Nonprofit Resources

Navigating the Coming Financial Aid Changes

This is a challenging time for higher education financial aid directors, as there are significant changes on the horizon and no defined processes for maintaining compliance with the regulations. As a trusted business advisor, CapinCrouse is committed to keeping you up to date on these changes and providing you with best practices for compliance.

The work-study reporting and student aid index changes are the biggest modifications coming this fall, and software vendors are working diligently to implement systematic changes. In the meantime, we recommend the following:

• Document processes as you try them and include the dates each process was used. If there are exceptions, you will then be able to determine what else may need to be adjusted.
• Compare the federal aid received on your Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) to tuition and fees. This will show how much federal aid is contributing to the cash flow for students to attend your institution, and will likely be helpful to share at fall board meetings.
• Consider becoming a National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) member. The NASFAA AskRegs Knowledgebase has much helpful information for the student financial aid community.
• Consider registering for a free Federal Student Aid Training Center login and attending the Department of Education webinars.

Finally, remember that this is an opportunity to learn something new, and it may not be perfect at first. This doesn’t mean you have failed.

CapinCrouse is hosting a series of free Q&A webcasts to help answer your questions and suggest processes that will meet compliance regulations and audit standards. You can learn more and register for the first session on October 19 here and submit your questions through this short form. We will offer additional sessions on November 30, 2023, and January 11, 2024. We hope you will join us!

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