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Thursday, September 21, 2017

System Financial Aid Council updates (September 2017)

Fall financial aid disbursement
The Office of Student Financial Aid disbursed nearly $220,000,000 during the first disbursements for fall term. These numbers represent the whole university system.

Perkins expiration getting closer
On September 14, a bipartisan Federal Perkins Loan Program Extension Act of 2017 was introduced in the Senate. The bill, identical to the extension bill introduced in the House in May, would extend the Perkins Loan Program for an additional two years. (Graduate and professional students would have Perkins eligibility restored for only the first of those two years.)

Without congressional action, the program will expire on September 30, but momentum for an extension is growing in Congress. The House extension bill has accrued 160 bipartisan co-sponsors. OSF will stay tuned for updates. An extension by September 30 is not likely, however, there is talk about attaching the extension to bills slated for passage in December. The loss of the Perkins loan program will have a direct and significant impact on our students as we deliver approximately $6.3 million to students each year.

Students who have been awarded Perkins loans this year must be enrolled full-time and complete all their required paperwork by mid-September so that the loan can be processed and disbursed by the September 29, 2017, ahead of the expiration deadline.

IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) is coming back

Come this October students and parents will again be able to fill out their FAFSAs with the help of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT). The DRT is not required, but it helps to avoid errors that ultimately cause additional verification steps.

The DRT will be modified for the 2018-19 year to address privacy and security concerns by encrypting the taxpayer’s information, making it unviewable by the applicant. Schools and state agencies will continue to receive all of the tax return information transferred into the FAFSA via the DRT. The encryption solution is intended to strike a balance between ensuring the continued availability of the DRT and its many benefits, and protecting the privacy of personal information and maintaining the integrity of our tax collection system.

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