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Deliberately planned "nudges" that encourage students to apply for financial aid can have a noticeable impact on college enrollment, according to a new working paper, which examined the impact of these prompts on a national scale for the first time.

Young employees are feeling the burden of student loan debt, often worrying about how to repay their debt and wishing they had more assistance from their employers for managing their debt, according to a recent survey from American Student Assistance (ASA).

A coalition of higher education and consumer advocacy organizations have come together to organize a letter aimed at illustrating the widespread support across the country for the student aid programs. The charge to get the letter sent is being led by the American Council on Education. NASFAA members are encouraged to share the letter and link with institutional leadership so they can sign-on in support of the federal student aid programs. The deadline for institutions and organizations to join the letter is March 28.

NASFAA's Exploring Ethics series presents detailed case studies to open discussion between NASFAA members about how to apply the association's Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct to real life. In this case study from October 2014, we take a look at what a sample financial aid award letter may be missing – and why that would not comply with NASFAA's Code of Conduct. Three financial aid administrators share their perspectives on how they would handle this situation. Read through the scenario and think through what you would do.

The Department of Education's Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) has published guidance on the use of student financial aid information for program evaluation and research.

"During the nearly four hours of questioning at her confirmation hearing in January, Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, did not speak with specificity about her views on a host of Obama-administration regulations meant to rein in abuses by for-profit colleges," the Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

"President Donald Trump’s so-called 'skinny budget' proposes spending cuts that could have a severe impact on black colleges, according to advocates for those institutions," Del Marva Now reports. NASFAA is mentioned in the article.

"Despite the appeal of a 'simplified' version of the federal student aid system, efforts to move toward a single loan and grant program and a simpler version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or the FAFSA, could actually make things worse for low-income students," Diverse: Issues in Higher Education reports. NASFAA member JoEllen Soucier is quoted in this story.

"In a rare point of agreement, the Trump administration and many academics would like to see less focus on colleges as work force development centers," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Students applying for federal financial aid right now may be running into problems. Without warning March 3, the IRS removed a vital tool from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) website: The data retrieval tool, which locates tax information," NBC Washington reports.

"Every year, prospective students receive offers to attend their college or university of choice. And every year, some of them turn down those offers," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Despite receiving approval from the Trump administration, Great Lakes Higher Education Corp. said Tuesday that it will not charge people with past-due student loans high collection fees if they agree to make good on the debt," The Washington Post reports.

"Yesterday, the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development convened a hearing to discuss ways to improve federal student aid," according to New America. NASFAA member JoEllen Soucier is mentioned in this article.

"A former lobbyist for an association of for-profit colleges resigned last Friday from the Department of Education, where he had worked for about a month," ProPublica reports.

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