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Inceptia's SAP Advisor is a fully automated online solution that provides students, faculty and the financial aid staff with the tools to effectively manage Satisfactory Academic Progress appeals quickly and seamlessly. SAP Advisor increases efficiency and empowers students to actively engage which improves the opportunity for successful outcomes. Visit Inceptia.org to learn more.

Student loan servicers and collectors who are trying to reach borrowers through the traditional methods like landline telephones and snail mail would be better off shooting them a text message or email, according to a recent survey from the National Council of Higher Education Resources (NCHER).

"'Now I know what to do.' This was the phrase heard repeatedly during the two days of the Association Management pathway of the 2016 NASFAA Leadership & Legislative Conference & Expo," Brenda Hicks, director of financial aid at Southwestern College, writes. "Participants from all over the nation came not knowing quite what to expect — and left feeling more confident about their upcoming year of leadership."

The move to use prior-prior year (PPY) income data on the FAFSA means families will be able to begin completing the FAFSA on October 1, rather than waiting until January. This change more closely aligns the financial aid application process with the admission application process, but it has raised some questions about which data elements will be affected by the change. NASFAA's PPY Implementation Task Force has developed a toolkit, which includes a chart outlining the data elements that will and will not change on the 2017-18 FAFSA as a result of the move to PPY.

Learn the answer to this question and learn how to instantly find credible and reliable solutions to your most pressing regulatory and compliance questions with NASFAA's AskRegs Knowledgebase. The Knowledgebase guide and video tutorialshighlight the many features of this tool.

NASFAA is here to help you stay up to date on the top policy events occurring throughout the week in Washington, D.C. and, when applicable, across the country. Make sure to check back in to Today's News each morning for coverage of some of the events, and email us at [email protected] if you're aware of upcoming policy events that could be of interest to the financial aid community.

Congress:

• The Senate is in session this week. The House is in session Monday through Thursday.

Tuesday:

• From College to Career: Entering with an Edge

Wednesday:

• House Committee on Education and the Workforce Forum on the Higher Education Act Reauthorization, 2:00 p.m., 2203 Rayburn House Office Building

As described in the Electronic Announcement dated September 2, 2011, the Office of Postsecondary Education maintains a website containing Q&As that pertain to the Program Integrity final regulations that were published on October 29, 2010. The Department recently posted new and revised Q&As to the high school diploma and verification portion of this website.

On March 4, 2016, the Department will send the message class "MESSAGTB" via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) to all user mailboxes.

The COD Processing Update provides information related to COD System processing and includes the following sections: COD News and Updates, Current Issues (with a subsection for All Programs, Direct Loans, and Grants), and Reminders.

This notice contains one absolute priority, two competitive preference priorities, and one invitational priority.

"When former Education Secretary Arne Duncan stepped down at the end of last year, President Obama indicated that John B. King Jr. would serve as acting secretary only," Inside Higher Ed reports. "But on Thursday, King sat before the Senate education committee for his confirmation hearing, and the senators seemed optimistic about his prospects."

"In the world of money management, bigger is often considered better. College and university endowments greater than $1 billion, for example, have long outperformed their smaller rivals," The New York Times reports. "That may be changing."

"If he wins the White House, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' political revolution would reshape much of the American healthcare, campaign-finance, and finance systems," Business Insider reports. "But if elected, Sanders' most lasting impact for thousands of younger Americans could be his plan to radically shift who pays for public colleges and universities."

"This month Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce released a study showing that African-American students are underrepresented in the college majors that tend to lead to higher-income occupations and overrepresented in majors that tend to lead to lower salaries," Ken Leichter writes for The Chronicle of Higher Education. "Overlooked in this discussion is that the numbers would be even more lopsided were it not for the vital work done by historically black colleges and universities in educating African-Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the STEM fields, and other majors that can propel students to higher-paying careers. With questions swirling about the sustainability of HBCUs, the study highlights the continuing relevance of black colleges' educational purpose."

"As 'free college for all' advocates like Bernie Sanders point out, college in the US used to be free (New York and California) or very low cost in many states. Then again, not many people went to college, so states could afford to charge little or zippo," James Pethokoukis writes for the American Enterprise Institute.

"... In general, we should be doing way more to get our kids to and through college," Kevin Mahnken writes for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. "A four-year degree may not be for everybody — and we need to invest in alternative pathways for high school graduates who want to enter the workforce right away — but there's no doubt that post-secondary education confers life-altering rewards to those who complete it."

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