Home | Newsroom | You've Got News | May 2011 Edition

Mission: Money Control e-Postcard Helps Borrowers Use their Grace Period Wisely

A  Mission Money Control e-postcard for student loan borrowers provides tips on what they can do during their grace period to be prepared for student loan repayment. [Access the e-postcard library]

To send the e-postcard to your students, simply open the postcard, right click, select copy, and then paste it in your email message.

Iowa College Aid also offers Mission: Money Control presentations, activities and posters to help students, as well as professionals, master financial fundamentals and see how the choices they make affect their financial future. [Read Summaries and Presentations]

If you have suggestions for a Mission: Money Control e-postcard topic or are interested in scheduling a Mission: Money Control presentation on your campus, please contact Carol Bogaard.

NASFAA Core Materials Available for Free to Value and Value Plus Members.

NASFAA Core is a comprehensive set of instructional materials for teaching financial aid fundamentals to individuals with less than two years of experience. Iowa College Aid previously used the NASFAA Core materials for its Financial Aid Boot Camp held in the fall. Iowa College Aid will not be offering the training this year. However, Core modules are included in both NAFSFAA’s Value and Value PLUS membership dues packages so there is no additional cost for those members to download the modules. Click here to learn more.

Term 4 Reporting Deadline June 1, Term 5 Files Due June 1

The deadline for reporting state-defined Term 4 (spring term) state financial aid disbursements in the State Scholarship and Grant Reporting System is June 1, 2011. After June 1, no new state financial aid awards can be added to the State Scholarship and Grant Reporting System, and no awards reported by that deadline can be increased. Following each final state reporting deadline, reported disbursements can only be decreased. Please update your Term 4 scholarship and grant rosters by June 1!

The initial state Scholarship and Grant disbursement files for state-defined Term 5 (summer term) are due June 1, 2011. Please have your roster updated on or before this date.

State Program Reconciliation Notice

As we near the end of the academic year, we begin the annual process of reconciling state program funds with college disbursements. Both state program disbursements (reported by colleges) and payments (reported by Iowa College Aid staff) for most programs are reported in the State Scholarship and Grant Reporting System (System). Two features within the System will assist you in reconciling your state funds.  Both of these features are located under the “Reports” tab in the System.

• The View Ledger feature acts as a reconciliation tool for colleges. Colleges can view state program disbursements they have reported in the System (located under the “Amount Requested” column) and the amount Iowa College Aid has paid on a program by program basis (under the “Amount Paid” column). This tool can assist colleges with the year-end reconciliation process for state financial aid programs administered by Iowa College Aid.
• The Search Payments feature allows college officials to identify Iowa College Aid payments, the program breakdown of each payment (if the payment consists of more than one state program), and the approximate date that the payment was made by the State. This provides college staff with a real-time tracking system for state financial aid program payments. 

Please use the following schedule to have your year-end reconciliation completed.

• Schools who are done reporting after Term 3 – May 17th
• Schools who are done reporting after Term 4 – June 15th
• Schools who are done reporting after Term 5 – July 31st

If you owe Iowa College Aid funds from any state program, a paper check should be sent to the address indicated below. Please follow the state refund procedures as detailed in Chapter 2 of the Iowa Student Financial Aid Guide (also included below for your reference).

Address for Refund Checks:
Iowa College Student Aid
P O Box 310251
Des Moines IA  50331-0251
This address is for U.S. mail only

State Refund Procedures, Iowa Student Financial Aid Guide, Chapter 2:

If a student discontinues attendance before the end of any term after receiving payment under a state grant program, the entire amount of any refund due that student, up to the amount of any payments made under the annual grant, shall be paid by the college or university to the Commission.

If a student withdraws before the end of a term after receiving state financial aid payments, the percentage calculated under the college or university's formula for return of funds to the student must be used to calculate the state refund amounts. The only state scholarship or grant program that is exempt from this policy is the Iowa Work-Study Program.   

For example: If, when using the college or university's refund policy, officials determine that a 20 percent refund is required, then 20 percent of each state award also must be refunded to the state program from which the funds originally were received.

College and university officials must adjust a student's state award and make the appropriate adjustment on the State Scholarship and Grant Reporting System. Funds need not be returned to the Commission until the term's payment information has been submitted and reconciliation completed between college or university officials and Commission staff. When an Iowa Grant is reduced, the released funds should be reallocated by college or university officials to another eligible student.

When state funds must be returned, payment must be made within 30 days of the final reconciliation of the Scholarship and Grant System or within 30 days of the date that college or university officials learn that funds must be returned, whichever is later. The payment must be accompanied by a list of recipients for whom refunds are being provided. The list must include each student’s name, amount of the individual refund, name of the state aid program to which funds are being returned, and the applicable award period (academic year). 

College and university officials may round down all refunds to the whole dollar amount. Examples: $625.30 may be rounded down to $625.00; $785.97 may be rounded down to $785.00.

State Legislative Update

The Iowa General Assembly has not yet completed its work with respect to appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012. Iowa College Aid staff continues to track the following appropriations bills as they relate to Iowa College Aid. If you have questions about any of these bills, please contact Julie Leeper at 515-725-3420 or Julie.leeper@iowa.gov.

House File 645 (S-3287 and H-1731) – Relating to the funding of, the operation of, and appropriation of moneys to the College Student Aid Commission, the Department for the Blind, the Department of Education, and the State Board of Regents, and providing for related matters.

• Health Care Professional Recruitment Program – This program is designed to assist Des Moines University graduates who agree to provide health care in rural areas by assisting them with repaying their student loans. Graduates willing to serve in hard-to-fill rural Iowa areas will benefit from the program. This program replaces the Physician Recruitment Program
  
  
• All Iowa Opportunity Foster Care Program – The proposed language adds to the list of eligible recipients students whose parent have been disabled or killed in the line of duty while serving as peace officers, police officers, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, or fire fighters in Iowa. 

• National Guard Educational Assistance Program – The proposed language requires the Board of Educational Examiners to transfer $523,098 to the Commission for providing awards under the National Guard Educational Assistance Program. 

House File 649 (S-3293 and H-1732) – Relating to and making appropriations for Health and Human Services and including other related provisions and appropriations, and including effective, retroactive, and applicability date provisions.

• Social Worker Loan Repayment Program – This program is established for the purpose of increasing the number of social workers serving in critical human service areas and is designed to assist those social workers in repaying their student loans. 

Update on State Loan Forgiveness Programs

The Iowa Teacher Shortage Loan Forgiveness Program offers loan repayment to teachers to help them repay federal Stafford Loans and federal Consolidation Loans. Teachers who began their first teaching position in Iowa no earlier than July 1, 2007, and teach in an approved shortage are eligible to apply for forgiveness annually. Iowa College Aid is in the process of sending payments to lenders on behalf of 187 recipients totaling $738,411 with an average award of $3,948.

The Registered Nurse and Nurse Educator Loan Forgiveness offers loan repayment to teachers to help them repay federal Stafford Loans and federal Consolidation Loans. Registered Nurses and Nurse Educators who began their first Nurse Educator or Registered Nurse position in Iowa no earlier than July 1, 2007, are eligible to apply for forgiveness annually. Iowa College Aid is in the process of sending payments to lenders on behalf of 34 recipients totaling $84,040 with an average award of $2,472.

Applicants for both programs typically apply between July 1 and September 30 each year. This year, the application timeframe has been moved to January 1 to March 31, 2012.

Career Development and Financial Literacy Training Offered to Iowa Educators and Counselors

Iowa College Aid is co-sponsoring several opportunities over the summer for educators and counselors to learn the latest information on career development and financial literacy for their students.

Iowa PK-12 School Counselor Summit – June 16017, 2011
Iowa College Aid partnered with the Iowa Department of Education and the School Administrators of Iowa to sponsor this summit to maximize the impact of school counseling programs to ensure all students graduate and are college, career and citizenship ready. Click here to register.

Family Economics & Financial Education (FEFE) Training – July 13-15, 2011
Iowa College Aid partnered with Iowa State University and the Iowa Insurance Division to sponsor this workshop centered around the semester-long middle/high school FEFE curriculum. Teacher licensure renewal and ISU graduate credit are available. Registration is currently at full capacity. Click here to learn more and to be placed on a waiting list.

All Non-Degree and Certificate Programs Subject to Gainful Employment Rules

Gainful employment rules apply to all non-degree programs, including certificate programs offered by public and non-profit institutions and virtually all academic programs offered by proprietary institutions. At public and non-profit institutions, the following Title-IV eligible programs are subject to gainful employment regulations:

• Non-degree programs, including all certificate programs.
• Teacher certification programs that result in a certificate awarded by the institution (specified in a recent electronic announcement from the U.S. Department of Education).
• Approved “Comprehensive Transition Programs” for students with intellectual disabilities.

NASFAA has put together a summary of the gainful employment regulations which can be accessed from their Program Integrity Resource Center. In addition, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has posted a list of Frequently Asked Questions to provide information and operational guidance on the requirements of the gainful employment regulations.

Career Development in the 21st Century 2.0 Class – August 1-2, 2011
The purpose of the class, sponsored by Iowa College Aid and the Iowa Department of Education, is to provide participants with knowledge and best practices for implementing career development and I Have A Plan Iowa™ in the classroom. Particular focus will be on 21st century skills and career and education planning. Click here to learn more and to register.

NSLDS Gainful Employment User Guide Now Available

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) recently announced the availability of the NSLDS Gainful Employment User Guide. Institutions may use information from the user guide to submit required gainful employment information to the USDE. As discussed in DCL GEN-11-10, final regulations published in the Federal Register n October 29, 2010 require institutions participating in the student financial assistance programs to report, by October 1, 2011 and once a year thereafter, certain information to the USDE about students who are enrolled in Title IV-eligible educational programs that lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation. An online reporting option will also be available later this year. Please monitor the IFAP website for more information about the availability of this enhancement to the NSLDS Professional Access website.

FY 2009 Draft Student Loan Cohort Default Rates Released

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) recently announced that the national FY 2009 draft cohort default rate is 8.9 percent. The draft rate increased from the national FY 2008 official rate of 7.0 percent.  The announcement also includes additional information on the national draft Federal Direct Student Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan Program student loan default rates as well as aggregate national draft rates by type of postsecondary institution.