Technical resources library

Links to important documents, developments, and government/private resources concerning higher education and college savings. (Premium Service members only.)

Financial Aid

Links

»NCES College Navigator - National Center of Education Statistics' tool to find and compare information including academic majors, tuition and average financial aid for U.S. colleges and universities.

»College Affordability and Transparency Center U.S. Department of Education. This site is the federal government's portal to college prices and other databases, namely: lists of the highest and lowest tuitions; links to all colleges' net price calculators; and a link to the College Navigator informational database.

»CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE Summary page for the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE with links to instructions.

»Private student loan options - Listing of lenders offering private student loans, compiled by Student Lending Analytics.

»NCHELP HEA Materials - Statutory materials including the Higher Education Act as amended, from the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP).

»Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation - useful set of links to official financial-aid statutes, regulations, and manuals.

»Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project - National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project is a resource for borrowers, their families, and advocates representing student loan borrowers. This site is for people who already have student loans and want to know more about their options and rights.

»Financial Aid Letter.com Web site offers a "decoder" of college financial aid award letters along with a helpful glossary of financial aid terminology.

»FAFSA4caster - The U.S. Department of Education's financial aid calculator provides an early estimate of eligibility for federal student aid.

»IPEDS College Opportunities On-Line - The National Center for Education Statistics maintains this helpful database of college costs.

»Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Library - The IFAP online library from the U.S. Department of Education contains technical publications, regulations, and policy guidance on the administration of the Federal Student Aid programs.

»College Board - Creator of the SAT testing service and source of higher-education information for students, parents, and educators. Its financial aid application service PROFILE is used by many private colleges in distributing needs-based institutional aid to students. The College Board also offers a useful tool called Financial Aid EasyPlanner that includes an EFC Calculator.

»Mapping Your Future - A national collaborative, public-service project sponsored by a group of guaranty agencies participating in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL).

»FinAid - Offers content and links on student financial aid.

»Higher Education Act, Title IV - HEA is the federal law governing student aid programs. This document shows the HEA with redline of changes made with 2006 legislation. To view the Needs Analysis sections of Title IV as compiled by the Government Printing Office, click here.

Documents & Releases

»2016-17 FAFSA Free Application for Federal Student Aid for academic year July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 may be filed beginning January 1, 2016.

»2016-17 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Worksheets and Tables - From the U.S. Department of Education

»Private Loans: Facts and Trends - The Project on Student Debt (August 2009). Analysis of data shows big increase in private loan borrowing among undergraduates; students could be using cheaper, safer federal loans; majority of private loan borrowers attend lower priced schools; and African-American undergraduates are now the most likely to take out private loans.

»Fulfilling the Commitment: Recommendations for Reforming Federal Student Aid - from the Rethinking Student Aid study group of policy experts, academic researchers, and higher education professionals. (September 2008)

»Federal Need Analysis - presentation at the 2008 NASFAA conference detailing recent changes to the federal student aid need analysis formula.

»FFEL and Direct Loan Interest Rates Effective July 1, 2008 - from the U.S. Department of Education (May 31, 2008)

»Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid 2008-09 - A guide for those advising students about financial aid for postsecondary education, from the U.S. Department of Education. (February 2008)

»2007-2008 Federal Student Aid Handbook - From the U.S. Department of Education. This publication is intended for financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the student aid process—filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid(FAFSA), verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA.

»FFEL and Direct Loan interest rates effective July 1, 2007 - Describes fixed- and variable-rate interest rates for 7/1/07 to 6/30/08 on federal loans.

»"Twenty questions about paying for college" - by Peter A. Karl III, Edward Petronio, and Kenneth Wallis, The CPA Journal (December 2006). Demystifying financial aid and the related tax benefits.

»General Provisions Update: Changes Made by the HERA - Slides of presentation by Carney McCullough at the U.S. Department of Education's Fall 2006 Conferences for Financial Aid Professionals. For listing of all presentations click here.

»Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - Slides from presentation by Deborah Tarpley and Marianna Deeken at the U.S. Department of Education's Fall 2006 Conferences for Financial Aid Professionals. Includes new treatment for 529 plans. For listing of all presentations click here.

»Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid, 2007-2008 - From the U.S. Department of Education (December 2006).

»Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid 2006-07 - U.S. Department of Education. Offers explanation of the federal financial aid process, applications, and resources.

»Children's Savings Accounts and Financial Aid - By Carl Rist, Jennifer Brooks, and Kevin Keeley. An examination of the consequences of children's savings account ownership on financial aid eligibility. CFED working paper; June 2006.

»Dealing With Debt: 1992-93 Bachelor's Degree Recipients 10 Years Later - National Center of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. June 2006. Study shows that 74% of undergraduate borrowers had paid back their Stafford loans within 10 years after graduation, and the other 26% were handling the debt without too many problems.

»Implementing provisions of the HERA for the 2006-2007 award year - U.S. Department of Education, Dear Colleague Letter GEN-06-10 (June 2006). Explains how changes to the financial aid treatment of 529 plans and ESAs are to be implemented for the current award year.

»Changes made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 to the Federal Student Aid Programs Summary prepared by the U.S. Department of Education explaining changes to the treatment of 529 plans and other provisions in legislation enacted in February 2006.

»Enactment of the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005: Loan Issues - Summary prepared by the U.S. Department of Education explaining changes to federal student loans made by legislation enacted in February 2006.

»Funding Your Education Beyond High School - Guide to Federal Student Aid 2006-07 - Comprehensive resource on federal student aid from the U.S. Department of Education.

»Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 - HERA was enacted on 2/8/06 as Title VIII, Subtitle A of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Public Law No. 109-171). See Sec. 8019 for changes to the federal financial aid treatment of qualified education benefits (529 and ESA).

»Direct and FFEL Consolidation Loans Presentation by Kristie Hanson, U.S. Department of Education describing Title IV consolidation loans.

»College savings options and the impact of saving on financial aid - by Jennifer Ma, TIAA-CREF Institute, Research Dialogue, Issue No. 83 (March 2005). An overview of college savings options and the impact they have on a student's eligibility for financial aid.

»The Student Aid Gauntlet - Making Access to College Simple and Certain - The final report of the special study of simplification of need analysis and application for Title IV aid advisory prepared by the Committee on Student Financial Assistance, U.S. Department of Education, in compliance with a directive from Congress (Jan. 23, 2005). Includes recommendations for changing the treatment of prepaid tuition plans.

»"College Aid and Tax Planning. Part 2 of 2" - by Alan R. Sumutka, The CPA Journal (March 2004). The author presents a discussion of different types of investment assets and assigns them to tiers based upon their impact on financial aid eligibility.

»"College Aid and Tax Planning. Part 1 of 2" - by Alan R. Sumutka, The CPA Journal (February 2004). This article explains "expected family contribution" in the student aid methodologies and how to plan for maximizing aid eligibility.

»Treatment of Coverdell accounts and 529 tuition plans - The Department of Education releases a letter providing clarification on the treatment of Coverdell and 529 accounts in the determination of a student's eligibility for Federal student aid (Jan 2004)

»GAO report on sharing data between IRS and Education Department - The GAO examines the possibility of increasing the amount of tax data collected by IRS that could be shared by the Education Department to make better decisions regarding student eligibility for federal financial aid. (July 2003)

Pick category of interest below

» Official Tax Sources
» Industry & Regulatory
» 529 Analysis, Planning & Commentary
» Financial Aid
» Higher Education Policy