Federal Update: COVID-19
 by Deb Agee, CASFAA VP Federal Issues
During the past few weeks, we have experienced an incredible upheaval in our personal and professional lives. By now everyone should be working from home, as are our students, faculty, and administrative staff. In the midst of all the ambiguity and unknowns, we do have federal guidance that offers support and flexibility as we work together to serve our students. NASFAA’s webinar April 2nd, covered many issues associated with the guidance delivered thus far. Below I cover in brief some highlights of the latest federal guidance as listed and linked below. Details are linked to each dated notification from the Department of Education. I hope this information is useful as you navigate how your institutions will move forward with administering financial aid.
Regulatory Relief
This original guidance of March 5, linked above, granted flexibility for students whose term was interrupted by COVID-19, but not for students who had not yet begun their term. The five scenarios covered are:
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Students enrolled or who were to begin a travel-abroad experience and were called back or not able to complete the experience;
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Students who were enrolled full-time and are no longer full time; however, due to the COVID-19, one or more classes were canceled – including internship, clinical rotation, student teaching or fieldwork
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Students who are/were quarantined and missed class or a student was/is incapacitated due to COVID-19 illness;
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A campus temporarily stops offering ground-based classes in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19;
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A foreign school that serves U.S. students who participate in Title IV programs temporarily suspends operations due to COVID-19.
The original guidance was updated with an attachment of FAQ’s on March 20. Details in the link above. Highlights include:
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FWS flexibility for students who are unable to work as a result of COVID-19.
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Released institutions from adjusting a student’s cost of attendance due to refunds or waivers granted to the student as a result of COVID-19.
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Addressed treatment of days in an R2T4 calculation due to the institution extending Spring Break by a week. If the additional days added equals five days or more, the additional days must be excluded from the R2T4 calculation.
The Education Department released updated federal guidance on Friday, April 3. Topics covered include:
- Verification
- Need Analysis
- Distance Education
- General Provisions
Legislative Relief
The federal government’s stimulus package, the Coronavirus Aid Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act, was signed into law by the President Friday, March 27. Within the $2 trillion package, $12.5 billion has been set aside for institutions. An additional $1 billion is targeted to Minority Serving Institutions and roughly $350 billion is targeted to institutions most affected by the virus. Half of the approximate $14 billion must be provided directly to students in the form of emergency financial aid grants for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations. Details are summarized in NASFAA’s March 25 press release and some highlights are below.
Other highlights include:
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Institutions' non-federal share for Campus-Based Aid has been waived. The guidance allows transfer of 100% of FWS to FSEOG, which can be used for emergency grants for undergraduates, graduates and professional students up to the same maximum as Pell Grant for the academic year. These awards are not treated as EFA.
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Excludes the Direct Loan period that the student is unable to complete due to a qualifying emergency from subsidized loan usage calculations.
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Allows ED to exclude from a student’s Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) any Pell Grant amounts received during a period that the student is unable to complete due to this qualifying emergency. **Exclusions only apply if they can be administered by ED in a manner that limits complexity and burden on students.
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CARES Act allows ED to waive R2T4 requirements, for schools or students, to return unearned grant or loan dollars for students who withdrew because of a qualifying emergency.
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Institutions may exclude from SAP any period not completed due to a qualifying emergency. No appeal is required.
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CASFAA Treasurer's Update
Despite the market turmoil amid the current pandemic, CASFAA’s finances remain sound and we will continue to be able to provide services for our members. We will continue to process financial transactions remotely and any questions can be directed to me.
Thank you for your continued support!
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Diversity Access & Inclusion During COVID-19 Pandemic
 by Colette Amin, CASFAA Diversity Access Representative
The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing new layers of inequity. A challenge? Providing distance learning as the primary mode of instruction for weeks, months, and possibly the remainder of the academic year.
Some colleges have answered this challenge by providing loaner laptops to students in need. For example, Los Angeles Community College (LACCD) is reducing the digital divide amid the COVID-19 pandemic. LACCD students can request a Chromebook via the LACCD Portal via the “Financial Aid and Scholarships” page. Also reducing the “digital divide” are internet service providers, many of whom are providing free internet service for students in need for the next 2 to 3 months.
How can our financial aid offices make distance learning accessible and equitable for all students? Collectively this calls on us to recognize every student’s technology and financial needs, as well as resources needed to make technology work for students of diverse learning styles.
Aside from financial aid support, recently student loan servicers also made news. “Nearly all private student loan servicers are committing to let borrowers suspend making payments for up to three months,” said Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance as reported in Inside Higher Ed.
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Training Update
by Thalassa Naylor, CASFAA Training Chair
With everyone working from home, this is a perfect time to participate in some online learning! CASFAA is pleased to promote and share 16 different free web based training opportunities for financial aid administrators provided by our industry partners during the month of April. Topics cover compliance and best practices, helping students manage debt and repayment, and professional development and personal improvement. These training and informational sessions are free to our membership.
For more detailed information on the sessions offered and the registration links, please check out additional information on the calendar tab of the CASFAA website at www.casfaa.org.
Please stay safe and healthy during these unusual and uncertain times.
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In Memoriam: Don Crewell
On behalf of our CASFAA President, Anafe Robinson, and Executive Council we wanted to share of the passing of our colleague, Don Crewell, Director of Financial Aid at Caltech on March 17, 2020. We are deeply saddened by this loss. He served at Caltech from 2007. He was also the former Director of Financial Aid at the California College of the Arts, Director of Enrollment and Student Services at the California School of Professional Psychology, and Associate Director of Financial Aid at Lehigh University.
An article was shared by his institution regarding the impact he made helping families and students achieve their education with his dedication and compassion. Due to the global pandemic of Covid-19, Caltech will be hosting a memorial later in the year when students and staff are back on campus. Out of privacy and respect, no memorial service information is available from his immediate family but condolences are appreciated and may be sent to CASFAA Conference Co-Chair Thomas Le and will be forwarded to his colleagues at Caltech.
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Graduate & Professional Update
by Jessica Ayers, CASFAA Graduate & Professional Representative
What a month it has been! While everyone has similar struggles in adapting to this new normal, I have been thinking about the particular effects on our segment. Our students tend to be a little older, often are working professionals, and many have families. The additional burden of disrupted learning schedules and anxiety of what the future holds can be really impactful in ways that are unlike that of undergraduate students. I believe the most important thing we can do as administrators is to listen and provide reassurance in whatever way that looks for our students.
I don’t know about you, but as the CARES Act legislation was being drafted, I was concerned that the needs of Graduate/ Professional students may be forgotten. So when the final legislation was signed last Friday, I breathed a sigh of relief that our segment was not excluded. While more details and guidance is coming from the Department of Education, I thought it was important to highlight the following pieces of The CARES Act: graduate only schools are included in the Emergency Stabilization Funding; SEOG monies can be awarded to graduate students; automatic student loan forbearance and extension of reducing interest rates to 0% will be in place; and additional clarification was included for leave of absence for students on internships/ practicums/ clinicals. For more information I highly encourage you to see NASFAA’s COVID19 resource page and more specifically, listen to the past two webinars. They have been full of information, provided clarification if possible, and most importantly reassurance in all this craziness.
Finally, if you didn’t know, NASFAA’s Blue Icon Advisors is hosting a roundtable discussion for Graduate Schools. It will be a time where we can talk, learn, and share best practices. Seating is limited, so you will want to register soon.
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