This report of the Panel on Quality Improvement in Student Financial Aid Programs examines the quality control of federal student financial aid programs covered by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and offers recommendations calling for sweeping revisions of the present system. The report explores: (1) the quality control practices…

The purpose and direction of the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) quality improvement program are described. The background and context for the Pell Grant quality control (QC) design study and the meaning of QC are reviewed. The general approach to quality improvement consists of the following elements: a strategic approach that enables OSFA…

At Rio Salado Community College (Arizona), project documentation is the final step in the continuous improvement cycle. This stage is very important because it assists others in understanding the work the team has done and documents in detail when, where, how, and why process changes were made. (MSE)

An ongoing corrective action framework for the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) is presented. Attention is directed to the formal management structure in OSFA and current initiatives to improve management, and the placement of the corrective action process in the organizational hierarchy. Four formal mechanisms needed to implement the…

The trend toward outside contracting of college and university services is examined, and issues involved in the decision to do so are discussed. The experience of one university in outsourcing its printing services shop is offered as illustration of how this approach can resolve several administrative issues: cost, quality and extent of services,…

An administrator of the United Kingdom's Open University and two cofounders of Western Governors University participate in a panel discussion of higher education in a global marketplace, the potential for new networked delivery strategies, the future of selective, conventional institutions and the traditional student experience, the influence of…

Findings of a study of 1980-1981 award accuracy of the Basic Educational Opportunity Grants (BEOGs), or Pell Grants, are summarized. The study is the first stage of a three-stage quality control project and includes recommended corrective actions to reduce inaccuracies in the grant awards. A sample of 4,500 students were selected as representative…

Alternative management procedures are recommended that may lower the rate and magnitude of errors in the award of the Basic Educational Opportunity Grants (BEOGs), or Pell Grants. The recommendations are part of the BEOG quality control project and are based on a review of current (1980-1981) levels, distribution, and significance of error in the…