Good news: the pace of college tuition increases is finally slowing down. The bad news: grants still fail to keep pace.  This WAPO article provides data for public and private institutions based on this past fall’s numbers.

Regulation/Legislation

• Time to learn about PROSPER, the  legislation proposed by the GOP that would totally restructure federal financial aid for higher education.  Money magazine outlines the 7 key changes that will make borrowing more expensive (i.e. it eliminates subsidized loan programs!)
• The Department of Education announced they awarded the student loan debt collection contract to two companies (one of which has ties to DeVos.)  Student Loan debt collection has been an ugly process.  This WAPO article gives good background information on the issue.
• Income-based repayment and loan forgiveness: good for students, but costly to taxpayers, according to a recent report .  Will this impact the long-term prospects for this popular program?

Financial Aid Process

• Your FAFSA's been flagged!: Roughly one-third of FAFSAs are subjected to an audited or require additional verification (of the low income level.) Learn how this impacts  low-income students and leaves grants and low-cost loans unused.
• In fact, Bloomberg reports that over $2 billion in Pell Grants go unclaimed.  Why? Blame the cumbersome FAFSA (and the subsequent audits).
• Parents unable (or unwilling) to help you pay for college?  Student Loan Hero offers sage advice on paying for college if you are on your own.
• Need a refresher on the FAFSA application process? Read/watch this step-by-step guide.
• And finally, don’t forget that it is possible to appeal your financial aid offer.

Everything BUT loans

• Are Income Sharing Agreements (ISAs), where students agree to pay the lender a percentage of their earnings over a fixed period of time instead of a fixed loan payment, a good alternative to loans or another form of indentured servitude?  Find out how it is working at Purdue and other colleges.
• Do you live in California?  California already has the most affordable public higher education, and it just got more affordable.  California just joined New York and Rhode Island offering free tuition.  In California, the first year of community college will be free in 2018-19.  Two caveats: you still have to pay certain fees, and the state has to come up with the money in the budget to actually fund the program.
• Student Loan Hero explains six ways to avoid relying on debt to get through college.
• And an Oklahoma station provides some good resources (only one of which is specific to Oklahoma) for finding scholarships.
• Some students are resorting to fairly drastic measures to avoid taking out student loans.  They are taking dating to a whole new level: finding sugar daddies!

Advice from and for College Graduates

• As the grace period on loans has just expired for those who graduated last spring,5 things grads should know about student loan interest is a useful document for those who didn’t learn these things from us in high school or sometime before graduation.
• If Navient is your student loan servicer, good luck!  Calls for government action and lawsuits have been filed against Navient for their harassing loan collection practices.
• GoBankingRates conducted a study of 5000 people asking their biggest money regrets of 2017.  Guess how many selected “paying for college.”
• The folks that regret paying for college (and took out loans) should have read this next article before deciding to go to school: 49 high paying jobs you can get without a college degree.

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