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A multi-year whistleblower lawsuit came to a close Monday, as Education Management Corporation (EDMC) agreed to pay more than $95 million in a settlement with the Department of Justice. The company will also be required to forgive more than $100 million in student loans, as the result of a multi-state consumer fraud investigation.

In the months since the Obama administration released its revamped College Scorecard – which includes an expanded set of data delivered in place of a federal ratings system – thought leaders in higher education have questioned the quality of the information, while others have said the federal data trove is not necessary at all.

If you are your institution's primary NASFAA contact, last week you may have received an email from us with a link to a brief NASFAA survey on Award Displacement. NASFAA is working with the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) to survey our membership on this topic. We encourage all primary contacts who received the email to complete the survey as requested by Friday, November 20, 2015. Responses will remain confidential and individual institutions will not be identified. Again, since NASFAA has moved to using randomly assigned survey groups, not all primary contacts received this survey. Please refer to your email for the link to the survey.

You are cordially invited to participate in NASFAA’s 50th Anniversary Online Trivia Contest, taking you through our history one decade at a time. Thanks to a diligent member, we've uncovered and corrected an incorrect answer - take the quiz now about NASFAA’s history between 1997 and 2006. Do you know where NASFAA's 40th anniversary celebration was held? When did NASFAA begin overseeing the College Goal Sunday program? Find the answers by navigating the NASFAA website and reading Today’s News. To participate, go to the trivia homepage and dive in – and keep an eye on Today’s News to see if you’ve won one of our great prizes.

This Electronic Announcement informs institutions of a webinar about the Competency-Based Education (CBE) experiment that was announced in the July 31, 2014 Federal Register. 

This document provides notice of the continuation of a computer matching program between the Department of Education and the Department of Justice. 

"In announcing a set of new college accreditation measures earlier this month, Education Secretary Arne Duncan reiterated his criticism that accreditors are the 'watchdogs that don't bite,'" Inside Higher Ed reports. "But will the department itself have more bark than bite as it attempts to crack down on those accreditors?"

"Colombian-born Nathaly Ordonez had practically given up on the idea of attending college after learning her family's visas had expired, leaving her saddled with immigration woes as soon as she graduated from her New Jersey high school. ... When she heard about a tuition-free online university, Ordonez was skeptical but decided to give it a try," The Associated Press reports.

"It's the rare student who graduates from college debt-free these days. That's not surprising, given how expensive a college education has become," Ilana Polyak writes for CNBC.

"Here's what I remember about the beginning of the night: I'd planned to stay up late, for work. Later than usual, to watch President Obama's State of the Union address. ... About an hour into the speech, he got to the part about education, and said something that changed my life: 'We're offering millions the opportunity to cap their monthly student loan payments to 10 percent of their income,'" Acacia Squires writes in an opinion piece for NPR.

"Thousands of college students across the country marched Thursday for free tuition at public universities and cancellation of their debt – demonstrations that dovetailed into a show of solidarity with students at the University of Missouri," Foon Rhee writes in an opinion piece for the Sacramento Bee. 

"Study after study has highlighted the problem of growing student loan debt in America and its specific burden on people in their 20s and 30s," according to Credit.com's blog.

"During the past 60 years, college attendance in the United States has more than tripled. ... Assuming the parameters of a normal distribution curve, this attendance increase necessitates the acceptance of 'marginal students,' many of whom are the first in their families to attempt a college education," according to TruthOut.

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