This is a conversation with Connie F. Cooke, Director, Financial Aid, State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo State and Sharon F. Cramer, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, Emerita, SUNY Buffalo State. They started working together twenty years ago when they began to implement a new student information system for the university. The SABRE…

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)

There is no constituency that is as demanding as the higher education constituency, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education suggests. Continuous communication with legislators is urged and the importance of student aid officers is emphasized. (MLW)

The many changes that have taken place in the college student financial aid system in recent years have necessitated a series of operational and programmatic adjustments for financial aid administrators and their offices. Changes include increased aid availability, complexity of student circumstances, and regulation. Even greater program…

Peer counseling is an effective way for financial aid offices to increase productivity and enhance the quality of their services. Students turn naturally to other, more experienced, students for advice, but unless their peers are properly trained, they can provide erroneous or biased information. Training for financial aid peer counselors should…

As computer systems play a larger role in student financial aid, the aid officer needs at least some expertise in computer programing. The advantages of the BASIC computer language for learning computer programing are discussed. The kinds of programs that can be written by the financial aid officer are identified. (MLW)

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)

Discusses complexity of federal financial aid programs; differences between financial aid and other student services; relationship of federal government and financial aid offices; verification procedures; the role of auditors; and needed simplification and improved administration of federal financial aid programs. (ABL)

It will be easier for financial aid offices to have automated interfaces with federal systems than to maintain manual, paper-based exchanges. Guidance on how to structure a planning process that will take advantage of this new environment are provided. Institutional decisions will depend on past and current practice. (MLW)

Because of the integral relationship of student financial aid with student recruitment and retention, budgeting, program design and development, student services, and long-range institutional planning, it is useful to review organizational structure periodically to ensure visibility of the financial aid function within the institution. (MSE)

Counseling and advising should be an integral part of the financial aid services offered to students, involving giving accurate and complete aid information, assisting students in integrating financial issues with personal and academic concerns, and making appropriate referrals. Good counseling techniques are essential in providing an effective…

Suggestions for changes administrators can make to assist students in debt management include (1) administrator willingness to expand his/her role and help other officials accept the change; (2) establishment of programs in financial counseling, debt management, and debt counseling; and (3) exploration of creative ways to finance educational…

An understanding of the impact of financial aid policies must be an integral part of institutional planning, since aid policies and availability will have a growing effect on student body composition. Current data are incomplete, but priorities implicit in policy will have to be reexamined in the early 1980s. (Author/MSE)

With institutional survival at stake, admissions and financial aid administrators at all colleges may work together more in the future, concerned with both supply and retention of students and financial aid funds. Policy formation will require the cooperation of these administrators. (MSE)

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)