Tag: Aid

  • How cuts at U.S. aid agency hinder university research

    How cuts at U.S. aid agency hinder university research

    Peter Goldsmith knows there’s a lot to love about soybeans. Although the crop is perhaps best known in America for its part in the stereotypically bougie soy milk latte, it plays an entirely different role on the global stage. Inexpensive to grow and chock-full of nutrients, it’s considered a potential solution to hunger and malnutrition.

    For the past 12 years, Goldsmith has worked toward that end. In 2013, he founded the Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and every day since then, the lab’s scientists have worked to help farmers and businesses solve problems related to soybeans, from how to speed up threshing—the arduous process of separating the bean from the pod—to addressing a lack of available soybean seeds and varieties.

    The SIL, which now encompasses a network of 17 laboratories, has completed work across 31 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. But now, all that work is on hold, and Goldsmith is preparing to shut down the Soybean Innovation Lab in April, thanks to massive cuts to the federal foreign aid funds that support the labs.

    A week into the current presidential administration, Goldsmith received notice that the Soybean Innovation Lab, which is headquartered at the University of Illinois, had to pause operations, cease external communications and minimize costs, pending a federal government review.

    Goldsmith told his team—about 30 individuals on UIUC’s campus that he described as being like family to one another—that, though they were ordered to stop work, they could continue working on internal projects, like refining their software. But days later, he learned the university could no longer access the lab’s funds in Washington, meaning there was no way to continue paying employees.

    After talking with university administrators, he set a date for the Illinois lab to close: April 15, unless the freeze ended after the government review. But no review materialized; on Feb. 26, the SIL received notice its grant had been terminated, along with about 90 percent of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s programs.

    “The University of Illinois is a very kind, caring sort of culture; [they] wanted to give employees—because it was completely an act of God, out of the blue—give them time to find jobs,” he said. “I mean, up until [Jan. 27], we were full throttle, we were very successful, phones ringing off the hook.”

    The other 16 labs will likely also close, though some are currently scrambling to try to secure other funding.

    Federal funding made up 99 percent of the Illinois lab’s funding, according to Goldsmith. In 2022, the lab received a $10 million grant intended to last through 2027.

    Dismantling an Agency

    The SIL is among the numerous university laboratories impacted by the federal freeze on U.S. Agency for International Development funds—an initial step in what’s become President Donald Trump’s crusade to curtail supposedly wasteful government spending—and the subsequent termination of thousands of grants.

    Trump and Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth and a senior aide to the president, have baselessly claimed that USAID is run by left-wing extremists and say they hope to shutter the agency entirely. USAID’s advocates, meanwhile, have countered that the agency instead is responsible for vital, lifesaving work abroad and that the funding freeze is sure to lead to disease, famine and death.

    A federal judge, Amir H. Ali, seemed to agree, ruling earlier this month that the funding freeze is doing irreparable harm to humanitarian organizations that have had to cut staff and halt projects, NPR and other outlets reported. On Tuesday, Ali reiterated his order that the administration resume funding USAID, giving them until the end of the day Wednesday to do so.

    But the administration appealed the ruling, and the Supreme Court subsequently paused the deadline until the justices can weigh in. Now, officials appear to be moving forward with plans to fire all but a small number of the agency’s employees, directing employees to empty their offices and giving them only 15 minutes each to gather their things.

    About $350 million of the agency’s funds were appropriated to universities, according to the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, including $72 million for the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, which are aimed at researching solutions to end hunger and food insecurity worldwide. (The SIL is funded primarily by Feed the Future.)

    It’s a small amount compared to the funding universities receive from other agencies, like the National Institutes of Health, also the subject of deep cuts by Trump and Musk. But USAID-funded research is a long-standing and important part of the nation’s foreign policy, as well as a resource for the international community, advocates say. The work also has broad, bipartisan support; in fiscal year 2024, Congress increased funding for the Feed the Future Initiative labs by 16 percent, according to Craig Lindwarm, senior vice president for government affairs at the APLU, even in what he characterized as an extremely challenging budgetary environment.

    Potential Long-Term Harms

    Universities “have long been a partner with USAID … to help accomplish foreign policy and diplomatic goals of the United States,” said Lindwarm. “This can often but not exclusively come in the form of extending assistance as it relates to our agricultural institutions, and land-grant institutions have a long history of advancing science in agriculture that boosts yields and productivity in the United States and also partner countries, and we’ve found that this is a great benefit not just to our country, but also partner nations. Stable food systems lead to stable regions and greater market access for producers in the United States and furthers diplomatic objectives in establishing stronger connections with partner countries.”

    Stopping that research has negatively impacted “critical relationships and productivity,” with the potential for long-term harms, Lindwarm said.

    At the SIL, numerous projects have now been canceled, including a planned trip to Africa to beta test a pull-behind combine, a technology that is not commonly used anymore in the U.S.—most combines are now self-propelled rather than pulled by tractor—but that would be useful to farmers in Africa. A U.S. company was slated to license the technology to farmers in Africa, Goldsmith said, but now, “that’s dead. The agribusiness firm, the U.S. firm, won’t be licensing in Africa,” he said. “A good example of market entry just completely shut off.”

    He also noted that the lab closures won’t just impact clients abroad and U.S. companies; they will also be detrimental to UIUC, which did not respond to a request for comment.

    “In our space, we’re well-known. We’re really relevant. It makes the university extremely relevant,” he said. “We’re not an ivory tower. We’re in the dirt, literally, with our partners, with our clients, making a difference, and [that] makes the university an active contributor to solving real problems.”

    Source link

  • Struggling soup kitchens and hospitals in Sudan face uncertainty amid U.S. aid freeze (CBS News)

    Struggling soup kitchens and hospitals in Sudan face uncertainty amid U.S. aid freeze (CBS News)

    When President Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid, no one felt the impact more than the people of Sudan. Two years of civil war has left more than 25 million Sudanese starving in what is the largest humanitarian crisis the world has ever seen. Debora Patta reports.

    Source link

  • How foreign aid helps the country that gives it

    How foreign aid helps the country that gives it

    In international relations, nation states vie for power and security. They do this through diplomacy and treaties which establish how they should behave towards one another.

    If those agreements don’t work, states resort to violence to achieve their goals. 

    In addition to diplomatic relations and wars, states can also project their interests through soft power. Dialogue, compromise and consensus are all part of soft power. 

    Foreign assistance, where one country provides money, goods or services to another without implicitly asking for anything in return, is a form of soft power because it can make a needy nation dependent or beholden to a wealthier one. 

    In 2023, the U.S. government had obligations to provide some $68 billion in foreign aid spread across more than 10 agencies to more than 200 countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) alone spent $38 billion in 2023 and operated in 177 different countries. 

    Spreading good will through aid

    USAID has been fundamental to projecting a positive image of the United States throughout the world. In an essay published by the New York Times, Samantha Power, the former administrator of USAID, described how nearly $20 billion of its assistance went to health programs that combat such things as malaria, tuberculosis, H.I.V./AIDS and infectious disease outbreaks, and humanitarian assistance to respond to emergencies and help stabilize war-torn regions.

    Other USAID investments, she wrote, give girls access to education and the ability to enter the work force. 

    When President John F. Kennedy established USAID in 1961, he said in a message to Congress: “We live at a very special moment in history. The whole southern half of the world — Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia — are caught up in the adventures of asserting their independence and modernizing their old ways of life. These new nations need aid in loans and technical assistance just as we in the northern half of the world drew successively on one another’s capital and know-how as we moved into industrialization and regular growth.”

    He acknowledged that the reason for the aid was not totally humanitarian.

    “For widespread poverty and chaos lead to a collapse of existing political and social structures which would inevitably invite the advance of totalitarianism into every weak and unstable area,” Kennedy said. “Thus our own security would be endangered and our prosperity imperilled. A program of assistance to the underdeveloped nations must continue because the nation’s interest and the cause of political freedom require it.” 

    Investing in emerging democracies

    The fear of communism was obvious in 1961. The motivation behind U.S. foreign assistance is always both humanitarian and political; the two can never be separated. 

    Today, the United States is competing with China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for global influence through foreign assistance. The BRI was started by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2023. It is global, with its Silk Road Economic Belt connecting China with Central Asia and Europe, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road connecting China with South and Southeast Asia and Africa and Latin America.

    Most of the projects involve infrastructure improvement — things like roads and bridges, mass transit and power supplies — and increased trade and investment. 

    As of 2013, 149 countries have joined BRI. In the first half of 2023, a total of $43 billion in agreements were signed. Because of its lending policy, BRI lending has made China the world’s largest debt collector.

    While the Chinese foreign assistance often requires repayment, the United States has dispensed money through USAID with no direct feedback. Trump thinks that needs to be changed. “We get tired of giving massive amounts of money to countries that hate us, don’t we?” he said on 27 January 2024. 

    Returns are hard to see.

    Traditionally, U.S. foreign assistance, unlike the Chinese BRI, has not been transactional. There is no guarantee that what is spent will have a direct impact. Soft power is not quantifiable. Questions of image, status and prestige are hard to measure.

    Besides helping millions of people, Samantha Power gave another more transactional reason for supporting U.S. foreign assistance.

    “USAID has generated vast stores of political capital in the more than 100 countries where it works, making it more likely that when the United States makes hard requests for other leaders — for example — to send peace keepers to a war zone, to help a U.S. company enter a new market or to extradite a criminal to the United States — they say yes,” she wrote.

    Trump is known as a “transactional” president, but even this argument has not convinced him to continue to support USAID. 

    Soft power is definitely not part of his vision of the art of the deal.

     

    Three questions to consider:

    1. What is “foreign aid”?
    2. Why would one country give money to another without asking for anything in return?
    3. Do you think wealthier nations should be obliged to help poorer countries?

     

    Source link

  • DOGE temporarily blocked from accessing Education Department student aid data

    DOGE temporarily blocked from accessing Education Department student aid data

    This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

    UPDATE: Feb. 12, 2025: The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday agreed to temporarily block staffers of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing student aid information and other data systems until at least Feb. 17. 

    On that date, a federal judge overseeing the case is expected to rule on a student group’s request for a temporary restraining order to block the agency from sharing sensitive data with DOGE. 

    Dive Brief: 

    •  A group representing University of California students filed a lawsuit Friday to block the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency from accessing federal financial aid data.  
    • The University of California Student Association cited reports that DOGE members gained access to federal student loan data, which includes information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, account information and driver’s license numbers. 
    • The complaint accuses the U.S. Department of Education of violating federal privacy laws and regulations by granting DOGE staffers access to the data. “The scale of intrusion into individuals’ privacy is enormous and unprecedented,” the lawsuit says. 

    Dive Insight: 

    President Donald Trump created DOGE through executive order on the first day of his second term, tasking the team, led by Tesla co-founder and Trump adviser Musk, with rooting out what the new administration deems as government waste. 

    DOGE has since accessed the data of several government agencies, sparking concerns that its staffers are violating privacy laws and overstepping the executive branch’s power. With the new lawsuit, the University of California Student Association joins the growing chorus of groups that say DOGE is flouting federal statutes. 

    One of those groups — 19 state attorneys general — scored a victory over the weekend. On Saturday, a federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE from accessing the Treasury Department’s payments and data system, which disburses Social Security benefits, tax returns and federal employee salaries. 

    The University of California Student Association has likewise asked the judge to temporarily block the Education Department from sharing sensitive data with DOGE staffers and to retrieve any information that has already been transferred to them. 

    The group argues that the Education Department is violating the Privacy Act of 1974, which says that government agencies may not disclose an individual’s data “to any person, or to another agency,” without their consent, except in limited circumstances. The Internal Revenue Code has similar protections for personal information. 

    “None of the targeted exceptions in these laws allows individuals associated with DOGE, or anyone else, to obtain or access students’ personal information, except for specific purposes — purposes not implicated here,” the lawsuit says. 

    The Washington Post reported on Feb. 3 that some DOGE team members had in fact gained access to “multiple sensitive internal systems,” including federal financial aid data, as part of larger plans to carry out Trump’s goal to eventually eliminate the Education Department. 

    “ED did not publicly announce this new policy — what is known is based on media reporting — or attempt to justify it,” Friday’s lawsuit says. “Rather, ED secretly decided to allow individuals with no role in the federal student aid program to root around millions of students’ sensitive records.”

    In response to the Post’s Feb. 3 reporting, Musk on the same day posted on X that Trump “will succeed” in dismantling the agency. 

    Later that week, the Post reported that DOGE staffers were feeding sensitive Education Departmentdata into artificial intelligence software to analyze the agency’s spending. 

    The moves have also attracted lawmakers’ attention. Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the top-ranking Democrat on the House’s education committee, asked the Government Accountability Office on Friday to probe the security of information technology systems at the Education Department’s and several other agencies. 

    An Education Department spokesperson said Monday that the agency does not comment on pending litigation. 

    Source link

  • Alumni-in-residence programs aid student development

    Alumni-in-residence programs aid student development

    Alumni-in-residence programs provide career insight and professional skill-building to students.

    SDI Productions/E+/Getty Images

    A May 2024 Student Voice survey found 29 percent of students believe their college or university should prioritize or focus more on connecting students to alumni and other potential mentors.

    Colleges and universities often have connections to a wide range of successful graduates who can provide insight and support to current students, but creating organic relationships between the two groups can be a challenge.

    One initiative institutions have undertaken is establishing alumni-in-residence programs to offer career development opportunities for current students.

    How it works: Similar to a formal mentoring program, alumni in residence hold one-on-one conversations with learners to address the student’s career goals and answer questions related to work or life after college.

    The alumni-in-residence program, however, asks alums to serve in a variety of functions, including panel presentations, etiquette dinners and a networking reception, as needed.

    What’s the value: Alumni can offer specific insights into career pathways from their alma mater into their current role, helping highlight the student journey in a unique way. Involving former students in career services can also increase funding and support for the institution. A 2024 survey by Gravyty found alumni who have participated in a mentoring program say they are 200 percent more likely to donate in the future.

    Effective career services can also impact a student’s perception of their institution after graduation; 19 percent of alumni reported receiving strong career support from their institution, and those alumni are 2.8 times more likely to say their degree is worth the tuition, according to the 2023 National Alumni Career Mobility Annual Report.

    A 2025 analysis by Gravyty also found 46 percent of alumni rank career support and networking as the most valuable services their alma mater can provide, yet only 40 percent of engagement programs at universities include mentoring opportunities.

    Who’s doing it: Some of the institutions hosting an alumni-in-residence program include:

    Do you have a career prep tip that might help others encourage student success? Tell us about it.

    Source link

  • Student Aid in Canada: The Long View

    Student Aid in Canada: The Long View

    Note: this is a short version of a paper which has just appeared in issue 72:4 the Canadian Tax Journal. How short? I’m trying for under 1000 words. Let’s see how I do.

    Canadian student aid programs existed in scattered forms since just after World War I but became a “national program” when the Dominion-Canadian Student Aid Program (DCSAP) was created in 1939. Under this program, the Government of Canada provided block cash grants to provinces who administered their own scholarship programs which provided aid based on some combination of need and merit. The actual details of the program varied significantly from one province to another; at the time, the government of Canada did not place much importance on “national programs” with common elements.

    In 1964, this DCSAP was replaced by the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP)—recently re-named the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program (CSFAP). This has always been a joint federal-provincial enterprise. But where the earlier program was a block grant, this program would be a single national entity run more or less consistently across all provinces, albeit with provincial governments still in place as responsible administrative agencies able to supplement the plan as they wished. Some provinces would opt out of this program and received compensation to run their own solo programs (Quebec at the program’s birth, the Northwest Territories in 1984 and Nunavut in 1999). The others, for the most part, built grant programs that kicked in once a student had exhausted their Canada Student Loan eligibility.

    Meanwhile, a complimentary student aid program grew up in the tax system, mainly because it was a way to give money to students that didn’t involve negotiations with provinces. Tuition fees plus a monthly education amount were made into a tax deduction in 1961 and then converted to a tax credit in 1987. Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs), which are basically tax-free growth savings accounts, showed up in 1971.

    Although the CSLP was made somewhat more generous over time in order to keep up with rising student costs, program rules went largely unchanged between 1964 and 1993. Then, during the extremely short Kim Campbell government, a new system came into being. The federal government decided to make loans much larger, but also to force provinces in participating provinces to start cost-sharing in a different manner—basically, they had to step up from a student’s first dollar of need instead of just taking students with high need. Since this was the era of stupidly high deficits, provinces responded to these additional responsibilities by cutting the generosity of their programs, transforming from pure grants to forgivable loans. For the rest of the decade, student debt rose—in some cases quite quickly: in total loans issued doubled between 1993 and 1997.

    And then, everything went into reverse.

    In a series of federal budgets between 1996 and 2000, billions of dollars were thrown into grants, tax credits and a new program called “Canada Education Savings Grants,” which were a form of matching grant for contributions to RESPs. Grants and total aid rose; loans issued fell by a third, mainly between 1997 and 2001 (a recovering economy helped quite a bit). Tax expenditures soared, which due to a rule change allowing tax credits to be carried forward meant either students got to keep more of their work income or got to reduce their taxes once they started working.

    Since this period of rapid change at the turn of the century, student aid has doubled in real terms. And nearly all of that has been an increase in non-repayable aid. Institutional scholarships? Tripled. Education scholarships? Quadrupled. Loans? They are up, too, but there the story is a bit more complicated.

    Figure 1: Student Aid by Source, Canada, 1993-94 to 2022-23, in thousands of constant $2022

    For the period from about 2000 to 2015, all forms of aid were increasing at about inflation plus 3%. Then, in 2016, we entered another period of rapid change. The Governments of Canada and Ontario eliminated a bunch of tax credits and re-invested the money into grants. Briefly, this led to targeted free tuition in Ontario, before the Ford government took an axe to the system. Then, COVID hit and the CSFAP doubled grants. Briefly, in 2020-21, total student aid exceeded $23 billion/year (the figure above does not include the $4 billion per year paid out through the Canada Emergency Student Benefit), with less than 30% of it made up of loans.

    One important thing to understand about all this is that while the system became much larger and much less loan-based, something else was going on, too. It was becoming much more federal. Over the past three decades, provincial outlays have risen about 30% in real terms; meanwhile, federal ones have quadrupled. In the early 1990s, the system was about 45-55 federal-provincial; now, it’s about 70-30 federal. It’s a stunning example of “uploading” of responsibilities in an area of shared-jurisdiction.

    Figure 2: Government Student Aid by Source, Figure 1: Student Aid by Source, Canada, 1993-94 to 2022-23, in thousands of constant $2022

    So there you go: a century of Canadian student aid in less than 850 words. Hope you enjoyed it.

    Source link

  • Wildfire aid coming to California schools as educators plan to restart learning

    Wildfire aid coming to California schools as educators plan to restart learning

    This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

    Schools across Southern California impacted by devastating wildfires this month are working to ensure students, families and staff are safe and have basic needs — all while attempting to restart instruction and as-normal-as-possible school routines after school closures. 

    At least 335 schools from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and San Diego counties had closed temporarily when fires broke out last week, affecting more than 211,000 students, according to the California Department of Education. 

    Two schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District — Palisades Charter Elementary and Marquez Charter Elementary — will need to be rebuilt due to fire damage, LAUSD said in a Jan. 13 statement. 

    At an event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to highlight U.S. Department of Education initiatives under the Biden administration, Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, who previously served as superintendent of San Diego Unified School District, said the area is close-knit and that people have been “deeply affected” by the destructive wildfires. 

    “What we know is that precious schools have burned down and communities are reeling,” said Marten, adding that the U.S. Education Department will provide training and funding to communities affected by the disaster.

    According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CAL FIRE, 40,695 acres have burned and more than 12,300 structures have been destroyed. Several fires that started Jan. 7 or after still have not been fully contained. 

    Most schools in LAUSD — the second largest school system in the nation — reopened Monday after district employees cleaned schools and others worked “around the clock” over the weekend to ensure campuses were safe for students and staff, a Jan. 13 district statement said. By Wednesday, outdoor activities including P.E. and recess could resume at all campuses pending local conditions, and students at the two schools destroyed by fire were relocated to two other campuses, the district said.

    “We have a unique opportunity to show the strength and resilience of our community in the face of adversity,” said Pamela Magee, executive director and principal of Palisades Charter High School, in a statement Jan 13. “By coming together, we can ensure that our students can stay in their learning environment, with their friends and mentors, at a time when they need it most.” 

    Schools in Malibu are closed through at least Jan. 21, while Santa Monica schools are open, according to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The district and its partners have organized optional gathering spaces for children and teens displaced by the fires and not in school.

    In the Pasadena Unified School District, more than 1,300 Pasadena USD staff members had homes within the burn zone, and the district is still determining the exact number of students and families impacted. That number is anticipated to be in the thousands, according to the California Department of Education. 

    The district is closed through Jan. 17, although students had access to optional, self-directed learning options, Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco wrote in a statement to the school district community Jan. 10. 

    “The health and safety of our PUSD community remain our highest priority as we navigate the significant impact of the fire on so many of our students, families, and staff,” said Blanco, adding that nearly half of the district’s employees live within the fire evacuation zone and that many staff, students and families lost their homes.

    Odyssey Charter Schools, South Campus, in Altadena, California, and authorized by PUSD, was destroyed by the Eaton fire on Jan. 8. The 7-year-old school served about 375 students in grades TK-8. 

    “While our campus is closed, Odyssey Charter Schools South continues and will move forward stronger than ever. We’ve already built this school from an idea to a full institution. Then we rebuilt it again online during COVID and we built it a third time when we had to relocate so we are a resilient community and we already weathered many challenges,” said a video showing the fire’s destruction to the campus.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/Q9sOZLdDcBg

    Providing basic needs, making adjustments

    With the widespread impact of the wildfires and ongoing firefighting, the focus on learning is taking a backseat to supplying students, families and school employees with basic needs.  

    Source link

  • Making Higher Education More Affordable: The Role of Financial Aid Strategies

    Making Higher Education More Affordable: The Role of Financial Aid Strategies

    Key Takeaways:

    • Financial aid optimization transforms financial resource allocation into a strategic enrollment tool, aligning affordability for students with institutional goals.




    • By leveraging real-time data and tools like Liaison Othot, institutions can craft tailored financial aid strategies that address individual student needs and enrollment strategies.




    • Optimization enables proactive adjustments to financial aid strategies, ensuring accessibility while supporting student retention and institutional sustainability.




    • Strategic financial aid leveraging balances affordability for students with long-term enrollment and revenue objectives.

     

    The rising costs of higher education and fear of long-term debt have left many prospective students and their families questioning whether they can afford to pursue their academic dreams. For institutions, this presents a dual challenge: attracting diverse students and ensuring enrollment goals align with their mission. An effective and aligned financial aid optimization strategy offers a powerful tool to meet a campus’s enrollment goals. By combining institutional funds with federal and state resources effectively, colleges and universities can increase access and affordability in higher education while achieving broader enrollment objectives.

    From offering enough aid to make tuition manageable to continuously refining financial aid strategies based on real-time information, optimizing plays a pivotal role in strategic enrollment management (SEM). It transforms financial aid awarding from a static process into a dynamic tool that not only attracts and enrolls students but also supports their retention by effectively meeting their financial needs.

     

    What Is Financial Aid Optimization?

    Financial aid optimization transforms the allocation of financial resources into a critical enrollment tool. By aligning the overall enrollment leveraging strategy—regularly and in real-time at the individual level—optimization allows campuses to address student affordability needs in a unique and tailored way.

    At its core, optimization is a dynamic, data-informed process. Institutions develop annual plans for allocating financial aid (leveraging), basing decisions on previous cycles’ successes and challenges. Unlike traditional static leveraging models, modern optimization approaches incorporate continuous adjustments informed by real-time data. This lets colleges and universities respond proactively to shifting enrollment trends and keeps their financial aid strategies effective throughout the year.

     

    How to Make Higher Education More Affordable and Accessible

    More accessible higher education starts with understanding the financial challenges students face. For many undergraduates, the cost of tuition, housing, books, and other expenses can make college seem out of reach, even with federal and state aid. For example, a student from a low-income household may find that even the maximum Pell Grant award leaves a significant financial gap. Similarly, a middle-income family might struggle to cover tuition despite not qualifying for significant need-based aid.

    Financial aid leveraging allows institutions to tackle these challenges head-on by creating tailored aid packages that remove financial barriers for students. This approach relies on a mix of need-based and merit-based strategies, often informed by tools like FAFSA data and predictive analytics.

    One of the key advantages of financial aid optimization is its flexibility. Institutions can use data to fine-tune aid offerings based on unique student needs and behaviors. For instance, Liaison’s Othot platform, a cloud-based predictive and prescriptive analytics tool designed specifically for higher ed, can analyze factors such as a student’s location, academic profile, and campus engagement to build aid packages thatneeds. This granularity ensures that the financial aid awarding strategy not only meets the affordability threshold for students also aligns with the overall enrollment strategy being employed on the campus. An aligned optimization approach ensures that the affordability component is integrated into the strategy for specifically targeted cohorts or students, maximizing the likelihood of their enrollment.

    Optimization also lets institutions adapt aid policies for entire cohorts or demographic groups. For example, schools can address rising inflation in high school GPAs by recalibrating merit-based awards to prioritize equity and maintain fairness in their financial aid distribution. This adaptability keeps aid plans relevant as the dynamics of higher education continue to shift. By relying on data and continuously streamlining their financial aid models, institutions can make higher education more attainable for all students while maximizing their impact.

     

    The Strategic Impact of Financial Aid Optimization

    Financial aid optimization goes beyond simply helping students cover tuition—it’s about achieving a delicate balance between affordability for students and sustainability for institutions. By carefully crafting aid packages that meet the financial needs of students without overextending institutional resources, colleges and universities can enhance their enrollment efforts while maintaining financial health.

    For example, reallocating funds for strategic distribution among students could result in higher net tuition revenue (NTR) without sacrificing enrollment numbers. This demonstrates how strategic adjustments can yield significant results when financial aid decisions are guided by data, tailored to meet institutional priorities, and aligned to overall enrollment strategies.

    Retention and persistence are critical factors to consider when determining how to optimize financial aid. An effective leveraging model doesn’t stop at enrollment and the conclusion of a successful first year—it considers the long-term success of students. By analyzing which cohorts are more likely to persist and graduate, institutions can refine their aid offerings to improve outcomes for all students. This approach ensures that financial aid strategies not only attract students but also support their success throughout their academic journey.

     

    Aligning Financial Aid With Student Success and Institutional Goals

    Financial aid optimization is a powerful way to make higher education more accessible while helping institutions achieve their objectives. By combining institutional, federal, and state resources with data-driven optimization tools, colleges and universities can craft aid strategies that address affordability, bolster student retention, and maximize their impact.

    Institutions looking to enhance their financial aid and enrollment can benefit from Liaison’s suite of solutions, including Othot. Whether your team is just beginning to explore financial aid leveraging or has years of experience, Liaison’s tools provide the flexibility and insights needed to meet your unique goals. From devising an initial plan to optimizing existing processes, our solutions are designed to assist schools at every stage of their journey. Contact us today to learn more.

     

     

    Source link

  • Financial Aid Conversation Strategies for Enrollment Success

    Financial Aid Conversation Strategies for Enrollment Success

    The decision to enroll in college is significant, and students rely on institutional guidance to make informed choices. Financial information, particularly regarding tuition costs and financial aid, is often one of the first things they seek. Unfortunately, many higher education institutions struggle to initiate the conversation early in the enrollment funnel, which can lead to student frustration, decreased enrollment, and potentially higher student debt.

    Engaging in financial aid discussions with prospective students early on in their enrollment journey is a crucial opportunity to alleviate concern and create a smoother experience. We’ve put together actionable strategies to help higher ed professionals initiate these conversations, better manage the student experience, and remove a significant barrier from their decision-making process. Explore strategies for how and when to have these conversations and highlight the key differences between traditional students and online adult learners, providing insights to increase enrollment and student success.

    Gain additional insights into effectively managing financial aid discussions in our latest recorded webinar.

    The Importance of Early Funnel Financial Advising

    As consumers in today’s digital age, Modern Learners are accustomed to having information instantly accessible at the click of a button.  Before committing to a program, students seek transparency about tuition costs and financial aid directly on the university’s website. According to EducationDynamics’ Online College Students Report, 90% of online college students begin their search on a college’s website, with 60% specifically looking for cost and financial information. However, only 36% report being able to easily find this critical information. The report also reveals that 58% of students prefer to learn about costs when they first visit a school’s website, while 26% expect this information after their initial inquiry.  Only 10% are willing to wait until they hear back from the school post-application, and just 6% after acceptance. These findings identify a critical gap in the student experience.

    Addressing this gap is vital for effectively guiding students through their enrollment journey. It’s also important to acknowledge that not all students have the same familiarity with navigating college financial processes. For example, the Online College Students Report found that 36% of online college students are first-generation college students, who may lack experience with navigating the college enrollment process, making conversations centered on financial aid even more critical.

    Additionally, many online students have already incurred student loan debt from prior enrollment, which can impact their ability to finance their education through federal aid alone. This existing debt often influences their decision to re-enroll. Therefore, engaging in financial discussions and understanding the impact of various factors, such as debt and previous financial experiences, is essential.

    Tailoring financial information and support to meet diverse needs is just one part of the broader conversation about enhancing financial literacy for prospective students. Financial literacy is an important component of their overall student journey, and by prioritizing this education and personalizing the approach, institutions can better support their students’ success while also improving enrollment outcomes.

    Building a Comprehensive Financial Aid Conversation Strategy

    When a prospective student inquiries and connects with an advisor, it presents an invaluable opportunity to provide a comprehensive review of tuition, costs, and all available financial options. At this stage, it’s important to ask questions that allow for individualized support, offering personalized answers tailored to each student’s specific financial situation. Remember, many students may already feel frustrated after struggling to find this information on the website. To address this, proactive financial conversations are key.

    Despite the importance of financial clarity, many enrollment interviews with prospective students fail to delve deeply into financial options. Instead, students are often directed to only the FAFSA, which limits the students access to information on other options. Discussing other options, such as scholarships, grants, and payment plans, can help reduce the greater debt load and give students a clearer understanding of how financial decisions impact them each academic year.

    Student Journey Mapping

    Student journey mapping is a strategic process that helps institutions visualize and optimize the student experience from initial inquiry to enrollment. When integrated with financial advising, student journey mapping becomes a powerful tool for identifying gaps in existing financial aid conversations and ensuring students receive the support they need early in their enrollment process.

    To start, assess your current student journey map by identifying all pre-enrollment touchpoints where financial advising is currently provided. Consider where financial discussions are taking place and how they are being conducted.

     Ask questions such as:

    • Where is financial advising currently provided?
    • How is financial information currently provided?
    • What gaps exist in these conversations?

    Once you have reviewed your existing student journey map, create a revised version that reflects a best-case scenario student journey. Consider the following:

    • Has the party responsible for financial advising changed or evolved?
    • Is the current system access still relevant?
    • Are there training or knowledge gaps that need to be addressed?
    • What specific questions should be asked during pre-enrollment advising to better address students’ financial needs?

    By addressing these considerations, institutions can create a more seamless and supportive financial advising experience that meets the unique needs of prospective students.

    For more detailed guidance on student journey mapping, visit our Student Journey Mapping page.

    Training Enrollment Teams

    Effective financial aid conversations are instrumental to student success, and well-trained enrollment teams can make a significant impact. With well-trained enrollment teams, institutions can provide clarity and support while fostering trust in the financial aid process. Here are four strategies for ensuring your team is prepared:

    1. Sell the Vision: Communicate the importance of financial aid discussions in shaping the student experience, motivating your team to approach these conversations with empathy and purpose.
    2. Solicit Feedback: Ask your enrollment team for input on their challenges and needs to ensure that training practices directly address their concerns.
    3. Create or Outsource High-Quality Training Content: Develop or outsource engaging training content that covers financial aid topics. Consider leveraging professional support, such as our Financial Aid Advising services, to ensure your team is thoroughly supported.
    4. Incorporate Relevant Resources or Data: Integrate current data and resources into your training materials, such as insights from the Online College Students Report to help your team understand the specific financial challenges students face and how to address them effectively.

    By implementing these strategies, your team will be better equipped to guide students through complex financial decisions, ensuring they feel supported from the first conversation through to enrollment.

    Beyond FAFSA

    While the FAFSA is a starting point for financial aid, it’s important to explore a range of financial aid options to better address varying student needs.

    Students may benefit from alternative financial aid options such as tuition reimbursement programs, employer-sponsored education benefits, scholarships, grants, and flexible payment plans. These resources can help reduce their reliance on loans and alleviate stress throughout their academic journeys.

    Through presenting a range of financial aid options, institutions can empower students with greater access to financial support, increasing their chances of enrollment success while minimizing financial stress.

    Monitoring and Adapting

    To better understand the effectiveness of your advising strategies, consider tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) related to financial aid conversations. Monitoring these KPIs allows you to identify areas of improvement and make necessary adjustments to ensure students receive the best possible support.

    Relevant KPIs to track include:

    • FAFSA Submission Time: Measure how quickly students are completing their FAFSA applications after engaging in financial aid conversations.
    • Packaging to Direct Cost: Track how effectively financial aid packages cover direct costs, such as tuition and fees.
    • Revised Award Letters/Packages: Monitor the frequency and outcomes of revised award letters or financial aid packages based on ongoing financial aid discussions.
    • Increased Payment Plans: Look for a rise in students adopting flexible payment plans due to better financial aid conversations.
    • Tuition Reimbursement: Track the usage of tuition reimbursement or employer-sponsored education benefits as alternative financial aid options.

    Continuous monitoring and adjusting as needed are key to optimizing the financial advising process. By regularly reviewing KPIs and the quality of financial aid conversations, enrollment teams can ensure that their advising strategies remain effective and aligned to student goals.

    Resources and Next Steps

    Leverage Our Expertise

    At EducationDynamics, we recognize that navigating the financial aid process can be a challenging part of the student journey. Our dedicated financial aid coaches provide your team with personalized support, helping to reduce the workload on your internal teams, allowing them to focus on core responsibilities. By partnering with us, you can streamline the financial aid process, increase efficiency, and improve enrollment outcomes.

    Watch the Recorded Webinar

    For a deeper dive into effective strategies for addressing financial aid conversations with prospective students, don’t miss our recorded webinar. This session offers valuable information on integrating financial guidance into the pre-enrollment experience and enhancing your financial aid conversations. Watch the recording now to access comprehensive approaches that can augment your institution’s financial advising process.

    Source link