Congress Scrambles in Year-End Crunch

Members of Congress returned from their Thanksgiving break to face a long "to do" list before adjourning for the year in mid-December.

The highest priority on the list continues to be funding plans for the remaining federal agencies that have not yet seen action. To date, only the Department of Defense budget has been approved by Congress and signed by the President.

Acknowledging that passing the 11 remaining individual appropriations measures was an insurmountable proposition, Congress began working on a $520 billion omnibus funding measure. That strategy hit a standstill when Congressional Republicans refused to negotiate with Democrats over additional funding for domestic programs in exchange for the Democrats acquiescing to the President's most recent request for emergency war funding.

With a $40 billion gap between the current Congressional offer of $30 billion in emergency war funding compared to the president's call for $70 million, it seems the Middle East war funding may, again, be the sticking point in negotiating a final agreement.

Democrats have now reverted to a plan to attempt to pass the remaining appropriations bills, challenging the president to veto or sign the bills individually. The most significant financial aid issues at stake would be final numbers for 08-09 Pell Grants.

With appropriations on the front burner, the House has set aside the prospect of finishing the Higher Education Act reauthorization process before year end. House staff recently indicated that staff level negotiations between the House and Senate would take place in January and floor action in the House could occur in mid-February. The current HEA extension expires on March 31, 2007.

Financial Aid Guidance Review

EDFUND's Government Relations staff has updated a document summarizing the latest communications to federal student aid administrators from ED.

A Guidance Review - View a listing of the Dear Colleague Letters (DCLs) and Electronic Announcements for November 2007.

Fund Your Future Counselor’s Guide Is Now Available EDFUND's Fund Your Future Counselors' Guide contains all the information in the students and parents workbook plus extra resources for counselors and other adults who assist high school students with questions about postsecondary education. Those who have used this publication in the past know it's one of the most valuable tools you can have at your desk.

The Counselors' Guide comes in a national version (I-4.1) for download only and a California specific edition (I-4) to order.

Our People Make the Difference

It is our pleasure to introduce you to some of the people at EDFUND who make the difference through their commitment to helping make EDFUND the premier service provider in the student financial service industry.

Anita Kermes, Manager, Default Prevention Initiatives Good advice means so much more when it comes from someone who has been in your shoes.

Every time Anita Kermes dispenses advice – whether it's over the phone to a financial aid staffer, in person, or via her monthly column in EDFUND's NewSource newsletter – it's coming from her experience as a financial aid administrator.

Although she's been at EDFUND for nearly 10 years and has garnered numerous awards for her department's innovative default prevention ideas, Anita spent more than a decade working in financial aid offices at several California colleges. Starting out at Palmer College of Chiropractic West in the late 1980s, she quickly built rapport with the students before spending time as a financial aid administrator at three other postsecondary institutions.

At one of those institutions, Anita had the opportunity to return to school and complete her bachelor's degree while she worked in the financial aid office. “I had a nice deal where I worked three days a week and attended classes the other two days,” says Anita. “This minimized my student loans since I was working full time and could pay tuition.”

In 1998, she joined the team at EDFUND where she's now manager of Default Prevention Initiatives, or DPI. Under her leadership, DPI has created some of the most inventive and useful publications, cohort management tools, and financial literacy materials available in the financial aid industry today.

“In DPI we get to focus more on the borrower-education side of loans and create products and services we know will be beneficial for students,” says Anita. “I think of it as what I wish I had when I was working at a school.”

She does miss the students' energy, though: “While it can be frustrating that some of them don't ‘get' financial awareness and money management concepts, it was always rewarding to hear them talk about what they were going to do after graduation, and know that I was a part of that.”

In her down time, Anita loves running and enjoying good food and wine. She recently returned from a trip to Seattle where she participated in the Seattle Half Marathon. “I pick different fun runs to do throughout the year and it gives me a goal to work toward,” she says.

Her advice to financial aid administrators in this time of change? “If you focus on borrowers' needs and what's in the best interest of the student, that'll help ensure you're making the best decision.”

Direct Loan Program Is More Than Twice as Expensive as FFELP

If you want more grist to the mill in arguing that the FFEL program is cheaper than the direct loan alternative, then some new numbers (from the U.S. Department of Education) will help.

As reported by Inside Higher Ed, a comparison can be made using new data published by the Department following the enactment of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) and a mid-session review of the President's 2008 budget.

Taking into consideration the cuts in subsidies for lenders by more than $20 billion, Inside Higher Ed made a rough estimate of the effect of the subsidy costs on the two programs.

According to Inside Higher Ed this computation leads to the following conclusion: The direct lending program is about two and half times more costly to operate than the FFEL program.

Latest Integrated Common Manual Available

The latest version of the Integrated Common Manual is now available. The Common Manual Governing Board approved nine policies in September 2007, and four in October 2007.

All of these policies have been incorporated into the latest version of the Integrated Common Manual:

• November 2007 Integrated Common Manual

If you don't want to download the whole manual (the PDF file is almost 11 Megabytes!), just download the pages with changes made since the last printed edition of the manual:

• November 2007 Replacement Pages

Claim Process for Lenders Now Easier

EDFUND is pleased to announce that lenders can now file a death claim with a photocopy of the original or certified copy of the death certificate. This new process is in accordance with the new federal student loan regulations published November 1, 2007.

EDFUND will accept only certified true and exact photocopies of the death certificate with the claim package.

If you have any questions, please contact Tracy Roberts at 916-526-7367 or troberts@edfund.org.

Free Training Opportunities!

There were many changes and much excitement in the financial aid industry in 2007. EDFUND INSTITUTE is gearing up to provide you with valuable information regarding the new regulatory and policy changes.

Free training opportunities will be offered every month in 2008. EDFUND INSTITUTE will host workshops at locations throughout the U.S. and provide topical webinar sessions each month. The first financial aid webinars in 2008 are on the ever popular subjects of Verification and Return to Title IV (R2T4). Through Building Futures, there will also be a highly informative webinar on Cohort Calculations. Registration will be available within the next few weeks.

We look forward to providing timely, relevant and exceptional training to you. So keep your eyes and ears open in anticipation of training events. Coming soon to a town or computer near you.

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