ECMC

Webinars

ECMC's priority is providing you with the latest updates and news in the financial aid industry. To bring you the most accurate and useful information possible, ECMC offers live Webinars. We also offer recorded versions of past webinars for playback or download when you are unable to attend a live session.

Enjoy the convenience of participating from your own office, yet still connect with industry specialists and colleagues through the Webinar technology.

Recorded Past Webinars

Our past Webinars are available for playback or download, along with the presentation slides used for each session.

Guide Students to the Right Repayment Plans – 5/19/09 (no recorded session for this webinar)

Additional HEOA Information

The long-awaited Dear Colleague letter (DCL) regarding the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) has been posted to the Department of Education’s IFAP Web site. The 219-page letter, GEN-08-12, provides schools, lenders, and guarantors a summary of most of the provisions of the HEOA.

In the letter, the Department reminds institutions that many of the HEOA provisions were effective on enactment, August 14, 2008, and that institutions are responsible for complying with legislative changes in accordance with applicable effective dates. The Department also directs institutions to review the text of the HEOA itself in conjunction with the DCL in order to ensure adequate compliance with the law. However, the letter also acknowledges that because institutions were expected to implement those provisions without receiving guidance from the Department, the Department will take that fact into consideration during subsequent reviews of HEOA compliance.

The DCL does not provide definitive guidance regarding implementation of many of the provisions, but does include information on the provisions for which either negotiated rulemaking or operational steps by the Department must be completed prior to implementation. As a reminder, the Department is expected to begin negotiated rulemaking sessions in February 2009.

The full letter and attachment are available from the IFAP Web site.

What’s Next: Department Announces Intent to Establish Five Negotiation Committees

In the December 31, 2008 Federal Register the Department of Education announced its intent to establish five negotiated rulemaking committees to address changes enacted through the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA).

The intended committee teams are as follows:

  • I – Loans-Lender/General Loan Issues
  • II – Loans-School-based Loan Issues
  • III – Accreditation
  • IV – Discretionary Grants
  • V – General and Non-Loan Programmatic Issues

It is expected that each committee will meet three times, roughly at one-month intervals, beginning in February 2009. However, the Department notes that personnel changes in the federal Administration could affect these plans.

Negotiation participants will be selected to represent the diverse constituencies affected by the topics being addressed by the various committees. As required by a recent change to the Higher Education Act, negotiators must have demonstrated expertise in the subjects being negotiated. Nominations for negotiators need to be submitted to the Department of Education by Jan. 23, 2009.

Details on the anticipated negotiation topics to be covered by each committee and negotiator nomination process are included in the Federal Register notice, available from the IFAP website.