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On Friday, NASFAA sent a letter to the Department of Education requesting an extension of the July 31 deadline date for submission of gainful employment (GE) data. The letter reflects concerns expressed by NASFAA conference attendees, particularly from the community college and proprietary sectors, that schools need more time to ensure accurate reporting.

Student leaders across the U.S. are concerned that the high cost of college may limit students’ career development and that the federal financial aid programs are not making the impact they could, according to a recent report from the National Campus Leadership Council (NCLC).

NASFAA is here to help you stay up to date on the top policy events occurring throughout the week in Washington, D.C. and, when applicable, across the country. Make sure to check back in to Today's News each morning for coverage of some of the events, and email us at [email protected] if you're aware of upcoming policy events that could be of interest to the financial aid community.

Congress:
The House is in session Monday through Wednesday. The Senate is in session Monday through Friday.

Tuesday:

• Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Meeting for Borrower Defense, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET
• State of the Union Address, 9:00 pm ET

Wednesday:

• Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Meeting for Borrower Defense, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET

Thursday:

• Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Meeting for Borrower Defense, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET

The COD Processing Update provides information related to COD System processing and includes the following sections: COD News and Updates, Current Issues (with a subsection for All Programs, Direct Loans, and Grants), and Reminders.

"American higher education is failing 'far too many of our students,' Education Secretary Arne Duncan was scheduled to say Monday, as he calls for colleges to be held more accountable for graduating students with high-quality degrees that lead to good jobs, " Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Democratic contender Martin O’Malley raised a few eyebrows earlier this month when he revealed that his family amassed $339,200 in student loans sending his two daughters to college. ... While the amount of debt the family accumulated is astonishing, it’s also striking that O’Malley and his wife mostly took out Parent PLUS loans, a form of federal aid that lets parents borrow up to the full cost of attendance, but at double the interest of most home loans," The Washington Post reports.

"When Glenn Martin entered the prison system 20 years ago, his freedom wasn’t the only thing he felt he lost. His sense of identity also vanished. But when he left prison six years later, he reentered society with an associate degree," USA Today reports.

"A federal regulation that aims at 'abusive practices in the career college industry' took effect this month after court challenges failed. And it has the potential to shut down roughly 1,400 schools that enroll 840,000 students," CBS MoneyWatch reports.

"Cody Roderiques, a college senior, owes the federal government more than $100,000 for his student loans. He may not have to pay taxpayers back," Bloomberg News reports.

"... David Cruz reels off numbers, deadlines, acronyms and the minimum requirements for Laura Ponce to finish her associate degree at community college and move on to a Bachelor of Science credential in nursing. He's also printed them out in five neatly stacked and stapled piles of paper, with the courses she still needs to take highlighted in neon yellow," according to U.S. News and World Report.

"The rising economic toll of attending college has pushed many Americans to rebel against what has quickly become a status quo of massive student debt," the Deseret News reports.

"A new performance-funding system for state colleges was approved Thursday by the State Board of Education, the latest step in Florida officials' drive to tie money for higher education to how well institutions and their students do," according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.

"Missouri educators say they won’t let language inserted in an appropriations bill prevent them from awarding A+ scholarships to qualified students," The Kansas City Star reports.

"Could curbing the nation’s student debt problem be as easy as telling students exactly how much they’re borrowing? One university is becoming a testing ground for that question," MarketWatch reports.

"Student loans—particularly those issued or held by private companies—are in need of much stronger consumer protections. That’s the conclusion of joint comments submitted by the Center for American Progress’ Housing and Consumer Finance and Postsecondary Education policy teams in response to their request for information from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB," Sarah Edelman and Ben Miller write for the Center for American Progress.

"The federal government has been taking down websites that host illegal activity for years, but in taking over a website -- specifically, FAFSA.com, which until recently had been operated by the company Student Financial Aid Services, Inc. -- the Department of Education is doing something unusual," The Huffington Post reports.

"We may have a winner of the Black Hole Award for transparency: Teacher preparation. It's hard to tell if states are doing anything about poor teacher education programs, since many are not evaluating them like they're required to," according to Education Week's Teacher Beat.

"Amid the constant chatter about rising college costs and mounting student loan debts, politicians such as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders  and President Obama are offering a solution: free tuition," according to NerdWallet.

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