A topic being debated during the NCI Listening Sessions is personal and family contribution to the student’s education. Many aid administrators feel there has been a shift in the way families perceive saving for college. Wealthier families do not save because they feel entitled to student aid; poorer families do not save because they do not have the resources. Some financial aid administrators feel that one or more of the following approaches might encourage saving for college:

• Increasing expectations of personal/family responsibility as the student progresses through school
• Restructuring current 529 plans or other tax incentives
• Requiring community or military service and offering a college savings component
• Providing matching funds tied to saving and pursuing a college preparatory curriculum

What do you think of these ideas? How do you feel we can encourage families and individuals to save to support their education? Is it realistic to expect college savings in the 21st century?

Congress has been increasingly interested in the rapid increases in college costs in recent years. Through the HEOA, Congress will be highlighting institutions that increase college costs the most to draw public scrutiny. Some believe that financial aid actually contributes to rising college costs.

These college cost issue raises important questions about the role of financial aid. Should the financial aid system enable every qualified student to attend any college, no matter the cost? What are your thoughts?

We know the societal and personal benefits of postsecondary education, but private businesses and corporations also benefit from higher education training. Based on your experience, what are the best ways that the private business sector contribute to college affordability?

• As a stakeholder in higher education, what role do you think private companies can have in financial aid?
• Should they be taking a larger role in helping students pay for college? In what ways?
• Should they help subsidize or repay student loans?

Some aid administrators view borrowing as a good thing for students, regardless of their background, because it teaches fiscal management and makes a student feel invested in his or her education. Others argue that borrowing creates inequity by placing a heavier burden on lower income students and say loans should be replaced with grants for students with financial need. Still others think borrowing to pay for college is inappropriate regardless of income and should be phased out.

Now it’s your turn:

• What role should loans play in helping students pay for college?
• Should all undergraduate students be expected to borrow? None?
• What about graduate students?

During recent NCI Listening Sessions, some have suggested a reform and reconfiguration of the existing Title IV programs. Several of these ideas appear below. Please review these ideas, and then express your thoughts on the current structure of the Title IV programs, whether it should be changed, and if so, how it should be changed?

• Some feel that the Title IV programs should be reformed to provide one grant, one loan, and one work assistance program. This would mean the elimination of the FSEOG and Perkins Loan programs, and possibly redirecting the funding to a larger Federal Pell Grant program. How do you feel about this idea?
• Alternatively, some suggest the campus-based programs be modified to combine the monies and provide those funds to schools in a “block grant” to be used any way the school desires for student aid or student retention and/or graduation enhancement programs. Do you agree?
• Those who argue against these consolidations of aid programs into single types or provision of block grants suggest it would result in a total loss of these federal appropriations or make them a juicer target in times of budget crises. What do you think of these arguments?

During NCI listening sessions all aid administrators who addressed the topic agree we need to simplify the aid process for applicants. Some suggestions have referred to using IRS data in lieu of the FAFSA. This raises a number of questions. Please consider the questions below, and then express your views on potential methods for simplifying the student aid application process.

• Should we eliminate the FAFSA and determine need-based aid eligibility using existing data, such as IRS data? What parameters or other considerations would need to be taken into account if this was done?
• If we use an IRS data match to simplify the application process, would this still address the needs of states/institutions for packaging their student aid monies?
• Would students benefit from a simplified needs analysis approach that would allow them to know in advance the amount of need-based aid for which they qualify?
• Can you suggest alternative FAFSA simplification ideas in lieu of its elimination in favor of an IRS data match?
• Are there other simplification ideas or topic you can recommend that would help students or schools?

At the NCI Listening Sessions NASFAA has learned about many programs and efforts that are working to increase college access for economically disadvantaged, underserved, and underrepresented student groups. Based on your experience in the student aid profession, please comment on the following:

• In your experience in the financial aid field, what have you seen as the most effective ways to channel these student groups into a postsecondary institution? Why do you think these methods are so effective?
• Conversely, what are some methods that are not so effective? Why do you think they were not as effective?
• How critical is the role played by student aid in college access for these populations? What other factors are involved?

During NCI Listening Sessions being held across the country, NASFAA has asked attendees, “Should financial aid be used as a tool to level the playing field for economically disadvantaged, underserved, and underrepresented student groups?”

The overwhelming answer to this question has been an emphatic, “YES!”  However, recent trends in student aid have been moving the system away from this goal. Please let us know how this affects your office by answering any or all of the following questions:

• What does the current system do right? In what ways does the current financial aid system effectively level the playing field for economically disadvantaged, underserved, and underrepresented student groups?
• What is wrong with the current system? In what ways does the current financial aid system not level the playing field for economically disadvantaged, underserved, and underrepresented student groups?

At recent NCI listening sessions, NASFAA members offered recommendations for increasing early awareness and fostering college-going expectations. Some recommendations included

• Requiring  high school students to take a college prep course that includes financial aid information
• Using prior, prior year tax information to let students know what they will be eligible for earlier

What do you think of these ideas? Do you have other recommendations? How would you redesign the system to increase early awareness and foster college-going attitudes?