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COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE
WORKFORCE
September 13, 2005
Easing the Financial Aid Process for Students & Schools Impacted by Hurricane Katrina
Dear Colleague:
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina will have a lasting impact on our nation’s educational systems. We are working closely with the U.S. Department of Education to determine what steps can be taken immediately, and what action may be needed in the future to meet the needs of students, families, and schools. At the postsecondary level, students may be seeking transfers to other institutions of higher education or the ability to withdraw and postpone their higher education as they work to rebuild their homes and their lives.
The Department has been working to provide guidance, flexibility, and assistance to the postsecondary students and institutions impacted by Hurricane Katrina and its aftereffects. The Department recently issued guidance, available online here, on extending certain deadlines for student aid filing and reporting. With thousands of displaced students seeking enrollment, this guidance should help ease the transition as colleges and universities open their doors and welcome those who have lost their campuses, homes, and communities. This flexibility will help colleges and universities ensure students affected by Hurricane Katrina have access to federal student financial aid. We hope you will find this information useful in helping your constituents and others in the higher education community impacted by this unprecedented natural disaster.
In the coming days and weeks, we will continue to provide you with the latest available information on relief for the educational systems impacted by Hurricane Katrina, and we will continue to work closely with the Department to ensure we are meeting the needs of students, families, and schools. For more information, visit the U.S. Department of Education website at http://www.ed.gov or contact the Education & the Workforce Committee at x5-4527.
Sincerely,
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