2. Update on Legislative and Regulatory Issues and Advocacy Dan García President, AACRAO

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6. Higher Education Act Reauthorization Higher education groups, some congressional staffers, and other observers say they don't expect to see a comprehensive rewrite of the Higher Education Act during this presidential election year. And because a new administration, regardless of party, is unlikely to quickly pursue the law’s reauthorization among its first legislative priorities, it may be a couple of years before Congress passes a new Higher Education Act While there have been several draft FERPA bills circulated over the last six months, Senator Alexander last said there were no plan to address FERPA in the HEA reauthorization. AACRAO will be working with the Senator’s staff should any FERPA considerations arise.

7. “Higher education is broken.” It is “beset by hubris, opposition to change, resistance to accountability.” Citing a 2006 federal commission studying the future of higher education, “What we have learned over the last years makes clear that American higher education has become what, in the business world, would be called a mature enterprise: increasingly risk-averse, at times self-satisfied, and unduly expensive. History is littered with examples of industries that, at their peril, failed to respond to- or even to notice- changes in the world around them, from railroads to steel manufacturers.” Jeffrey Selingo, former editor at large at the Chronicle of Higher Education, in his book “College (UN) Bound

9. The Narrative that Higher Education is Broken Graduation rates are abysmal and too few students are succeeding at our institutions We have failed to contain costs and have shifted this failure to the backs of students through steep tuition increases We are not serving all of our citizens and have created a growing pool of adults with some college and no degree Our students are leaving our institutions with few employable skills We are falling behind other developed nations

10. “College transcripts are horrible.” Referencing making hiring decisions, “I could order transcripts, but I never do. They provide very little data—a vague course title, a number suggesting some kind of divisional hierarchy, and a letter grade of wholly unknown integrity. “Credible evidence of learning needs to be liberated from the bureaucratic clutches of the registrar and made available to students so they can present it to others they chose.” Kevin Carey from the New America Foundation in his April 20, 2013 column “College Graduates Deserve Much More Than Transcripts”

13. Badges are Making Headlines “Badges offer flexible, innovative education” (The Source) "Badges" fill credential gaps where higher education fails” (The Denver Post) “Use of ‘digital badges’ in schools would motivate students, research shows” (University of Buffalo) “Nixa Eagle Scout earns all 139 possible badges” (Springfield News Leader)

17. Prior-Prior Year (FAFSA) Students may begin submitting Oct 1, 2016 May use earlier tax information. Expectations are for earlier awards, too. Will be dependent upon tuition and housing rates in place, as well as Pell Grant tables and vendor software patches, among other things. Impacts scholarship decisions, too.

19. Title IX DOE’s Office of Civil Rights is increasingly looking at institutions’ handling of sexual- assault cases. In 2014, 13 cases resolved and 70 were opened. Last year only seven cases were resolved and 106 were opened. Over the past year and a half the number of cases has tripled.

20. Title IX How colleges end up on the list, how long they will remain there, and on what points they will be found in or out of compliance with the federal gender-equity law known as Title IX remain a mystery to most college officials. The Obama administration wants to hire 200 more full-time employees for the civil-rights office, and the office says it could use 500 more.

21. Title IX Investigations are triggered either by a civil- rights complaint or as the result of a proactive compliance review. OCR may ask for details about policies, training materials, communications, investigation notes, every formal or informal student complaint or anonymous tip

22. State Appropriations for Higher Ed Fiscal Years 2015 to 2016

32. Challenges in the Higher Education Landscape The increasing focus on outcomes Harnessing technology without being overwhelmed by technology The changing "Traditional" Student Higher education as a private rather than a public good

33. Challenges in the Higher Education Landscape Is college worth the Investment? How do we increase productivity? How do we deal with the issue of students lacking college readiness? How do enrollment professionals choose where to focus their energy and resources given all the challenges?