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The Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday announced that it plans to halt and rewrite two contentious higher education regulations put into place during the Obama administration: borrower defense to repayment and gainful employment. 

On Wednesday, NASFAA submitted comments on the Department of Education’s proposed 2018-19 FAFSA. NASFAA reiterated concerns about the new data security solution that will mask IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) data during the application process. NASFAA also expressed concern about increased estimated FAFSA completion times and questioned ED’s cited causes for those increases. In its comments NASFAA also commended ED’s efforts to protect sensitive personal data but cautioned against overly burdensome solutions that complicate the application process, stressing the need for more automated solutions to achieve the dual goals of accuracy and access. 

NASFAA is seeking volunteer judges to collaborate with NASFAA Training and Regulatory Assistance staff members to participate in a formal review process known as an "Angoff Study." During an Angoff Study, a team of judges evaluates the difficulty level of each credential test question and defines a minimally competent candidate in terms of passing or failing the test. Volunteer Judges will be assigned to one or more of 12 different teams, based on subject matter expertise and availability. View the volunteer form for more information.

Between fiscal year 2010 and 2015, ED imposed fines averaging over $91,000 for Clery Act violations alone. NASFAA’s Consumer Information Assessment can help you avoid such fines by providing a confidential, comprehensive peer review of all required disclosure and reporting requirements, including the Clery Act. Request information about this review today.

The Department has published Volume 5 – Withdrawals and the Return of Title IV Funds of the 2017-2018 Federal Student Aid Handbook.

The Department has posted the draft 2018-2019 Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) Technical Reference. This draft includes the Record Layouts and the Processing Codes sections.

"The U.S. Department of Education is hitting pause on two of the Obama administration's primary rules aimed at reining in for-profit colleges," Inside Higher Ed reports. "Department officials said they will block a rule, set to take effect next month, that clarifies how student borrowers can have their loans forgiven if they were defrauded or misled by their college. The plan was first reported by Inside Higher Ed Wednesday." NASFAA President Justin Draeger is quoted in this article.

"Several advocacy groups on Wednesday assailed a U.S. Department of Education plan to roll back a pair of Obama administration regulations meant to protect students from shady colleges that leave students saddled with debt and little to nothing to show for it," Diverse: Issues in Higher Education reports. NASFAA President Justin Draeger is quoted.

"Studying in the U.S. isn't cheap, and it's usually even more expensive if you're an international student," according to U.S. News & World Report. "Most international students, including F-1 visa holders, aren't eligible for student loans from the U.S. government. But there are a limited number of other loan options for prospective and current international undergraduates." NASFAA member David Sheridan is quoted in this article.

"Call-center manager Bob Greenberg says he knew just what to tell customers like the angry retiree who phoned in 2014: Promise them anything," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Deloris Burket was calling again to complain to the Florida company where Mr. Greenberg ran interference. At 72, the Pennsylvania woman struggled with $38,000 in loans that she’d co-signed so her grandniece could attend college."

"The Department of Education appears to be planning to keep around one of the most high-profile higher ed initiatives of the Obama administration," Inside Higher Ed reports. "Department staff are taking steps to update the data feeding the College Scorecard, a tool that allows prospective students to look at measures like the debt burden of an institution's graduates, by September of this year, according to higher ed groups. That would be counted as a victory by proponents of more transparency in higher ed, even though the Scorecard wasn't among the Obama efforts the Trump administration promised to eliminate."

"Small private colleges are increasingly in financial danger, while larger name brand private schools are doing just fine," MarketWatch reports. "Roughly one-third of the small private schools rated by Moody's Investor Service generated operating deficits in 2016, an increase from 20% three years ago. On the other hand, the share of large private universities that had an operating deficit last year dropped to 13% from 20% three years ago."

"Days after opening the application window for its free public college tuition program, New York received more than 21,000 applications," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Say you're a 3rd-grade public school teacher with $50,000 in student-loan debt. The federal Stafford Teacher Loan Forgiveness program sounds like a great idea: teach for five years while you make monthly payments right-sized for your income, and the government will forgive $5,000 of what you owe," Alexander Holt and Jason Delisle write for Education Next.

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