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Post-Annual Meeting Resources

Even though the 2012 NAICU Annual Meeting is history, you can continue to benefit and learn from the many presentations and speeches that were offered, and are now available on line.


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Another Highlight


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Student Financial Aid


US Senate wants insight into Davidson’s ‘no loan debt’ program

WSOC-TV, Charlotte, N.C.
February 2, 2012

People across the country are trying to learn from Davidson College, where students can attend four years of classes without ever taking out a loan. College President Carol Quillen spent a day in Washington showing lawmakers how Davidson manages the program. The college made news in recent years with its Davidson Trust program. The program does away with student loans and replaces them with more financial aid and grants, which means less debt for needy students.

Obama’s disappointing college plan

Washington Post - Opinion Piece
February 1, 2012

The president boasts of having increased the maximum value of Pell Grants to $5,635 next year, up $905 since 2008. Sounds good. But according to the Department of Education, the maximum Pell Grant in 1976 covered 72 percent of costs at a typical public four-year college. Today it covers about half that much. In other words, the outer limits of the president's ambition is to leave public colleges half as affordable via federal aid as they were under Presidents Nixon and Ford.

Aid Experts and Officials Question President's College-Affordability Plans

Chronicle of Higher Education
January 30, 2012

Of president's proposals, college officials and student-aid experts were particularly curious to learn more about the proposal to tie campus-based aid-a small fraction of federal aid spending, which is dominated by Stafford Student Loans and the Pell Grant program-to tuition policy, value, and the enrollment and graduation of low-income students. The idea that some federal student aid would be based on holding down net tuition and/or tuition growth could be particularly troubling for public colleges, which have been increasing their price tags to help make up for cuts in state appropriations.

College Officials Welcome Obama's Focus on Higher-Education Costs, but Raise Some Concerns

Chronicle of Higher Education
January 30, 2012

In the budget President Obama will release next month, the administration will ask Congress to change the criteria under which funds from three federal aid programs known as "campus-based aid" are awarded. Details on the new formula are still being refined, but a document released by the White House on Friday said it would reward institutions that admit and graduate a relatively higher proportion of low-income students, demonstrate that their students complete college and find employment, and set "responsible tuition" policies.

Will President Obama’s Blueprint Cut College Costs?

New York Times "The Choice" Blog - Guest Post
January 30, 2012

The risk is that the proposals for increasing student aid financing may be little more than a shell game, where the federal government gives with one hand and takes back with the other. For example, President Obama's proposal for a one-year delay in the doubling of interest on the subsidized Stafford loan program will be coupled with increases in interest rates on the Perkins loan program.

State of the Union Speech Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

Chronicle of Higher Education
January 26, 2012

For a speech that often hovers around the 30,000-foot level, President Obama's third State of the Union address was surprisingly specific, containing concrete policy recommendations. But Mr. Obama said nothing about how he would pay for his proposals, which include extending the $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit; doubling the number of Federal Work Study jobs, to 1.4-million; and keeping the interest rate on subsidized student loans at 3.4 percent. Mr. Obama also made no mention of Pell Grants, the cornerstone of the federal student-aid programs and their biggest-ticket item by far.

A New Challenge for College-Aid Seekers

SmartMoney
January 26, 2012

College financial aid season has just kicked off, and experts say students seeking state grants had better act fast. At least six states now have "until funds depleted" policies on grants, meaning late filers risk getting nothing. Other states are shrinking the application window. Oklahoma, for example, moved its grant application deadline to March 1 this year, two weeks earlier than last year. Oregon's Feb. 1 deadline is the earliest of any state for the second year in a row. "It's essentially a technique for reducing the number of students who qualify because not everyone will [apply] on time," says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com.

Pell Grant 2012-13 Payment Schedule Released

NAICU Washington Update
January 25, 2012

The Department of Education has now published the 2012-13 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules. The maximum Pell Grant for the 2012-13 award year remains $5,550, and in most cases, a student's Expected Family Contribution will be unchanged.  However, modification of the way minimum Pell Grants are determined will mean that students with eligibility below 10 percent of the maximum grant will now receive no award at all.

Borrowers to Be Contacted on Loan Consolidation

NAICU Washington Update
January 25, 2012

January 17 certain Federal Student Loan servicers began contacting borrowers eligible to consolidate their loans under a Special Direct Consolidation Loan program. This new, short-term opportunity is part of President Obama's initiative to reduce borrowers' cost of repaying student loans. The program is available to borrowers who meet certain conditions, and they must apply by June 30.

Student Loan Negotiated Rule-making: The Progress to Date

NAICU Washington Update
January 24, 2012

The first of three Department of Education sessions to develop student loan regulations was largely devoted to technical issues. Still the early-January sessions did address the Department's intent to make regulatory changes to the income-contingent repayment (ICR) and the income-based repayment (IBR) plans.  Additional meetings are scheduled for February and March.

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