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While it remains clear that investing in a college education pays off, families should be more strategic in how they choose which college to attend and how to pay for it, according to a new paper from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Consumer Finance Group. 

Homeless and foster youth face a plethora of challenges compared with other students that make them less likely to enroll in and complete college, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

As your institution prepares to transition to the Early FAFSA and the use of prior-prior year, NASFAA is here to help. Our Create a Financial Aid Timeline Tool is a customizable way to see and share federal and institutional dates and deadlines for the entire financial aid process. Check out our brief tutorial video on how the timeline works and get started on yours today.

As NASFAA's 2016 Dallas Martin Endowment (DME) policy intern, Janette will work with NASFAA’s policy and federal relations staff until mid-August. Janette received her B.A. in government from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently pursuing a master of public administration at George Washington University. In 2013, the DME reached its initial fundraising goal of $300,000, but there is still more work to be done. Learn more about the purposes, policies, and goals of the fund, and receive a special gift when you donate $50 or more to help cultivate the next generation of student aid advocates, like Janette.

NASFAA’s PLUS Eligibility Issues webinar originally aired May 25, 2016, but is now available for on-demand viewing.  As a reminder, if you registered for the live event you have access to the on-demand webinar.  You also have access to the Q&A document in which the presenters compiled unanswered questions from the live Q&A segment into a single resource providing you with all the questions along with their answers. Simply log in using your original webinar link.  If you missed the live event, order the On-Demand Webinar for access to the full webinar broadcast and Q&A document.

The Department has posted the draft 2017-2018 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference. This draft includes the Record Layouts and the Processing Codes sections.

"What might a Donald J. Trump presidency mean for higher education? Now that the Republican field has narrowed to a single candidate, it’s inevitable that higher-ed policy watchers are wondering. But it’s not an easy question to answer," according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

"Much ink has been spilled (including by this reporter) about the growth in companies offering to help their employees repay their student loans. Unfortunately, 20-somethings actually hoping to take advantage of this perk may struggle to find a job that offers it," MarketWatch reports.

"Student loans are often blamed for the record-low homeownership rate among young adults. But new research suggests that young people without a college diploma face especially big hurdles to owning a home," The Wall Street Journal reports.

"Some of the nation's largest veterans and military organizations sent letters last week to the Veterans Affairs Department asking it to crack down on colleges that prey on veterans by charging exorbitant fees for degrees that mostly fail to deliver promised skills and jobs," The New York Times reports.

"High school seniors' unease over the lack of state funding for Illinois universities is contributing to a drop in applications at a number of campuses, and the problem appears to primarily affect schools facing the some of the toughest financial struggles," The Associated Press reports.

"Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday announced the launch of a $2.4 million advising program that will put additional college counselors into 30 public high schools across the state in the fall," The Tennesseean reports.

"Imagine the look of delight as the news arrives in the mail. 'Congratulations!' the letter begins. Your chest swells with pride as you absorb the great news: Your favorite student has won the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. What does that mean? That kid you’re shipping off to Bridgewater State or UMass Amherst in the fall will attend college tuition-free! High-fives are exchanged. Champagne corks pop. That ship of yours? It's just come in," Thomas Farragher writes for The Boston Globe. "Then you read the fine print, or check the bursar's web site, and the party's suddenly over. Do you know what it costs for an in-state student to go to UMass Amherst each year? It's $26,445. And how much of that is tuition? Just north of $1,700 a year."

"Student debt is a hot-button issue this election season. Presidential candidates all agree action must be taken to ease the financial burden of the rising cost of college, but they have different ideas about what those actions should be," Jack Remondi, president and CEO of Navient, writes in an opinion piece for Medium.

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