From the desk of...
Robert Weinerman, Director of Training
Usually around this time, I begin writing my curriculum for the upcoming fall and winter. I have to admit that I have not started yet, because there are so many potential changes coming to the tax code and to financial aid guidance and regulations. I am trying to hit the sweet spot between starting early enough to do the updates in an orderly fashion vs. late enough to avoid having to multiple rewrites.
As you know, there was no such sweet spot at the start of the 2024-25 cycle, which covered the rollout of the post-FAFSA simplification FAFSA. The Department kept tossing updates our way, and there are some parts of that year’s program that I had to revise at least ten times!
It feels like this might be another cycle without a sweet spot. Congress is rushing to get a tax bill to the President’s desk for implementation in the 2025 tax year. The House of Representative just passed a bill that includes elimination of taxation of some tips and overtime, eliminates the ability of families in which one or both heads of the household are undocumented to claim various credits, including the education credits, and while it extends the tax exemption on student loans that are discharged at the borrower’s death beyond this year, it does so only for people with social security numbers who are eligible to work in the United States.
Luckily for me, the 2026-27 FAFSA will collect information from the 2024 tax returns – and the changes proposed are more likely to matter next year, than this year. But schools often look to the prior year tax returns as documentation for professional judgments – and how these changes impact the FAFSA data will need to be unraveled for that purpose. I’ll do my best to figure that out, and keep you informed of the changes and their impact.
Since we are talking about the fall and winter trainings, if you're thinking about bringing me to your institution next academic year, it's not too early to schedule. With all the potential changes, I am sure there will be a lot to talk about, and my calendar is already starting to fill up.
Finally, as always, if there are any new topics that you'd like me to cover in my training, please do let me know!
~ Robert
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