NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — The Education Department reduced its planned participation in the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) annual conference, canceling multiple breakout sessions. The conference is scheduled to begin on June 29 in National Harbor, Md. The department will still host a listening session and a federal policy update without taking live questions ahead of the July 1 implementation date for key provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Key provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act take effect on July 1. These new provisions include a prorated loan cap for postbaccalaureate students, a new loan repayment plan, and Pell Grants for short-term job training programs. Regulations explaining these changes were finalized in late April and mid-May, and multiple plaintiffs have challenged the new loan limit provisions in separate courts.

The department initially planned to conduct four breakout sessions at the conference but later withdrew from all of them except for a session on the Office of Inspector General. However, the department later agreed to host a listening session that was not originally scheduled. The department will not participate in the Ask-a-Fed event at the conference.

Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent is scheduled to participate in a fireside chat on June 30 with NASFAA president Melanie Storey. Storey stated the department did not provide a reason for withdrawing from the session addressing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. "It initially felt unfathomable that the department wouldn’t be able to answer operational questions on literally the days before and after the implementation of these new provisions." Storey said.

"I knew how much our members want and share the goal of successful implementation of this work, and how disappointed and frustrated they would be that there would not be as much information coming from the department as they’d initially expected, and as we likely led them to believe given the conversations we had been having." she said. "The only thing I can suppose is that they need to be heads down, focusing on their aspects of the implementation straight through July 1." she said. "My rejoinder to that would be they need financial aid administrators and the software providers and others who support financial aid offices to also be ready, and so we share a goal with the department to have consistent and accurate information to implement this law, and we need to hear from them." she said.

Department spokesperson Ellen Keast addressed the changes in conference participation. "The sessions they will participate in are part of a broader set of implementation supports leading up to the July 1 implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including sessions at the recent FSA Training Conference, published guidance and Q&As, webinars, office hours, and podcasts." Keast said. "The Department is focused on supporting financial aid administrators and the millions of borrowers impacted through scalable, accessible resources rather than concentrating efforts on participation in one conference." she said.