Announcements
Federal Student Loan Repayment Pause Extended
The student loan payment pause is extended until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 — payments will resume 60 days after that. Visit StudentAid.gov: COVID-19 Emergency Relief and Federal Student Aid for more information.
Federal Student Aid Eligibility for Borrowers with Defaulted Loans — “Fresh Start” initiative
Students currently in default on their Federal student loans now have an opportunity to get another chance to receive Federal aid and complete their education. Read more about the Fresh Start initiative.
Upcoming 2024-2025 FAFSA Changes
Beginning with the 2024–2025 FAFSA, the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will be replaced by the Student Aid Index (SAI) and will use federal poverty guidelines to determine federal Pell Grant eligibility.
The 2024–2025 FAFSA application is anticipated to be available in December 2023 and will also include changes to the information used to determine the Student Aid Index.
Changes include:
- Elimination of family members currently enrolled in college.
- Elimination of allowance for state and local taxes
- Allowance of negative Student Aid Index amounts
- Adjustments to Income Protection Allowance (IPA)
In an effort to ease the financial aid process, the Department of Education is currently making continuous improvements. New changes will be added as given.
View a summary of the Federal Financial Aid recent changes for 2021–2023.
Last update: 8/25/2022.
2022–2023 Federal Aid Verification Waiver
The Department of Education recognizes the need to continue to provide relief to millions of students and colleges facing challenges and barriers resulting from the ongoing national emergency. They are continuing to waive certain verification requirements into the 2022–2023 award year. They will maintain verification requirements that strictly focus on identity and fraud for the remainder of the 2022–2023 award year and waive the remaining verification requirements. This means that fewer students will be selected for financial aid verification by Hawkeye Community College and we will be able to offer financial aid to many of our students faster.