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Yesterday, NASFAA submitted comments  to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in response to a request for information regarding loan servicing issues. The CFPB asked for feedback regarding general practices in the student loan industry, applicability of consumer protections from other markets (such as credit cards and mortgages), and availability of data about student loan performance.

Money magazine’s 2015 rankings, released Monday, analyzed data from more than 700 colleges on 21 factors in three categories including educational quality, affordability and alumni earnings.

Customer service scores for federal loan servicers continued to be high for the first three quarters of fiscal year (FY) 2015, while the percentage of borrowers in repayment increased among several servicers, according to recent data from the Department of Education (ED).

With new search tools, personalization options, and an updated, clean new look and navigation, the updated NASFAA.org helps you get what you need, quickly. Check out this brief video to learn more about the updated website and stay tuned to Today's News for more videos about key features! Got some feedback to share? Fill out this feedback form and let us know what you think!

This letter announces the availability of Federal Student Aid's EDExpress Release 2.0 Online Training for 2015-2016.

The Department of Education provides several critical reminders to the community about the correct reporting of gainful employment (GE) data to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).

The Department of Education announces recent enhancements related to the availability of reaffirmation data on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS^®).

"Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O'Malley revealed last week that he and his wife borrowed $339,200 to put their two eldest children through college, the latest of many scary anecdotes about massive student loans," Reuters reports. "'It can potentially frighten off those lower-income people who can most benefit from higher education,'" said NASFAA President Justin Draeger.

"The total number of colleges that U.S. Department of Education regulators are more closely monitoring because of concerns about their ability to handle federal funds ticked downward slightly last month, recently released data show," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"With its gleaming classrooms, sports teams and even a pep squad, the Apprentice School that serves the enormous Navy shipyard here bears little resemblance to a traditional vocational education program," The New York Times reports.

"Most people in higher education agree that the old-school college transcript fails to adequately capture what students learn and do during their time in college. ... So the two national associations that represent those groups today announced a project to develop models for a more comprehensive student record," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"High schools across the country are taking what might seem like a counterintuitive approach to educating some of their most at-risk students," National Journal reports. "They're enrolling them in college before they even graduate from high school."

"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has delivered a strong message to Internet scammers: Don't mess with student loan debtors," the Reading Eagle reports.

"A mid-year tuition hike could be a reality for students attending Iowa’s three public universities. Late last year, the Iowa Board of Regents approved a freeze on tuition rates for the third consecutive year," KCRG reports. 

"Gov. Jay Nixon said Saturday that he was vetoing a measure that would block immigrants who are illegally in the United States from receiving money under Missouri’s A+ scholarship program," the Associated Press reports. 

"... Beginning with students entering this year — whether in two-, three- or four-year programs — Brooklyn Law School is offering to repay 15 percent of total tuition costs to those who have not found full-time jobs nine months after graduating," The New York Times reports. "That, according to school officials, is how long it typically takes graduates to get such jobs and, if necessary, to obtain the requisite licenses."

"It’s been a little over a year since Michelle Obama brought school counselors and the important work they do into the spotlight as never before," Patrick O'Connor writes for Inside Higher Ed. "... Other components of the Reach Higher initiative -- College Decision Day and the Counselor of the Year celebration at the White House -- are off to an impressive start, but efforts to create new course work and professional development have stalled."

"Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley surrendered — just like many other parents," Michelle Singletary writes for The Elkhart Truth. "When his daughters were choosing their colleges, he let them have their way. He didn't want to crush their dreams, and ended up with crushing debt."

"Jim Webb recently declared his candidacy for president. The former U.S. senator from Virginia is just the fifth Democrat to do so, a number that contrasts sharply with the fourteen Republicans gunning for their party’s primary," Brandon Wright writes for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's Eduwatch blog.

"There is a strange disconnect happening in discussions about college prices. ... The radically different presentations of college affordability reflect the ways in which language and vocabulary around higher education can lead to wildly different assumptions," according to the Center for American Progress. 

"... More and more, the least privileged students across the country are being funneled into the least prestigious, lowest-funded institutions, many of them two-year colleges," the Hechinger Report writes in Washington Monthly's College Guide blog.

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