Choppy waters ahead? Tales from a seasick sailor looking for land

1. Choppy waters ahead?Tales from a seasick sailor looking for land New Jersey Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Brett Lief, National Student Loan Program November 8, 2011

2. “To close a critical gap in the financial resources available to would-be students who are foreclosed, by the lack of finances and the growing expenses of a college education, from continuing their education after high school.” • “A major problem is the spiraling costs of college and the fact that it is impossible for a family of modest means to send their children to the college of their choice.” • “The needy encompass students not only from low-income families, although their priority in this aid program is assured, but also from families in the middle-income brackets who find that the cost of educating their children has far out stripped their ability to pay.”

3. AUGUST 26, 1965*hea passed congress • “To close a critical gap in the financial resources available to would-be students who are foreclosed, by the lack of finances and the growing expenses of a college education, from continuing their education after high school.” REPRESENTATIVE MINK (D-HI) • “A major problem is the spiraling costs of college and the fact that it is impossible for a family of modest means to send their children to the college of their choice.” REPRESENTATIVE GREEN (D-OR) • “The needy encompass students not only from low-income families, although their priority in this aid program is assured, but also from families in the middle-income brackets who find that the cost of educating their children has far out stripped their ability to pay.” REPRESENTATIVE POWELL (D-NY)

4. Timeline of Major Student Aid Legislation

5. Is it about access? Is it about managing money?Is it about politics? Something changed in 1981

6. Congress Giveth

7. Original Guiding Principals • Society benefits from educated workforce • Grants provide access, Loans provide choice • Role of government is to stand behind student

8. Original Student Support Team

9. Congress Taketh

10. Original Guiding Principals:How They Have Changed • Belief that individuals, not society, benefit bypostsecondary education and training • Loans provide both access and choice • Government is positioning itself between students and schools

11. Recent Legislation • Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 - $18 billion • Increased loan limits • New grant programs • Created College Access Initiative • College Cost Reduction & Access Act of 2007 - $22 billion • Increased Pell Grant maximum to $5,400 over five years • Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act • 100% Direct Lending by July 2010 • Revamping the Perkins Program • Mandatory Funds for Pell Grants • FAFSA Simplification • Approximately $10 billion for “deficit reduction” • Approximately $9 billion for health care

12. New Student Support Team

13. Current Public Policy Discussions • Three-year Cohort Default Rates • Gainful Employment • Focuses on for-profit institutions • Current job market may make this a concern for more institutions • How many of graduates are unable to find jobs? • Administrative Capabilities of Schools • Complianceand Data Security • Senate Hearings on For-Profit Institutions

14. You are being watched… • Special Audit Services – Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 • “Under IPERA, any contractor performing the aforementioned requirement will be paid for its services based on a percentage of collections… The Department is seeking information from certified public accounting firms to assist in the development of a plan to conduct payment recapture audits…”

15. What Can Be Done?

16. Advocacy on all levels

17. What to Do, What to Do… • Engage Your Campus Leadership • Share Stories of Student Aid Recipients • Student aid changes lives • Become involved in federal rulemaking

18. Questions?