# data[].attributes.body
Currently there are allegations of admission fraud that is going on with prestigious colleges like University of Southern College.

Chappell and Kennedy (2019), state " Court documents state that the following schools were targeted as part of a "student-athlete recruitment scam": Yale University, the University of Southern California, Georgetown University, UCLA, Wake Forest University, Stanford University, the University of San Diego and the University of Texas."

This is going to cause the Board of Education to look into the admission process within Universities, and into their athletic departments. The legalities with this issue is that students are being admitted into these colleges under false pretenses.

In my future career I could see this being an ethical and legal issue because my position would be working directly with these students. Being a student affairs Director enforcing policy and procedure would be part of the part. If I had any knowledge of these types of allegations I would be required to speak up about it. Following the policies and procedure eliminates any wrong doings, therefore it keeps you and the college out of trouble.

Chappell, B and Kennedy, M. 2019. U.S. charges dozens of parents, coaches in massive college admission scandal. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/03/12/702539140/u-s-accuses-actresses-others-of-fraud-in-wide-college-admissions-scandal

# data[].attributes.body
This article describes integrity issues within the college and the admission process. Ansah & Aikhuele and Yao (2017), state " Unethical admission practices have become an increasing concern for the academy, students, and guardians, alike.These practices comprise of fraudulent documents, unethical behavior of admission consultants or students recruitment agencies.  Ansah, R., Aikhuele, D., & Yao, L. (2017). Unethical Admissions: Academic Integrity in Question. Science & Engineering Ethics, 23(4), 1237–1239. https://doi-org.easydb.angelo.edu/10.1007/s11948-016-9815-9

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Angelo State University - Library Online Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Unauthorized use is prohibited; Usage may be subject to security testing and monitoring; Misuse is subject to criminal prosecution; No expectation of privacy except as otherwise provided by applicable privacy laws.

# data[].attributes.body
While browsing Education Dive the trending topics were about the Higher Education Act and the Admission Scandal and Sexual misconduct at Michigan State. The insurance companies that the college uses for such legal fees and payout, are not paying out the people who are winning. Michigan State is suing the insurance companies that they used. Patterson (2019)stated, "  The university's board of trustees voted in June to cover the settlement costs by issuing bonds and hopes to pay down some of the debt by recovering funds from insurers. At question, however, is how the university will pay for other costs related to the scandal". Michigan State is not the only college that is experiencing this type of legal issues. Pennsylvania State had a legal issues with sexual abuse from one of the schools Coaches. This is a trend and legal issues that seems to hit other colleges far to often.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Michigan State University is without direct liability insurance to cover claims of sexual misconduct, The Wall Street Journal reported. The university lost the policy after it rejected an offer from United Educators, its insurer of nearly two decades, to reduce its coverage during renewal negotiations.

United Educators offered to renew coverage under the condition that it would not cover future claims against the university's former sports doctor, Larry Nassar, who used his position to sexually abuse hundreds of women. Michigan State has settled with Nassar's victims for $500 million.

The university has created a captive insurance company for its policy, which will cover "employee benefits, medical malpractice and other operational liability," according to The Journal. It does not specifically cover claims of sexual misconduct or the mishandling of those cases.

Dive Insight:

Whether Michigan State's insurance will cover all or some of the settlement costs has been an issue since the multi-layered scandal erupted.

Michigan State sued more than a dozen insurance companies, including United Educators, in July over the $500 settlement for the Nassar case, claiming the companies were improperly refusing to pay for the settlement and legal fees, according to the Detroit Free Press. The university is currently in mediation with those companies.

The university's board of trustees voted in June to cover the settlement costs by issuing bonds and hopes to pay down some of the debt by recovering funds from insurers. At question, however, is how the university will pay for other costs related to the scandal.

Michigan State isn't the first university in this position. In 2016, Pennsylvania State University reached a settlement with its insurer over $93 million that was paid to those who said they were victims of Jerry Sandusky, the former football coach convicted of sexually abusing young boys.

Colleges should be prepared for the high costs that come with sexual misconduct claims. In a review of about 1,000 sexual assault claims from students between 2011 and 2015, United Educators found roughly 100 of those cases resulted in monetary losses for the institution, averaging about $350,000 each, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Beyond immediate financial losses, universities with high-profile scandals often see a hit to their applications. In a 2016 paper, researchers found that when The New York Times mentions a scandal at least five times, the college sees a 9% drop in applications the next year.

However, such repercussions can be short-lived. Penn State, for instance, suffered a dip in applications after the Sandusky scandal but rebounded in 2014.

In addition, colleges may face fines under the Clery Act. The U.S. Department of Education fined the University of Montana for nearly $1 million for not accurately reporting sexual offenses and other crimes and fined Penn State for $2.4 million over the Sandusky case. MSU may also face fines following a report from federal officials that found violations of the act.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Michigan State loses sexual misconduct coverage after cutting ties with insurer

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Michigan State University is without direct liability insurance to cover claims of sexual misconduct, The Wall Street Journal reported. The university lost the policy after it rejected an offer from United Educators, its insurer of nearly two decades, to reduce its coverage during renewal negotiations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Step 2- Option # 3 Credible News Website

# data[].attributes.subject
Step 2- Option # 3 Credible News Website

# data[].attributes.body
One of the ethical issues that is trending on this website is the admission scandal that is buzzing about. As I scrolled through the web page, there was story after story about this issues. Such titles of articles were

"What the Admissions Scandal Reveals About Secrecy, Privilege, and the Nature of Merit" and "Admission Through the ‘Side Door".

https://www.chronicle.com/specialreport/Admission-Through-the-Side/240?cid=wcontentgrid_2Scandal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dozens of people, including famous actors, college coaches, and a university administrator, have been charged by federal prosecutors for their alleged roles in an admissions-bribery scheme involving Yale, Stanford, and other elite institutions.

# data[].attributes.body
This is an internet search that I found about the current admission scandal currently trending.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Updated at 10:15 p.m. ET
Federal officials have charged dozens of well-heeled parents, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, in what the Justice Department says was a multimillion-dollar scheme to cheat college admissions standards. The parents allegedly paid a consultant who then fabricated academic and athletic credentials and arranged bribes to help get their children into prestigious universities.

"We're talking about deception and fraud - fake test scores, fake credentials, fake photographs, bribed college officials," Andrew Lelling, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said at a news conference Tuesday in Boston.

Lelling said 33 parents "paid enormous sums" to try to ensure that their children got into universities such as Stanford and Yale, sending money to entities controlled by a California man named William Rick Singer in return for obtaining false records and false scores on important tests such as the SAT and ACT.

Singer also presented his clients' children as elite athletes, Lelling said. "In many instances, Singer helped parents take staged photographs of their children engaged in particular sports," he said. "Other times, Singer and his associates used stock photos that they pulled off the Internet - sometimes photoshopping the face of the child onto the picture of the athlete" and submitting them to desirable schools.

"Singer's clients paid him anywhere between $200,000 and $6.5 million for this service," Lelling said. The alleged scheme, he noted, was uncovered after his office got a lead from someone who "was a target of an entirely separate investigation, who gave us a tip that this activity might be going on."

The scope of the case is massive - a total of 50 people have been charged in the admissions scheme. More than three dozen people in multiple states were taken into custody Tuesday as part of "Operation Varsity Blues," said Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston division, at the news conference.
NPR wants to hear from anyone who has received advice from the man at the center of the college admissions scandal, William Rick Singer, and any of his companies - The Key, The Key Worldwide Foundation, Future Stars, The CollegeSource or others? Fill out the form below .
A judge in Los Angeles ruled Tuesday that Huffman could be released on $250,000 bond and Loughlin's husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, could be released on $1 million bond. Loughlin has not yet been arrested.

The scheme operated from 2011 through February 2019, Lelling said, adding that in most cases, parents paid Singer between $250,000 and $400,000 per student.

"These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege," Lelling said. "They include, for example, CEOs of private and public companies, successful securities and real estate investors, two well-known actresses, a famous fashion designer and the co-chairman of a global law firm."

The parents were already able to give their children "every legitimate advantage," but instead they "chose to corrupt and illegally manipulate the system for their benefit," Lelling said.

"There will not be a separate admissions system for the wealthy," he added. "And there will not be a separate criminal justice system either."

The parents were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest-services mail fraud. Other defendants in the case include university athletic coaches and college exam administrators - some of whom are accused of accepting bribes.

The charges are part of a complex case that has been kept under seal. Documents related to the case were revealed Tuesday, as Singer pleaded guilty to a number of federal crimes from conspiracy to commit racketeering and money laundering to obstruction of justice, according to Lelling. A former head sailing coach at Stanford, John Vandemoer, also pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Singer "owned and operated the Edge College & Career Network LLC ('The Key') - a for-profit college counseling and preparation business - and served as the CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF) - a non-profit corporation that he established as a purported charity," the Justice Department said in a statement.

On its website, The Key promises to "unlock the door to academic, social, personal and career success." The foundation says it "has touched the lives of hundreds of students that would never have been exposed to what higher education could do for them."

Court documents state that the following schools were targeted as part of a "student-athlete recruitment scam": Yale University, the University of Southern California, Georgetown University, UCLA, Wake Forest University, Stanford University, the University of San Diego and the University of Texas, Austin.

Parents allegedly paid Singer a total of about $25 million that was then funneled into bribes for coaches and a university athletic administrator, according to court documents. In return, the students were allegedly designated as "recruited athletes," which could increase their chances at gaining admission.

For example, the indictment states that "Singer and his co-conspirators made payments totaling $250,000 to a bank account at USC that funded [then USC head water polo coach Jovan Vavic's] water polo team." Vavic then allegedly designated two students as water polo recruits. The complaint also says that Singer contributed to the private school tuition for Vavic's children in exchange for his "commitment to designate Singer's clients as recruits for the USC water polo team in the future."

USC said in a statement that it is carrying out an internal investigation into Vavic and other current and former employees who have been charged "and will take employment actions as appropriate."

In another example of the scam, Lelling said former Yale women's soccer coach Rudy Meredith took $400,000 to designate a potential student as a recruit for the team - boosting the student's admission prospects - despite knowing that the student didn't play the sport competitively.

Once the student was accepted to Yale, her relatives paid Singer approximately $1.2 million, including $900,000 to one of KWF's charitable accounts, according to court documents.

Last April, Meredith allegedly met with the father of a second prospective student in a hotel room in Boston - a meeting that was secretly recorded by the FBI. In it, Meredith offered to designate the man's daughter as a soccer recruit in exchange for $450,000, court documents state.

Meredith resigned his long-held post in November. In a statement to NPR, a Yale representative said: "As the indictment makes clear, the Department of Justice believes that Yale has been the victim of a crime perpetrated by its former women's soccer coach. The university has cooperated fully in the investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case moves forward."

The court documents also detail numerous examples of how the test score scheme worked.

The Justice Department said Singer sought to manipulate college entrance exams either by gaining extra time for his clients' children to take the SAT and ACT through bogus claims of learning disabilities or by bribing test officials outright.

Singer also orchestrated scenarios under which students took tests overseen by test administrators at two locations, at a public high school in Houston and at a private college prep school in West Hollywood, Calif. Federal prosecutors say Singer paid administrators Niki Williams (in Houston) and Igor Dvorskiy (in California) bribes of as much as $10,000 per test.

To ensure a high score, Singer allegedly arranged for a third person "to take the exams in place of the students, to give the students the correct answers during the exams, or to correct the students' answers" after they took the test, the Justice Department said. That role allegedly was often played by 36-year-old Mark Riddell of Palmetto, Fla.

"Singer's clients paid him between $15,000 and $75,000 per test, with the payments structured as purported donations" to a purported charity that Singer controlled, the Justice Department said. "In many instances, the students taking the exams were unaware that their parents had arranged for the cheating."

Bribe payments were allegedly disguised as charitable payments to Singer's foundation, the KWF, the Justice Department says - an arrangement that enabled the clients to "deduct the bribes from their federal income taxes."

On its website, KWF describes many of the students it has helped as having "only known life on the streets, surrounded by the gang violence of the inner-city."

The foundation says it has worked with a number of groups, from Los Angeles-based LadyLike Foundation to the Houston Hoops youth basketball program.

The Justice Department's statement lists each of the 50 defendants, along with some basic facts about them and the charges they face:

1. William Rick Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., owner of the Edge College & Career Network and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, was charged in an Information with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice. ... [Singer pleaded guilty on Tuesday.]

2. Mark Riddell, 36, of Palmetto, Fla., was charged in an Information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering;

3. Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith, 51, of Madison, Conn., the former head women's soccer coach at Yale University, was charged in an Information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud as well as honest services wire fraud;

4. John Vandemoer, 41, of Stanford, Calif., the former sailing coach at Stanford University, was charged in an Information with racketeering conspiracy. [Vandemoer pleaded guilty before a federal court in Boston on Tuesday.]

5. David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada, was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Sidoo was arrested on Friday, March 8th in San Jose, Calif., and appeared in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California [on Monday]. A date for his initial appearance in federal court in Boston has not yet been scheduled.

The following defendants were charged in an indictment with racketeering conspiracy:

1. Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., director of a private elementary and high school in Los Angeles and a test administrator for the College Board and ACT;

2. Gordon Ernst, 52, of Chevy Chase, Md., former head coach of men and women's tennis at Georgetown University;

3. William Ferguson, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., former women's volleyball coach at Wake Forest University;

4. Martin Fox, 62, of Houston, Texas, president of a private tennis academy in Houston;

5. Donna Heinel, 57, of Long Beach, Calif., the senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California;

6. Laura Janke, 36, of North Hollywood, Calif., former assistant coach of women's soccer at the University of Southern California;

7. Ali Kho[s]roshahin, 49, of Fountain Valley, Calif., former head coach of women's soccer at the University of Southern California;

8. Steven Masera, 69, of Folsom, Calif., accountant and financial officer for the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation;

9. Jorge Salcedo, 46, of Los Angeles, Calif., former head coach of men's soccer at the University of California at Los Angeles;

10. Mikaela Sanford, 32, of Folsom, Calif., employee of the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation;

11. Jovan Vavic, 57, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., former water polo coach at the University of Southern California; and

12. Niki Williams, 44, of Houston, Texas, assistant teacher at a Houston high school and test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

The following defendant was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud:

Michael Center, 54, of Austin Texas, head coach of men's tennis at the University of Texas at Austin

The following defendants were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud:

1. Gregory Abbott, 68, of New York, N.Y., the founder and chairman of a food and beverage packaging company;

2. Marcia Abbott, 59, of New York, N.Y.;

3. Gamal Abdelaziz, 62, of Las Vegas, Nev., the former senior executive of a resort and casino operator in Macau, China;

4. Diane Blake, 55, of San Francisco, Calif., an executive at a retail merchandising firm;

5. Todd Blake, 53, of San Francisco, Calif., an entrepreneur and investor;

6. Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., the CEO of a boutique marketing company;

7. Gordon Caplan, 52, of Greenwich, Conn., co-chairman of an international law firm based in New York City;

8. I-Hin "Joey" Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., operates a provider of warehousing and related services for the shipping industry;

9. Amy Colburn, 59, of Palo Alto, Calif.;

10. Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, Calif.;

11. Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., founder and CEO of real estate development firm;

12. Mossimo Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles, Calif., fashion designer;

13. Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.;

14. Manuel Henriquez, 55, of Atherton, Calif., founder, chairman and CEO of a publicly traded specialty finance company;

15. Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif., former CEO of investment management company;

16. Felicity Huffman, 56, of Los Angeles, Calif., an actress;

17. Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, Calif., owner of wine vineyards;

18. Bruce Isackson, 61, of Hillsborough, Calif., president of a real estate development firm;

19. Davina Isackson, 55, of Hillsborough, Calif.;

20. Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif., former executive of a large food manufacturer;

21. Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas, Nev., owner and president of a media company;

22. Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., co-owner of jewelry business;

23. Lori Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles, Calif., an actress;

24. Toby MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, Calif., former senior executive at a title insurance company;

25. William McGlashan Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif., senior executive at a global equity firm;

26. Marci Palatella, 63, of Healdsburg, Calif., CEO of a liquor distribution company;

27. Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., packaged food entrepreneur;

28. Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., executive at privately held provider of outsourced sales teams;

29. Devin Sloane, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., founder and CEO of provider of drinking and wastewater systems;

30. John Wilson, 59, of Hyannis Port, Mass., founder and CEO of private equity and real estate development firm;

31. Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif., an associate professor of dentistry; and

32. Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, Fla., founder and CEO of private investment firm.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
U.S. Charges Dozens Of Parents, Coaches In Massive College Admissions Scandal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Updated at 10:15 p.m. ET Federal officials have charged dozens of well-heeled parents, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, in what the Justice Department says was a multimillion-dollar scheme to cheat college admissions standards. The parents allegedly paid a consultant who then fabricated academic and athletic credentials and arranged bribes to help get their children into prestigious universities.

# data[].attributes.body
Ethical Issues with the admission process at the University level is a topic I chose because this is what is trending on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This is a topic that people are discussing and it is very interesting to me. I find it amazing that people would go to such processes to get their kids in a good college and at what degree they will go.

# data[].attributes.headline
Step 2-Option #2 - 2nd website Professional Association Website                  

# data[].attributes.subject
Step 2-Option #2 - 2nd website Professional Association Website                  

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT

26-28 June 2019 | 9am-5pm each day
National Center for Higher Education
One Dupont Circle NW | Washington, DC 20036

Training in Restorative Justice for College Student Misconduct and Residence Life will give you a thorough understanding of restorative justice principles and practices, strong facilitation skills, practical information about program implementation, and the satisfaction of having participated in a powerful intellectual, emotional, and spiritually-uplifting training experience.

Open to student affairs administrators, faculty, students, and other staff interested in implementing restorative justice on their campuses.

Training Topics

Overview of Restorative Justice (RJ)
Principles, practices (circles, conferences, boards, CoSA), evidence of effectiveness, case studies, place of RJ in campus codes of conduct, restorative justice as a global social movement

RJ Outcomes
Repairing harm, apologies, restitution, community service, rebuilding trust/safety concerns

Issues in Facilitation
Diversity and inclusion, trauma-informed care, denials of responsibility, blaming and shaming, safety concerns, secondary victimization

Introduction to Facilitation
Role of facilitator, sequence of process, pre-conference preparation, post-conference support and mentoring, facilitation guide or script, ground rules, listening and reflection skills

Identifying Harms and Needs
Material/physical harm, emotional/spiritual harm, communal/relational harm, moving from harms to needs, applications for conduct violations, residential life; bias incidents, sexual misconduct, academic integrity

Implementation
Program models, referrals, case management, marketing a program, training, policy and code revision, circle practice for community-building, restorative return from suspension

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT Training in Restorative Justice for College Student Misconduct and Residence Life will give you a thorough understanding of restorative justice principles and practices, strong facilitation skills, practical information about program implementation, and the satisfaction of having participated in a powerful intellectual, emotional, and spiritually-uplifting training experience.

# data[].attributes.headline
Step 2-Option # 2 1st Professional Association Website

# data[].attributes.subject
Step 2-Option # 2 1st Professional Association Website

# data[].attributes.body
NASPA is a resource that can be used for those interested in student affairs. Every college has a different name for student affairs. At Temple College it is called Student Life.
While browsing this website one of the policies I seen that was being reviewed was the Higher Education Act. It was due to be reauthorized in 2013 with both the House and the Senate ( naspa.org , n.d.). The student financial aid and loan process is what is being reauthorized.  The article states, simplifying applying for financial aid. In remarks at teh American Enterprise Institute, the Senator spoke both about removing unnecessary questions from the FAFSA and about addressing concerns related to the FAFSA verification process (naspa.org, n.d.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It's been a busy week on the Hill with several hearing related to reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), initial due for reauthorization in 2013, in both the House and the Senate. Policymakers from both parties generally agree with NASPA's overarching priorities related to HEA, though they differ in where they place the emphasis for why and how best to accomplish them. These differences become apparent in the details, which matter in any legislation, but with legislation as broad and far-reaching as HEA, there are a lot of details. Both Senator Alexander (R-TN), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP Committee), and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee (Ed & Labor Committee)[1], have recently addressed the issues they expect to include in comprehensive HEA reauthorization bills to be introduced in spring 2019.

Senator Alexander's Priorities for HEA

In early February 2019, Senator Alexander spoke at numerous events outlining his priorities for HEA Reauthorization in the 116 th Congress. Many of the proposals the Senator discussed are similar to those he has raised in the past[2], though he seems to have softened on removing or significantly weakening several regulatory protections in HEA the derailed progress on a bipartisan bill in spring 2018. As Senator Alexander has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2020, the 116 th Congress represents his last chance to leave a mark on the nation's signature higher education legislation.

Simplifying applying for financial aid. In remarks at the American Enterprise Institute, the Senator spoke both about removing unnecessary questions from the FAFSA and about addressing concerns related to the FAFSA verification process. While he has in the past advocated for oversimplification of the FAFSA, suggesting that it could be reduced to two questions submitted on a postcard, the Senator's remarks indicated that HELP Committee staff have worked with experts in the field to whittle the FAFSA down from its current 108 questions to about two dozen[3]. Another option the Senator mentioned considering would expand the data sharing between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Education (ED) to import more data needed to complete the FAFSA automatically.

FAFSA verification is a process for checking the accuracy of data submitted by students and their families in order to prevent improper payments. According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), the Department of Education's Central Processing Services uses a proprietary algorithm to identify up to 30% of all FAFSA applications for verification. The audit-like process must be completed prior to release of any federal aid. Data compiled by the National College Access Network (NCAN) from the 2016-17 aid year show that over half of Pell Grant recipients were identified for verification, suggesting that low-income students, who may also frequently be first-generation students and unfamiliar with the bureaucracy around applying for federal aid, may be disproportionately selected. This level of burden represents a significant barrier for low-income students to access aid, especially in light of data compiled by NASFAA that shows the verification process does not impact most financial aid awards. Fortunately, the second proposal Senator Alexander mentioned considering for simplification of the FAFSA - increasing the data sharing capabilities between the IRS and ED - is recommended by NASFAA as a way to address many of the issues with the current verification process as well.

Simplifying student loan repayment and creating an automatic payroll deduction for loan repayment. Senator Alexander also discussed a proposal for only two repayment options for federal student loans, both of which would involve an automatic deduction from borrowers' paychecks. Borrowers would be required to either enter a standard 10-year repayment plan, where an equal payment would be deducted from every paycheck in an amount necessary to repay their loans within 10 years, or an income-based repayment plan that would automatically deduct a set percentage of a borrower's disposable income. Senator Alexander specified that the deduction may be $0 for borrowers with no disposable income and that such a situation would not adversely affect their credit ratings.

Many have questioned the requirement of payroll deductions for student loan payments, citing the complexity of accurately determining what constitutes a borrower's disposable income as well as concerns about forcing borrowers to prioritize repayment of lower-interest-rate-bearing student loan debt before higher-interest-rate consumer debt. Concerns related to inflexibility of a payroll withholding system for workers with seasonal or other income that fluctuates, as is common in the increasing gig economy, have also been raised. All of which says nothing of the additional infrastructure and data sharing that would be necessary to allow employers to adequately implement a payroll deduction of this type. Until additional details about the proposals are available, including the formula that might be used to determine a borrower's disposable income, it will be difficult to accurately determine the potential impacts on individuals' budgets.

Replacing the gainful employment debt-to-earnings metric with repayment rates for all programs. Senator Alexander proposed addressing more comprehensive accountability for institutions of higher education by "expanding and simplifying" the gainful employment debt-to-earnings ratio metric with program-level loan repayment rates for all programs. While the existing gainful employment rule, currently proposed to be rescinded by Secretary DeVos, is undoubtedly imperfect, NASPA joined comments submitted by the American Council on Education (ACE) opposing the rescission due to the possible direction of Pell funds to programs that demonstrate poor returns for students. It's unclear, however, how or whether replacement of the rule's key metric with repayment rates would improve either institutional or program-level accountability. In addition to the myriad complexities of calculating accurate and meaningful repayment rates, summarized in a July 2018 paper from the Center for American Progress, there remain questions about how the data would either allow consumers to make more informed decisions or about how they would allow for greater oversight by ED. While program level repayment rates make sense when the connection between an educational program and subsequent employment paths is clear, as is the case for many job-training programs, it's less clear how useful they would be as a tool for evaluating a liberal arts degree, which may lead to many career paths.

Representative Scott's Priorities for HEA

Representative Scott has been less specific on the priorities of the House Democrats in seeking HEA reauthorization.[4] In Fall 2018, as Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Representative Scott introduced the Aim Higher Act, which was comprised of several Democrat proposals related to HEA and combined into a single omnibus bill. At an event held by Inside Higher Ed in February 2019, Representative Scott spoke about needing an HEA reauthorization that would make sweeping changes rather than simply applying tweaks to existing legislation or regulations. He noted that current financial aid programs were insufficient to meet the needs of today's students, who increasingly struggle to meet basic food, housing, and childcare costs. Among the more broad-based reforms discussed by Representative Scott is an as-yet-undisclosed package of incentives for states to provide free community college tuition to all students and a state maintenance of effort proposal.[5] Unlike in other federal-state funding partnerships, the federal government's contributions to higher education do not rely on any sort of state-matching requirement. As states have faced tighter and tighter budgetary constraints over the years, their support for higher education has dwindled. Representative Scott has spoken of the need to re-incentivize states to increase their investments in higher education.

As hearings continue in both chambers related to HEA reauthorization, more and more details will come clear. NASPA's policy and advocacy team will track the conversation and provide updates throughout the year, so check back with the RPI blog frequently!

Image credit: This image is a work of an employee of the Architect of the Capitol, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, all images created or made by the Architect of the Capitol are in the public domain in the United States, with the exception of classified information. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_home_rule#/media/File:United_States_Capitol_-_west_front.jpg

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Catching Up on HEA: An Update for #SAPros & #SAadvocates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's been a busy week on the Hill with several hearing related to reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), initial due for reauthorization in 2013, in both the House and the Senate. Policymakers from both parties generally agree with NASPA's overarching priorities related to HEA, though they differ in where they place the emphasis for why and how best to accomplish them.

# data[].attributes.body
Once I complete my degree, my goal is to become the Director of Student Life at Temple Community College. This is an ambitious goal for myself, but that is the whole reason for obtaining my master's degree. I am hoping this will be my last career move.