Wow, what a year this has been! Regulations, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Reauthorization.....when will it end? Well, do not expect this boat to dock anytime soon.

As your Federal Relations Committee (FRC), our goal is to ensure that you have the tools to become an active part of shaping our Title IV laws and regulations. We want you to feel comfortable providing insight to Congress and the Department of Education who really do want to hear from us, the front lines. We know it doesn't feel that way this year. It's been such a difficult year for all of us in the federal aid arena. Many of us are afraid to voice our opinions to legislators and the Department of Education for fear of scrutiny in the court of public opinion.

However, at EASFAA, the Department of Education noted that they only received 81 letters to the last NPRM they issued, ACG/SMART. That's 81 responses, and there are more than 4500 schools. The Department of Education specifically requested that we respond to the NPRMs as they need our feedback and reiterated that every single response is read and considered. Remember, we are the only ones who know what impact a new law or regulation can have on our students from both a service and eligibility perspective.

So, to support you, your FRC is planning at least one or two panel discussion sites where we can come together and discuss how to respond to the NPRMs that are published, as taxpayers and as financial aid professionals representing our institutions.

Keep your emails open, we will be sending out regulatory updates as we get them. Also, once the locations for the panel discussions are available, we will email the times and dates.

We are looking forward to a productive year.