This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education (ACE), to discuss the College Cost Transparency Initiative (CCT) — a coalition of hundreds of institutions aimed at improving transparency of student financial aid offers. Justin and Ted dive into the formation of the CCT task force last year, how higher education advocacy groups and institutions have engaged in the process, the rollout of the initiative’s principles and standards, and future plans for promoting transparency in student financial aid offers. Justin and Ted then go on to discuss what makes them most optimistic about the state of higher education as well as their concerns — and the general landscape of the federal student aid system.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations and national engagement, to discuss how Congress avoided a government shutdown and what that means for federal funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid. The team then discusses the upcoming negotiated rulemaking sessions for student debt relief, including the issue paper the Department of Education (ED) released before the October session, and ED's new gainful employment regulations. Justin and Karen also address concerns aid offices have about an influx of borrower defense to repayment claims. 

This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by Andy Brantley, president and CEO at College & University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), to discuss findings from the latest iteration of their higher education employee retention survey. The results of the survey found concerning trends related to the financial aid profession’s retention rates, where a majority of financial aid professionals say they’re at least somewhat likely to look for other employment within a year. Justin and Andy go on to discuss factors underlying the retention crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significant challenges the higher education sector is faced with, and dive into the staying power of remote and hybrid working environments.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David discuss the latest details on the return to student loan repayment and highlight the nuances of a new FAFSA simplification term: “contributors.” Allie and Jill kick things off by running through where things stand with the return to student loan repayment, the on-ramp to repayment, servicer wait times, and the administration’s new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, the Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan. David then helps listeners make sense of a new FAFSA term — “contributor” — which refers to anyone who is asked to provide information on an applicant’s FAFSA. David goes on to offer a number of scenarios in which an individual may or may not be considered as a part of that definition.

This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary James Kvaal to discuss the administration's Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan, a new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that the administration has been heavily promoting as student loan repayments resume. The conversation dives into the benefits of the plan, the enrollment process, the timeline associated with its implementation, an overview of ED’s student loan portfolio, and more. Justin and Under Secretary Kvaal also go on to discuss some of the administration’s upcoming priorities for higher education, new regulations, the federal budget, and much more.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin and Karen are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations, to dig into the latest state of play surrounding the federal budgeting process. The team highlights how Congress’ end of September deadline could impact a host of priorities for the Department of Education (ED), including its FAFSA simplification rollout, negotiated rulemaking, and general operations. The group also highlights ED’s new repayment plan and discusses some summer news coverage concerning perceptions of investments, and risks associated with higher education.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Justin and Rachel are joined by Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of government relations, to recap the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that struck down race-conscious admissions policies and the Biden administration's student loan debt cancellation program. The group dives into what impact these decisions will have on college campuses and also provides details as to how schools can make sense of both decisions. The team then highlights what comes next for the on-ramp to student loan repayment and interest accrual, which will begin this September. Rachel and Justin also update listeners on NASFAA’s 2023 National Conference as well as some timely information from this week’s virtual conference.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Justin is joined by Dana Kelly, NASFAA's vice president of professional development and institutional compliance, and Kristi Jovell, director of student financial services operations and communications at Middlebury College and NASFAA's 2023 National Conference Program Task Force chair. The group discusses what attendees can expect of the 2023 National Conference in San Diego this month, including what sessions they’re looking forward to and what attendees can do for fun in San Diego. Follow along with the conversation from the National Conference online using #NASFAA2023. Can’t make it to San Diego this year? You can still register for the NASFAA Virtual Conference, which takes place July 10-14. 

This week on "Off the Cuff," Allie, Jill, and David cover the latest developments concerning the Department of Education’s roll-out of its proposed gainful employment regulations and financial value transparency framework, as well as the removal of the housing status question from the 2024-25 FAFSA. Jill dives into how new GE metrics could impact a variety of schools, as well as what comes next for the negotiated rulemaking process. David shares the impact of the removal of the housing question from the 2024-25 FAFSA and how schools can work through the packaging process. Hugh then catches listeners up on some higher education news coming from the White House, including a debt ceiling resolution and the latest on student loan cancellation.

This week on "Off the Cuff," Rachel joins Justin and Karen to discuss some breaking news on the Hill concerning the debt ceiling and congressional efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s student loan debt cancellation plan. The team starts out with a discussion on the Senate passing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) seeking to rescind Biden’s debt cancellation plan and the fallout from the bipartisan vote. Rachel then provides an update on the debt ceiling deal, and how the measure is expected to impact federal funding for the upcoming fiscal years. The team then digs into some updates concerning SNAP eligibility.