MSFAA Connection

MSFAA's Executive Board for 2024-2025 includes:

President-Elect Stephanie Petsch, Eastern Michigan University

Vice President Christine Powell, Wayne State University

Secretary Sarah Kasabian-Larson, Central Michigan University

Two-Year Sector Linda Berlin, Northwestern Michigan College

Four-Year Sector Nicole Boelk, Oakland University

Associate Sector Michael Jones, Citizens

Private Sector Julia Delagarza, Cranbrook Academy of Art

Thank you to all of our elected officers for their commitment to MSFAA and partnership within our financial aid communities.  We appreciate your leadership!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the 2024 MSFAA Annual Training as you Create Your Wheel.  What to expect:

• Earn your NASFAA Credential in Consumer Information
• Professional growth and training sessions include:
• • Challenges in staffing
  • FAFSA Simplification
  • Gainful Employment
  • Status Updates
  • SAP/R2T4/CPOS Regulations
  • Admissions, the Bursar and Registrar tracks and more...
    
• Take part in a paddle auction to win generous gift baskets and donate to the Fostering Futures Scholarship Program
• Stay at the beautiful Amway Grand Plaza or Hyatt Place
  
• Network with colleagues and partners across Michigan as we support each other through the major changes for 2024-2025
• Don't forget to invite your Bursar, Admissions and Registrar partners to register for the conference!

Check out the links below for more information:

Conference Registration

Hotel Reservation

Tentative Agenda and Guest Speakers

MSFAA 2024 Conference Scholarship Application

The MSFAA Board is offering scholarships to cover the cost of registration and lodging for the 2024 MSFAA Annual Training for individuals who would otherwise be unable to attend.  Use the link above to view more details and apply.  Deadline Friday, April 19, 2024.

What is coming around the corner for compliance?

The compliance corner can help your office stay in the loop of important information and deadlines to proactively maintain compliance.

The Gainful Employment regulation has returned in full force.  It is a mandate not just for for-profit schools but also for non-profit and public institutions.  Although some parts of it are still in the comments period of negotiated rule-making, schools should start gathering data as soon as possible.

Why? Three reasons:

1. The dates are not changing.  The comments period is for clarification of the data collection.
2. The initial reporting period requires that data for award years prior to 2023-2024 be reported by July 31, 2024.
3. Annual reporting requires us to report data from the 2023-2024 award year by October 1, 2024.

This data gathering will require the institutional research department (if you have one), the registrar, finance, financial aid and other departments that maintain student data to work together.

Don't get caught off guard.  Start having conversations now and building a team for this project.  This spring, NSLDS is sending out reports containing student data, which can help identify the programs and students we need to report on in July.  We will also receive a completer's list from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in July.

The Association for Institutional Research held two very informative webinars recently on Gainful Employment.  Get your team together and be ready!

When there is so much change happening at once, it is hard to stay current with new FAFSA updates, challenges and resolved issues.  The information below is to help you and your staff "stay in the know" while helping students successfully submit their 2024-2025 FAFSAs.  

FAFSA Completion Comparisons link

Which high schools are your top feeder schools?  Are high school seniors getting their 2024-2025 FAFSA's submitted?  Take a minute to view FSA's Application Volume Report to compare FAFSA completion between 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.  What more can your office do to encourage 2024-2025 FAFSA completion at your local high schools?

2024-2025 FAFSA Updates link

Check the FAFSA Processing and Issue Alerts resource page regularly for the newest updates, alerts and solutions.

Consider these tips when helping students through the financial aid process.

On phones: When helping a student or parent with a 2024-2025 FAFSA problem, consider turning the phone call into a virtual appointment.  By sending a google/zoom meeting invitation and asking them to join the meeting on the device they are using to complete their FAFSA, the student or parent can share their screen so you can watch what they are doing.  Problems can often be resolved with a second set of financial aid expert eyes. Still new to trouble-shooting 2024-2025 FAFSA issues?  This tip will help fine-tune your skills while helping a student in need!

On Walk-ins: Students and parents who take the time to come into your office for help often prefer face-to-face assistance rather than over the phone.  They appreciate your help and the time you take with them, in person.  Consider thanking them for taking their time to get a better understanding and potentially avoiding multiple phone calls down the line.  Example: Thank you for coming in today.  I'm glad we had a chance to meet in person.

MSFAA FA 101's are training opportunities for newer financial aid staff to gain a stronger knowledge base in various financial aid topics such as SAP, Verification, Customer Service and Problem Resolution.  As MSFAA begins preparing for the next MSFAA FA 101 training sessions in October 2024, we would like to hear from you.  Please take a minute to complete the MSFAA FA 101 Survey so we can plan based on your financial aid staff's training needs.

Greetings, I am Janette Schocke from Mott Community College, serving as your 2-Year Sector Representative. Two-year public community colleges make up the 2-year Sector. My objective as your representative is to gather your opinions and concerns to bring to the MSFAA Board. MSFAA is the group to connect with other administrators of aid. We can collaborate as a community to find solutions to issues that many of us are facing. But before we can accomplish that, we must hear from you. It is highly recommended that you join and participate in our conversation at the upcoming 2-Year Sector quarterly meeting. The next meeting is April 17^th.  Please send me an email if you haven’t received an invitation - janette.schocke@mcc.edu.

I look forward to seeing and hearing from you!

There are 15 Public 4-Year Universities in Michigan: Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan State University, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan University, Oakland University, Saginaw Valley State University, University of Michigan, University of Michigan Dearborn, University of Michigan Flint, Wayne State University, and Western Michigan University. We are collectively represented by the Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU). All 15 Universities have active membership with MSFAA and our current MSFAA President works for a Public University.

All 15 of the Universities recently signed on to the College Cost Transparency Initiative. Signing the Initiative shows a continued commitment to college affordability to the over 255,000 students who attend Michigan’s public universities.

As you can relate, the aid offices within the Universities are busy right now helping students understand financial aid for the 2024-25 school year. Here are some highlights of what is happening across the Universities.

Central Michigan University - Why Should All Students Complete the FAFSA?

Eastern Michigan University - Changes to the 2024-2025 FAFSA

Ferris State University - 2024-2025 FAFSA

Grand Valley State University - Preparing for 2024-2025 Financial Aid

Lake Superior State University - 2024-2025 FAFSA Coming December 2023

Michigan State University - A Simpler 2024-25 FAFSA

Michigan Tech - 2024-2025 FAFSA Changes

Northern Michigan University - 2024-2025 FAFSA Simplification

Oakland University - FAFSA - Big Changes Coming

Saginaw Valley State University - FAFSA 2024-25 Simplification

University of Michigan - 24/25 FAFSA - 2024-2025 FAFSA Changes

University of Michigan Dearborn - FAFSA Simplification

University of Michigan Flint - 24/25 FAFSA

Wayne State University - File the 2024-25 FAFSA

Western Michigan University - Apply for Financial Aid

If you haven’t attended a meeting, consider joining us for important 4-Year public updates and the opportunity for discussion and collaboration as we approach 2024-2025. 

Are you hosting a FAFSA Completion Workshop that is open to the public?  Email Joilyn Stephenson at joistep@umich.edu and Felicia Pelto at peltof@michigan.gov.  Get the most out of your event through promotion on the up and coming EAMO website.

In recognition of Black History Month, the MSFAA DE&I Committee would like to take this opportunity to celebrate and honor Black History Month. Black History Month was created to focus attention on the contributions of African Americans to the United States. It honors all black people from all periods of U.S history, from the enslaved people first brought over from Africa in the early 17^th century to African Americans today. Black history month celebrates the rich cultural heritage, triumphs, and adversities that are an ever-lasting part of our country’s story and history.

The story of Black History Month begins with Carter G. Woodson, the “father of Black history” who first set out in 1926 to designate a time to promote and educate people about Black history and black culture.  Woodson envisioned a weeklong celebration to encourage the coordinated teachings of Black history in public schools. He designated the second week of February as Negro History Week and galvanized historians through the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).

The idea eventually grew in acceptance, and by the late 1960s, Negro History Week had evolved into what is now known as Black History Month. Protest around racial injustices, inequality, and anti -imperialism that were occurring in many parts of the U.S. were pivotal to the change.

Fifty years after the first celebrations, President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month during the country’s 1976 bicentennial. Ford called upon Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history”.

Source: NPR https://wskg.org/npr-news/2022-02-01/heres-the-story-behind-black-history-month-and-why-its-celebrated-in-february

Here are a few notable “First Black Achievers” in Higher Education in the state of Michigan.

Michigan State University

• Ø  1948 David W. Dickson first black faculty member appointed
• Ø  1970 Clifton Wharton first black President
• Ø  1995 Merritt Norvell was appointed the first African American athletics director in the Big Ten

University of Michigan

• Ø  1870 Gabriel Hargo first black graduate of University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School. He was only the second African American in the nation to earn a law degree; the first was George Lewis Ruffin, who graduated from Harvard Law in 1869.
• Ø  1885 Sophia Bethena Jones, MD first black woman to graduate from University of Michigan Medical School
• Ø  1953 Albert Wheeler first black tenured professor