Review of Recent Announcements

As a service to its participating schools and lenders, the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority (UHEAA) offers the following review of recent announcements and releases from the U.S. Department of Education or other sources. These reminders cover topics of general interest and importance that relate to the administration of federal student aid.

Any questions related to this Bulletin should be directed to UHEAA Policy and Training at 801.321.7166 or by e-mail to mjohnson@utahsbr.edu

A monthly summary of selected announcements, publications and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education brought to you by UHEAA.

Dear Partner/Colleague Letters

 

GEN-05-02

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0502.html

Summary: Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application and Forbearance Forms. This letter announces approval of the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application and Teacher Loan Forgiveness Forbearance Form for the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Programs. The Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application is used to evaluate an FFEL Program or a Direct Loan Program borrower's eligibility for up to $5,000 in forgiveness benefits for highly qualified teachers or up to $17,500 for highly qualified mathematics, science, and special education teachers. The Teacher Loan Forgiveness Forbearance form is used to determine forbearance eligibility for FFEL or Direct Loan borrowers who are completing their teaching service requirements prior to applying for teacher loan forgiveness.

 

Announcements

ANN-05-01

http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0215BlindandVisuallyImpaired.html

 

Summary: The U.S. Department of Education's Federal Student Aid (FSA) office has a variety of information resources available for blind and visually impaired students enrolled in education beyond high school.

 

FYI

NSLDS Newsletter

http://www.nsldsfap.ed.gov

The National Student Loan Data System recently published Newsletter 9 on IFAP. Directed primarily at the school community, it contains information about NSLDS changes implemented in January 2005 for the 2005-2006 processing year. It also reviews existing NSLDS procedures for calculating aggregate loan balances in the FFEL and Direct Loan programs, recent web changes, and other information and reminders about useful NSLDS features. The final section

reminds organizations to update the Organization Contacts section of NSLDS and reminds schools that these contacts are for the financial aid professional and not to be shared with students. While not stated in the newsletter, in recent meetings NSLDS has asked that organizations provide a person to contact with questions rather than a general 800 customer service number.

 

ED Web Site Helps Combat Problem of Diploma Mills

http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation

Summary: The Department of Education has developed a new Web site to assist students and employers to determine whether or not an institution is accredited or approved by a reliable authority as to the quality of postsecondary education. The U.S. Department of Education recommends that the database be used as one source of qualitative information and that additional sources of qualitative information be consulted.