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today’s news for Wednesday, September 16, 2015

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How do you Engage an Audience of ONE? Cegment’s Student Engagement Solutions are designed to help institutions convey their unique value and understand affordability with each communication tailored to the individual student’s circumstances. Learn more about how to increase engagement with students at every stage of the financial and enrollment process. Learn more.

NEWS FROM NASFAA

On August 20, the Department of Education (ED) announced it will negotiate rules to determine the acts or omissions of an institution that would enable a borrower to assert a defense against repayment and the consequences for the borrower, institution, and ED. The collapse of Corinthian Colleges due to findings of misrepresentation of job placement rates has vastly increased the number of borrowers seeking relief from repayment under the Higher Education Act ‘s borrower defenses provision. ED is currently establishing processes by which affected borrowers may have their loans discharged. NASFAA testified at last week’s public hearing and submitted written comment on the issues identified by ED for negotiation.

After recently being awarded a grant from Access Group to conduct a study on consumer information and law student indebtedness, NASFAA convened a task force comprised of 10 NASFAA members ¬– 60 percent of whom have never served on a NASFAA committee before – from graduate and professional institutions. Through consumer testing, conducted by Coffey Consulting, LLC, the task force will identify information on the financial aid award letter and ED’s Shopping Sheet that could be modified to be more helpful to law school students and applicants. The task force will also make recommendations on how StudentAid.gov and StudentLoans.gov can better serve the needs of graduate/professional students.

NASFAA is updating its Staffing and Salary Models via our NASFAA Benchmarking Survey. All Today’s News subscribers should have previously received a direct email from us with a link to a survey. Due to a system error with our survey software, we have extended the deadline to complete this survey to 5:00pm ET, Tuesday, October 25. NASFAA plans to publish a final report with the results of this benchmarking survey in early 2017. Again please refer to your email for the link to the survey.

The mounting excitement of the NCAA Tournament is palpable this time of year. But even if your bracket was busted in round one, you still have the opportunity to have a winning team. NASFAA can bring an expert team of financial aid administrators to your campus to evaluate your operations and develop an action plan to make changes that will be a slam dunk at your school. Complete our information request form to learn more about NASFAA's peer review services.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

On September 14, 2015, President Obama announced two major changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process.

In this announcement, the Department provides information on transfer completion and transfer- related reminders. It also informs the financial aid community about the phone number, Web site, and e-mail status for Aspire.

x - FEDERAL REGISTER

The Chief Operating Officer for Federal Student Aid announces the interest rates for the period July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016, for certain loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program prior to July 1, 2010.

The Chief Operating Officer for Federal Student Aid announces the interest rates for the period July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016, for loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program prior to July 1, 2013.

x - HEADLINES

National News

"The Obama administration recently announced two changes that could help bring some financial common sense to college selection. One involved the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA as it’s commonly known. Another was an upgrade to the government’s College Scorecard Web site," Michelle Singletary writes for The Washington Post. "... The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators has created a great video to explain how moving up the deadline and making better use of the tax information retrieved directly from the IRS help in the FAFSA application process."

"Applying for college can seem like a game of strategy, and a student's financial aid package often figures as the most important piece of the puzzle," CBS MoneyWatch reports. "'We have high-achieving low- and middle-income students who had discounted themselves from applying from selective universities' because the financial aid application fell outside of the early-decision process, said Justin Draeger, the president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. 'More students will think about applying for college earlier.'"

"President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan met in Des Moines at North High School on Monday to ask questions about education access and affordability," Iowa State Daily reports. NASFAA is mentioned in the article.

"Companies looking to attract recent graduates should consider student loan management as part of their benefit package, as many student loan borrowers would prefer to work for a company that offers them some relief from their payments, according to survey results released Sept. 1 by Iontuition," Bloomberg reports.

"People want to get a lot of things out of going to college, but debt likely isn’t one of them. ... U.S. News & World Report recently released its annual college rankings, and in the highly watched National University rankings, there are several schools with great reputations and relatively affordable price tag," according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"In February, Patricia Ann Bowers told ThinkProgress that she owed about $57,000 in student-loan debt. ... Bowers’s story and the implosion of Corinthian are extreme examples of how the for-profit college system can fail its customers. But they’re symptoms of a more systemic problem with the way these schools approach financing education and the promises they make about the success of their students after graduation," according to The Atlantic.

Opinions

"Hillary Clinton has vowed to crack down on for-profit colleges. Very interesting. We wonder if she or her aides have looked at the new 'college scorecard' that the Obama Administration released on the weekend," The Wall Street Journal writes in an opinion piece.

Blogs & Think Tanks

"This weekend, President Obama rolled out new Department of Education initiatives aimed at increasing the number of students who attend college and graduate without unmanageable student loan debt," PayScale's Career News reports.

x - MEMBER NEWS

"Bucking a national trend of rising college costs, Utica College announced Tuesday that it is slashing its undergraduate tuition," the Watertown Daily Times reports.

x - INDUSTRY NEWS

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