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NASFAA joined 53 higher education organizations and 535 institutions last week in signing a letter to several Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle that requests support for legislation that would allow a one-year extension of the Perkins Loan Program, ideally through the upcoming appropriations process. The letter expressed concern that the expiration of the program will leave hundreds of thousands of students struggling to pay for college and pointed out that “campus-based aid programs, including Perkins loans, require institutions to provide 'skin in the game,' balancing any risk the federal government might incur."

Joseph Alaimo, director of financial aid at LaSalle University, joined NASFAA staff on Friday to meet with congressional staffers on Capitol Hill to advocate for campus-based aid programs, and federal funding levels.

While the Great Recession was considered to be over in 2009, students and colleges are still feeling its impact on enrollment and attainment and six-year completion rates, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC).

Members of this task force will help solicit volunteers for packet stuffing and registration, help manage the conference registration counter and information desk, provide local information for posting to the NASFAA website and for inclusion in Today's News, and assist with on-site performers, as needed, in Washington, D.C. Task force members will serve January 2016 through July 2016 and will be expected to attend the NASFAA Conference. Please review the task force charter on the volunteer information page and complete the volunteer form by Friday, December 4 at 3:00 pm ET, if interested. Priority will be given to those living in close proximity to Washington, D.C.

Learn the answer to this question and learn how to instantly find credible and reliable solutions to your most pressing regulatory and compliance questions with NASFAA's AskRegs Knowledgebase. The Knowledgebase guide and video tutorials highlight the many features of this tool.

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

This Electronic Announcement reminds institutions of the upcoming deadline for submission to the Department of their “Gainful Employment (GE) Program Transitional Certification” no later than December 31, 2015. 

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.

"More than $60 billion in bonds backed by U.S. student debt are likely to be affected if Fitch Ratings adopts new criteria for the securities, Deutsche Bank AG analysts said Thursday," Bloomberg reports.

"The $1.3 trillion of student debt held by Americans is looking like an increasingly risky bet. One in four borrowers is delinquent or in default on his or her student loans, meaning either 180 or 270 days late in paying back what's owed," Bloomberg reports.

"In 2012, the annual National Survey of Student Engagement found that -- in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and recession -- financial stress was a particular concern for students and they felt the stress undermined their undergraduate experience. ... Three years, later, although the economy has improved somewhat, little has changed," according to Inside Higher Ed.

"Erin Fox received a piece of bad news a few months ago, and it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Despite juggling two jobs since graduating from the University of Maryland in 2008, she was approaching a default on her student loans," according to the International Business Times.

"When the scholarship and grant money that Danielle Newman received to attend the University of Pittsburgh did not cover the full price tag of attending, the 18-year-old freshman used a student loan to cover the difference. Facing higher costs as an out-of-state student, she already assumes she will need student loans for the remainder of her undergraduate education," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

" ...Overall household borrowing has climbed to $12.1 trillion, the highest level in more than 5 years, with rising balances for mortgages, auto loans, student loans and credit cards in the third quarter, according to the report," according to NASDAQ.com.

"A Waukesha man has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court  in hopes of having his student loans written off in bankruptcy court. The case calls into question the different standards used across the country," WUWM reports.

"Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's free-tuition program has contributed to a spike in students pursuing a postsecondary degree at the state's public higher education institutions, the program's executive director said Thursday," according to The Associated Press.

"A few weeks ago I noted how the Education Department continues to force students from Corinthian Colleges to prove they were defrauded to obtain student loan relief, despite a litany of existing evidence. This week, the department itself released findings showing that 85,000 Corinthian students on its Everest and Wyotech campuses in California were indeed duped into enrolling based on intentionally false job placement statistics," columnist David Dayen writes in an opinion piece for The Fiscal Times.

"The situation at the University of Missouri that has been catapulted into the national spotlight over the last week represents a focusing event for the country on issues of race and equity in higher education and the potential power of student athlete involvement in issues of social justice," Marcus Bright writes for The Huffington Post.

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