. Federal Student Aid explains in this announcement how it can support these efforts by facilitating the transfer of FAFSA information. For more information, visit: –http://www.NASFAA.org/publications/2005/ea3rdkatrina0 91205.htmlhttp://www.NASFAA.org/publications/2005/ea3rdkatrina0 91205.html Federal Student Aid also has four FAQ’s on Hurricane Katrina issues addressing: –Postsecondary SchoolsPostsecondary Schools –Students and ParentsStudents and Parents –Federal Direct Loan BorrowersFederal Direct Loan Borrowers –FFEL BorrowersFFEL Borrowers continued

10. Disaster Guidance On September 2, 2005, Governor Bush issued a memorandum addressing Section 1004.07, Florida Statutes that requires that Florida public universities, colleges, and community colleges extend to members of the Florida National Guard (that have been called to Active Duty) the option of either completing courses at a later date in which they enrolled without penalty or withdrawing from the courses in which they are enrolled with a full refund of fees paid. (See DOE OGC Op. 04-06)- Section 250.01(21), Florida Statutes, make it clear that the Guard's service to our State during this emergency is "active military service" within the meaning of the statute. Please ensure that all relevant personnel are complying with these statutes and ask faculty to assist soldiers enrolled in courses to make-up coursework. continued

11. Disaster Guidance The counties that have been impacted by Hurricane Katrina are as follows: –Florida - FEMA currently has no counties listed for individual assistance. –Louisiana - The parishes of Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Pointe Coupee, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermillion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. –Mississippi - Amite, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Lamar, Marion, Pea River, Perry, Pike, Stone, Walthall, and Wilkinson. –Alabama - Baldwin, Mobile, and Washington. continued Additional designations may be made after further evaluation. We will keep you posted!

12. Allowable Fees The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program and the Children of Deceased or Disabled Veterans Scholarship Program cover fees included in the cost per credit hour charged to all students at the postsecondary institution. The following fees, charged individually or by block and presently reported by the State University System and Division of Community Colleges, are included in the 2005-06 student’s cost per credit hour: –Access and Transportation –Activity and Service –Athletic –Building –Capital Improvement –Financial Aid –Health –Technology In addition, the 2004 Legislature passed Senate Bill 2810 permitting state universities to increase athletic fees up to $2.00 per credit hour to defray costs associated with changing athletic divisions within the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Section 1009.24, Florida Statutes, provides for a cap on the amount of this fee assessed to Bright Futures. OSFA computes the allowable amount for institutions reporting such fee.

13. Upcoming State Program Deadlines September 30 –G&H Report deadline for current summer term for Bright Futures students ineligible for renewal after Spring evaluation September/October –Term 1 Disbursement Eligibility Report (DER) due to OSFA 30 days after the last day of the PSI’s drop/add October 30 –Participating PSI disbursement deadline for the William L. Boyd, IV, Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG) for Term 1 November/December –Term 1 refund/reconciliation due to OSFA 60 days after the last day of the PSI’s drop/add December –Bright Futures Academic Top Scholars Awards listed on Master Eligibility List (MEL) –Program allocations requested for eligible institutions for Term 2 –Term 2 pro-ration information (if applicable) sent for FRAG and ABLE Programs –Florida Financial Aid Application for Students available online for next academic year

14. EAC Conferences Federal Student Aid invites you and your colleagues to join them at one of their two Electronic Access (EAC) Conferences. The conferences are being held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California from October 30 to November 2 and at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia from November 29 to December 2, 2005. These conferences provide updates and training on Federal Student Aid's application, eligibility and delivery services and focus on issues related to the administration of Title IV programs. With over 4,000 attendees expected this year, the annual EAC is a "can't-miss" opportunity. Mark your calendar now for four days of education, career development, networking and more! For current information on registration, sessions and agenda, visit www.ifap.ed.gov and click on FSA conferences in the left-hand column.www.ifap.ed.govFSA conferences Please note: FSA has canceled the 2006 Spring Conference. It noted that the scope of the Spring Conference has changed and the program has evolved to incorporate most of the training already provided at the two fall Electronic Access Conferences.

15. NASFAA Fall Training NASFAA is pleased to announce plans for their 2005 NASFAA Fall Training on "Administrative Capability: Campus-Wide Compliance.” There are multiple locations within the SASFAA region. Please visit the NASFAA website for further details.NASFAA

16. FASFAA Dates to Remember October 6, 2005 –FASFAA Region I Fall Workshop –Marianna October 11, 2005 –FASFAA Region VI Fall Workshop –Location TBD October 12, 2005 –FASFAA Region V Fall Workshop –West Palm Beach October 13, 2005 –FASFAA Region III Fall Workshop –Kissimmee October 26 - 28, 2005 –FASFAA Fall Training Conference –Orlando November 16, 2005 –FASFAA Region IV Workshop –St. Petersburg For more information on these events, and other future scheduled events, visit the FASFAA website, and click on “calendar” FASFAA website

17. Mission Statement The Florida Department of Education, Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA), serves as a guarantor for the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), and the administrator of Florida’s scholarship and grant programs. The OSFA Mission is to facilitate higher education access and services by providing exemplary customer attention, comprehensive financial aid information, and convenient and efficient products.

18. Philosophy As a public agency, OSFA has the ability to offer its partners and customers something few guarantors can: the ability to shape OSFA programs and services based on their specific concerns. Earnings generated from OSFA’s loan programs are used to help fund scholarship and grant programs, financial aid workshops and publications, and to provide better services for our participants. When schools and students choose to use the OSFA guarantee for student loans, they are actually helping countless other needy and deserving students by investing in education programs. So, if a participant has a problem or suggestion, OSFA management listens and does whatever it takes to implement a solution that meets their needs. Public dollars deserve that kind of accountability in education finance.

19. Outreach Team Contact Information Ernest Smith, Director of Market Development –850-322-6498 – Jacqueline Hill, Default Prevention Manager –850-212-1108 – Lori Auxier, Manager of Outreach Services –850-212-2997 – Karen Hurrell, Senior Outreach Representative –904-745-3091 – Stephanie Durdley, Outreach Representative –850-322-6219 – Kelly Bernhardt, Outreach Representative –850-277-2331 Robin Blank, Outreach Representative –850-264-6008

20. Regional Contact Information Lori Auxier –Manager of Outreach Services –850-212-2997 –Lori.auxier@fldoe.org