News
Proposed Legislation Focuses on For-Profit Colleges who Target Veterans for Enrollment
February 16, 2012
The proposed legislation could limit how for-profit institutions solicit veterans. Advocates for for-profit institutions and the chair of the House education committee, Minnesota Republican John Kline, argue that federal aid restrictions could hinder accessibility for veterans who have been 'neglected by traditional schools'.
Click here for more from Bloomberg.com
Read the response from the President of APSCU, former Congressman, Steve Gunderson.
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New Study Claims For-Profit Colleges May Raise Tuition to Maximize Title IV Revenue
February 13, 2012
One new study out of George Washington University and Harvard University suggests that Title IV eligible for-profit post-secondary institutions tend to charge higher tuition than their for-profit counterparts that are ineligible for Title IV aid in order to maximize Title IV revenue.
Read more here from the Chronicle of Higher Education
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Obama’s State of the Union Address Has Education Costs as a Focal Point
January 25, 2012
In the President’s State of the Union Address on January 24, 2012, Mr. Obama urged Congress to make college more affordable for the average American family and warned post-secondary institutions to keep tuition increases in check as he stated that the government would not continue to “subsidize skyrocketing tuition.” In addition, Mr. Obama asked Congress to prevent the interest rates to increase on subsidized Stafford loans as scheduled for July 1, 2012.
Read more via the Chronicle of Higher Education’s website.
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DOE changes to the Ability to Test students and Title IV Eligibility
January 18, 2012
As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act that President Obama signed into law on December 23, 2011, Federal student aid eligibility requirements will be significantly affected. Students who enroll on or after July 1, 2012, and do not have proof of graduation from a secondary education institution (i.e., a high school diploma, GED or home school equivalent) will not be eligible for Title IV Federal student aid. Students who first enrolled in a Title IV eligible program prior to July 1, 2012, can qualify for Title IV student aid via other Ability to Benefit (ATB) alternatives.
Click here for more information from NCHELP
Additional information released by the DOE can be found here
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Net Price Calculator Requirement Deadline – October 29, 2011
October 17, 2011
On October 29, 2011, every Title IV eligible post-secondary institution must post a net price calculator on its website. The calculator must provide prospective and current students with the estimated net price information for attending that institution. Schools can use the Department’s calculator or another version as long as the elements are the same as the Department’s template.
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Proposed Pell Grant Changes for FY 2012
September 29, 2011
A draft funding bill for FY 2012 was released today (9/29/11) which includes proposed changes to the Pell Grant program. The draft bill suggests no changes to the maximum amount but does propose reforming the eligibility criteria.
See the Appropriations Committee’s press release for more information.
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Point of Discussion for Senate Subcommittee: Military Benefits in the ‘90/10’ Calculation
September 23, 2011
The Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security held a hearing on September 22, 2011 on “Improving Educational Outcomes for Military and Veterans” which focused on military aid and for-profit post-secondary institutions. The meeting’s discussions centered upon changing how military benefits are currently factored into the 90/10 calculation. Many argued that these benefits should be part of the ‘90’ portion instead of how it is calculated as part of the ‘10’ portion today.
Visit the Senate Committee’s website for more details on this hearing.
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FY2009 Cohort Default Rates Released by DOE
September 12, 2011
The Department of Education has released the official national student loan cohort default rates for FY2009. The national default rate for all sectors rose 26% from 7.0% in FY2008 to 8.8% for FY2009. The rate includes over 3.6 million borrowers from 5,900 schools nation-wide that entered repayment on their federal student loans between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009 and defaulted before September 30, 2010. Schools who consistently have high default rates are at risk of losing Title IV eligibility.
Click here to view the press release from the Department of Education for more information.
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Department of Education Extends Deadline for Institutions to Report Gainful Employment (“GE”) Program Information
August 04, 2011
According to Information for Financial Aid Professionals’ web site: “While the regulations provide that the deadline for institutions to report GE Program information for the 2006-2007 through 2009-2010 award years is October 1, 2011, the August 2 Federal Register notice provides that the Department will continue to accept information from these earlier award years through November 15, 2011, the same date as the reporting date for the 2010-2011 award year”.
For more information, see the electronic announcement posted by IFAP.
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The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (“APSCU”) Sues the Department of Education
July 20, 2011
APSCU filed a lawsuit on July 20, 2011, with the intent to block the Department’s final “Gainful Employment” regulations. APSCU claims that the Department of Education has “exceeded its statutory authority” which will ultimately “hurt students and jobs…”.
Visit APSCU’s web site for more information and details about the complaint.
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Pell Grant Changes Impact Post-Secondary Private Sector
July 01, 2011
Effective July 1, 2011, regulatory changes with the Pell Grant program will significantly impact the gap financing challenges of many universities (for-profit and not-for-profit). Students are no longer eligible to take out a second Pell Grant to help pay for summer courses. The end of the year-round Pell grant program was a result of Congress’ decision to eliminate the program as part of their April budget cuts.
Find more information on the Department of Education’s website.
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Additional Unsubsidized Stafford Funds No Longer Count in “10” Portion of 90/10 Calculation
July 01, 2011
Effective July 1, 2011, Title IV For-Profit institutions can no longer count the additional $2,000 of Unsubsidized Stafford Loan funds toward their 10% portion of the 90/10 calculation. The additional $2,000 of funding has counted to the 10% portion of the calculation since July 1, 2008, and officially expired on June 30, 2011.
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Gainful Employment (“GE”) Regulations Require Institutions to Disclose Information About Their GE Programs on Web Site
July 01, 2011
Effective July 1, 2011, institutions must disclose certain information to prospective students for each of their GE programs. This information must be included on the institutions web site as well as promotional materials. The Department of Education has not yet released the template for a format for disclosing this information and until that template is completed, institutions are responsible for utilizing their own format to meet the GE requirements.
For more details on the information required for disclosure, see the “Disclosure Requirements” section of the IFAP Dear Colleague Letter : GEN-11-10.
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Final Gainful Employment Regulations Released
June 02, 2011
The Obama Administration announced the final version of the 'Gainful Employment' rule that has been under intense scrutiny in the post-secondary private sector school market. The final regulations include the debt to income and repayment rate measurements that will be used to determine institutional Federal student aid eligibility. Institutions that fail these measurements 3 out of 4 years will lose Federal student aid eligibility.
The complete rule details are published on the Department of Education’s web site.
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Ohio Board of Regents ‘Re-evaluating’ Status of Student Grants for 2011-12 AY
April 20, 2011
The Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) program may be in jeopardy of being cut due to state budget constraints. This state grant provides financial aid to Ohio residents who demonstrate the greatest need and are enrolled at Ohio public university main campuses.
Click here for more information
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Tuition Options Launches Inaugural Edition of the Quarterly Newsletter
April 11, 2011
Tuition Options first quarterly newsletter launched for the first quarter of 2011.Through this publication, Tuition Options strives to provide schools with relevant and insightful information about the post-secondary education market.
In the first issue, schools will find information about:
- 90-10 Regulatory Updates
- Tuition Options' Solutions for Assisting Schools with 90-10 Compliance
- Tuition Options Upcoming Transition to CommonLine Compliance
Click here to view the newsletter.
Contact Leslie Canuso (Leslie.Canuso@tuitionoptions.com) if you would like more information.
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Proposed California Student Grant Cuts May Affect For-Profit Institutions
March 08, 2011
As California state lawmakers begin to tackle the task of shrinking its $26.6 billion deficit, budget cutters in the legislature are taking aim at the CalGrant program. While all California higher education sector schools will be affected by the proposed cuts, the reduction in access to the CalGrant funding would significantly impact for profit institutions. Click here to view the Inside Higher ED article for more information.
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