Thank you to all who participated in the 2023 VASFAA Annual Conference!  

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2024 VASFAA ANNUAL CONFERENCE!  More details to come!

When: April 14th-17th, 2024

Where: Charlottesville, Virginia

STAY TUNED!  MORE DETAILS TO COME!!

• See the latest VASFAA Voice!

• Proper Use of FAFSA Tax Information, Presented by Robert Weinerman

  Starting with the 2024-2025 academic year and the implementation of the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange (FADDX) between the IRS and the FAFSA, most of the tax information you’ll be handling will be considered “Controlled, Unclassified Information” (CUI) and “Personal Tax Information” (PTI). Information classified as CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information) and PTI (Personal Tax Information) must be treated in specific, and more strict ways that differ from the treatment of other information in the student’s application. In this session, we will review the proper use and protection or PTI, the proper use and protection of other FAFSA data, and the difference between tax information provided via the FADDX and manually by the application or other FAFSA contributor.

  Join us on Thursday, December 14th at 10AM Register Today!

  
  

• Level Up Virginia: VASA Application, Presented by Tierney Jackson, SCHEV

  Level Up Virginia Events are co-sponsored by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) and GEAR UP Virginia.

  Join Tierney Jackson, SCHEV for a webinar on the VASA application. The VASA application is completely free, secure and grants access only to state financial aid opportunities. It provides an alternative pathway for these students to apply for state-level financial assistance. So, if you’re in one of these categories and need financial aid for your education, the VASA application is an excellent option.

  Join us on Tuesday, December 12th @ 2PM Register Today! Additional Registration Required. Details in your confirmation email!

• Wheel of Life, Presented by Bonnie Carb, Financial Aid Advisor at Laurel Ridge Community College & Leadership Coach

Discover your true satisfaction in your personal and your Financial Aid professional life. Learn how you can take steps forward in an authentic way that aligns with who you are and what you value. Contemplate how to empower and make a difference for yourself both personally and professionally. Begin to create goals and structures as steppingstones towards fulfillment.

Please note that this is a “Safe Space” class and will not be recorded in order for attendees to feel safe in sharing private information with Webinar attendees. The slide deck will be shared with attendees and is not for public use. 

Join us on Wednesday, December 6th Register Today!

• Not Just Another Hand Calc, Presented by Robert Weinerman: 

I know and I get it – the FAFSA Processing System (FPS) will deliver ISIRs with the Student Aid Index (SAI) already calculated, and you don’t think you need to do a hand calculation of the SAI. But this session is a little different. We will use the formulas from the SAI Guide to hand calculate an SAI or two, including calculating Pell eligibilities – but our purpose is to see how changes in some of the data elements impact the SAI. Your institutions will be inviting students to submit appeals, and you’ll have more of them to do. A solid understanding of how the data elements in the FAFSA are used in the SAI formula, and how changes to a data element (AGI, income earned from work, parent or student assets, etc.) will change the SAI and student’s aid eligibility, is essential. You’ll learn how to predict whether an adjustment to a FAFSA data element will make enough of a change in the SAI to make a difference in the aid a student might receive. Registration Closed. Webinar Recording and Webinar Slides available here.

Join us on November 8th from 10am to 12pm. Register Now!

• Overview of Changes 2024-2025 Financial Aid Cycle, Presented by Robert Weinerman:  We’ve been hearing about, studying, Zooming, and worrying about the impact of the FUTURE Act and the FAFSA Simplification Act for months now – and now it’s actually happening. Let’s take a broad overview of the two acts and how they are changing the way we will process federal applications going forward. We’ll review the key changes made by the two acts, including the move from the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to the Student Aid Index (SAI), changes to Pell Grant eligibility, and the impact of the transition from the IRS DRT to the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange (FADDX). We’ll look at how the FADDX will impact V1 verification. And we’ll review changes in the tax code and the use of tax returns as we move to tax year 2022 as the base year for 2024-2025. Join us on October 16th from 10am to 12pm. Registration Closed. Webinar Recording and Webinar Slides available here.

• Save the dates for our exciting in-person events!  Check out the Training Site for Details.
• 1. October 2nd, 2023, Laurel Ridge Community College, Warrenton,VA - Registration Closed
  2. October 24th, 2023, Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke VA - Registration Closed
  3. November 6th, 2023, Reynolds Community College, Richmond, VA - Registration Open
  4. Leadership Summit: November 13th, 2023, Hampton-Sydney College, Farmville, VA - Registration Open
• The session with Jillian Sitjar from Schoolhouse Connection presenting Filling out the FAFSA for Homeless and Foster Youth was a success! SchoolHouse Connection is a national organization working to overcome homelessness through education from prenatal to postsecondary. This session will provide an overview of the FAFSA provisions for homeless and foster youth from the FAFSA Simplification Act, strategies to implement, resources available for financial aid administrators, and general best practices for helping support students experiencing homelessness. The recording is now available!
• If you missed our Recharge event you can now access the recording and other information!  Have you noticed that you get enough sleep, but you're still not feeling rested? Sleep and rest are not the same thing, and sleep doesn't provide all of the different kinds of rest we need. Explore the resources from this campaign during a CommonHealth presentation.  
• The Great “Unpausing” of Student Loans - We had a great session with good discussion!  The Webinar Slides & Additional Resources and the Unpausing Student Loans Q&A | Best Practices Form are now available for you to review. 
• FM Verification and Conflicting Information 2023-2024 Webinar: With the pandemic emergency ending in May, it looks like V1 verification may be required in the 2023-2024 academic year. In this webinar, Robert Weinerman, Director of Training at Iron Bridge Resources, LLC, will review the basics of verification and tax forms – including a review of the required documents that must be collected when a student is placed in the V1 verification group. Recording and handouts now available!
  
• Breaking Barriers: Accessing State Financial Aid using the VASA Application Webinar:  This session will cover what the VASA application is, who can benefit from it, and how to file it as well as provide a walkthrough of the application. Recording and handouts now available! 
• 2023 VASFAA Annual In-Person Conference, Renaissance Hotel, Portsmouth, VA,  May 7th - May 10th, Handouts Available!

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