In a personal reminiscence, a financial aid officer describes the initiation into a profession proliferated by paperwork and jargon. Comparisons are made between experiences in a small college and an urban university. (LBH)

The growing sense of professionalism within the financial aid community has led to the development of professional associations gathering periodically to talk about standards and procedures. Ethics related to the management of financial aid are discussed. (MLW)

Financial aid directors have a major impact on the institution's budget, and on the size and quality of the student body. Qualities that enhance perceptions of the financial aid director as an institutional leader are identified: the ability to analyze data; willingness to communicate; and the ability to be brief. (MLW)

A journalist and college instructor who attended college on a Pell Grant recounts her escape from poverty through education. She notes shifts in public policy toward financial aid through loans and tax credits rather than grants, but urges that the Pell Grant program be restored to the level of assistance provided youth from economically deprived…

Despite the relative tranquility of the U.S. economy, the college affordability issue is challenging: traditional middle class access to higher education is endangered, and expansion of access to large numbers of children being raised at the bottom of the income distribution is also necessary. (MSE)

The changing role of the college financial aid administrator is examined, and contributing factors are discussed, including shifts in public perceptions of the aid officer's function, public lack of understanding of the financial aid process, technological advancement, economic change, the federal government's evolving influence, and changes in…

The filing of complicated applications for student financial aid is discussed and the complicated issues involved in improving the forms are addressed. Problems in "forms simplification" and "forms commonality" are described, and the need for a single need-analysis system is emphasized. (LBH)

Analyzes demographic and financial trends affecting future student financial aid needs and considers some possible solutions, including expanding definitions of merit awards to include nondirect inducements for top high school students, prepaid tuition plans sponsored by the federal government, and using information technology to store and…

The head of the largest community college in the United States, Miami-Dade Community College, warns that the ebbing of need-based financial aid threatens the efforts of the poor and minorities to gain a postsecondary education. (EV)

An economic rationale for financial aid, for need and no-need awards, and for the changes in the level of support and the mixture of programs is presented. The economic model used to develop this rationale is the capital investment theory. (MLW)

There have been dramatic changes in the environment surrounding American higher education and admissions professionals have had to adapt to them. Demographics, new societal attitudes, new complexities in admissions work, and new economic restrictions are seen as having changed the admissions profession. (Author/MLW)

Loans have become an important, even essential, ingredient of college financial aid and family financial planning. The World Bank and other international groups, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, regularly review the experiences of many countries in financing education. Their findings are discussed. (MLW)

For 25 years, professionals concerned with undergraduate admissions have gathered in Cambridge to discuss topics of interest. Writing recommendations, selective admissions, prediction equation in the selection process, radical students, financial aid, enrollment management, etc., are discussed. (MLW)

One of the most affluent segments of the population is also one of the least well prepared to face the reality of college costs. It is not the need analysis system that causes difficulty but a combination of rapidly increasing costs and the changing lifestyle of this group. (MSE)

Argues that in light of recent legal actions, colleges and universities would be wise to review their use of racial preferences in awarding financial aid. Federal and state legislation, court litigation, and federal regulations are reviewed, and arguments for and against minority scholarships are outlined. Ways in which institutions can justify…