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Learning to Lead: Admissions in the 21 st Century Webinar Series. April 28, 2011. Mission: To increase the number of students who earn a college degree and who are prepared to succeed in the 21st century. Approach:. Areas of Focus. College Affordability & Financial Aid - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Learning to Lead: Admissions in the 21st Century Webinar Series
April 28, 2011
Mission: To increase the number of students who earn
a college degree and who are prepared to succeed in the 21st century.
Approach:
Areas of FocusCollege Preparation & Access
– Arts at the Core – The CollegeKeys Compact™ – School Counselor Advocacy – Teacher Advocacy – Minority Male Achievement– Undocumented Students and the DREAM Act– The National Commission on Writing
College Affordability & Financial Aid
– Cracking the Student Aid Code– Rethinking Student Aid– Trends in Higher Education– Education Pays– Simplifying State Aid Processes
College Admission & Completion– College Completion Agenda– Access, Admissions & Success: Education and
the America Future– Admissions in the 21st Century– Access & Diversity Collaborative– Community College Transfer & Retention
Rethinking Student Aid: Parent and Student Focus Groups
Rethinking Student Aid: A “Package” of RecommendationsSimplify federal student aid system
Eligibility determination and application process Provide information about college “early and
often”
Improve federal loan process Application, loan limits, borrower protections
Create federal savings program for students from low-income families
Reward institutions that support student success
RSA Research ObjectivesLearn parents’ and students’ reactions to
RSA recommendations Understanding Support Questions
Assess recommendations’ impact on… College aspirations and access College planning Ability to complete college degree
Publish findings: Cracking the Student Aid Code
Research MethodologyPhase 1: Qualitative
8 in-person focus groups Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco
“Barrier” students, parents, “non-traditional” students
2 online bulletin board focus groups National, college students
6 in-depth interviews “New” Americans’ perspective
Research MethodologyPhase 2: National Quantitative Surveys
1,000 parents: telephone; income qualified; with children between 11 and 21
Complete survey in English or Spanish
1,000 college students: online; had experienced completing FAFSA
250 “non-traditional” students: online; income qualified; age 25+; completed FAFSA
Cracking the Student Aid
Code
Key Findings
College education is critical, even in current economyStudents believe more strongly than parents
College Degree Is "More Important than Ever"
93%
70%
94%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Parents College Students Non-TraditionalStudents
All believe in opportunity & access, especially students
Parents College StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
Total Agree
Agree Strongly
Total Agree
Agree Strongly
Total Agree
Agree Strongly
Everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it, should be able to get a college degree if they want to
84% 78% 94% 72% 92% 78%
Cost and application process are perceived barriersParents and non-traditional students are most
concerned about costs; parents are most concerned about the application process
Parents College StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
Total Agree
Agree Strongly
Total Agree
Agree Strongly
Total Agree
Agree Strongly
College costs are unaffordable for most families
74% 53% 78% 38% 81% 55%
Applying for financial aid for college is a time consuming process
77% 50% 73% 33% 56% 22%
Lack of knowledge re: costs is problem for lower income or less educated parents
Less than half (46%) of all respondents feel informed
Total
Income RaceParent
Education
<$28K$28-<48K
$48K+ AA Latino CaucHS orLess
2-yr Coll
4-yr Coll Grad
I believe that I know how much it costs to attend the public colleges in my state
46% 45% 45% 51% 43% 53% 45% 40% 46% 56%
Less awareness of Pell Grants among lower income, Latino & less educated parents
A majority (77%) of all respondents are aware of Pell Grants; Latinos notably unaware
Total
Income RaceParent
Education
<$28K$28-<48K
$48K+ AA Latino CaucHS or
Less
2-yr Coll
4-yr Coll Grad
Parents who are aware of Pell Grants 77% 70% 80% 84% 82% 44% 81% 62% 85% 91%
Student and Parent
Reactions to RSA
Recommendations
RSA Recommendation #1The study group recommends using tax
information directly from the Internal Revenue
Service to determine how much federal financial
aid a student will get, instead of requiring families
to fill out the FAFSA. The IRS would give
information from the family’s most recent tax
return to the U.S. Department of Education to
figure out how much federal financial aid a student
would receive.
Use IRS Data Instead of FAFSA74% of parents and about 90% of students
support recommendation; but students not “very” supportive “I like the fact this eliminates the 'double work' we are asked
to do for FAFSA. There’s less paperwork, less work.”Parents
College Students
Non-Traditional Students
Total Supportive 74% 90% 87%
Very supportive 34% 19% 30%
Somewhat supportive 40% 71% 57%
Not very supportive 11% 8% 10%
Not at all supportive 15% 2% 3%
Use IRS Data Instead of FAFSA
Fewer “very supportive” ratings reflect concerns
Mistrust of IRS (mistakes, inefficiency, privacy)
Tax return can’t capture true picture of household
finances
Household finances change year to year
Nontraditional households (e.g., divorced parents
filing separately)
Families who don’t file tax returns
Use IRS Data Instead of FAFSARespondents’ preference for status quo
reflects questions, concerns and fear of unknown
ParentsCollege
StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
Would prefer to complete the FAFSA to apply for financial aid
66% 64% 67%
Would prefer to have the IRS send tax data to the USED
34% 36% 33%
Use IRS Data Instead of FAFSAWhat would be very important in order to
increase support for using IRS data?
ParentsCollege
Students
Non-Traditional Students
Allowing households to give USED updated financial information if circumstances have changed since last tax year
73% 71% 84%
Knowing that USED is subject to same privacy rules as IRS
71% 63% 82%
Allowing families to review IRS information before it is sent to USED
65% 55% 73%
RSA Recommendation #2
The federal government would increase the amount students can borrow from the federal student loan program to help them pay for increasing college tuition costs and other expenses.
Increase Maximum Annual LoanParents & non-traditional students most supportive
of recommendation “This would help me finish school sooner because I wouldn’t have
to get a job or pay for the loans while in school. I would love to get more federal loans so I don't have to use my credit card.”
ParentsCollege
StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
Total Supportive 87% 89% 90%
Very supportive 53% 44% 52%
Somewhat supportive 34% 45% 38%
Not very supportive 7% 9% 7%
Not at all supportive 6% 3% 3%
RSA Recommendation #3
People who take out federal student loans would not be asked to pay more than 15% of their yearly net income (that is, income after taxes) in loan payments. So, if a borrower loses her job or experiences a cut in salary, loan payments would be reduced. After 20 years, any remaining loan amount would be forgiven.
Protect Borrowers in RepaymentParents and students support this
recommendation; non-traditional students most supportive “That would be a dream come true! Part of my hesitation
with loans now is the burden of them after I finish college. This would make me much more comfortable taking out loans.” Parents
College Students
Non-Traditional Students
Total Supportive 83% 83% 90%
Very supportive 52% 48% 67%
Somewhat supportive 31% 35% 23%
Not very supportive 9% 13% 8%
Not at all supportive 8% 4% 2%
ParentsCollege
StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
I think that people will be more comfortable taking out student loans to finance their educations if this is passed.
82% 94% 93%
I think that 20 years is a fair period of time during which to have to make loan payments.
80% 83% 90%
Protect Borrowers in RepaymentRecommendation increases willingness to
borrow
RSA Recommendation #4
The federal government would create and contribute money to college savings accounts for children from low and moderate income families. Students would be able to use these funds only for college, even if they decided to go later in life. Unused savings would go back to the government.
College Savings AccountsSupport is high, particularly among non-traditional
students “It’s like Social Security. You would get a statement telling you how
much money is in the account. I would show it to my kids and say, ‘see how much money there is for college? You can go’.”
ParentsCollege
StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
Total Supportive 77% 75% 81%
Very supportive 41% 37% 49%
Somewhat supportive 36% 39% 32%
Not very supportive 11% 15% 11%
Not at all supportive 12% 10% 8%
RSA Recommendation #5
All households who file tax returns would receive information about how much Pell Grant their children would get if they were in college at that time. Families would also get information about financial aid and tuition costs in their state. This information would be provided each year starting when the children at home are young.
Early Information Greatest overall support for this
recommendation “There is no downside to this. This is giving people more
information and hope and thoughts that they never had before.”
ParentsCollege
StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
Total Supportive 89% 92% 93%
Very supportive 54% 49% 61%
Somewhat supportive 35% 43% 32%
Not very supportive 5% 7% 5%
Not at all supportive 6% 1% 2%
Early InformationParents and students understand the benefits
ParentsCollege
StudentsNon-Traditional
Students
Knowing the approximate Pell Grant amount that my child could receive would make it easier for me to plan for my children’s college
91% -- --
Knowing the approximate Pell Grant amount that I could receive would have made it easier for me to prepare for my college
-- 94% 93%
If I had known during my teenage years the approximate Pell Grant amount I could have received, I would have completed my education sooner
-- -- 72%
Having information about paying for college would help (parents/me) encourage (their children/my children) to think about going to college
88% -- 95%
I would be very interested in sharing the information about Pell Grant awards and state financial aid with my child/children
87% -- --
Early InformationMost supportive:
African-American and Latino parents and college students
College students whose parents not educated beyond high school
“Somewhat supportive” ratings may reflect concerns about using IRS data to generate annual early information report
In Their Own Words
“This definitely would have impacted my own preparation.
Neither of my parents went to college so they had no idea
what options were available for financial aid or what colleges
were best in our state.”
“Immigrant parents don’t know how much it costs here to go
to college. They need to see, very early, what the costs are.
This is the difference between dreaming and planning.”
Rethinking Student Aid: A “Package” of RecommendationsThe recommendations in their entirety are
more appealing than each individuallyParticipants agree on the following impact
if proposals are implemented It will be easier to apply for federal aid Families will have a framework for planning
& saving Borrowing will be less intimidating More will have hope that college is possible
College Board Taking ActionState Need-Based Grant Study
Collaborating with 5 states to model impact of simplified FAFSA & need analysis formula on budget and distribution of need-based state grant
Five Ways Education Pays Consumer-friendly information for students & parents
Early Information Pilot Working with one or more states to create structure,
content & medium for annual communicationGet Schooled College Affordability Challenge
Winner recently announced at Clinton Global Initiative U
Q & A: Submitting Questions
To submit a question:
Click on the Question Mark icon (?) on the floating toolbar (as shown at the right).
This will open the Q&A window on your system only.
Type your question into the small dialog box and click the Send Button.
Q&A icon
Read the Cracking the Student Aid Code report at http://advocacy.collegeboard.org.
If you have questions, please email Kathleen Little (klittle@collegeboard.org) or Anne Sturtevant (asturtevant@collegeboard.org).
For More Information:
Leadership, Access and Institutional Mission – May 18, 1 p.m. EDT
Register at http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/admission-completion/admissions-21st-century.
Next Learning to Lead Webinar:
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