Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 10 - Issue 17

This Week In Washington

Early this week, the Department of Education (ED) announced a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) processing enhancement that provides students with real-time results and gives financial aid administrators immediate access to processed Institutional Student Information Records. Students submitting an initial FAFSA form or correction for 2025-26 or 2026-27 award years can now immediately view their FAFSA submission summary, including their Student Aid Index (SAI) and any comment or reject codes.

Yesterday, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) published its annual update to the tables used in the statutory Federal Need Analysis Methodology. This methodology is used to determine a student’s SAI for award year 2027-28.

News You Can Use

American Action Forum (AAF) published a recent study comparing student loan lenders using data provided by Education Finance Council. The study concludes that nonprofit and state-based lenders tend to offer lower interest rates for borrowers with lower credit scores than their for-profit counterparts.

Congressional Research Service released a report providing background information and analysis on the interagency agreement between ED and Treasury. The report focuses on “Phase 1” of the agreement, under which Treasury will assume responsibility for servicing defaulted federally held student loans.

The Hechinger Report released an article, Five big changes coming to higher education July 1, which outlines the changes students and borrowers can expect to see early this summer. The article reviews changes to the SAVE program, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and graduate student loan limits.

Recent Legislation

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 119th Congress (2025-26).