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Rewarding institutions with funding based on performance metrics such as graduation rates disproportionately harms minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and undermines their mission to educate historically underserved students, according to a new report.

The PROSPER Act would replace the College Navigator with a similar tool called the College Dashboard. Like the College Navigator, the Dashboard would also present institutional information that can be compared, but there are many changes to the specific information that is presented. The Dashboard must be consumer-tested and the bill specifically removes the Department of Education's (ED) authority to issue associated regulations.

Each year, students enroll in college only to find they are underprepared for the coursework ahead. As a way to potentially mitigate that problem, some states have implemented transition courses intended to better prepare and ease students into college-level English and math courses. But new research shows the courses might not have a strong impact on college preparedness.

Brown University joined the ranks this month of 16 elite colleges that offer loan-free financial aid packages to students regardless of their family incomes. The benefits to ensuring that all students graduate with minimal to no debt are clear, and these “no loan” programs aim to help make college more affordable for students nationwide.

It's been a busy year for financial aid administrators, with the fiscal year 2018 budget, verification issues, and year-round Pell dominating NASFAA's headlines and topics of conversation on NASFAA's "Off The Cuff" podcast. Read on to see which articles and podcast episodes were the most popular in 2017, and catch up on any you missed.

A bill that would require Pell Grant recipients who do not complete their program to repay their aid in the form of an unsubsidized loan, another that would make a number of FAFSA simplification changes, and the comprehensive tax reform measure highlight this month’s Capitol Recap. This past month in the House and Senate, members of Congress introduced 10 different pieces of legislation with implications for student aid. NASFAA’s Capitol Recap provides summaries of each bill introduced in November, while the NASFAA Legislative Tracker provides a comprehensive list of all student aid-related bills introduced so far this session.

The Department of Education (ED) approved nine experiments to test ways to address federal objectives and meet the needs of financial aid administrators and federal financial aid recipients. The collection of this data and the results of these experiments will help ED in its continuing efforts to improve Title IV program administration.

"Samantha Hernandez was finishing up an argument for her dissertation about Latinos and affirmative action on Thursday when the emails started pouring in with the subject line 'Congratulations,'" The New York Times reports. "President Trump had finished a celebratory news conference to announce the completion of a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s tax code, and graduates students were breathing a deep sigh of relief. House Republicans had targeted them for a hefty tax increase, one that many of them could not hope to pay, but they had escaped unscathed. The question now is this: Once lawmakers put a target on your back, are you ever really in the clear?" NASFAA President Justin Draeger is quoted.

"Before she took office, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos's political donations and activism suggested she'd be focused on K-12 policy when she assumed her post," according to MarketWatch. "But over the past year, her Department has attempted to reverse some of the Obama administration's higher education policies. And in the waning weeks of 2017, Congress took steps to also dramatically overhaul student loan and higher education policy. So as we head into 2018, the policies governing higher education and the way students pay for it are poised for change."

"University presidents say they have been blindsided by charges that they are catering to the wealthy at the same moment that conservatives attack them for elitism, turning their once-untouchable institutions into political punching bags," POLITICO reports. "POLITICO talked to more than a dozen college and university presidents, from small colleges to Ivy League universities and top public institutions, who expressed fear that they’re losing public and political support at an alarming rate."

"Starting next year, University at Albany students who are at risk of dropping out due to sudden financial hardship or some other emergency situation could be eligible to apply for emergency aid," the Times Union reports.

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