Federal Information

• July 2, 2008 - Stafford and PLUS Loan Interest Rates Effective July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009 (updated July 2008)
• June 20, 2008 - DCL Published Regarding H.R. 5715
• May 30, 2008
  • FFELP Limits, Rates and Fees 
    July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009
• May 29, 2008
• May 7, 2008 - President Signs H.R. 5715
• April 28, 2008
• April 24, 2008
• April 10, 2008 - New federal legislation pertaining to continued access to student loans
• February 22, 2008
• February 15, 2008
• February 11 and 12, 2008
• February 5 and 6, 2008
• February 1 and 4, 2008

Reauthorization

On July 28, 2008, Congressional members of the Higher Education Act Reauthorization Conference Committee adopted a compromise bill (conference report) that would reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, by a vote of 22-1 on the House side and 18 to 3 on the Senate side. This bill – the Higher Education Opportunity Act (H.R. 4137) – includes provisions that would:

• Increase the maximum Pell Grant to $8,000 by academic year 2014-2015
• Authorizing year-round Pell Grant
• Extend the time period for measuring a school’s cohort default rate (CDR) from two years to three years
• Provide schools with new ways to meet the 90/10 Rule, and allows proprietary schools to exclude the increased Federal Stafford Unsubsidized loan limits from their 90/10 calculations
• Require additional disclosures from schools
• Require the Secretary of Education to develop, make available, and process a simplified student financial aid application (EZ FAFSA) in both paper and electronic formats
• Implement a Maintenance of Effort provision that would eliminate a state’s College Access Challenge Grant funding if that state did not increase higher education spending each year by at least as much as costs increased (on average, over the previous five years).

The effective date of this bill will be the date of enactment, unless otherwise provided. H.R. 4137 is expected to be voted on by the full House on July 29 or 30, and then move to the full Senate for vote by the end of the week. These votes are expected to be clean with no amendments.

The current HEA extension is set to expire on July 31. In order to allow Congress time to finish up its work on this bill, and for the President’s signature, the Senate introduced a bill (S. 3352) that would extend the HEA until August 15, 2008. The Senate passed this extension bill on July 28, and the House subsequently passed it on July 30, 2008. The President is expected to sign this bill before the current extension expires.

We will be providing a more detailed analysis of this bill after the "final" version is signed into law. Stay tuned!

Budget Reconciliation

The Latest Word from ISAC on the FFY09 Budget for the Department of Education (dated 1/08/08)

The Latest Word from ISAC on the FFY09 Budget for the Department of Education (dated 2/25/08)

Law & Regulations

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Letters & Publications

Federal Student Aid Handbook
Dear Partner/Colleague Letters

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Tools for Schools

Program Reviews
Satisfactory Academic Progress
FSA Ombudsman
FSA Self-Assessment Tools for Schools

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