This participant guide instructs college financial aid personnel in the use of the EDExpress system as it relates to direct student loans. The first chapter contains a welcome and introduction to the training sessions, and the second session contains an overview of the six-step data process, a discussion of key players in direct loans (DL), a…

This training document for financial assistance professionals discusses ensuring program integrity in student financial aid and describes some tools for ensuring internal and external program integrity. The training focuses on these tools and resources: (1) the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Schools Portal; (2) the Information for Financial Aid…

This document is the second in a series of "core curriculum" courses designed by Student Financial Assistance (SFA) "University," a training program for SFA employees. The one-day course traces the history of student financial assistance, describes what the SFA organization looks like today, and outlines the standards to which SFA must adhere to…

This First Look report presents findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) spring 2007 data collection, which included four components: Student Financial Aid for full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students for the 2006-07 academic year; Enrollment for fall 2006 and 12-month counts for…

This article identifies the conundrum that exists between removing financial access barriers to college and the student recipients' inability to sustain reenrollment. After reviewing the findings of 7 research studies related to the impact of financial aid on persistence, the article concludes with a discussion of possible intervention strategies…

The student-loan industry seems to have broken new ground, which raises a red flag after the recent investigation of the private-loan industry by Andrew M. Cuomo, New York State's attorney general. Last June "The Chronicle" reported that in Cuomo's testimony before Congress, he compared the industry to the Wild West, characterizing it as a bastion…

This hermeneutic phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of high-achieving, low-income undergraduates and their transition into a college environment historically reserved for wealthy students. The results of this study indicate that these students are flourishing in full need-based financial aid programs as a result of their own…

This publication is intended for financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and…

As external forces demand change in the delivery of postsecondary education and institutions seek to take advantage of new opportunities, the potential for achieving higher levels of student and institutional success is vast. New technologies, communication tools, data use, and organizational constructs present key factors in improving the…

In the knowledge economy, the journey of education to develop a flexible, knowledgeable, and skilled workforce should begin in pre-school and continue until at least an associate degree--the equivalent of a high school diploma a generation ago--is achieved. A high school diploma is not sufficient to compete in a global economy. The number of…

The overarching goal of the "Supporting Best Practices in Student Success Project" is to create, enhance, or expand successful programs that are replicable and can be scaled to greatly improve the percentage of underserved students who complete postsecondary education. In doing so, National College Access Network (NCAN) aimed to build…

This guide advises students about college costs and how to pay them. The booklet explains financial aid and how it can help a student reach his or her educational goals. Merit-based and need-based aid programs are described, and the family's expected financial contribution is explained. The process of obtaining and completing the Free Application…

From 1981 to 1986 South Carolina implemented a federally mandated desegregation plan designed to: (1) enhance the State's public historically black colleges; (2) desegregate student enrollment at the State's baccalaureate degree granting public colleges and universities; and (3) desegregate faculties, staffs, and governing bodies of all public…

Adult and Organizational Learning and Policy Development in Environments of Gray The purpose of this study was to describe, analyze and provide an understanding of the values that influence state legislators' decision-making as it relates to appropriations, tuition and fees, and financial aid for public postsecondary education in Idaho. The study…

The British system of student loans has a zero real rate of interest, less than it costs the government to borrow the money. This paper discusses the problems that arise from interest subsidies in the UK system of student loans; systems in other countries, for example Australia and New Zealand, face similar problems. The topic appears to be narrow…