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As the cost of college continues to rise and higher education stakeholders are trying to address affordability issues, one think tank has proposed a way to cut tuition by 25 percent — making a three-year degree the new norm.

Less than one-third of single mothers graduate with a degree or certificate within six years of enrolling in postsecondary education and more than half drop out — which can threaten their eligibility for financial aid and cause them to accrue loan debt without a credential to show for it, according to a new paper from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). And while access to quality child care has been shown to increase college completion for single parents, the report found that a majority of community college campuses do no offer the service to students.

You may know NASFAA’s policy & federal relations team as NASFAA’s 'first responders.' They always have an ear to the ground to keep up with what's happening on Capitol Hill, in the Department of Education (ED), and at the White House regarding federal student aid policy. NASFAA's new photo series gives NASFAA members a glimpse at team members' day-to-day lives. Learn more about Director of Policy Analysis Karen McCarthy’s favorite furry friend and who she cheers for at the ballpark. Discover more about the rest of the team here.

The Return of Title IV (R2T4) funds process for programs offered in modules continues to raise a variety of questions for financial aid administrators. Join us for an overview on how to determine when an academic program is offered in modules, when a student has withdrawn from such a program, and the implications for R2T4. Join Brenda Hicks, director of financial aid at Southwestern College, and Eunice Powell, regulatory specialist at NASFAA, tomorrow, May 16, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. ET for the Return of Title IV: Modules webinar for answers to your questions about this complex topic. Register now.

NASFAA has lots of time-saving products and services that can help you with your day-to-day tasks. If you need a definition or are hunting for a specific regulation, you can find it fast with the Student Aid Index. Looking to get your policies and procedures manual whipped into shape? The P&P Builder was designed to help with just that! If you'll be at the NASFAA National Conference, swing by the Learning Lounge Monday, June 25 at 10:00 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. to catch our 20-minute rundown on how these tools can help make your job a little easier.

The Department of Education announced the posting of the updated 2018-2019 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Technical Reference. The 2018-2019 COD Technical Reference contains development information for the 2018–19 Award Year. 

The Department of Education announced the availability of Volume 1 – Student Eligibility of the 2018-2019 Federal Student Aid Handbook.

"Late spring is graduation season for schools across the United States. It's a time of joy and hope for many, but for DACA recipients and their families it can bring added anxiety. For many of these 'DREAMers,' the threat of deportation looms over their graduation celebrations," NPR reports. 

"What Louise Green hoped would be a buoyant beginning for her teaching career was offset by an increasingly common worry — student debt," according to The Seattle Times.

"About a quarter of all 2015 Tennessee Promise students received a college degree after five semesters in the program, according to newly compiled data on the program. The 21.5 percent of students that graduated through five semesters, while still low, is a big jump over the previous year's community college graduation rate in 2014, when the program didn't exist," the Tennessean reports. 

"These past few weeks, with commitment day looming, I've often found myself trying to console at least one — often three or four — students crying in my classroom or in the hallway outside. They are frustrated and hurt because they are coming to the conclusion that all that work was for nothing, that no matter their dedication, they cannot figure out how they will ever be able to pay for college," Larry Strauss writes in an opinion article for The Huffington Post. 

"The headline for Mr. Jeffrey Dorfman's May 10th article at Forbes blares, 'Student Loan Debt Hits Record High And That's Good.' The economics professor at the University of Georgia then points to a study showing that college graduates, on average, earn $280,000 more than non-graduates twenty years after graduation. He goes on to say that the problem of students who have problems repaying their student loans is 'small and manageable.' Dorfman, a self-described conservative, then criticizes 'liberal' policy prescriptions for lowering the price of college," Student Loan Justice Founder Alan Collinge writes in an opinion article for The Good Men Project. 

"The national minimum wage in 1978 was $2.35 per hour. At six dollars per credit, and 15 credits per term, you could cover full-time tuition in just over 38 hours of work. Over 15 weeks, that's about 2 ½ hours per week. Pretty doable, I think. That leaves out fees, books, and living expenses, but it's a good baseline. The minimum wage in New Jersey in 2018 is $8.60 per hour. At 135 dollars per credit, and 15 credits per term, you could cover full-time tuition in just over 235 hours of work. That's almost 16 hours per week. It doesn't just seem harder than it used to be. It actually is. Looking only at tuition and minimum wage, it's over six times harder," Matt Reed writes for Inside Higher Ed. 

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