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Many schools, believing that they have no Title IV-eligible programs that are subject to gainful employment (GE) rules, were surprised this week to receive communications from the Department of Education (ED) citing their failure to report gainful employment (GE) data. In many cases, this is due to a school’s incorrect reporting to COD.

In the months since the Department of Education (ED) announced a multi-track process for debt relief for Corinthian Colleges students, thousands have submitted requests for closed school loan discharges and borrower defense claims, according to a report released Thursday from Joseph Smith, ED’s special master for borrower defense. Smith was appointed in June by Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell and specifically tasked with advising the Department about borrower defense issues.

Gainful employment (GE) reporting continues to raise questions as schools work their way through new GE functionalities in NSLDS. Here are a few reminders based on inquiries NASFAA has received in response to a previous article.

Want to stay up-to-date on what's happening in Congress? Check out The Capitol Recap, NASFAA’s new series that provides monthly updates on new pieces of legislation introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. With the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, members of Congress unveil new proposals for the future of higher education on a continuous basis - don’t miss a beat with The Capitol Recap.

The NASFAA office will be closed on Monday, September 5 for the Labor Day federal holiday. The NASFAA website and other online services will still be available, but NASFAA's Today's News, AskRegs, and technical and membership support will not be available until the office reopens on Tuesday, September 6.

Federal Student Aid is pleased to announce the posting of the draft Application Processing System Specifications for Software Developers for the 2016-2017 cycle.

The Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship program was designed to issue grants to the states to provide scholarships to outstanding secondary school graduates who demonstrated an interest in teaching careers at the preschool, elementary, or secondary level. Although the program is no longer funded, the annual performance report is necessary to monitor and evaluate the compliance of the remaining state education agencies.

"Representative John Kline, the Minnesota Republican who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee, announced Thursday that he won’t seek re-election next year," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"For the past nine years, graduate students in the U.S. have had almost a blank check to take out as much as $80,000 a year in government-backed loans to pay for tuition and living expenses. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee thinks that’s too much," Bloomberg Business reports. "He’s introduced legislation, backed by his Democratic colleagues Michael Bennet of Colorado and Cory Booker of New Jersey, to limit borrowing to $30,000 a year, with a cap of $150,000. Programs with especially high costs could appeal to the U.S. Department of Education to let their students borrow up to $15,000 more each year."

"Joined by five local college presidents, Rep. Louise Slaughter on Wednesday urged Congress to renew a federal loan program that is more than 50 years old but is slated to expire at the end of September," the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports.

"The unsettled nature of the U.S. presidential campaign at this point is causing a lot of chatter about others who might jump in the race, namely Vice President Joe Biden," NPR reports. "[On Wednesday], he gave a speech about college affordability in Miami."

"Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio says the U.S. doesn't need a federal Education Department, arguing that its recommendations to state and local governments often turn into mandates tied to money," The Associated Press reports.

"It's an increasingly popular move in higher education. Hundreds of schools no longer require student applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores," NPR reports.

"Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday proposed overhauling the funding formula for higher education institutions and scholarships, part of an effort to boost the number of college graduates in the state," The Associated Press reports.

"Students at San Diego community colleges are starting their second week of the fall semester and many of those students are considered 'non-traditional students,'" KPBS reports.

"Two different scams, each targeting a different portion of the population, have state officials concerned," The Kansan reports. "Both the office of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt the Kansas Department for Children and Families sent out messages this week urging Kansans to be aware of the risks and how to avoid falling victim."

"At least Missouri legislators are finally fessing up to their true motivations," Mary Sanchez writes for The Kansas City Star. "That much can be said for the assault waged on some immigrant students. Gov. Jay Nixon’s support for allowing these students to receive the A+ Scholarship is on the block in this month’s veto session. The students have a lawful presence through the Department of Homeland Security. They’ve paid federal fees, passed checks of their character and qualified academically."

"College-tuition discounts are now the rule rather than the exception. And that’s sent the higher education establishment into a tailspin," W. Kent Barnds writes for The Hechinger Report.

"When Athena Lent consolidated her federal student loans three years ago, she had a specific goal in mind: to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness," Brianna McGurran writes in a blog post for NerdWallet.

"...Tuition-free policies will no doubt increase enrollment," Adela Soliz writes in The Brookings Institution's Brown Center Chalkboard blog. "Studies have found that reducing the cost of college through both need and merit-based aid programs increases the probability of enrollment from 3.6 to 4 percentage points per additional $1000 worth of aid."

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