Brought to you by:

Great Lakes. It’s about time. Time for a change… to save you time. From financial literacy tools with loan counseling and selection through streamlined loan application, certification, and disbursement, our one-stop shop makes private loan processing fast, easy, and effective for you and your students. Contact your representative or visit schools.mygreatlakes.org

The House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight on Wednesday held a hearing to examine the rising cost of higher education and whether the nation’s tax policies are contributing to that trend.

No matter what size your campus is, communicating between departments and offices can be a challenge. Here are approaches from three NASFAA members that have paid off and helped them better communicate for their students.

Every year, NASFAA recognizes outstanding members and other higher education stakeholders for their achievements and contributions to financial aid. The February 5 deadline is quickly approaching, so submit your nominations online as soon as possible. Award winners will be announced at the 2016 NASFAA National Conference and 50th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C.

During the period October 9-11, 2015, the Department plans to execute extended Web site maintenance and operating system upgrades to several Federal Student Aid Web sites and systems. This work is in addition to the regular weekly maintenance that occurs each weekend.

This letter announces Federal Student Aid's instructor-led, online training session that will describe best practices for protecting student data at institutions of higher education.

On October 7, 2015, the Department replaced the attachment to this announcement to provide updated Web site outage information for the Columbus Day federal holiday.

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is announcing the Reach Higher Career App Challenge (RHCAC or Challenge), a prize competition funded by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV or Act).

"A group of rising high school seniors stood in a circle at Rutgers University-Newark’s campus, playing an icebreaker. Not that they needed it. The group had been living on campus together for three weeks, and already felt like family," according The Hechinger Report. "...Their common goal? Getting to and through college, no matter the obstacles."

"With most of today’s high school students taking several high-stakes standardized tests before graduation, a so-called 'practice test' might seem insignificant. But in the case of the PSAT (more formally known as the Preliminary SAT), that would be a mistake," according to Money.

"Two-thirds of jobs in Iowa will require a post-secondary education or other training beyond high school by 2025, according to a new report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce," The Daily Nonpareil reports.

"The University of Texas System Board of Regents gave schools the approval to present proposals for increases to tuition and fees for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 during a special meeting Friday," USA Today reports.

"Bernie Sanders attracted a 20,000-person crowd in Boston over the weekend with his uncreative wish list of a platform, in which college would be free for all, Social Security would be expanded for all and medical coverage would be highly subsidized for all — regardless of whether you actually need the help," Stephen Stromberg writes in an opinion piece for The Washington Post.

"Ever since President Obama announced Americas College Promise, his plan to make community colleges tuition-free, the debate and conversation about making colleges free has been building with many productive ideas coming forward," Bernie Rhinerson, a Trustee on the San Diego Community College District Board, writes in an opinion piece for the San Diego Free Press.

"The federal government’s oldest grant program that helps low-income students gain access to college may be on the chopping block," Stephen Burd, a senior policy analyst in the Education Policy Program at New America, writes in an opinion piece for The Hechinger Report.

"Earlier this week, the Department of Education announced that the cohort default rate for federal student loans, which is one of the more visible metrics used to determine a school's eligibility to participate in the federal student aid programs, decreased for the second year in a row," according to U.S. News & World Report's Student Loan Ranger.

VIEW NEXT ISSUE

Contact us to submit questions, content or to purchase advertisements.