Negotiating on the Title IV Loans Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

I am very honored to write that I have been selected to be the primary non-federal negotiator representing financial aid administrators for the Title IV Loans Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. California and WASFAA are well represented on the committee. The first meeting starts next week in Washington DC.

I will be sharing what I can through Twitter and the CASFAA newsletter. Hopefully, my first tweet will not be next to a pile of snow.

Now for the ask.

I really want to hear from people in the financial aid profession. What do you want to see negotiated in the loan programs? Send me an email scott (a) scottcline.org or a tweet with your thoughts and ideas.

First Generation Student Blog Article: Student Loans →

I had the honor of writing an article for the First Generation Student blog. The article was a guide to student loans for first-generation college students.

Hope it helps students navigate the complex world of student loans. Feel free to share.

Pay as You Earn - Finally →

About time.

The U.S. Department of Education last week issued the final regulations for the new, more-generous student-loan repayment program announced by the president last October. The plan, known as “Pay as You Earn,” will allow some graduates to peg their federal loan payments to 10% of their discretionary income and then have any remaining balance forgiven after 20 years.

via Wall Street Journal

TICAS Report - Making Loans Work (at community colleges) →

TICAS has been one of the few organizations to consider that student loan borrowing at community colleges can actually help students retain, complete and transfer. They have been making good arguments while at the same time maintaining their stance on college costs and the Project on Student Debt.

Their latest report looks at how some community colleges in California approach responsible borrowing for their students. Well worth the read.

Department of Education Still Learning UI Design ♦

The Department of Education rolled out their finanical literacy program through StudentLoans.gov this week. From my inital look, it looks really good and I am sure many schools will be pushing it out to their students and even making it some type of requirement in order to receive intitutional aid (since it does not appear that you can make it a requirement in order to receive federal finanical aid, ironically).

My one gripe is what they decided to call it and where they put it. Most schools now use the loan entrance counseling built into studentloans.gov that students are required to complete before receiving federal student loans. Students are usually instructed to login to studentloans.gov and click on "Complete Entrance Counseling". The Department of Education decided to call the financial literacy program "Complete Financial Awareness Counseling" and placed the link right above "Complete Entrance Counseling".

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Just when you thought that the Department of Education was finally figuring out user interface design, they do this. I am all for finanical literacy and intergrating it into the financial aid process, but do we have to confuse students in order to get them to do it? I found out a few days before the department announced that it was live by a handful of confused students calling into to see which one they are supposed to do.

Two steps forward, one step back.