NASFAA's Off the Cuff Podcast

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie is joined by Nalia to preview the 2026 midterm elections and what that could mean for student aid policy just a few days before Election Day. First, the team details how the makeup of Congress could change with the midterm elections, including House and Senate education leadership. From there, the team debriefs potential priorities of the new Congress, and what could happen during the lame-duck session before the new Congress is sworn in. The team ends the discussion with a debrief of NASFAA's advocacy efforts in Congress.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh is joined by David to discuss some of the basics around Title IV credit balances, or instances when the amount of Title IV funds credited to a student's ledger account for a payment period exceeds the total amount of allowable charges for that payment period. David provides an overview of the regulatory language concerning credit balances and goes on to provide several examples of when these balances exist. David then details the timeline and process for delivering funds to students.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Natalie is joined by Brandi Blanton, director of financial aid at Schreiber School of Veterinary Medicine of Rowan University, to discuss her journey as a first-generation college student who explored several different paths before finding her way in the financial aid profession. Throughout the conversation, Brandi talks about her passion for professional development, financial wellness, how community and connection have shaped her career, and the many ways she supports students beyond financial aid. Brandi also shares her college experience, efforts to address food insecurity, and more.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Maria is joined by Jill and Sarah to discuss the new cohort default rate (CDR) released by the Department of Education (ED) last week. Jill explains what this CDR means in context to borrowers returning to repayment after the Covid-19 payment pause. From there, Jill provides an overview of NASFAA's new Cohort Default Rate Web Center, and Sarah explains the identity verification process for the 2027-28 FAFSA following ED's release of its FAFSA fraud prevention initiative. Use our podcast feedback form to share your favorite OTC memory and let us know what you'd like to hear more of as we enter year 11.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Hugh is joined by Jill and Sarah to discuss the launch of the 2027-28 FAFSA and highlight some important developments and deadlines impacting financial aid offices. After Sarah catches listeners up on helpful FAFSA resources, Jill details the latest implementation developments concerning the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and NASFAA's new Q&A on Expected Time to Credential (ETTC) guidance. Sarah then provides an update on ED's efforts to wind down the SAVE plan and an October 1 deadline for GE/FVT reporting, while Jill gives listeners a quick update on the December Federal Student Aid (FSA) Training Conference.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Natalie is joined by Kerline Eglaus Ed.D, MBA, FAAC®, assistant vice provost of financial initiatives & chief financial aid administrator, and Daniel Matamoros, Ph.D, MEd, MFT, CEPF®, FAAC®, director of financial aid scholarships, both of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to discuss how they have worked to bring financial aid into broader institutional conversations and build campus-wide ownership of implementation related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) through trainings, updated communications and sustainable approaches. The discussion provides financial aid professionals with key insights into how Kerline and Daniel have served students through major policy implementation with the support of their institution and details their experiences with FAFSA simplification, OBBBA implementation, and more. This conversation is a continuation of our "Voices of NASFAA" series, previously hosted on LinkedIn.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie and Karen catch listeners up on several financial aid developments from the summer. Karen kicks things off with the latest congressional activity impacting funding for the Department of Education (ED), Title IV eligibility, and student loan repayments. The team then details new reporting data from the department on financial value transparency (FVT) and gainful employment (GE), along with some expected updates for the cohort default rate (CDR) that will begin to reflect repayment rates toward the end of the payment pause. Finally, Melanie explains where things stand on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) guidance, the FAFSA beta launch, NASFAA's new litigation tracker, and planning around the FSA Conference.

This week on "Off the Cuff," David and Maria are joined by Kochie for a special episode to test your financial aid knowledge. First, David and Kochie explain the origin of the NASFAA Quiz Show – which just concluded its sixth season – and detail how the quiz show works. From there, the team reviews some of the game show questions related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), as well as answer other AskRegs questions that didn't make this year's show.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie is joined by Karen and Nalia to discuss the two active lawsuits against the Department of Education's (ED) final rule on loan programs. Karen explains what the lawsuits entail, where states, nursing and physician assistant organizations argue against ED's definition of "professional" degree programs, which will be subject to higher loan limits compared to graduate degree programs. Nalia then walks listeners through the House's fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget proposal, along with other details from the House Appropriations Committee's recent markup. From there, Karen gives a quick update from ED regarding the FPS C Flag associated with Comment Code 352. Melanie closes the episode by highlighting and detailing sessions of NASFAA's National Conference, which is nearly two weeks away, and NASFAA's Virtual Summit, which is set for July.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Jill, Sarah, and Maria discuss questions regarding 2026-27 reprocessed ISIRs, and best practices for institutions to prevent student aid fraud. Jill starts by noting that reprocessed ISIRs recently started arriving in financial aid offices with comment code 352 and a corresponding C-Flag and explains what that means. Jill goes on to detail what NASFAA knows so far about this issue, including which ISIRs are affected. From there, Sarah goes through best practices shared by the Department of Education (ED) on how institutions can help prevent student aid fraud.