The Department of Education may be just weeks away from issuing new rules that would overhaul how credit unions and banks work with colleges and universities. However, the fight over those rules is still raging, according to documents filed during the recently ended public comment period.

At issue is the Program Integrity and Improvement plan, which would prohibit colleges and universities from requiring students to deposit their financial aid dollars in accounts with specific financial institutions. It would also establish two types of arrangements between schools and financial institutions: Tier 1 arrangements, which are agreements to process federal aid on behalf of the school and offer accounts to students and parents; and Tier 2 arrangements, which involve agreements to market accounts directly to students and parents.

The proposed rules also prohibit charging overdraft fees if students select accounts offered by contractors that help schools disburse federal student aid. Card issuers would have to implement authorization limits instead. "Reasonable access" to surcharge-free ATMs and fee-free access to financial aid funds for a 30-day period would also be required, meaning financial institutions might have to deploy more ATMs or pay ATM network providers to comply.