New “NCHER in 30” Podcast Includes Updates on Advocacy Activities, Focus on President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2021

In episode 16 of the “NCHER in 30” podcast, the NCHER staff provides updates on several advocacy activities of importance to the membership that occurred in late January to early February. In particular, James and Shelly discuss the President’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes $66.6 billion for the U.S. Department of Education and several proposals to reform the federal student loan program. Then, they discuss the recent Congressional Budget Office report examining cost and policy options for income-based repayment plans and the Department of Education and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new Memorandum of Understanding on the sharing of complaint information. If you have any feedback or have topic suggestions for future episodes, please send comments to info@ncher.us.

EPISODE 14: Updates on Advocacy Activities, Focus on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Speech to the Federal Student Aid Training Conference

In Episode 14 of the “NCHER in 30” podcast, the NCHER staff provides updates on several advocacy activities of importance to the membership that occurred in late November and early December. In particular, James and Shelly discuss the recent speech by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Training Conference and her call for Congress to make FSA an independent agency to improve oversight and customer service. Then, Pam Shepherd interviews Christiana Thornton, President and Chief Executive Officer of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation Network Organizations, on being a new leader in the higher education finance industry. If you have any feedback or have topic suggestions for future episodes, please send comments to info@ncher.us.

EPISODE 12: New “NCHER in 30” Podcast Includes Updates on Advocacy Activities in October

In Episode 12 of the “NCHER in 30” podcast, the NCHER staff provides updates on several advocacy activities of importance to the membership that occurred in the month of September and a preview of several upcoming events in October. James discusses House and Senate action involving the FUTURE Act and its provision to eliminate the payment of Account Maintenance Fees to guaranty agencies and provides an update on the annual appropriations process to fund the U.S. Department of Education, while Shelly previews several recent regulatory actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Then, Pam Shepherd interviews College Invest’s Angela Baier on the importance of College Savings Plans to college affordability. If you have any feedback or have topic suggestions please send comments to info@ncher.us.

EPISODE 10: A Review of Major House Bills Impacting Student Loans

June 21, 2019 – In this week’s podcast, James and Shelly review the major House bills which will have the greatest impact on student loans. NCHER Board Chair Ron Gambill then joins the conversation to share his thoughts on his year as Chair and what he would like to see in the future for NCHER and the industry. Meanwhile, Pam talks about the first 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate which is scheduled for June 26-27, sharing who will be debating and when. If you have any feedback or have topic suggestions, please send comments to info@ncher.us.

SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS

·         Primer for the DNC’s First Debate

• Need-to-Read Headlines
• A new way of helping students pay for college: Give them corporate jobs (Hechinger Report)
• ISAs are a smart experiment for dealing with student loan debt crisis (The Hill)
• An astounding number of bankruptcies are being driven by student loan debt (Business Insider)
• Public-private partnership will allow students to graduate college debt-free with a $70K salary (Washington Examiner)
• Rubio: Here are my plans to make college affordable (Tampa Bay Times)
• Pete Buttigieg has $130,000 in student loan debt—here’s where he stands on the issue (CNBC) 

EPISODE 8: A Look at Recent Developments by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

May 17, 2019 – In this week’s podcast, James provides a history of actions from the CFPB since its inception and addresses a number of changes that were put in place by previous leaders that impact in the higher education finance industry. He then addresses the most recent developments at the Bureau that have taken place under the direction of Director Kathy Kraninger. Shelly provides a review of the Bureau’s proposed rule on debt collection and gives a preview of NCHER comments. He also discusses the Bureau’s complaint database. Vicki provides an update on the Cancer Treatment Deferment and a Federal Register notice and comment dealing with military borrowers and U.S. Department of Education and Department of Defense sharing data. Meanwhile, Pam notes that ‘free’ is currently the most popular word in the higher education realm while Stef highlights NCHER’s upcoming Annual Conference and announces our first trivia question winner.

If you have any feedback or have topic suggestions, please send comments to info@ncher.us.

SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS

·         Upcoming Meetings

o   NCHER’s 2019 Annual Conference (Clearwater, FL)

• Need-to-Read Headlines
• ‘Free tuition’ is the opposite of progressive policymaking (The Washington Post)
• Young People Support Free College (Inside Higher Ed)
• Students find ‘free college’ often doesn’t live up to the lofty promises (PBS Newshour)
• Canceling student debt has a life-changing effect on borrowers — and raises their income by an average of $4,000 (MarketWatch)
• How ISAs are taking strain of student loan debts off graduates (The Today Show)
  
• Trivia Question

o    What year was NCHER founded and who was its first leader?

o    Email your answer to info@ncher.us