“Months after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would eliminate the bank-based student-lending system, it looks as if the Senate is finally ready to act on that legislation,” the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. “Paul Basken and Sara Hebel describe the last-minute jostling that may occur.”

“After a year of high hopes, the apparent shedding of the American Graduation Initiative from combined health care/student aid legislation has left many community college officials deeply disappointed,” Inside Higher Ed reports. “But be it because they are accustomed to being disappointed by Washington politicians — or because they remain hopeful that the initiative and its financial windfall may re-emerge down the road — many community college leaders looked at the bright side in interviews on Monday. Some said their sector had benefited immensely from having been a focus of the Obama administration’s education and jobs agenda for so long, and are optimistic about federal support for their institutions in the future.”

The NPSAS:12 field test sample will include about 225 institutions (full-scale sample about 1,670) and about 4,500 students (120,000 full-scale). Institution contacting for the field test will begin in September 2010 and list collection will be conducted January through May 2011 (full-scale institution contacting will begin in September 2011 and student lists will be collected January through June 2012). A separate package to request clearance for student data collection (interviews and institution record data) will be submitted in September 2010. The main changes since the last NPSAS collection in 2008 consist of a new cohort of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) which will conduct follow-up studies in 2014 and 2017, and revised strata for institution sampling to reflect the recent growth in enrollment in for-profit 4-year institutions. Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before May 17, 2010.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is now accepting Yellow Ribbon Program Agreements from institutions for the 2010-11 academic year. The deadline is May 21, 2010. The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program allows institutions to enter into an agreement with VA to fund tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate. The institution can contribute up to 50% of those expenses and VA will match the same amount as the institution.

Do you use Peoplesoft, Banner, or Datatel as your financial aid management system? How about EDExpress or a homegrown system? The NASFAA Conference Committee is proud to offer four system-specific sessions to help schools who have questions about converting from FFELP to Direct Lending. Separate sessions will be offered for schools working in Banner, PeopleSoft, Datatel, and Homegrown/EDExpress environments. Each session will be presented by a panel of school representatives from institutions using these systems, so you will have a chance to hear directly from them on their conversion experience.

Congress took the first steps yesterday to pass a reconciliation bill that includes provisions to eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and significantly boost funding for the Pell Grant program. The House Budget Committee voted 21 to 16 to report the bill to the full House for a vote. Democratic leaders in Congress have adopted an unorthodox plan to pass this controversial legislation. Democratic leaders in Congress have adopted an unorthodox plan to pass this controversial legislation. The House plans to pass the healthcare reform legislation that has already been passed by the Senate, clearing that bill to be signed into law. The House also plans to pass a separate reconciliation bill that would combine student aid reform with healthcare provisions to amend the healthcare reform bill passed by the Senate.

In my experience as a former college student, and seeing the individual cases of friends and peers going through the financial aid process, I saw that in some cases, the FAFSA doesn’t always tell a clear picture of a student’s financial situation. Often, parents’ income will dilute the amount of aid that a student would [...]

You might considering early repayment of your Stafford loans. Is it worth it? Here are two things you must consider.

Medical school is grueling and demanding, and certainly not cheap. So how can you get student loans you need for the white coat and stethoscope – without breaking the bank? Here’s how.

“The University of Colorado — pinched by budget cuts and poised to increase tuition as much as allowed by the state — may make the minimum investment in financial aid next year,” the Daily Camera reports.