NASFAA in the News

• Biden Hints at Student Loan Forgiveness, but Many Questions Remain
  May 19, 2022 - "President Biden has hinted that he is considering relieving at least some of the $1.7 trillion in debt owed to the federal government by more than 40 million student loan borrowers. However, with the final proposal still up in the air, the feasibili...
• Ed Dept Will Continue to Waive Financial Aid Verification Rules for 2022-23
  May 19, 2022 - "The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday it will continue to waive parts of its process for auditing students’ financial aid documentation through the 2022-23 enrollment cycle," Education Dive reports.
• Education Department Extends FAFSA Verification Waivers
  May 19, 2022 - "The Department of Education will extend waivers for certain verification requirements on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Had the department not extended the waivers, more than 100,000 students could have been forced to pause or leave p...
• Education Dept. Extends Waiver Limiting Audits of Financial Aid Forms
  May 19, 2022 - "The Biden administration said Wednesday the Education Department will continue to temporarily relax its audit of students who apply for federal grants and loans, with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic still rippling thr...
• Looking to Compare Colleges? Try This Online Tool
  May 18, 2022 - "With thousands of colleges and universities to choose from – varying in cost, size, location, majors and extracurricular activities – narrowing down a list of top choices can be daunting But there is a tool that allows students and fam...
• Education Department Extends Changes to Federal Student Aid Verification
  May 18, 2022 - "The Education Department will extend temporary changes to how it reviews federal student aid applications as part of an effort to offset steep college enrollment declines recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic," Politico Pro reports.
• Politico Pro Morning Education: American Schools Remain Segregated, Decades After Brown v. Board
  May 18, 2022 - "IT’S WEDNESDAY, MAY 18. WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. ICYMI: The federal public health emergency will likely be extended through October after federal health officials failed to announce an expiration date earlier this week," Politico&nbs...
• The Priceless Plan from 22 Higher Ed Groups That Might Trump $1.7T Student Loan Fix
  May 17, 2022 - "The Biden Administration is forging a plan that will be released in the coming weeks on how to address the student loan crisis and the $1.7 trillion in debt facing 43 million Americans. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrator...
• Financial Aid Administrators Call for Student Loan System Reforms
  May 16, 2022 - "The federal government’s student financial aid system has long come under fire, drawing a range of accusations: the U.S. Department of Education is lax in monitoring loan servicers, loan forgiveness is difficult for borrowers to secure, studen...
• Student Aid Group Releases Ideas for Loan Reforms
  May 16, 2022 - "While many wait to see what President Biden will do about forgiving student debts, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators today released a report on other ideas that it thinks are necessary," Inside Higher Ed reports.
• Afternoon Update: How to Solve the Student-Disengagement Crisis
  May 12, 2022 - "Based on today’s auction of the 10-year Treasury note, the rates after July 1 are likely to rise from 3.73 percent to 4.99 percent for undergraduate direct loans, 5.28 percent to 6.54 percent for graduate and professional loans, and 6.28 perce...
• Williams College Becomes Nation's First to Eliminate Loans and Work Requirements From Student Aid
  May 3, 2022 - "At Williams College in western Massachusetts, first-year student Daniela Corona walked backwards quickly, glancing over her shoulder so as not to trip as she guided a campus tour for interested students and their families. The daughter of Mexican im...
• All About Public Service Loan Forgiveness
  May 3, 2022 - "Many student loan borrowers have received some relief in recent years, as the U.S. Department of Education paused student loan payments and collections on most federal student loans in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. And while it's ...
• Why Talk of Student-Debt Cancellation Is Creating Headaches for Colleges
  May 3, 2022 - "After years stuck in limbo, the idea of widespread federal-student-loan cancellation has suddenly picked up momentum over the past week. But with the details yet to be determined, colleges are struggling to explain to current students what debt forg...
• As Smaller Colleges Close, Competition Increases
  May 1, 2022 - "When the pause on student loan repayments was extended through the end of August, 43 million borrowers may have breathed a collective sigh of relief. But former students paying off loans is just one facet of a complicated college planning environmen...
• New WA Financial Aid Program Will Offer Low-Interest Loans for Graduate Students, Not Just Undergrads
  April 26, 2022 - "Washington is developing a new low-interest loan program to make it cheaper for college students to borrow money for school — and in an unusual move, the state is making it available to some graduate students, too," The Seattle Times reports.
• Student Loan Borrowers Will See Two New Changes from the Education Department Soon
  April 21, 2022 - "The U.S. Education Department is taking steps to forgive certain types of student loan debt under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. A recent investigation by NPR revealed that Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans for federal stud...
• Changes in 2 Loan Programs
  April 20, 2022 - "The U.S. Education Department on Tuesday announced changes to two key student loan programs: the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment programs," Inside Higher Ed reports.
• Millions of Borrowers Just Got a Quicker Path to Student Loan Forgiveness
  April 20, 2022 - "Changes announced by the Department of Education Tuesday will help millions more borrowers become eligible for student loan forgiveness under income-driven repayment plans," Money reports.
• Millions of Loan Borrowers Get More Relief in Sweeping Plan to Fix Student Loan System
  April 19, 2022 - "More than 3.5 million borrowers will be credited with three years of payments on their student loan plans and another 40,000 will have their debt immediately canceled through Public Service Loan Forgiveness as the Department of Education overhauls i...
• Williams Gets More Generous With Aid
  April 14, 2022 - "Williams College is significantly expanding its financial aid offerings. College will be all grants, no loans for those with family incomes up to $175,000. No students will have to hold down jobs, even in the summer," Inside Higher Ed reports.
• Biden Wants to Double the Maximum Pell Grant. What Difference Would That Make?
  April 13, 2022 - "A $13,000 Pell Grant would just about fully cover today’s average annual cost of attendance for community-college students. Students at public four-year institutions would have more than half of their tuition, fees, room, and board paid for," ...
• Biden Extends Student Loan Forgiveness, Bringing Political Clash
  April 7, 2022 - "US president Joe Biden has extended the federal pause on student loan repayments into the summer and waived any records of past defaults for borrowers, stoking an election-year showdown over college affordability," Times Higher Education reports.&nb...
• Biden Administration Grants Student Loan Borrowers a 5th Extension on Payments
  April 6, 2022 - "For the fifth time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden Administration on Wednesday extended loan forgiveness on payments by student borrowers through the end of August," University Business reports. 
• Here’s How Biden Could Double Pell Grant Financial Aid for College Students
  April 5, 2022 - "President Joe Biden, at last, has a plan to fulfill his campaign promise to double the maximum Pell Grant award. Advocates lauded the president's promise to double the award by 2029 in his latest budget proposal," according to Best Colleges. 
• Pell Grants at 50: Loss of Buying Power Has Congress Rethinking Ways of Paying for College
  April 4, 2022 - "Congress just approved the largest increase for Pell Grants in a decade to help needy students pay for college. And it didn't even keep up with inflation," USA Today reports. 
• Jobless Benefits’ Unintended Fallout: Reduced College Financial Aid
  April 1, 2022 - "Unemployment benefits helped millions of people who lost their jobs in the pandemic, but now the payments may throw a wrench into the college financial aid process," The New York Times reports. 
• Ukrainian, Russian Students Face Financial Woes in U.S.
  March 30, 2022 - "Viktoriia Yevtushenko, a freshman at Pace University, is caught between two worlds. Back home in Ukraine, her country is under siege from hostile Russian forces, which prompted her family to flee, losing their home and business in the process. But i...
• Biden Seeks Big Increase for Pell
  March 29, 2022 - "President Biden proposed a $2,175 increase in the maximum Pell Grant Monday in his budget proposal to Congress for fiscal 2023. That would bring the maximum annual Pell award to $8,670," Inside Higher Ed reports. 
• Biden’s Double Pell Promises Are Lofty, But Will They Pass in FY2023 Budget?
  March 28, 2022 - "The Double Pell discussion is alive and well again, but for how long? In his 2023 fiscal year budget proposal, the Biden Administration doubled down again on its offer of sweeping relief for students across higher education – namely boosting t...
• Good News for College Students: Pell Grants Have Gotten a Boost
  March 28, 2022 - "College students could see their Pell Grant award go up by as much as $400 for the coming academic year, thanks to the federal spending bill signed into law March 15," Marketwatch reports. 
• What to Expect When Paying for College in 2022
  March 22, 2022 - "The cost of college has long put a strain on many families, and the coronavirus pandemic's financial impact has heightened stress levels over the last two years. The federal government allocated several emergency funding streams to colleges to ass...
• 3 Ways College Financial Aid Letters Can Confuse Families — and What to Do About It
  March 21, 2022 - "Good news: your teen got into college! Bad news: now comes the heavy lifting of analyzing financial aid offers," Money.com reports. 
• Another $400 in Free College Aid Could Be Coming Your Way
  March 18, 2022 - "College students could see their Pell Grant award go up by as much as $400 for the coming academic year, thanks to the federal spending bill signed into law March 15," NerdWallet reports. 
• The Moratorium on Repaying Federal Direct Student Loans May Finally Be Expiring
  March 16, 2022 - “About 30 million to 40 million Americans have gotten a financial reprieve over the past two years: They haven’t had to pay principal or interest on their federal direct student loans,” Marketplace reports.
• House-Approved $400 Pell Grant Boost Is ‘Significant’ But Falls Short of Hopes
  March 10, 2022 - "As part of the U.S. House passage of the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill late Wednesday night, representatives have approved a $400 annual increase for federal Pell Grant program recipients, the largest in a decade. But while every dollar matter...
• Campus Financial Aid Supports Shine in Crisis but Are Otherwise Lackluster
  March 3, 2022 - "As far as major life purchases go—home, car and college education—former financial aid administrator Amy Glynn can’t help but notice that only two out of three have revamped the experience to be highly personalized and relatively e...
• Biggest Mistakes That Families Make When Appealing College Financial-Aid Decisions
  March 3, 2022 - "As college financial-aid award letters trickle in, many families will find the offers coming up unexpectedly short because of how the pandemic has affected their lives. But they might have some wiggle room," The Wall Street Journal reports. 
• Is Biden Scaling Back His Higher-Ed Agenda?
  March 1, 2022 - "President Biden is set to repeat some of his longstanding higher-education priorities in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, calling for more federal spending for low-income students and at minority-serving institutions," The Chronicle ...
• Are Recommendation Letters a Form of Discrimination?
  February 22, 2022 - "If you are applying to the University of California, Los Angeles, you can’t submit a letter of recommendation," according to Inside Higher Ed. 
• Why Federal Direct Subsidized Loans Are the Best Student Loans You Can Get — If You Can Qualify For Them
  February 21, 2022 - "Nearly a third of all college students take out student loans in their own name, according to Sallie Mae, a leading education lender. If you’re one of them, federal loans are by far the best choice," TIME reports. 
• Don't Let the College Price Tag Intimidate You — Here Are 5 Ways to Finance Your Education
  February 19, 2022 - "For the month of February, higher education institutions across the country celebrate Financial Aid Awareness Month. The purpose of this commemoration is to make college students and their families aware of crucial information about federal, state a...
• How Does My Income Affect My Study Grant?
  February 17, 2022 - "Finding money for college usually always feels like a stretch, and uncertain economic times can make it particularly difficult, especially with income changes that can affect your ability to pay for college. As a college student, your income also di...
• Over $3B In Financial Aid Unclaimed in 2021, Researchers Find
  February 17, 2022 - "Cash-strapped college students are not known for turning down free money, but new research suggests they are doing just that. The study from the National College Attainment Network found that the 2021 freshman class left an estimated $3.75 billion i...
• NASFAA Survey Reveals Early FAFSA's Impact
  February 16, 2022 - "The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) released findings from its survey that show students are starting to benefit from the Early Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which was implemented a...
• Early FAFSA Process Is Working, Thanks to Quick Responses From Colleges
  February 15, 2022 - "Nearly half of college and university administrators are getting financial aid offers into the hands of families and prospective students more quickly, according to a new report released by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administr...
• Earlier Aid Awards
  February 14, 2022 - "Changes made in federal financial aid policy five years ago are having a positive impact on the awarding of aid, according to a survey released today by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators," Inside Higher Ed reports.
• UW-Madison: Announces Helen Faith Elected to Chair National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
  February 3, 2022 - "Helen Faith, UW–Madison’s director of student financial aid, has been elected to serve as the 2023-24 national chair of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA)," WisPolitics.com reports. 
• 2 Changes to Your Admissions Policies That Can Increase Access and Enrollment
  February 3, 2022 - "The National Student Clearinghouse’s recent report that college enrollment continues to decline is not a surprise to most enrollment leaders. The impact of The Great Pandemic that will roll right into The Great Demographic Decline is already a...
• Higher Ed Groups Offer Bold Ideas for Ensuring Racial Equity as SCOTUS Takes Up New Admissions Case
  February 2, 2022 - "The U.S. Supreme Court roiled the higher education community by agreeing to hear cases against the race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, with arguments likely to come in the fall. Signifi...
• Considering A PLUS Loan? Here Is Everything You Need To Know
  February 1, 2022 - "If you thought Gucci and Prada were expensive, try getting a college degree. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average U.S. student pays $35,720 a year for their college education. While most students are eligible for some form of...
• A Racial Reckoning for College Access in America
  January 27, 2022 - "For the third time in two decades, the Supreme Court will hear a case involving the consideration of race in college admission decisions. By deciding to consider the combined complaints against Harvard University and the University of North Car...
• College Admission Trifecta Hopes to Build Back Better
  January 27, 2022 - "It has been quite a week in college admission. On Monday we learned that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear challenges to Affirmative Action and the use of race-conscious admission practices. On Tuesday the College Board declared their plans to take t...
• Community College’s Controversial Partnership Draws Federal Scrutiny
  January 26, 2022 - "The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the use of federal financial aid at an Ohio community college that has come under fire for poor teaching quality and an unusual relationship with a for-profit company that recruits labor union member...
• Uncapped Student Athlete Education-Related Benefits' Impact on Federal Student Aid
  January 24, 2022 - "In the wake of NCAA v. Alston, a student-athlete’s education-related benefits may impact the amount of Federal Student Aid the student-athlete receives," JD Supra reports. 
• 5 Keys to Creating True Equity in College Admissions and Financial Aid
  January 21, 2022 - "Understanding the link between selectivity and racial inequity in college admissions is one of several key strategies in dismantling long-standing and system barriers to college access," University Business reports. 
• Delayed Vote on Pell Grant Increase Could Disrupt College Financial Aid Offers
  January 21, 2022 - "For many students, the grants and scholarships they receive determine which college they attend or whether higher education is even within reach. But college and universities will have a tough time this year giving admitted students a clear, tim...
• Education Department Drops Trump-era Student Loan Requirement
  January 21, 2022 - "The Biden administration is abandoning a Trump-era policy that would have required federal student loan borrowers to sign an online acknowledgment about their total student debt each year before taking out new loans," Politico reports. 
• A Radical Approach to Who Gets In
  January 20, 2022 - "The admissions system should be totally overhauled to make it more fair, especially for students of color, said a report issued Wednesday by the National Association for College Admission Counseling and the National Association of Student Financial ...
• An Admissions Process Built for Racial Equity? This Report Imagines What It Would Look Like
  January 19, 2022 - "Ditch the ACT and SAT. End early decision. Abolish preferences for legacy applicants now. Critics of the admissions process have long demanded such changes in hopes of making the system more equitable for students," The Chronicle of Higher Education...
• Associations Challenge Selectivity in College Admissions, Call for Simplified Policies
  January 19, 2022 - "Colleges with selective admissions should evaluate whether these practices are compatible with their goals of advancing historically underrepresented students in higher education, a new report urges," Higher Ed Dive reports. 
• Panic at the ACC: How Alston Case, Feds Fueled Financial-Aid Frenzy
  January 10, 2022 - "In October, the Atlantic Coast Conference reached out to the Department of Education to solicit guidance about the financial-aid implications of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in NCAA v. Alston, which determined that the NCAA could...
• FAFSA Changes Are Coming But 52% of Colleges Aren't Prepared
  January 6, 2022 - "The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will see some key changes for the 2023-24 academic year, but more than half of higher education institutions in the U.S. say they are not ready for those changes, according to a new study fro...
• Pressure Builds on Biden Ahead of Student Loan Cliff
  December 17, 2021 - "President Biden is facing an avalanche of pressure over his administration’s plans to require millions of Americans to resume student loan payments in the coming weeks," The Hill reports.
• Not Enough Financial Aid? Here Are 10 Ways To Pay For College
  December 10, 2021 - "If your financial aid package falls short, applying for merit-based aid, looking into tuition assistance programs — and even crowdfunding, are some viable options you could explore to help cover the costs of college," moneyunder30.com reports.
• Recap: Rule-Making Committee Struggles to Reach Consensus
  December 10, 2021 - "Following a months-long process, negotiators are meeting with the Department of Education this week for the final time to discuss regulatory changes to several federal student aid programs, with hopes of reaching agreement on the new language that o...
• How to Renew the FAFSA
  December 6, 2021 - "The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as the FAFSA, can be a time-consuming and tedious task for many students and families," according to U.S. News & World Report.
• The Top 2 Concerns for Colleges as They Assess Pending FAFSA Changes
  December 1, 2021 - "With changes not coming to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Federal Methodology until the 2024-25 award year, it is not surprising that only half of all institutions have started prepping for it. Nor is it a shock that admini...
• For-Profit Colleges Fight Exclusion From Pell Grant Increase in Biden’s Spending Bill
  November 23, 2021 - "For-profit colleges are fighting for their students to be eligible for increased federal financial aid in President Biden’s Build Back Better package after House Democrats passed legislation excluding the sector from new Pel...
• Opposition to For-Profit Exclusion From Pell Increase Continues
  November 22, 2021 - "A long-awaited increase to the maximum Pell Grant was passed by the House of Representatives Friday, but with a catch—it will only be available to students attending nonprofit institutions. The provision has raised questions about the appropri...
• You’re More Likely to Have Your FAFSA Verified Than to Have Your Taxes Audited—Here’s Why
  November 19, 2021 - "Current and prospective college students can now complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, for their share of $150 billion in federal student aid — including grants, scholarships, loans and work-study — f...
• Student Loan Payments Are Starting Back Up: Are You Prepared?
  November 15, 2021 - "Federal student loan payments are restarting after January 31st, 2022. Recalibrating your budget, switching your repayment plan, and contacting your servicer are some of the things you can do to ensure you’re repayment-ready," moneyunder30.com...
• Democrats’ Bill Would Deny For-Profit College Students Extra Aid
  November 12, 2021 - "When Megan Kern decided she wanted to enroll in Pima Medical Institute, in Phoenix last year, its tax status was the furthest thing from her mind," The New York Times reports. 
• Relieving the Verification Burden
  November 11, 2021 - "Each year, millions of students who receive federal financial aid are required to undergo an additional review of their financial information by the Department of Education called verification, a process that has proven to be burdensome for bot...
• Biden Plan Draws Wide Ire for Excluding For-Profit Colleges From Pell Increase
  November 10, 2021 - "Months of failed haggling between the White House and the moderate Democratic wing over President Joe Biden's signature spending plan recently yielded a new, scaled back iteration — with a surprising inclusion," Education Dive reports. 
• House Members Urge Inclusion of For-Profits in Pell Increase
  November 9, 2021 - "A group of 13 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to leaders in the House of Representatives last Friday asking them to revise a part of the Build Back Better Act that extends a boost in the Pell Grant award only to students who attend nonp...
• New NCAN and NASFAA Report: FAFSA Verification Solutions From the Field
  November 8, 2021 - "It’s FAFSA season again for high school seniors, others aspiring to postsecondary education, and current college students. A completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the necessary ticket that makes college possible for mil...
• Higher Ed Groups Call for Quick Changes to FAFSA Verification
  November 8, 2021 - "The federal government should use data it possesses and share it among agencies to alleviate burdens on administrators and on financial aid applicants selected for an audit process known as verification, according to a report published Monday," Educ...
• The Impacts of the $1.7 Trillion Spending Plan on Higher Education
  November 5, 2021 - "After weeks of negotiations and adjustments, which included the elimination of free community college tuition, Democrats in the House of Representatives were poised to approve the $1.75 trillion social spending bill Friday that includes transformati...
• Fafsa May Be Tricky This Year for College Students and Parents
  November 4, 2021 - "It is Fafsa time again, when parents and students fill out the required financial disclosure for college financial aid. For some parents, the economic environment—as well as various changes in the rules—makes it especially important that...
• Report: Increasing Pell Would Easily Expand Eligibility
  November 3, 2021 - "Lawmakers don’t need to decide between increasing Pell Grants for lower-income students or expanding eligibility to more middle-income students, because boosting the maximum award would accomplish both, according to a new report by the Nationa...
• Politico Report Roundup
  November 3, 2021 - "The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators set out its case for how increased funding for Pell Grants benefits middle-income families, in addition to its long-standing support of low-income students," Politico reports.&nbs...
• Financial Aid Offices Face Staffing Shortages
  November 2, 2021 - "When student aid was disbursed at the beginning of the fall semester, the financial aid office at the University of Texas at Arlington just couldn’t keep up. Emails and phone calls from students and parents poured into the office. And even tho...
• What’s the Deal With Public Service Loan Forgiveness?
  November 2, 2021 - "Beth is joined by Justin Draeger, the president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), to discuss the fraught Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program: what it is, why it exists, how it’s working, a...
• What's In Biden's Latest Budget Offer: Climate Programs and Universal Preschool, But No Paid Leave
  October 28, 2021 - "President Joe Biden delivered his latest offer to Congress on his plan to expand safety-net and climate change programs Thursday, the result of months of talks with lawmakers to pare down his original proposal," USA Today reports. 
• Free Community College is Out of Biden's Plan, but a Bigger Pell Grant Could Still Help Cut Costs
  October 24, 2021 - "President Joe Biden's plan to make tuition free at community colleges is unlikely to make it into the final bill to expand the nation's social safety net. But boosting the federal Pell grant is still on the table and could have a big impac...
• Attending College Next Year? It’s Time to File Your FAFSA to Find Out About Financial Assistance
  October 19, 2021 - "A college degree has never been more expensive. While some schools limited tuition increases during the pandemic, the price tag for a diploma continues to climb at many," Checkbook reports.
• Important Things You Should Know About State Aid
  October 19, 2021 - "Many students need financial aid to afford college, and most tend to assume it only comes from the federal government. But did you know attending college in your home state can offer benefits beyond simply paying in-state tuition rates?" Collegexpre...
• Recap: First Week of Negotiated Rule Making
  October 12, 2021 - "The Department of Education held its first negotiated rule-making session of the Biden administration last week, during which stakeholders discussed their views on potential changes to several federal student aid programs, including closed-college d...
• What’s New on the 2022-2023 FAFSA
  October 7, 2021 - "The 2022-2023 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, opened Oct. 1 with a new online design and a few tweaks to financial information questions," WTOP news reports.
• For Their Next Trick, Department of Ed Will Make 550,000 Student Loans Disappear
  October 7, 2021 - "When the federal government’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) started in 2007, the intention was presumably not to make qualification as exclusive as the Met gala. Unfortunately for the Department of Education, less than ...
• Dept. of Education Overhauls Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
  October 6, 2021 - "The US Department of Education announced major changes Wednesday to a federal student loan forgiveness program," ABC News reports.
• The FAFSA Opens Today. What Families Need to Know About Applying for Federal Student Aid
  October 4, 2021 - "Oct. 1 marks the start of the annual college financial aid application cycle, as families can start filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for next year," Money reports.
• FAFSA Applications Are Open, With Some Big Changes
  October 1, 2021 - "FAFSA applications have been down during the pandemic, and there have been some recent changes to the form. This year's applications open Oct. 1," NPR reports. 
• What the Debt Ceiling Debate Means for Higher Ed
  September 28, 2021 - "At the same time that Congress is trying to keep the federal government from shutting down at the end of this week, it’s also facing a deadline to keep the United States from defaulting on its loans -- a never-before-seen outcome that would im...
• Will Higher Ed Feel the Effects of a Federal Shutdown?
  September 27, 2021 - "The potential for a government shutdown is growing as the end of the month -- and the federal government’s fiscal year -- draws closer. But even if Congress is unable to continue funding the government, the impact of a shutdown on higher educa...
• 10 Tips to Help You Graduate College Less Broke
  September 21, 2021 - "College is expensive. Very expensive. By doing things like getting "free" money, starting a side hustle, and watching your credit card usage, you can graduate a little less broke," moneyunder30.com reports. 
• What’s Changing in the New FAFSA and What’s Not
  September 17, 2021 - "Big changes are coming to a notoriously complex form that students need to submit to qualify for college financial aid — but the changes will mostly appear gradually, over the next few years," The New York Times reports.   
• Aid Verification Will Return to Normal for 2022-23
  September 1, 2021 - "The Department of Education will not be targeting its federal aid verification process for the 2022-23 award year, ending a temporary change put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic to alleviate challenges students face in accessing financial aid...
• Biden Administration Ends Waiver Limiting Audits of Students Applying for Financial Aid
  August 31, 2021 - "Weeks after relaxing its audit of college students relying on federal grants and loans to pay for this academic year, the Education Department said it will resume the process for the following term," The Washington Post reports.  &nb...