In a special episode of "Off The Cuff" featuring authors from NASFAA's recent 10-paper series on simplifying and improving the FAFSA, Justin speaks with Ben Miller of the Center for American Progress, Jen Mishory of The Century Foundation, and Robert Kelchen of Seton Hall University. With the FAFSA's 30th "birthday" approaching in 2022, the group discusses how the application can be adjusted to fulfill its original purpose — streamlining the application for federal aid — how it would fit in a world with free college, and how it can better reflect the true need of applicants by allowing for a negative expected family contribution. Be sure to read all of the 10 papers in the series, and send us your questions, comments, and feedback for when we return with regularly scheduled episodes in September!
On a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by 2020-21 NASFAA National Chair Brenda Hicks, who serves as the director of financial aid at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. Justin and Brenda discuss her background in admissions and what led her to financial aid, the obstacles she has faced since becoming national chair, and provide advice to administrators on how to navigate an unprecedented year due to the continued disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus. Keep an eye out for more special episodes throughout the month of August!
On a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Megan is joined by Carrie Warick from the National College Attainment Network and Mark Wiederspan of Iowa College Aid to dive into their contributions to NASFAA’s series of 10 papers that provide policy recommendations to help streamline the FAFSA, with a specific focus on verification. Carrie discusses her paper — co-authored with Raymond AlQaisi and Bill DeBaun — which detailed the relationship between verification and Pell Grant award change. Mark provides insight into his paper — co-authored with Meghan Oster and Stephen DesJardins — about how verification can act as a stumbling block for low-income students. Megan also asks the two authors what the perfect FAFSA verification process would look like. Keep an eye out for more special episodes from our FAFSA paper series throughout the month of August!
On a special episode of “Off the Cuff,” Megan is joined by Sandy Baum from the Urban Institute and Lauren Walizer from the Center for Law and Social Policy to discuss their contributions to NASFAA’s series of 10 papers that provide policy recommendations to help streamline the FAFSA. Lauren discusses her paper — co-authored by Elizabeth Lower-Basch — that analyzes the impact of using public benefits to reduce paperwork for students completing the FAFSA and how it would maximize financial aid. Sandy gives an overview of her three papers in the series, which detail the current methodology used to measure a family’s ability to contribute toward educational expenses and reviews the various methods proposed to simplify the FAFSA. The two also gave their answers to what the perfect FAFSA looks like. Keep an eye out for more special episodes from our FAFSA paper series throughout the month of August!