The Current Situation:

Recent federal legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” has introduced complex changes to student aid, including new mandates for loan proration and changes to student borrowing limits. To ensure our systems (Colleague) align with these new federal requirements, we recently completed a necessary technical pause.

The good news: IT successfully installed the required patches last Wednesday, and the Financial Aid Office has resumed importing 2026–2027 FAFSAs.

Timeline & What to Expect:

• Testing Phase: We are currently in a 2-to-4-day testing window to ensure award packaging is functioning correctly.
• Mass Notification: Once testing is complete, we will begin sending award letters. Unlike previous years, where awards were staggered, 24,000–26,000 students will receive notifications in a very short timeframe.
• Federal System Updates: The Department of Education is also updating federal databases (NSLDS and COD). This has caused some nationwide delays and occasional data discrepancies that our team is monitoring closely.
• Expected Increase in Student Inquiries: We also anticipate another significant influx of student inquiries once loan disbursements begin. Concepts such as less-than-full-time enrollment impacts and annual loan limit amounts are new for many students, and Financial Aid staff are already preparing for a substantial increase in questions and concerns.

What Does This Mean For You:

Because this delay has compressed a semester’s worth of work into a few weeks, we are asking for division-wide collaboration in the following areas:

• Prepare Your Teams: Front-line teams should expect an increase in student inquiries. Students may be anxious as they have not yet received 2026–2027 award letters. 
• How To Support Financial Aid Staff: Our team has worked through hundreds of pages of new federal regulations and is managing a high volume of complex, manual reviews. If students come to you with loan questions, please be patient and direct them to the Financial Aid office for assistance.
• Leadership Support: Student Affairs leadership is committed to supporting the Financial Aid team. We are looking for ways to streamline communications and provide additional guidance as needed. If your area would like to learn more about upcoming Financial Aid changes for the 2026–2027 academic year, please reach out to me.