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This article, as originally published Wednesday evening, touched on victories related to the Federal Pell Grant, campus-based funding, and data-sharing in the fiscal year (FY) 2018 omnibus spending bill, which cleared the House and the Senate on Thursday. It has since been updated to include greater detail about the funding and policy provisions in the bill, including modifications to PSLF and Pell Grant eligibility. President Donald Trump, who has already expressed his support for the legislation, is expected to sign the bill into law before today's midnight deadline.

Over one million students drop out of college annually, accruing loan debt despite not having earned a credential. A new report found that despite myths that these students are weak learners and have no intention of continuing their education, a majority want to return to college yet continue to face barriers to completing degrees.

New for the 2018 NASFAA National Conference, registered attendees will have three options for pre-conference sessions on Sunday, June 24 in Austin, TX. These sessions are included with your registration fee at no additional cost. NASFAA U is pleased to offer two in-person courses on Verification and Return of Title IV Funds. Conference attendees who participate in either course will receive a voucher for the associated credential test. The third exciting option is our Diversity Event on Implicit Bias, led by featured speaker Lena Tenney. Register for the conference today and start thinking about which pre-conference session you'll choose.

NASFAA U’s summer course starts soon! Overview of the Financial Aid Programs introduces attendees to basic financial aid concepts, categories and types of financial aid, the Title IV aid programs, and other federal sources of assistance to students. This course is not only an effective training tool for new financial aid staff, it also offers your institution's non-financial aid staff a basic understanding of financial aid programs and requirements. Register Now.

An updated version of the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Gainful Employment User Guide is now available on the NSLDS User Documentation page on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.

"Late last summer, President Trump signed into law a long-awaited update to the GI Bill -- a rare moment of bipartisanship in the first year of the Trump administration and a major victory for veterans’ groups. Just half a year later, though, the same organizations are lining up to oppose House legislation to reauthorize the law governing federal student aid, college accountability and many other aspects of higher ed," Inside Higher Ed reports. 

"U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) is calling for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to change a policy that is preventing students from getting financial-aid data they need to give private-scholarship providers for payments," according to the Business Journal News Network. 

"Full-time students are more likely to graduate than part-time ones, according to a growing body of research. And seemingly, the fuller a course load, the better: students who take 15 credits a semester are more likely to graduate than their classmates who take 12 -- since an average of 15 per semester ensures a degree in four years," Inside Higher Ed reports. "...However, critics say the approach can fail to consider students with jobs and other responsibilities at home."

"At a time when federal, state and institutional policies are backing away from helping low-income, first-generation and ethnic and racial minority students, a few colleges are spending significant amounts of time and money on providing such help, using a model piloted by City University of New York, or CUNY," PBS NewsHour reports. 

"The Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group representing companies who collect education debt payments, sued the District on Tuesday over its requirement that servicers disclose information about their activities and obtain a license to operate within its borders," according to The Washington Post. 

"Accountability rules that exempt public and private nonprofit colleges thus fail to protect a majority of the students who are at risk. Such rules also create a perverse incentive for for-profit schools to escape scrutiny by converting to nonprofit status, as many are now trying to do," Jason Delisle and Preston Cooper write for the American Enterprise Institute. 

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