diff --git a/common/djangoapps/status/migrations/0001_initial.py b/common/djangoapps/status/migrations/0001_initial.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..48a4d1eeff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/djangoapps/status/migrations/0001_initial.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+from south.utils import datetime_utils as datetime
+from south.db import db
+from south.v2 import SchemaMigration
+from django.db import models
+
+
+class Migration(SchemaMigration):
+
+    def forwards(self, orm):
+        # Adding model 'GlobalStatusMessage'
+        db.create_table('status_globalstatusmessage', (
+            ('id', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.AutoField')(primary_key=True)),
+            ('change_date', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField')(auto_now_add=True, blank=True)),
+            ('changed_by', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey')(to=orm['auth.User'], null=True, on_delete=models.PROTECT)),
+            ('enabled', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField')(default=False)),
+            ('message', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.TextField')(null=True, blank=True)),
+        ))
+        db.send_create_signal('status', ['GlobalStatusMessage'])
+
+        # Adding model 'CourseMessage'
+        db.create_table('status_coursemessage', (
+            ('id', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.AutoField')(primary_key=True)),
+            ('global_message', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey')(to=orm['status.GlobalStatusMessage'])),
+            ('course_key', self.gf('xmodule_django.models.CourseKeyField')(db_index=True, max_length=255, blank=True)),
+            ('message', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.TextField')(null=True, blank=True)),
+        ))
+        db.send_create_signal('status', ['CourseMessage'])
+
+
+    def backwards(self, orm):
+        # Deleting model 'GlobalStatusMessage'
+        db.delete_table('status_globalstatusmessage')
+
+        # Deleting model 'CourseMessage'
+        db.delete_table('status_coursemessage')
+
+
+    models = {
+        'auth.group': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'Group'},
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '80'}),
+            'permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'})
+        },
+        'auth.permission': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('content_type__app_label', 'content_type__model', 'codename')", 'unique_together': "(('content_type', 'codename'),)", 'object_name': 'Permission'},
+            'codename': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'content_type': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['contenttypes.ContentType']"}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
+        },
+        'auth.user': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
+            'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'first_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'groups': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Group']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'is_active': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'True'}),
+            'is_staff': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'is_superuser': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'last_login': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
+            'last_name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '30', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'password': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '128'}),
+            'user_permissions': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ManyToManyField', [], {'to': "orm['auth.Permission']", 'symmetrical': 'False', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'username': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'unique': 'True', 'max_length': '30'})
+        },
+        'contenttypes.contenttype': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
+            'app_label': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'model': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'}),
+            'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '100'})
+        },
+        'status.coursemessage': {
+            'Meta': {'object_name': 'CourseMessage'},
+            'course_key': ('xmodule_django.models.CourseKeyField', [], {'db_index': 'True', 'max_length': '255', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'global_message': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['status.GlobalStatusMessage']"}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'message': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'})
+        },
+        'status.globalstatusmessage': {
+            'Meta': {'ordering': "('-change_date',)", 'object_name': 'GlobalStatusMessage'},
+            'change_date': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
+            'changed_by': ('django.db.models.fields.related.ForeignKey', [], {'to': "orm['auth.User']", 'null': 'True', 'on_delete': 'models.PROTECT'}),
+            'enabled': ('django.db.models.fields.BooleanField', [], {'default': 'False'}),
+            'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
+            'message': ('django.db.models.fields.TextField', [], {'null': 'True', 'blank': 'True'})
+        }
+    }
+
+    complete_apps = ['status']
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/status/migrations/__init__.py b/common/djangoapps/status/migrations/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/status/models.py b/common/djangoapps/status/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..766b3bac65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/djangoapps/status/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+"""
+Store status messages in the database.
+"""
+
+from django.db import models
+from django.contrib import admin
+from django.core.cache import cache
+
+from xmodule_django.models import CourseKeyField
+
+from config_models.models import ConfigurationModel
+from config_models.admin import ConfigurationModelAdmin
+
+
+class GlobalStatusMessage(ConfigurationModel):
+    """
+    Model that represents the current status message.
+    """
+    message = models.TextField(blank=True, null=True)
+
+    def full_message(self, course_key):
+        """ Returns the full status message, including any course-specific status messages. """
+        cache_key = "status_message.{course_id}".format(course_id=unicode(course_key))
+        if cache.get(cache_key):
+            return cache.get(cache_key)
+
+        msg = self.message
+        if course_key:
+            try:
+                course_message = self.coursemessage_set.get(course_key=course_key)
+                # Don't add the message if course_message is blank.
+                if course_message:
+                    msg = u"{} <br /> {}".format(msg, course_message.message)
+            except CourseMessage.DoesNotExist:
+                # We don't have a course-specific message, so pass.
+                pass
+        cache.set(cache_key, msg)
+        return msg
+
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        return "{} - {} - {}".format(self.change_date, self.enabled, self.message)
+
+
+class CourseMessage(models.Model):
+    """
+    Model that allows the user to specify messages for individual courses.
+
+    This is not a ConfigurationModel because using it's not designed to support multiple configurations at once,
+    which would be problematic if separate courses need separate error messages.
+    """
+    global_message = models.ForeignKey(GlobalStatusMessage)
+    course_key = CourseKeyField(max_length=255, blank=True, db_index=True)
+    message = models.TextField(blank=True, null=True)
+
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        return unicode(self.course_key)
+
+
+admin.site.register(GlobalStatusMessage, ConfigurationModelAdmin)
+admin.site.register(CourseMessage)
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/status/status.py b/common/djangoapps/status/status.py
index 4e57930108..dd525601d7 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/status/status.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/status/status.py
@@ -3,49 +3,27 @@ A tiny app that checks for a status message.
 """
 
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.core.cache import cache
-import json
 import logging
-import os
+
+from .models import GlobalStatusMessage
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def get_site_status_msg(course_id):
+def get_site_status_msg(course_key):
     """
-    Look for a file settings.STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH.  If found, read it,
-    parse as json, and do the following:
+    Pull the status message from the database.
 
-    * if there is a key 'global', include that in the result list.
-    * if course is not None, and there is a key for course.id, add that to the result list.
-    * return "<br/>".join(result)
-
-    Otherwise, return None.
-
-    If something goes wrong, returns None.  ("is there a status msg?" logic is
-    not allowed to break the entire site).
+    Caches the message by course.
     """
     try:
-        # first check for msg in cache
-        msg = cache.get('site_status_msg')
-        if msg is not None:
-            return msg
-
-        if os.path.isfile(settings.STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH):
-            with open(settings.STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH) as f:
-                content = f.read()
-        else:
+        # The current() value for GlobalStatusMessage is cached.
+        if not GlobalStatusMessage.current().enabled:
             return None
 
-        status_dict = json.loads(content)
-        msg = status_dict.get('global', None)
-        if course_id in status_dict:
-            msg = msg + "<br>" if msg else ''
-            msg += status_dict[course_id]
-
-        # set msg to cache, with expiry 5 mins
-        cache.set('site_status_msg', msg, 60 * 5)
-        return msg
-    except:
+        return GlobalStatusMessage.current().full_message(course_key)
+    # Make as general as possible, because something broken here should not
+    # bring down the whole site.
+    except:  # pylint: disable=bare-except
         log.exception("Error while getting a status message.")
         return None
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/status/tests.py b/common/djangoapps/status/tests.py
index f31f2442f1..5e37e722c3 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/status/tests.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/status/tests.py
@@ -1,99 +1,58 @@
-from django.conf import settings
-from django.core.cache import cache
-from django.test import TestCase
-import os
-from django.test.utils import override_settings
-from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+""" Tests for setting and displaying the site status message. """
 import ddt
+import unittest
+
+from django.test import TestCase
+from django.core.cache import cache
+from django.conf import settings
+from opaque_keys.edx.locations import CourseLocator
 
 from .status import get_site_status_msg
-
-# Get a name where we can put test files
-TMP_FILE = NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False)
-TMP_NAME = TMP_FILE.name
-# Close it--we just want the path.
-TMP_FILE.close()
+from .models import GlobalStatusMessage, CourseMessage
 
 
 @ddt.ddt
-@override_settings(STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH=TMP_NAME)
 class TestStatus(TestCase):
     """Test that the get_site_status_msg function does the right thing"""
 
-    no_file = None
-
-    invalid_json = """{
-        "global" : "Hello, Globe",
-        }"""
-
-    global_only = """{
-        "global" : "Hello, Globe"
-        }"""
-
-    toy_only = """{
-        "edX/toy/2012_Fall" : "A toy story"
-        }"""
-
-    global_and_toy = """{
-        "global" : "Hello, Globe",
-        "edX/toy/2012_Fall" : "A toy story"
-        }"""
-
-    # json to use, expected results for course=None (e.g. homepage),
-    # for toy course, for full course.  Note that get_site_status_msg
-    # is supposed to return global message even if course=None.  The
-    # template just happens to not display it outside the courseware
-    # at the moment...
-    checks = [
-        (no_file, None, None, None),
-        (invalid_json, None, None, None),
-        (global_only, "Hello, Globe", "Hello, Globe", "Hello, Globe"),
-        (toy_only, None, "A toy story", None),
-        (global_and_toy, "Hello, Globe", "Hello, Globe<br>A toy story", "Hello, Globe"),
-    ]
-
     def setUp(self):
-        """
-        Fake course ids, since we don't have to have full django
-        settings (common tests run without the lms settings imported)
-        """
         super(TestStatus, self).setUp()
-        self.full_id = 'edX/full/2012_Fall'
-        self.toy_id = 'edX/toy/2012_Fall'
-        self.addCleanup(self.remove_status_file)
+        # Clear the cache between test runs.
+        cache.clear()
+        self.course_key = CourseLocator(org='TestOrg', course='TestCourse', run='TestRun')
 
-    def create_status_file(self, contents):
-        """
-        Write contents to settings.STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH.
-        """
-        with open(settings.STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH, 'w') as f:
-            f.write(contents)
-
-    def clear_status_cache(self):
-        """
-        Remove the cached status message, if found
-        """
-        if cache.get('site_status_msg') is not None:
-            cache.delete('site_status_msg')
-
-    def remove_status_file(self):
-        """Delete the status file if it exists"""
-        if os.path.exists(settings.STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH):
-            os.remove(settings.STATUS_MESSAGE_PATH)
-
-    @ddt.data(*checks)
+    @unittest.skipUnless(settings.ROOT_URLCONF == 'lms.urls', 'Test only valid in lms')
+    @ddt.data(
+        ("Test global message", "Test course message"),
+        (u" Ŧɇsŧ sŧȺŧᵾs", u"Ṫëṡẗ ċöüṛṡë ṡẗäẗüṡ "),
+        (u"", u"Ṫëṡẗ ċöüṛṡë ṡẗäẗüṡ "),
+        (u" Ŧɇsŧ sŧȺŧᵾs", u""),
+    )
     @ddt.unpack
-    def test_get_site_status_msg(self, json_str, exp_none, exp_toy, exp_full):
-        """run the tests"""
+    def test_get_site_status_msg(self, test_global_message, test_course_message):
+        """Test status messages in a variety of situations."""
 
-        self.remove_status_file()
-        if json_str:
-            self.create_status_file(json_str)
+        # When we don't have any data set.
+        self.assertEqual(get_site_status_msg(None), None)
+        self.assertEqual(get_site_status_msg(self.course_key), None)
 
-        for course_id, expected_msg in [(None, exp_none), (self.toy_id, exp_toy), (self.full_id, exp_full)]:
-            self.assertEqual(get_site_status_msg(course_id), expected_msg)
-            self.assertEqual(cache.get('site_status_msg'), expected_msg)
-            # check that `get_site_status_msg` works as expected when the cache
-            # is warmed, too
-            self.assertEqual(get_site_status_msg(course_id), expected_msg)
-            self.clear_status_cache()
+        msg = GlobalStatusMessage.objects.create(message=test_global_message, enabled=True)
+        msg.save()
+
+        self.assertEqual(get_site_status_msg(None), test_global_message)
+
+        course_msg = CourseMessage.objects.create(
+            global_message=msg, message=test_course_message, course_key=self.course_key
+        )
+        course_msg.save()
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_site_status_msg(self.course_key),
+            u"{} <br /> {}".format(test_global_message, test_course_message)
+        )
+
+        msg = GlobalStatusMessage.objects.create(message="", enabled=False)
+        msg.save()
+
+        self.assertEqual(get_site_status_msg(None), None)
+        self.assertEqual(get_site_status_msg(self.course_key), None)
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/ccx/tests/test_field_override_performance.py b/lms/djangoapps/ccx/tests/test_field_override_performance.py
index 77f9a061ef..4b92a2b5f3 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/ccx/tests/test_field_override_performance.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/ccx/tests/test_field_override_performance.py
@@ -214,24 +214,24 @@ class TestFieldOverrideMongoPerformance(FieldOverridePerformanceTestCase):
 
     TEST_DATA = {
         # (providers, course_width, enable_ccx, view_as_ccx): # of sql queries, # of mongo queries, # of xblocks
-        ('no_overrides', 1, True, False): (23, 7, 14),
-        ('no_overrides', 2, True, False): (68, 7, 85),
-        ('no_overrides', 3, True, False): (263, 7, 336),
-        ('ccx', 1, True, False): (23, 7, 14),
-        ('ccx', 2, True, False): (68, 7, 85),
-        ('ccx', 3, True, False): (263, 7, 336),
-        ('ccx', 1, True, True): (23, 7, 14),
-        ('ccx', 2, True, True): (68, 7, 85),
-        ('ccx', 3, True, True): (263, 7, 336),
-        ('no_overrides', 1, False, False): (23, 7, 14),
-        ('no_overrides', 2, False, False): (68, 7, 85),
-        ('no_overrides', 3, False, False): (263, 7, 336),
-        ('ccx', 1, False, False): (23, 7, 14),
-        ('ccx', 2, False, False): (68, 7, 85),
-        ('ccx', 3, False, False): (263, 7, 336),
-        ('ccx', 1, False, True): (23, 7, 14),
-        ('ccx', 2, False, True): (68, 7, 85),
-        ('ccx', 3, False, True): (263, 7, 336),
+        ('no_overrides', 1, True, False): (24, 7, 14),
+        ('no_overrides', 2, True, False): (69, 7, 85),
+        ('no_overrides', 3, True, False): (264, 7, 336),
+        ('ccx', 1, True, False): (24, 7, 14),
+        ('ccx', 2, True, False): (69, 7, 85),
+        ('ccx', 3, True, False): (264, 7, 336),
+        ('ccx', 1, True, True): (24, 7, 14),
+        ('ccx', 2, True, True): (69, 7, 85),
+        ('ccx', 3, True, True): (264, 7, 336),
+        ('no_overrides', 1, False, False): (24, 7, 14),
+        ('no_overrides', 2, False, False): (69, 7, 85),
+        ('no_overrides', 3, False, False): (264, 7, 336),
+        ('ccx', 1, False, False): (24, 7, 14),
+        ('ccx', 2, False, False): (69, 7, 85),
+        ('ccx', 3, False, False): (264, 7, 336),
+        ('ccx', 1, False, True): (24, 7, 14),
+        ('ccx', 2, False, True): (69, 7, 85),
+        ('ccx', 3, False, True): (264, 7, 336),
     }
 
 
@@ -243,22 +243,22 @@ class TestFieldOverrideSplitPerformance(FieldOverridePerformanceTestCase):
     __test__ = True
 
     TEST_DATA = {
-        ('no_overrides', 1, True, False): (23, 4, 9),
-        ('no_overrides', 2, True, False): (68, 19, 54),
-        ('no_overrides', 3, True, False): (263, 84, 215),
-        ('ccx', 1, True, False): (23, 4, 9),
-        ('ccx', 2, True, False): (68, 19, 54),
-        ('ccx', 3, True, False): (263, 84, 215),
-        ('ccx', 1, True, True): (25, 4, 13),
-        ('ccx', 2, True, True): (70, 19, 84),
-        ('ccx', 3, True, True): (265, 84, 335),
-        ('no_overrides', 1, False, False): (23, 4, 9),
-        ('no_overrides', 2, False, False): (68, 19, 54),
-        ('no_overrides', 3, False, False): (263, 84, 215),
-        ('ccx', 1, False, False): (23, 4, 9),
-        ('ccx', 2, False, False): (68, 19, 54),
-        ('ccx', 3, False, False): (263, 84, 215),
-        ('ccx', 1, False, True): (23, 4, 9),
-        ('ccx', 2, False, True): (68, 19, 54),
-        ('ccx', 3, False, True): (263, 84, 215),
+        ('no_overrides', 1, True, False): (24, 4, 9),
+        ('no_overrides', 2, True, False): (69, 19, 54),
+        ('no_overrides', 3, True, False): (264, 84, 215),
+        ('ccx', 1, True, False): (24, 4, 9),
+        ('ccx', 2, True, False): (69, 19, 54),
+        ('ccx', 3, True, False): (264, 84, 215),
+        ('ccx', 1, True, True): (26, 4, 13),
+        ('ccx', 2, True, True): (71, 19, 84),
+        ('ccx', 3, True, True): (266, 84, 335),
+        ('no_overrides', 1, False, False): (24, 4, 9),
+        ('no_overrides', 2, False, False): (69, 19, 54),
+        ('no_overrides', 3, False, False): (264, 84, 215),
+        ('ccx', 1, False, False): (24, 4, 9),
+        ('ccx', 2, False, False): (69, 19, 54),
+        ('ccx', 3, False, False): (264, 84, 215),
+        ('ccx', 1, False, True): (24, 4, 9),
+        ('ccx', 2, False, True): (69, 19, 54),
+        ('ccx', 3, False, True): (264, 84, 215),
     }
diff --git a/lms/envs/common.py b/lms/envs/common.py
index e6ce12e064..7fc75d2aa3 100644
--- a/lms/envs/common.py
+++ b/lms/envs/common.py
@@ -1806,6 +1806,9 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = (
     # Monitor the status of services
     'service_status',
 
+    # Display status message to students
+    'status',
+
     # For asset pipelining
     'edxmako',
     'pipeline',
diff --git a/lms/templates/navigation-edx.html b/lms/templates/navigation-edx.html
index d0c17fb22b..b905840951 100644
--- a/lms/templates/navigation-edx.html
+++ b/lms/templates/navigation-edx.html
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from status.status import get_site_status_msg
 <%block>
 <%
 try:
-    course_id = course.id.to_deprecated_string()
+    course_id = course.id
 except:
     # can't figure out a better way to get at a possibly-defined course var
     course_id = None
diff --git a/lms/templates/navigation.html b/lms/templates/navigation.html
index 10b68e32a0..809f4b07e8 100644
--- a/lms/templates/navigation.html
+++ b/lms/templates/navigation.html
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ from status.status import get_site_status_msg
 <%block>
 <%
 try:
-    course_id = course.id.to_deprecated_string()
+    course_id = course.id
 except:
     # can't figure out a better way to get at a possibly-defined course var
     course_id = None