Federal financial aid for postsecondary education students involves both large expenditures and a complex distribution system. The accuracy of the needs-based award process and the system of accountability required of the 8,000 institutional participants are the focus of this book. It assesses the current measures of system quality and possible alternatives, such as a total quality management approach. The analysis covers steps to eliminate sources of errorâ€"by reducing the complexity of the application form, for example. The volume discusses the potential for a risk-based approach for verification of applicant-supplied information and for audit and program reviews of institutions. This examination of the interrelationships among the aid award and quality control activities will be of interest to anyone searching for a more efficient aid system. The book can also serve as a case study for other government agencies seeking to examine operations using modern quality management principles.

Federal financial aid for postsecondary education students involves both large expenditures and a complex distribution system. The accuracy of the needs-based award process and the system of accountability required of the 8,000 institutional participants are the focus of this book. It assesses the current measures of system quality and possible alternatives, such as a total quality management approach. The analysis covers steps to eliminate sources of errorâ€"by reducing the complexity of the application form, for example. The volume discusses the potential for a risk-based approach for verification of applicant-supplied information and for audit and program reviews of institutions. This examination of the interrelationships among the aid award and quality control activities will be of interest to anyone searching for a more efficient aid system. The book can also serve as a case study for other government agencies seeking to examine operations using modern quality management principles.

Each year, millions of American families struggle with the expense of higher education. For the past fifty years, the U.S. government has helped students and families pay for college; but with the entire domestic policy agenda in flux, federal aid to education hangs in the balance. This book analyzes government policies for helping students pay for education beyond high school. It is being published at a time when aid to education is a prominent issue in battles over the federal budget and policymakers are debating the need for and effectiveness of federal student assistance programs. Starting with the post-World War II GI Bill, the book reviews the 50-year history of federal student aid legislation, assesses the results, and identifies trends and problems that cloud the future of this critically important national effort. The authors draw on the thinking of the country's top experts in examining the rationale and structure of the student aid system and how it might more effectively expand college opportunities while ensuring educational quality. Their analysis encourages policymakers to consider the multiple objectives of government aid—not just getting more students into college, but promoting student success and degree completion. The book offers a framework for future policy debates aimed at improving a system vital to America's economic future and its continued promise of opportunity. Copublished with the College Board / Dialogue on Public Policy

Covering all forms of financial assistance to students--gifts, loans, and work--this first comprehensive book on the subject takes a hard look at what is going on in American colleges and universities. The twenty-eight original essays, written for the volume, are especially timely for two reasons: first, institutions of higher education, both public and private, have a heightened interest in institutional finan­cial support from all sources, including that available from student tuition (and thus indirectly from student financial-aid sources); and second, state and federal agencies, especially Congress, are review­ing and revising the aid programs which they sponsor (a matter of grave concern to institutions which depend on such funds for a substantial portion of their incomes). Divided into five parts, the work cov­ers the philosophy and history of finan­cial aid to students in American univer­sities and colleges, the various programs currently in force, the organization and administration of student financial assis­tance, professional careers open to ad­visors, counselors, and administrators, and an overview summing up the ideas and recommendations of the distinguished pro­fessionals who have contributed to the volume. Though addressed primarily to admin­istrators and to students of higher educa­tion, the book should be read by policy-makers--by college and university presidents and deans, by trustees, and by state and federal legislators.