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Three years since its creation, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program continues to have a positive impact on undocumented immigrant youth and their families, particularly when it comes to helping them achieve their higher education and career goals, according to a recent survey from the immigrant youth-led network United We Dream (UWD).

The amount of state-funded financial aid awarded to students increased by 1.6 percent between the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years, according to the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs’ annual survey, released this week.

The 2015 Graduate/Professional Issues Task Force Report identified several issues of importance to the G/P community and corresponding recommendations to mitigate those issues. One of the issues identified included the lack of graduate-specific student aid data. To address this problem, the task force recommended the creation of a new task force to tackle this issue and identify data needs specific to graduate student financial aid. Review the complete task force charter for more details and, if interested, complete the volunteer form by 5:00 pm on October 7.

This year the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is hosting its annual FSA Training Conference for Financial Aid Professionals at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada from Tuesday, December 1, 2015 through Friday, December 4, 2015.

The Department announced the posting of the 2016-2017 EFC Formula Guide on the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site.

"The easy headline to be drawn from new research examining the preparation and outcomes of students at two- and four-year colleges is that traditional-age students who enroll at community colleges are less likely to earn a bachelor's degree within six years than are comparably qualified students who go straight to four-year colleges. That is an undeniable finding of the study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which was conducted by researchers at the College Board and the University of Michigan," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Several for-profit colleges have recently restructured as nonprofit entities. But a new report argues that some of them now act like 'covert for-profits' and that their backers profit in ways that are not standard at traditional universities," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

"The promise Gov. Bill Haslam made to Tennessee students is changing the landscape of higher education in the Chattanooga area," the Times Free Press reports.

"A bill that would make Wisconsin the first state to allow student loans to be refinanced at lower interest rates will be given its second public hearing in as many legislative sessions on Wednesday," the LaCrosse Tribune reports.

"A vast majority of the more than 10 million Americans who have defaulted on or are behind on repaying their student loans could have benefited from income-driven repayment plans that are intended to ease pressure on distressed borrowers and keep them from defaulting on their federal loans," according to an editorial from The New York Times.

"More than 67 million people over the age of 25 hold a bachelor’s degree, and there are 40 percent more people enrolled in higher education today than in 2000. As a result, outstanding student loans now total more than $1 trillion — the largest category of consumer debt in the country except for mortgages. Current and aspiring elected officials alike have voiced concern over student loans," Jack Remondi, president and CEO of Navient, writes in an opinion piece for Politico.

"Imagine if you had to pay 18 percent interest today on a mortgage or auto loan. Absurd, you’d say, when the prime rate has hovered at 3.25 percent for years. But some students who seek loans in the private market have to pay such exorbitant rates, which is why relying on the private sector for student loans is a dangerous idea," Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) writes in an opinion piece for Politico.

"Congress is currently considering cutting funding for the campus-based Federal Work-Study Program that helps the most economically disadvantaged students pay for postsecondary education. Such action would be ill-advised. It would hurt not only deserving students but also cities and towns where college students supported by the program are working in an array of community service jobs," Marvin Krislov and Robert Hackett write for Inside Higher Ed.

"President Obama made a fine choice on Friday in John King, a charter school advocate, to be his next Secretary of Education. Then again Arne Duncan, who is returning to Chicago at the end of the year after seven years as Secretary, also arrived with much promise only to run afoul of the antireform inertia in the Democratic Party," according to The Wall Street Journal.

"... The traditional higher-education system works great for lots of students. But it forces countless others, like my nephews, to choose between two bad options: either enter a four-year bachelor’s degree program for which they are not ready, academically or emotionally; or pursue some kind of job-focused training program that, while valuable, may effectively put a ceiling on their careers," Mary Alice McCarthy writes for The Atlantic.

"Feigning outrage that college is too expensive is a bipartisan pastime, so it’s refreshing to see a presidential candidate taking the cost-drivers seriously. Senator Marco Rubio is highlighting an obscure network of higher-ed busybodies known as accreditation agencies, and more politicians should study up on how to reform this racket," according to The Wall Street Journal.

"For a nation that needs more college graduates, we seem oddly hellbent on discouraging as many people as possible from getting degrees," Liz Weston writes for Reuters.

"When refugees want to enter higher education, they often lack the paperwork," according to The Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus blog. "To enroll in conventional universities, students need to submit the kind of documentation — like passports and previous education records — that many refugees do not have. And even when refugees are able to provide the required documentation, tuition is often out of their price range."

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