Regions PCCS Private College and Schools Financial Aid Conferences
A BIG change is coming!
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Last year’s agenda is out; a new one is coming soon, but this will give you an idea of the many topics covered.
SUNDAY May 3rd
Conference Registration outside the Garden Room– Sikich, Inc
SUNDAY January 28th – Buchanan Room FOYER Financial Aid INFO for everyone will be offered for 3 hours starting on Sunday from 2:00 pm to 05:00 pm
2:00 pm to 03:00 pm By Gregory Plourde: Consumer Information
Do you really have what is required, General School and Student Information, and what is expected to be disclosed.
03:00 pm to 4:00 pm By David Canaski
Title IV Compliance Outside of the Financial Aid Office:
Do you think your Third-Party Servicer is keeping you “compliant”? When is the last time they talked with you about GLBA, Title IX, campus security, or a dozen other compliance issues? Did you know that federal Title IV requires schools must have over three dozen written policies and more than thirty required consumer disclosures? Let’s start with the list of requirements and chat about strategies for bringing your school into compliance and keeping it there.
04:00 pm to 05:00 pm By Mary Lyn Hammer/Jon White
AVOID DROWNING IN THE “WATERFALL” OF STUDENT LOAN DEFAULTS
Presenter: Mary Lyn Hammer
Immerse yourself in knowledge to avoid drowning in the waterfall of student loan defaults. You will learn about details and solutions for challenges from five years of payment pause and pandemic programs; legal and regulatory changes for student loans; the recent PSLF and OBBB negotiated rulemaking; and how to combat historically high delinquency and default rates.
5:00 PM– HOTEL ATRIUM AREA Meet with speakers one-on-one if you like in the hotel. (see Terry for sign up)
MONDAY, May 4th…
07:00am– 09:00 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION– Buchanan Room FOYER
FREE breakfast even if you’re NOT staying at the Hotel!
08:45 am to 09:00 am – START
Opening and Welcome – Terry Hopkins, Invocation by Ron Holt, and a Moment for Joe Knutte
08:45 am to 09:00 am Terry Hopkins’ introduction of our exhibitors and sponsors
09:00 to 10:00 –
“This year has offered a wild ride in higher education, from the FSA staffing purge to the One Big Beautiful Bill to pending lawsuits and new rulemaking, but most of the fundamentals of delivering Title IV aid to students remain the same. This session will provide a galloping overview of more important things that have happened.” – By Ron Holt
10:00 AM TO 10:05 AM – BREAK by David M. Canaski Financial Aid Experts, Inc.
10:00 am to 11:00 am – By Mary Lyn Hammer/Jon White
AVOID DROWNING IN THE “WATERFALL” OF STUDENT LOAN DEFAULTS
Immerse yourself in knowledge to avoid drowning in the waterfall of student loan defaults. You will learn about details and solutions for challenges from five years of payment pause and pandemic programs; legal and regulatory changes for student loans; the recent PSLF and OBBB negotiated rulemaking; and how to combat historically high delinquency and default rates.
11:00 am to 12:00 am – “ New Program” By Yolanda R. Gallegos Gallegos Legal Group
The requirement for “regular and substantive interaction” (RSI) in distance education is ripe for reevaluation. The U.S. Department of Education has metastasized this simple statutory term in the definition of “distance education” into a regulatory quagmire. In an era of AI-assisted, outcomes-based learning, the RSI regulation needlessly constrains pedagogical innovation.
Lawyer Yolanda Gallegos of the Gallegos Legal Group will explain how a Trump Executive Order and recent Supreme Court decisions provide an exciting new legal basis for reconfiguring the current RSI standard. EO 14219 requires federal agencies to align regulations with the constitutional limits of agency authority as articulated in recent Supreme Court decisions.
This session will:
- Analyze how the Executive Order and the Supreme Court now restrict the Department’s authority to enforce rigid interaction models;
- Explore innovations that the current RSI framework discourages, such as AI-supported learning models.
- Offer a blueprint for redefining RSI to permit technological flexibility.
12:00 pm to 12:45 pm Working lunch – Wright International, our Lunch Sponsors
Working Lunch – “Student loans are going to be payable someday” By Diana Rodriguez- Wright International Student Services
12:45 pm to 01:45 pm – by David M. Canaski, Financial Aid Experts, Inc.:
Academic Program Design and the Impact on Financial Aid Eligibility:
Are your programs optimized to give your students the maximum financial aid available? Are your current or proposed programs even built in a compliant manner? In order to explore the answers, we’ll need to talk about concepts like 1) program length, 2) in-person vs. on-line vs. hybrid, 3) term-based vs. non-term (including modules), 4) BBAY vs SAY, 5) degree vs. certificate, and 6) credit vs. clock hours.
01:45 PM to 02:45 pm – By Gregory Plourde:
Institutional Self-Study [Self-Evaluation Report
The areas of failure and how to survive the team’s interpretation of your school and the obligation to demonstrate continuous compliance.
2:45 to 3:00 – Break in the Hallway! Sponsored By Ron Holt -Rouse Frets White Goss Gentile
03:00 PM to 04:00 pm– By John M Muzurek– Sikich, Inc.
“Financial Statement Audit and Student Financial Aid Update – Best Practices and Avoiding Pitfalls”.
04:30 PM –Terry Hopkins ADJOURN
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR, SAME PLACE, 2026
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Sunday Classes start in the afternoon, and all will finish with a Hospitality meet-and-greet Sunday evening at 5:30 PM. Monday’s NEW FORMAT: Financial Aid CONFERENCES start at 9:00 AM. Financial Aid Conference programs start at 9:00 AM on Monday and end at 4:30 PM.
Come to the meeting in a way that suits your schedule and your budget.
THANKS FOR A GREAT CONFERENCE
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!