The federal student loan payment pause is coming to an end. Interest will resume on all loans on September 1, 2023 and loan payments will be due starting in October 2023. This webinar reviews the repayment options available to federal loan borrowers re-entering repayment. We discuss income-based repayment options and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) in addition to standard repayment options and best practices to make sure your federal loans remain in good standing after the payment pause.

The FAFSA Simplification Act that was enabled into law last year makes many important amendments to the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Full implementation of these changes is expected for the 2024-25 FAFSA. This means that beginning in the next financial aid application cycle, which begins this Fall 2023, there will be a number of changes for your students and families to both the FAFSA form itself as well as the financial aid application process. Please join us for the first in a series of expert panel discussions co-sponsored by MEFA and the Massachusetts Association of Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA) on this topic. The panelists are financial aid administrators from a variety of colleges and universities who share what is changing and when, what that means for your students and families, and how you can stay informed.

The U.Plan Prepaid Tuition Program is one of the most powerful ways to save for college, but would-be savers sometimes have questions about how it works. So we’re providing an opportunity for one of our in-house U.Plan experts to answer all of your questions. Come prepared to ask anything you’ve ever wanted to know about Massachusetts’ prepaid tuition program. Leave with a keen understanding of how saving in the U.Plan can help your family make significant strides in preparing financially for college costs.

Is FAFSA Simplification keeping you up at night? Or are you too busy to even think about it? Either way, please join us for the first in a series of virtual roundtable discussions for financial aid administrators on this topic co-sponsored by MEFA and MASFAA (Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators) and led by Gail Holt, Dean of Financial Aid at Amherst College and Chair of the NASFAA FAFSA Simplification Implementation Working Group, and Jill Desjean, Policy Analyst at NASFAA. Throughout these conversations, as information unfolds and we continue to learn more, we discuss the different approaches colleges are taking to implement these financial aid updates, learn from each other, and develop an execution plan for our own institutions.

Learn the steps to appeal a financial aid offer from a panel of college financial aid administrators. Panelists cover how to write an appeal letter, what situations might warrant receiving additional funds, and the timeline for the process.

This webinar provides key information that help participants guide students through applying to college. Topics include current trends in admissions, building a balanced list of colleges, the different components of the college application including transcripts, essays, and letters of recommendation and how to incorporate MEFA Pathway into the college admissions process.

This webinar provides valuable guidance as you help high school seniors who have received college acceptance letters and financial aid offers and are trying to make the college decision. Topics include an overview of different types of financial aid, an explanation of how to calculate the balance due for each college, and methods for paying the college bill.

In this webinar for school counselors and college access professionals, learn how students can use the College Cost Calculator in MEFA Pathway, MEFA’s free college and career planning portal, to determine their personal cost at each college and university based on their financial aid received and other resources, which can help them make their college decision.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced another waiver that will bring borrowers closer to forgiveness under income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and that in many ways extend the benefits of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver. These adjustments to borrower accounts include conducting a one-time revision of IDR payment counters to address past inaccuracies (including automatically discharging loans for eligible borrowers) and permanently fixing IDR payment counting by reforming ED’s IDR tracking procedures going forward. These adjustments also allow Parent PLUS borrowers and other federal loan borrowers to obtain credit for normally ineligible periods for the purposes of Public Service Loan Forgiveness! Join us for a discussion on this important topic with student loan expert Betsy Mayotte, President of TISLA.

Learn how to use the Loan Cost Estimator in MEFA Pathway, MEFA’s free college and career planning portal, to calculate estimates of a monthly loan payment and repayment total based upon a loan amount borrowed.