Advertise on podcast: NASFAA's Off the Cuff Podcast

This week on "Off the Cuff," Jill, Sarah, and Maria discuss the breaking news this week that, in a reversal of guidance, the Department of Education (ED) is now including Graduate PLUS loans in the new $257,500 lifetime borrowing limit established through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Jill explains what this means for students and walks listeners through different student scenarios. From there, Sarah debriefs listeners on the latest Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) from ED regarding the new Student Tuition and Transparency System and Earnings Accountability (STATS) framework. Sarah provides some background on what is included in the NPRM, and notes that NASFAA will be submitting its own comments on the proposed regulations. 

  This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie and Karen are joined by Aaron Lemon-Strauss, the Department of Education's (ED) FAFSA program executive director, to discuss new FAFSA fraud prevention measures announced by the department this week. Aaron kicks off the discussion by explaining the technical details of how these new fraud prevention measures will work in the online FAFSA workflow. He further explains how, starting April 26, ED will screen and assess each FAFSA for fraud risk before it is submitted, along with a one-time screen of previously submitted 2026-27 FAFSAs. Throughout the discussion, Melanie and Karen ask Aaron questions that financial aid offices may have, and relay possible concerns about administrative burden, impact on legitimate students, and more.

This week on "Off the Cuff," David and Maria are joined by Norma and Tonya for a discussion on retroactive and late disbursements. First, the team defines what retroactive and late disbursements are, along with the different conditions and deadlines for each type of disbursement. From there, the team walks through some situations of retroactive and late disbursements that an institution might have to deal with. David ends the episode by telling a new story in his saga of Leopold and Ségolène, a series he created for OTC to illustrate different financial aid topics.  

This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh and Sarah highlight some updates concerning borrower defense and preview comments for the 2027-28 FAFSA. Sarah kicks things off with a background on borrower defense and a recent trend in which some schools have seen an increase in claims. Sarah then provides details on NASFAA's preview comments for the upcoming FAFSA and explains how members can use that information to inform their own comments.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh and David kick off a broader discussion on what is and what isn't a professional judgment. Last week, David was at the Nebraska State Association conference, where he did a session on professional judgment and, based on some questions that came up, decided to share some important takeaways with the podcast community. During the conversation, David provides definitions for "special circumstances" and "unusual circumstances," and offers scenarios detailing situations that may or may not allow professional judgment.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie and Karen discuss three new House bills focused on preventing fraud in the student aid programs, all of which were advanced by the House Education and Workforce Committee this week. Karen explains what each of the three bills would do and how they would impact institutions. From there, Melanie discusses what's happening with the Department of Education's (ED) Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) reporting requirement following a federal judge's temporary injunction blocking ED from enforcing its March 18 deadline. The team also discusses updates from Federal Student Aid (FSA), including when final rules are expected for the RISE and AHEAD negotiated rulemaking sessions and when recordings of the FSA training conference will be available to the public. Finally, Melanie gives a brief update on what NASFAA knows about an influx of institutions receiving borrower defense claims. 

This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh, Jill, and Sarah share some takeaways from last week's Federal Student Aid (FSA) training conference, where officials from the Department of Education (ED) provided policy updates geared towards financial aid professionals. Jill provides updates on FAFSA, Pell Grant and Workforce Pell developments, the common manual for the Federal Direct Loan Program, and more. Sarah then catches listeners up on more updates regarding implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), and explains a recent electronic announcement detailing upcoming changes to several FSA systems to support the expansion of Pell Grant eligibility for eligible workforce programs and revised limits on federal student loans.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie is joined by Karen to discuss what attendees can expect with the upcoming in-person Federal Student Aid (FSA) conference next week. From there, the team debriefs the Congressional Budget Office's new projections of a funding shortfall in the Pell Grant program. Karen then debriefs listeners on the draft 2027-28 FAFSA, which is now open for public comment, and explains how listeners can submit their own comments. Lastly, Melanie walks through NASFAA's recent webinars regarding private loan lending amid the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), and highlights NASFAA resources. 

This week on "Off the Cuff," Tim is joined by David and Norma to do a deep dive on what financial aid professionals should do if a student's marital status changes. The team first discusses how and why a student's marital status would change from when they first filed their FAFSA. David then tells a "dramatic" story, a scenario that he created, to illustrate the rules for updating a student's marital status after their FAFSA is filed.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Tim is joined by Jill and Sarah to discuss additional member resources and analyses regarding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Jill begins the discussion by unpacking analyses that evaluate how OBBBA's new accountability framework could impact institutions. From there, Sarah explains several new OBBBA resources NASFAA recently published, including a chart outlining student loan repayment plan options, campus leadership briefs, and more. 

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie is joined by Karen and Nalia to discuss the latest news in the appropriations process. The team first discusses what attendees can expect at NASFAA's 2026 Leadership & Legislative Conference & Expo next week. From there, Nalia walks listeners through the last few weeks in Washington, D.C., where the Department of Education (ED) faced a lapse in appropriations for a few days. However, Congress ultimately passed legislation funding ED and other agencies through the end of the fiscal year, September 30. Melanie also gives an update regarding the FSA in-person conference in March. Lastly, Karen debriefs listeners on NASFAA's latest resources for members regarding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). 

This week on "Off the Cuff," Tim and David provide an overview of clock-hour to credit-hour conversion, and its impact on aid eligibility. The team kicks things off by walking listeners through FSA Handbook terminology. David goes on to explain how the term is used to determine the eligibility of an undergraduate credit-hour certificate program, as well as the enrollment status and intensity for a student enrolled in such a program. David also outlines the types of non-degree credit hour undergraduate programs, and goes on to provide some examples taken from an academic calendars webinar handout.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Tim is joined by Jill and Sarah to catch listeners up on where things stand with the implementation timeline for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Jill kicks things off with some background on the negotiated rulemaking (neg reg) process and how the committee's discussions will impact the student loan portfolio, Pell Grants, and institutional accountability metrics. Sarah then walks through upcoming changes to federal Pell Grant awards for 2026-27 award year and details a new NASFAA flowchart that can guide members through that process.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie and Karen give an overview of what could be in store for higher education this year. Melanie kicks things off with an overview of the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and its impact on aid offices, and also highlights recent comments from Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the administration's priorities for higher education in 2026. Karen then catches listeners up on the latest developments in ongoing negotiated rulemaking sessions, focusing on workforce Pell Grants and a new institutional accountability framework. The team also shares some of the latest FAFSA developments and rounds things out with an update on the appropriations process.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Tim is joined by David Tolman, David Futrell, and Norma Robinson to discuss some frequent and common questions that come up at the tail end of the year and the transition from the fall to the spring term. The team specifically works through student withdrawal scenarios, mid-term processing, and highlights guidance the Department of Education (ED) has most recently provided.