Brought to you by:

FATV. Hi, I am Penny, FATV's Artificially Intelligent Chatbot. I am a great and affordable way to answer student financial aid questions 24/7/365. I am the only solution that makes use of 15 years of student questions and answers, an unrivaled library of financial aid videos, along with customized school content. I run on an IBM AI engine and can be branded for your school. Call 888-704-9090 or visit our website to learn more.

The decline in student loan default rates are credit positive for U.S. higher education and are likely to continue to decline, according to an October 8 credit outlook report from Moody’s. However, Moody’s also cited the expiration of the Perkins Loan Program as credit negative and said it will likely hurt institutions that serve low-income students.

NASFAA members often tell us their financial aid careers began when they themselves were enrolled in college and accepted a Federal Work-Study position in the aid office. In fact, several of the NASFAA members we've interviewed for our MVP: Most Valuable Professional series have said that's how it all began. Tell us: how did you get your start in financial aid? Then see how your experience compares to that of your peers. Want more? Peruse past Poll the Pros columns for other Q&As.

NASFAA is here to help you stay up to date on the top policy events occurring throughout the week in Washington, D.C. and, when applicable, across the country. Make sure to check back in to Today's News each morning for coverage of some of the events, and email us at [email protected] if you're aware of upcoming policy events that could be of interest to the financial aid community.

Congress:
The House is in session Monday through Wednesday. The Senate is in session Monday through Friday.

Tuesday:

• Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Meeting for Borrower Defense, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET
• State of the Union Address, 9:00 pm ET

Wednesday:

• Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Meeting for Borrower Defense, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET

Thursday:

• Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Meeting for Borrower Defense, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET

NASFAA's Board of Directors is here to represent you and is seeking your input. Please email any questions or comments you might have directly to a member of the NASFAA Board by clicking on their name on our Board Member Bios page. Questions or feedback may pertain to NASFAA products and services, membership benefits, policy issues, and advocacy efforts, or any other topic you would like to bring before the Board. The Board will compile feedback and discuss at the June 23-24 Board meeting. We welcome your insight.

The Department announces the availability of Appendix G – HEA Table of Contents of the 2015-2016 Federal Student Aid Handbook.

The COD Processing Update provides information related to COD System processing and includes the following sections: COD News and Updates, Current Issues (with a subsection for All Programs, Direct Loans, and Grants), and Reminders.

The Department is requesting this new information collection package to provide for a series of questions that are components of the selection process for a new Federal Student Aid experimental site project. 

This is a request to extend the information collection that identifies the reporting burden for this regulation.

"The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be undergoing significant changes by 2016," according to iSchoolGuide. "As said by the Managing Director of Policy and Federal Relations under the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, Megan McClean, such changes would be huge and important."

"The nation’s colleges and universities collectively spend an estimated $27 billion each year trying to comply with federal requirements," Inside Higher Ed reports. "Or so says the latest Vanderbilt University report aimed at highlighting the burden of federal regulation on institutions of higher education."

"From confusing applications to financial aid restrictions, students at a roundtable at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday told U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin about the myriad challenges of going to college," The Journal Times reports.

"A new study examining the economics of public research universities found that at least 11 states spend more on locking up citizens than educating them," the New York Daily News reports.

"Numbers have a way of revealing the real story beneath the rhetoric and misinformation around controversial topics," Thomas J. Botzman, president of Misericordia University, writes in an opinion piece for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"The Obama plan for tuition-free community college, America’s College Promise, will go nowhere in the current Congress. But it’s still important to understand what the idea would actually mean for American higher education," Andrew Kelly, director of the Center on Higher Education Reform at American Enterprise Institute, writes in an opinion piece for Education Next.

"How American kids apply to colleges these days is all messed up. (But don't lose hope. Help is on the way)," Motley Fool contributor Rich Smith writes in an opinion piece for Daily Finance.

"How do you 'misplace' more than 700 colleges? By looking in the wrong places," according to The Washington Post's Grade Point.

"'Need-blindness' is almost universally perceived as the key indicator of a good — even virtuous — admission policy. ... But 'need-blindness,' taken literally, is actually a narrow and misleading construct," Williams College President Adam F. Falk writes in The Washington Post's Grade Point.

"James Murphy, 65, can’t pay his student loans. He owes more than $200,000 in federal loans that he took out to pay for college for his three children. After a dozen years of unemployment, Murphy is asking a bankruptcy court to free him from the six-figure obligation to the Department of Education (ED)," according to ThinkProgress.

"Coding boot camps are one of the more promising newish innovations in the world of higher education. ...Unfortunately, the government looks poised to storm in and potentially ruin what up until now has seemed like a pretty happy free-market experiment," according to Slate's Moneybox.

"Bernie Sanders wants to make college tuition free. Hillary Clinton is worried that would subsidize college for Donald Trump's kids," Vox reports.

"Over the past few years, training providers like General Assembly and the Flatiron School have developed short-term programs that help people move into careers in tech," according to The Brookings Institute's The Avenue.

"The U.S. Department of Education recently debuted its College Scorecard website as a resource for students and families to evaluate higher education options, but it does not paint a complete picture and unfairly stigmatizes art, music, liberal arts, and other freelance-oriented professions and the institutions that serve them," Roger H. Brown Become, president of Berklee College of Music, writes in The Huffington Post's The Blog.

"Education policy garnered little attention during Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate. How little? The word 'school' was only mentioned ten times—and seven of these mentions were references to the candidate’s own experience. In fact, 'law school' accounted for five of the ten mentions of 'school,'" according to The Brookings Institute's Brown Center Chalkboard.

"... While we applaud Secretary [Arne] Duncan’s many accomplishments during his tenure, including his emphasis on greater transparency and accountability, a new secretary provides an opportunity for fresh thinking, especially when it comes to the mission of American higher education and the role of colleges and universities in serving today’s diverse student population," Nancy Gray, president of Hollins University, writes in The Washington Post's Grade Point blog.

VIEW NEXT ISSUE

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