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Great Lakes. Student loan debt letters are being mandated in a growing number of states. College Cost Meter™ is an affordable and versatile solution to send customizable student debt letters or emails, when it’s required or part of a student success program. Contact your Great Lakes representative or visit mygreatlakes.org/go/ccm for more information.

This week on "Off The Cuff," Megan, Stephen, and Allie talk about the short-lived government shutdown and what Congress is doing to wrap up budget negotiations before the current continuing resolution expires early next month. The team talks about the latest Senate education committee hearing on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, and what route the Senate might take when putting together a reauthorization bill. The team digs into new information related to Federal Student Aid's proposed prepaid debit card for students and what questions remain moving forward. Plus, which NASFAA staffer transformed into the office bird in someone's dream?

The Department of Education (ED) late on Thursday announced the chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will transition to lead a new entity focused on the "delivery of financial aid to millions of students and their families."

The Senate is continuing to collect testimony from experts before drafting its bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA), holding its third in a series of hearings on issues in higher education Thursday, which focused on access and innovation. 

While the Policies and Procedures (P&P) Builder Module of NASFAA's Compliance Engine was designed to keep your manuals centralized, there are options for customizing and printing PDF versions of your work. Options include printing the entire manual, exporting selected sections, and displaying the instructions and linked resources, or only text you've entered. You can also choose to exclude incomplete sections; if you do so, ensure that any section you would like to print has the "complete" checkbox selected. Finally, you can add an optional logo to your cover, and all versions include an automatic, hyperlinked table of contents. How does your manual look? Check it out in the Compliance Engine.

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.

"To address some of the problems facing higher education in America, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has convened a forward-thinking group of 50 experts, which it's calling Forward50. The national committee will spend 2018 tackling issues ranging from the accessibility of a postsecondary education to its affordability," Associations Now reports.

"The Office of Federal Student Aid’s plans for a prepaid student aid card would position the office -- and the contractor it selects -- for a long-term, even lifelong, relationship with student borrowers, according to documents released this week...But some consumer advocates say Federal Student Aid’s ambitions to occupy functions of a traditional bank go beyond its mandate," Inside Higher Ed reports. NASFAA President Justin Draeger in quoted in the article. 

"A proposed payment card with financial aid money on it wouldn’t stop college students from using it on liquor or a tattoo, the Education Department’s head of federal student aid said. Still, steps would be taken to try to ensure taxpayers’ money is used responsibly, the Office of Federal Student Aid’s Chief Operating Officer A. Wayne Johnson told Bloomberg Government Jan. 23," Bloomberg BNA reports. "...What is responsible spending can be difficult to determine, said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators."

"In an analysis, two researchers used the results of a recently released federal survey to conclude that households in the top quartile of income distribution in 2016 — those making more than $81,140 a year — held roughly half of the outstanding student debt," according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

"As Gustavo Flores sat through a presentation on how to apply for a program to help first-generation students get into an Indiana university, he anticipated it could be an option to afford college. Then the applications were passed out. 'First page I opened it and it says, DACA students did not qualify,' Flores says," WFYI Indianapolis reports. 

"A significant number of students who begin college with two to four semesters of required, noncredit remedial courses never make it to the first for-credit gateway course, according to Complete College America, but instead drop out. The situation is particularly discouraging for students who test on the cusp of moving into introductory for-credit courses. Many colleges are studying better ways to serve these students," Elaine P. Maimon writes in an opinion article for Inside Higher Ed. 

"It is hard to avoid negative stories today about student loans. Interest rates doubling! One trillion dollars worth of debt! Students with six figure loan debts can’t make payments! While these all make great headlines, the larger truth is that, used wisely, student loans can be a valuable part of your plan for paying for college," Craig Anderson writes for CheapScholar.org. 

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