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A group of Democratic attorneys generals from 17 states and the District of Columbia is suing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over her decision to delay the full implementation of the gainful employment regulations.

Student loan borrowers – whether they have federal or private loans – continue to struggle when repaying their loans due to a range of obstacles, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) annual report on student loan borrower complaints. Of the more than 20,000 complaints analyzed, borrowers reported encountering problems enrolling in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, facing obstacles getting loans discharged for disabilities, and being unable to obtain flexible repayment terms during times of financial stress.

On Sept. 29, the Department of Education (ED) issued an Electronic Announcement (EA) updating institutions on the status of supplemental campus-based allocations following hurricane relief legislation, which granted ED authority to reallocate excess campus-based allocations to schools located in, or accepting and enrolling students from, areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. In the EA, ED indicated that they were reviewing the reallocation process for Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds, and that information about supplemental FWS funds would be issued in the near future. To date there has been no subsequent announcement, but watch Today’s News for information once it is released.

NASFAA receives many inquiries about how financial aid offices are typically structured within an institution. However, no two institutions are the same, and one size does not fit all. In the spirit of collaboration, NASFAA has compiled a repository of member-submitted organizational charts for the financial aid office. Please feel free to use these charts as templates to create or compare your own institution's organizational structure.

Participating in the NASFAA election process is an important way to contribute to your association. Start by nominating a colleague today. NASFAA holds elections each year to select members to serve on its Board of Directors, which provides oversight and guidance for the direction of the Association. The nomination deadline is Wednesday, September 25, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the virtual meeting scheduled with the U.S. Department of Education's Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) and FSA's Senior Advisor of Cybersecurity has been delayed. At this time this meeting has not been rescheduled.

The Secretary is identifying as temporarily inapplicable certain regulatory provisions determining whether an educational institution qualifies in whole or in part as an eligible institution of higher education under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), to provide relief to foreign institutions affected by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.

"Four floors above a dull cinder-block lobby in a nondescript building at the Ohio State University, the doors of a slow-moving elevator open on an unexpectedly futuristic 10,000-square-foot laboratory bristling with technology. It's a reveal reminiscent of a James Bond movie. In fact, the researchers who run this year-old, $750,000 lab at OSU's Spine Research Institute resort often to Hollywood comparisons," The Atlantic reports.

"Community college systems are finding they're under more scrutiny than ever before, especially when it comes to whether their students complete programs and graduate," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"For many recent graduates, student loan debt is literally giving them nightmares," CNBC reports. "Over the last decade, college-loan balances in the United States have jumped to an all-time high of $1.4 trillion, according to a recent report by Experian. The average outstanding balance is $34,144, up 62 percent over the last 10 years."

"President Trump will extend a March 5 deadline to end protections for young undocumented immigrants if Congress fails to act by then, according to a Republican senator who spoke directly with the president about the issue," The Washington Post reports.

"One month ago, the lives of 800,000 young people around our nation were put in jeopardy, with the decision by the White House to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This decision fails to understand the overwhelmingly positive impact that the DACA program has had for so many students, and the devastating consequences that rescinding it will have on them, their families, our schools, our communities and our country," a group of college presidents – Ángel Cabrera of George Mason University, John DeGioia of Georgetown University, DeRionne Pollard of Montgomery College, and Scott Ralls of Northern Virginia Community College – wrote for The Hill.

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