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During a joint congressional hearing on Wednesday, several witnesses from within different areas of higher education spoke about the operation of the Department of Education’s (ED) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) as a performance-based organization, identifying numerous inefficiencies and areas for improvement.

"Articles on racial issues, and racial concerns have consistently cropped up in the media, but they never seem to have a life beyond just a quick story,” writes Jim Brooks, NASFAA's diversity officer and director of financial aid & scholarships at the University of Oregon. "That changed over the past few weeks as African-American students at the University of Missouri - Columbia (MU) took a stand against issues around the campus, and were then joined by other student groups including athletes, and finally the faculty." Read Jim's reflections on this important and timely issue, and share your own thoughts in our comments section.

From Student Eligibility to Return of Title IV Funds, NASFAA's Self-Study Guides are the answer to your training needs and professional development. Written for the independent learner, each Self-Study Guide includes multiple lessons with a variety of exercises to reinforce each lesson. Completing Self-Study Guides also allows you to qualify to earn professional credentials.

This Electronic Announcement provides, in APPENDIX A, suggested text for each of the required 2016-2017 verification items that were identified in the June 26, 2015, Federal Register notice. 

The Secretary is expanding the Competency-Based Education experiment, which was announced in a previous Federal Register notice, to provide additional flexibility in how institutions provide Federal student aid to students who are enrolled in competency-based education programs, including providing waivers and modifications to statutory and regulatory requirements designed to support competency-based education programs that charge a flat fee for a period of time rather than charging by course or by competency.

"A top Education Department official was on the defensive Wednesday, responding to a wide range of criticisms from congressional lawmakers and government watchdogs about the department’s management of the federal student aid system," Inside Higher Ed reports. NASFAA's Justin Draeger is quoted in this article.

"The Education Department got hit from all sides at a congressional hearing Wednesday, with lawmakers, advocates, and investigators alike accusing the agency of everything from lax oversight to poor customer service," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. NASFAA's Justin Draeger is quoted. 

"Nearly every college claims to be 'affordable,' but which ones really are?" Time's Money asks. "The U.S. Department of Education’s financial aid formula does assume that many families earning more than about $30,000 can contribute to their children’s college costs. But ... [t]he federal formula 'no longer produces a reasonable estimate of what many families can be expected to contribute,' says NASFAA senior policy analyst Karen McCarthy."

"The Department of Education announced Tuesday that it would expand its program to forgive federal student loan debt to thousands more students who attended programs of Corinthian Colleges, once one of the nation’s largest for-profit education companies," The New York Times reports.

"Parents of teenagers expect that getting their kids through college will require them to sacrifice early retirement, big expenditures like cars, and even fun, a new survey has found," Time's Money reports.

"A college education is an investment in a child’s future. In the face of rising higher education costs, our nation should be doing what we can to help families make that investment," Betty Lochner, chair of the College Savings Plans Network and the director of the Washington Guaranteed Education Tuition, and Young Boozer, state treasurer of Alabama and vice-chair of the College Savings Plans Network, write in an opinion piece for The Hill.

"Government watchdogs skewered the financial arm of the Department of Education on Wednesday for sloppy communication with contractors, colleges and borrowers, raising concerns about the division’s ability to manage more than $1 trillion in federal student loans and grants," according to The Washington Post's Grade Point. "'FSA continues [through] self-assessment to give itself high marks, pay healthy bonuses and avert responsibility for these persistent issues,' [NASFAA President Justin Draeger] said. 'We see FSA as a partner, but partnership is not a one-way street.'"

"Higher education has had a tough go-around this fall. A slew of new data sheds fresh light on the extent to which students are struggling to find success in the labor market and repay their loans," according to U.S. News & World Report's Knowledge Bank.

"As college tuition prices climb and the volume of student loan debt continues to rise, policymakers have sought a new financing mechanism to solve the problem. One idea generating considerable interest is Income Share Agreements (ISAs), which are proposed as a debt-free alternative to traditional student loans," according to the American Action Forum.

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