The ever-expanding investigation into conflicts of interest between colleges and lenders continued to claim victims last week as two more universities settled with New York State's attorney general, and another fired its financial-aid director. Drexel University, the only institution that had said it would fight allegations over its student-loan…

Colleges would be required to give students information to help them shop around among loan providers under proposed changes in student-loan programs announced by the U.S. Department of Education. The proposed regulations represent the department's most significant response to date to the continuing controversy over conflicts of interest in the…

Growing concerns about low awareness and take-up rates for government support programs like financial aid for college have recently spurred calls to simplify the application process and enhance visibility. However, little research has been done to determine whether such reforms would truly improve college access and in what form…

This report was prepared by the Chairman's Staff of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee setting forth the findings of an investigation into marketing practices in the Federal Family Education Loan program ("FFEL"). Evidence uncovered by the Chairman's investigation demonstrates that many FFEL lenders routinely…

In December 2005, purchasing agents at Florida International University issued a request for proposals seeking banks and student-loan companies for a list of "preferred lenders" that the university planned to give to prospective borrowers. The request alone was not unusual. Many colleges use competitive bidding to secure attractive terms…

This workshop guide for financial aid administrators provides training in the federal student financial aid delivery system. An introduction enables the participant to share some information about his or her responsibilities and to reflect on the relevance of the training to the job. Session 1, "Application Systems," identifies methods of applying…

Provides information on the median annual salary levels for chief financial aid administrators in 1999-2000 based on results from the Survey of Undergraduate Financial Aid Policies, Practices, and Procedures. Findings indicate that men still have higher salaries than women. (EV)

Describes 11 regulatory traps that can result in fraud and abuse charges. The traps are admissions process, ability to benefit, inability to document attendance, satisfactory academic progress, fictitious students, false eligibility, misstated needs, misuse of funds by students, theft and misuse of funds, lender kickbacks, and loan defaults.…

This workshop manual is designed to teach financial aid administrators about student eligibility. The first module, "Student Eligibility," defines student eligibility criteria and discusses interpreting output documents and financial aid histories. Module 2 discusses calculating the expected family contribution (EFC) and calculating a student's…

This monograph provides research tools, tips, and resources to financial aid administrators who need to undertake research tasks. It answers: What is research? How can financial aid administrators get started on research projects? What resources are available to help answer research questions quickly and accurately? How can research efforts assist…

Describes the skills practiced by student financial aid professionals which are valued by all employers, including problem solving, human relations, computer programming, teaching/training, information management, money management, business management, and science and math. Also describes how to develop skills outside of the office. (EV)

This participant workbook instructs financial aid personnel in the use of the EDExpress System as it relates to direct student loans. The first session discusses common origination and disbursement of direct loans. The second session considers new loans, and session 3 covers disbursements. Session 4 discusses exporting and importing data, and…

This participant guide is an update to basic training in the Direct Loan (DL) portion of the EDExpress system designed for financial aid professionals who have already participated in the basic training. The first session considers new aspects of DL processing, focusing on DL process changes and EDExpress DL changes. Session 2 contains three…

This participant guide instructs college financial aid personnel in the use of the EDExpress system as it relates to direct student loans. The first chapter contains a welcome and introduction to the training sessions, and the second session contains an overview of the six-step data process, a discussion of key players in direct loans (DL), a…

This training document for financial assistance professionals discusses ensuring program integrity in student financial aid and describes some tools for ensuring internal and external program integrity. The training focuses on these tools and resources: (1) the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Schools Portal; (2) the Information for Financial Aid…