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.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie is joined by Rachel and Sheila Meiman, NASFAA's prison education specialist, to discuss the landscape of prison education programs (PEP). Sheila, who is retiring this month, details how PEP has changed in recent years and how her professional journey led her to NASFAA. Allie and Rachel discuss how a grant from Ascendium has allowed NASFAA to build capacity and bring more financial aid expertise to the field by providing new PEP resources, and explain how these tools have helped schools get their own programs off the ground. Sheila then shares her insight into the future of PEP.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh is joined by David Tolman, David Futrell, and Norma to discuss more details concerning the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). During the conversation, NASFAA's Training and Regulatory Assistance team focuses on issues related to Schedule of Reductions (SOR) and outstanding questions that remain unanswered, even though final regulations were recently published. Norma goes on to provide an overview of SOR and explains how the term mandates that a student's Direct Loan eligibility be reduced when they are enrolled on a less-than-full-time basis. The team goes on to detail SOR concepts that financial aid administrators generally understand, and reviews areas of confusion.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Hugh is joined by Jill and Sarah to provide some updates on where things stand with final rules from the negotiated rulemaking committees focusing on implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), and some updates to the NSLDS post-screening process. Jill kicks things off with a recap of the final rules – issued May 1 – from the Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee concerning loan limits, repayment plans, and loan programs. Jill goes on to explain what outstanding questions still remain and outlines when we can expect additional guidance from the Department of Education (ED). Sarah then walks listeners through some updates to the NSLDS post-screening process, which also relate to OBBBA implementation.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Melanie is joined by David Page, Blue Icon's senior business development specialist, Renee Armentrout, a Blue Icon consultant, and Rachel Andersen, Cuyamaca College's director of financial aid & scholarships, to discuss how schools are sorting through the latest guidance and condensed implementation timeline for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Melanie kicks things off with an update on the Department of Education's (ED) final rule detailing changes to the federal student loan programs, and explains why the July 1 implementation timeline is putting pressure on schools – especially those with summer headers. Rachel then provides perspective from her institution, while David details the logistical and budgetary challenges that schools and vendors face.

This week on "Off the Cuff," David Tolman and Maria are joined by Tonya and David Downing for a discussion on the new Return of Title IV funds (R2T4) regulations, which will become effective this July. The team walks listeners through the five areas that will be impacted by new R2T4 regulations and details what these new regulations entail. From there, the team walks through different student scenarios that schools may have questions on – including a math lesson from Tonya on how to do R2T4 calculations. The team wraps up the discussion by highlighting several NASFAA resources schools can use to learn more about this topic.

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.