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The College Board. For more than six decades, the College Board has been a leader and innovator in financial aid. College Board’s fully integrated financial aid solutions are designed to help your institution develop equitable, effective, and efficient financial aid policies and processes. Visit us at collegeboard.org. 

A new report from NASFAA's task force on Innovative Learning Models recommends that policymakers create alternative ways of looking at higher education that focus on evidence of student learning – what students actually know and can do – rather than on how much time was spent in a classroom. The report, “Expanding Educational Opportunities for Students: Innovative Learning Models and Student Financial Aid,” includes several recommendations that focus on accelerating time to degree completion, improving access, lowering total educational cost, and keeping student loan indebtedness to a minimum in order to meet the needs of both individual learners and the institutions serving these students. Read the full report here.

Financial aid administrators are used to change. While said changes typically involve Title IV regulations, other changes occur outside of regulation. During two sessions held at the 2015 NASFAA National Conference, presenters and attendees discussed the resulting impacts such changes have on financial aid offices and offered suggestions to help deal with these emerging pressures on campus.

New for the 2015-16 program year, the Satisfactory Academic Progress Self-Study Guide provides an overview of satisfactory academic progress (SAP) concepts and guides the learner through evaluating SAP, appeals, and additional policy considerations. Quick quizzes, learning activities, and reflection questions help reinforce content and help individuals understand SAP. Completion of this self-study guide qualifies individuals to take the NASFAA University credential exam on satisfactory academic progress.

NASFAA is seeking volunteers to evaluate its new “Learning Bytes” training product, which will provide online learning in short, interactive streaming environments. Topics may be professional development-related or targeted materials specific to aid administration. Volunteers will view the initial offering and provide feedback on both the content the concept of this type of training. We encourage all levels of financial aid administrators to volunteer. It is anticipated the viewing and response process will take about 2 hours. If you or members of your staff are interested, please complete the volunteer form. If you have additional questions, email Dana Kelly, Chief Training Officer at [email protected].

It is with great sadness that Federal Student Aid shares with you information on the recent passing of Marilyn LeBlanc on Thursday, August 6, 2015, after a valiant battle with cancer.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

"Democrats vying for the White House are promoting an unusual way to slash the cost of college for millions of American students: invest in day care," The Washington Post reports.

"When it comes to examining best practices within higher education, majority institutions should take a look at work being done at many of the nation’s minority-serving institutions. That’s the recommendation of the authors of a new book, Educating a Diverse Nation (Harvard University Press), published by Drs. Marybeth Gasman and Clifton Conrad," Diverse Issues in Higher Education reports.

"After trying for years to tighten the rules on for-profit colleges, the Department of Education finally enacted regulations on the industry this summer. But the fight’s not over," McClatchy reports. "A month after new rules went into effect, the department faces continuing push-back from the colleges, and Republican lawmakers as well."

"Summertime means summer jobs for many college students. But a summer job just doesn't have the purchasing power it used to, especially when you compare it with the cost of college," NPR reports.

"Cost of attendance stipends for athletes figured to make college sports’ rich and powerful even more so. After all, surely sports oligarchs such as the Southeastern Conference, the Big Ten or the University of Texas could make it rain like monsoon season for potential recruits," The Miami Herald reports. "In the year and a half since the Power Five schools voted for COA stipends, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators has stated its concern over finagling figures for a recruiting advantage."

"Only thirty-four percent of high school students in the state fill out FAFSA forms, the lowest number in the nation," Utah Public Radio reports.

"The school spent $45,000 to sponsor the Championship Club hospitality area at last weekend's  Bridgestone Invitational tournament at Firestone Country Club and $50,000 for t-shirts at a Cleveland Cavaliers NBA finals game in June. It also pays $500 each week for an hour-long radio show," the Northeast Ohio Media Group reports.

"The most discussed problem with federal student loans is that some people borrow more than they ultimately can repay. The Obama administration is trying to fix that. Another problem, paradoxically, is that students cannot borrow enough," according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"Colleges can now pay their athletes in plain sight - and brag about it to recruits. That's because this past January while you were in a delirious fog celebrating Ohio State's national championship the NCAA met and voted overwhelmingly to extend full Cost of Attendance (COA) to scholarship athletes. It's understandable if you didn't notice," according to Eleven Warriors. "How will that affect college football? Let's get an answer from Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators."

"So there was no way this was going to end well, right? Hillary Clinton’s social-media team, looking to keep her recently announced college-affordability plan in the public eye, took to Twitter to ask for a bit of audience feedback on student loans," The Chronicle of Higher Education's The Ticker reports.

"Hillary Clinton’s New College Compact includes every policy idea in higher education but the kitchen sink," according to New America's EdCentral blog. "The plan sprawls from loan refinancing, to expanding AmeriCorps, to free community college. Some of the ideas like ensuring state investment in higher education through a federal incentive program are timely and needed. While others, like how the state and federal partnership would work don’t provide enough detail to judge their effectiveness. And some of the ideas like renewing the American Opportunity Tax Credit would continue  directing federal resources to those who need them the least."

"While the plan is designed to address many issues associated with the cost and quality of higher education in the U.S. today, its policy proposals can be boiled down to the four primary themes identified below, which we discuss in terms of their likely economic impact," Beth Akers and Liz Sablich write for the Brookings Institution's Brown Center Chalkboard.

"For many of you, going to conferences may not be a common occurrence, or perhaps the Fall 2015 MASFAP conference will be your first, so as you prepare to go on your voyage, here are nine things to keep in mind to make the conference the best experience for you," Melissa Findley writes.

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