1. Reauthorization Task Force 2012-13
Listening Session
Reauthorization Task Force

2. Purpose of Reauthorization Task Force
Consult with NASFAA’s membership and others to develop issue positions and statutory and delivery system changes that:
Promote access to postsecondary education
Provide simplicity, consistency, flexibility, and program integrity in the delivery of student financial aid
Represent the diverse needs of NASFAA and its membership.

3. Guiding Principles Promote fairness and equity for all students
Address needs of disadvantaged students
Promote accountability
Encourage simplicity
Give schools flexibility to respond to their students’ needs
Promote primacy of need-based aid

4. Guiding Principles Accommodate the diversity of academic deliveries
Promote use of technology wherever possible
Eliminate use of aid for unrelated social policies
Use research and data analysis to support recommendations
Encourage financial and academic preparation at an early age

5. Purpose of Today’s Listening Session
Allow members across the nation to provide valuable info from the field to the Reauthorization Task Force (RTF)
Gather information which the RTF will use in formulating recommendations on topical areas in the law

6. About the HEA
Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, authorizes the major federal student aid programs that serve postsecondary students.
Congress reviews and “reauthorizes” the statutes governing these programs about every 5 years.
Although current federal student aid program authorizations in the HEA do not expire until the end of 2013, there is growing interest in Congress on issues that might be considered during the next reauthorization process.

7. Major Topics of HEA Access to postsecondary education
Institutional and program eligibility
Standards and accountability
Consumer information
Program integrity
Student eligibility
Need analysis

8. Major Topics of HEA Distance educationTeach Grant Campus-based aid
Student loans
Pell Grant

9. Statute vs. Regulation Statute Regulation Definition
A law passed by the legislative body (e.g. Congress)
A direction adopted by the executive branch (e.g. the Department of Education)
Example:
Return of Title IV Funds
Law generally describes treatment of student who has withdrawn (officially or unofficially) before completing payment period
Regulation defines when a student is considered to have withdrawn
Enforcement
Failure to comply results in legal action, fines, limitations on or loss of eligibility

10. To facilitate discussion and
Protocol
To facilitate discussion and
ease note-taking we ask
that speakers:
Clearly state your name, title and institution (spell out names if needed)
Limit your comments to no more than 5 minutes
Focus your comments on statutory, not regulatory, issues
Focus your comments on the topical issues covered during HEA reauthorization