Major Updates

• Aid Eligibility Restored to California Distance Ed Students – Following last month’s chaotic limbo in which more than 80,000 students located in California were ineligible for federal financial aid, the issue has been somewhat resolved according to the US Department of Education, which noted that the state has not fulfilled the entire rule.
  
• Pew Research – Increasing Partisan Divide in Views on Education – “The share of Americans saying colleges and universities have a negative effect has increased by 12 percentage points since 2012. The increase in negative views has come almost entirely from Republicans and independents who lean Republican. From 2015 to 2019, the share saying colleges have a negative effect on the country went from 37% to 59% among this group. Over that same period, the views of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic have remained largely stable and overwhelmingly positive.”
• CFPB Names New Student-Loan Ombudsman – Robert Cameron was chosen for the role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s top student loan position. He previously served in the military and most recently worked at the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, where he was a high-ranking official responsible for litigation, compliance, and risk mitigation efforts. Some critics state that his former agency is scandal-ridden and that he might not be the right fit for the job.