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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 4-3 in favor of the University of Texas at Austin (UT) in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case, upholding the consideration of race and ethnicity in college admissions. 

When you think of summer, you usually think of leisurely days spent next to a pool, right? Well, that is not the case here in Washington, DC, especially in the NASFAA office. Things are only getting busier, but I am enjoying every minute of it.

Please be aware that the DC Metrorail system is anticipating significant crowding and delays during the national conference due to the Washington Metro Authority's SafeTrack plan. Metrorail service between the Reagan National Airport and DC WILL NOT be available via Metro from July 12 through July 18, 2016. Reagan National Airport will be served via shuttle bus to/from the Pentagon City & Braddock Road Metrorail stations. We strongly encourage you to consider alternate transportation methods. You may wish to use taxi cabs, Uber, Lyft, or SuperShuttle.

In a recent PPY, Early FAFSA, and You: How to Get Your Campus Ready blog post, Rachelle Feldman explained that the implementation of the Early FAFSA and the use of prior-prior year information for the 2017-18 FAFSA means students and parents will report calendar year 2015 income tax information for both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 FAFSA. The blog post recommended schools initiate an email or letter campaign to encourage students and parents to use the DRT process for the 2016-17 filing cycle, regardless of their federal verification status. If you haven't already, let us know what other methods your school is using to reduce confusing during FAFSA filing time.

Fall travel season is underway for NASFAA staff and elected officers! Next week, NASFAA President Justin Draeger and National Chair Lori Vedder will speak at MASFAA's 2018 Conference in Minneapolis, MN and Vice President Megan Coval is headed to New Orleans to speak at LASFAA's 50th Fall Conference. NASFAA staff and elected officers have many more upcoming speaking engagements at state and regional conferences. Head to the Events Calendar to see what's on tap for the rest of October and the coming few months.

Included are the presentation slides for the Submitting GE Completers List Corrections webinar, conducted on June 14, 2016 and June 16, 2016, in PDF Format.

The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting (Handbook) is a resource created by the Department to help institutions comply with the requirements of the Clery Act. This version of the Handbook contains information for institutions regarding compliance with the new VAWA requirements. Other sections of the Handbook have also been updated to reflect the Department's current guidance.

The Department has announced the availability of Volume 1 – Student Eligibility of the 2016-2017 Federal Student Aid Handbook.

"The Obama administration has chosen 67 colleges and universities for a pilot program that will offer Pell Grants to incarcerated students," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools got closer to being terminated Thursday after the federal panel that oversees accrediting agencies voted to de-recognize the council, the largest national accreditor that oversees many for-profit colleges," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Finding new ways to teach the digital generation, bringing down the cost of a college education and ensuring that more students graduate are among the biggest challenges facing institutions of higher learning today –– and meeting those challenges has never been more crucial than it is now," The New York Times reports.

"The American Federation of Teachers released a report Wednesday examining ways the Education Department can handle failing for-profit institutions," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Experiments with adaptive learning at 14 colleges and universities have found the software has no significant average effect on course completion rates, has a slight positive effect on student grades and does not immediately lead to lower costs. And after using the software for three academic terms, less than half of the instructors involved say they will continue to use adaptive courseware," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Minnesota's statewide network of public colleges and universities is facing a 'financially unsustainable' future and must act quickly to avert a crisis, according to a report released Tuesday," the Star Tribune reports.

"As countries the world over attempt bigger and better higher education systems to strengthen society and drive economic growth, the West is almost invariably the model –– particularly the U.S. and the U.K.," Richard Garrett writes for The Hechinger Report. "These systems reign supreme, with international student flows, faculty hiring patterns and concentration of research funding tell a clear story. But when working inside a Western higher education system, things often look rather different."

"The $1.2 trillion that borrowers and their parents owe on student loans for college is an eye-popping number –– one that some policy analysts, pundits and journalists often cite in declaring a student loan crisis," Education Secretary John B. King Jr. writes for The New York Times.

"Last week, Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled 'A Better Way,' a policy blueprint for a Republican approach to 'poverty, opportunity, and upward mobility.' Ryan's previous blueprints decisively reshaped Republicans agenda on entitlements, and my Manhattan Institute colleague Scott Winship deemed Ryan's safety-net reforms 'ambitious and distinctive,'" Max Eden writes for U.S. News & World Report. "Yet when it comes to higher education reform, 'A Better Way' does not go far enough."

"As if college isn't expensive enough these days, some students are now paying thousands of dollars, over and above their normal tuition, for specialized courses in everything from business fundamentals to computer programming," according to Money's College Planner.

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