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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.

"In a recent opinion piece in The Hill about the Prosper Act and federal spending on higher education, the authors contend that student financial aid advocates are wrong to object to the bill’s cuts in student aid because the Republican-led Higher Education Act reauthorization bill will actually increase federal spending on student aid. But the authors conflate two facts that are not mutually exclusive in the world of federal budgeting and accounting," NASFAA President Justin Draeger writes in an article published by The Hill. "First, the Prosper Act would increase federal spending, after taking into account both mandatory and discretionary spending, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Second, the Prosper Act also cuts federal aid dollars available to students."

As the cost of college continues to rise, policymakers are becoming increasingly interested in holding institutions more accountable for student outcomes, including their ability to repay federal student loans. Colleges can take more control over ensuring their students succeed by informing them of employer needs and how to maximize their potential earnings outcomes after graduating from liberal arts programs, which are typically associated with lower salaries, according to a new report from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

Federal student loans are critical to students who need to fund a gap between their tuition and the federal, state, and institutional aid they have received, or to cover other education-related costs like books, transportation, housing, and food. Increasingly, students rely on the availability of federal student loans to access higher education. In its newly published policy issue brief, NASFAA covers why loan limits matter, what the current loan limit landscape looks like, and what Congress can do to better support schools and student loan borrowers.

Within one year of having a NASFAA Standards of Excellence (SOE) review, East Tennessee State University made changes that resulted in increased enrollment. An SOE review might help your enrollment management efforts, too. Request a no-obligation cost estimate today.

NASFAA's Board of Directors is here to represent you and is seeking your input. Please email any questions or comments you might have directly to a member of the NASFAA Board by clicking on their name on our Board Member Bios page. Questions or feedback may pertain to NASFAA products and services, membership benefits, policy issues, and advocacy efforts, or any other topic you would like to bring before the Board. The Board will compile feedback and discuss at the June 23-24 Board meeting. We welcome your insight.

In its "Where We Live" program, WNPR discusses what Congress and the Trump administration are doing for students, who may benefit, and what's coming with a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Forward50 member Angel B. Perez, vice president for enrollment and student success at Trinity College, is interviewed on the show.

"College students may believe they're ready for a job, but employers think otherwise. At least, that's according to data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which surveyed graduating college seniors and employers and found a significant difference in the groups' perceptions," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"For years, many states -- believing that a postsecondary credential is a necessity to succeed in the economy -- have moved toward making the first two years of college tuition free. But a growing number are attaching requirements and conditions to tuition-free plans that worry advocates for low-income students," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"In most states, truly public colleges are becoming a thing of the past, a trend that’s exacerbating racial inequality," MarketWatch reports. "In every state except Wyoming, the share of revenue that public colleges receive from tuition — aka students and families — has grown since 2001, according to an analysis released Thursday by Demos, a left-leaning think tank. And in 24 states, tuition covered more than half of public colleges’ revenue in 2016. Compare that to public colleges of the past, which got much of their money from state and local funding, and kept the costs for families relatively low. In some cases, they were even free."

"A few Harvard University graduates attended a fundraiser here last week in hopes of swaying Congress to their cause: saving exclusive social clubs that school officials have been trying to stamp out for years," according to The Wall Street Journal. "Hosted at the law firm Arnold & Porter, the alums joined roughly 30 education-sector and other lobbyists over sandwich wraps, potato salad and chocolate-chip cookies to raise money for Rep. Virginia Foxx. In December, the North Carolina Republican successfully pushed her proposed revamp of sweeping higher-education legislation through the House’s education committee."

"Painting a grim picture for American higher education, Moody's Investors Service recently changed the industry's outlook from 'stable' to 'negative.' This return to negative ratings reinforces a number of trends that bear close review. The facts are clear and inescapable. The comprehensive fee – tuition, fees, room and board – will approach $70,000 a year at a number of high sticker priced colleges and universities," Brian Mitchell, a founder and principal of Academic Innovators, writes in an opinion piece for The Hechinger Report.

"Lizzie Mathias balances a full-time course load at Middle Georgia State University's campus in Macon, works about 40 miles from there in Cochran. And she is interning at a domestic violence shelter in her hometown of Dublin, about an hour's drive from the college. She's served in the Middle Georgia Student Government Association every year, and now serves as its president," according to the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute.

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