Directives

Code of Conduct | The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act | Verification | Changes to Student Aid

Code of Conduct

The following Code of Conduct was last updated by NASFAA's Board of Directors in March 2014. Institutional members of NASFAA will ensure that:

1. No action will be taken by financial aid staff that is for their personal benefit or could be perceived to be a conflict of interest.
   
   a. Employees within the financial aid office will not award aid to themselves or their immediate family members. Staff will reserve this task to an institutionally designated person, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
   
   b. If a preferred lender list is provided, it will be compiled without prejudice and for the sole benefit of the students attending the institution. The information included about lenders and loan terms will be transparent, complete, and accurate. The complete process through which preferred lenders are selected will be fully and publically disclosed. Borrowers will not be auto-assigned to any particular lender.
   
   c. A borrower's choice of a lender will not be denied, impeded, or unnecessarily delayed by the institution, even if that lender is not included on the institution's preferred lender list.
   
   d. No amount of cash, gift, or benefit in excess of a de minimis amount shall be accepted by a financial aid staff member from any financial aid applicant (or his/her family), or from any entity doing business with or seeking to do business with the institution (including service on advisory committees or boards beyond reimbursement for reasonable expenses directly associated with such service).
2. Information provided by the financial aid office is accurate, unbiased, and does not reflect preference arising from actual or potential personal gain.
3. Institutional award notifications and/or other institutionally provided materials shall include the following:
   
   a. A breakdown of individual components of the institution's Cost of Attendance, designating all potential billable charges.
   
   b. Clear identification of each award, indicating type of aid, i.e. gift aid (grant, scholarship), work, or loan.
   
   c. Standard terminology and definitions, using NASFAA's glossary of award letter terms.
   
   d. Renewal requirements for each award.
4. All required consumer information is displayed in a prominent location on the institutional web site(s) and in any printed materials, easily identified and found, and labeled as "Consumer Information."
5. Financial aid professionals will disclose to their institution any involvement, interest in, or potential conflict of interest with any entity with which the institution has a business relationship.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

Why can't the Office of Student Financial Aid tell your spouse, parents, or outside agencies what kind of aid you've been awarded?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (a.k.a. the Buckley Amendment) limits the access, without express written consent from the student, of any outside person or agency to a student's educational records. A student may, however, bring along a spouse/parent, etc. when coming to the office for appointments or to ask questions.

Verification

Once a student submits the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) there is a possibility that the application will be randomly selected by the US Dept. of Education or the University for a process called Verification.  This is an audit/review process in which the student's school of choice is required to conduct the review in order to determine the student's aid eligibility.

If a student is selected for Verification, he or she will receive an e-mail notification to their UNO e-mail account, which will contain a Personal URL (PURL) that must be used to access the website, authenticate who they are, register,and begin the process.  It is absolutely necessary that students use the PURL provided in the e-mail notification to initially access the website.  In order to accelerate the verification process and award eligible students quickly, UNO will not longer accept verification documents at the Privateer Enrollment Center (PEC).

If a student had to provide information about his or her parents when they completed the FAFSA, their parent(s) will have to complete the verification process too.  The student will need their parent's e-mail address, date of birth, and social security number when they register in the site.  All of this information can usually be found on the Student Aid Report (SAR) sent to the student once the FAFSA has been completed.  Once the student registers, his or her parent(s) will receive an e-mail notification with instructions to access the website and complete the process. Check the Verification policy Document.

Verification Frequently Asked Questions