Funding Opportunity in Today’s Challenging Economic Environment: A Practitioner’s Viewpoint

USC Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice Symposia SeriesAid in an Age of UncertaintyTally Hart hart.149@osu

Some random thoughts…

Remember quality counts Michael’s slide – quality second to cost

“Behave like a duck” – Safire and Safir Good Advice

Teach financial literacy Even in post stock market crash of

1929, millionaires were made

Impact of Uncertainty

Uncertainty is the newest access barrier And probably always was But certainly new is uncertainty as

barrier to success once access achieved

Some Pragmatic Possibilities Retain every student currently

enrolled and redouble attention to lowest income and middle income students “Students First” at Ohio State Listening ear

Town meetings Web support for action Call out program over summer Be attentive to differences among students

Support for financial aid staff with added revisions

Aid, especially institutional loans, from underutilized funds Old scholarships difficult to administer,

e.g.

Troubling Clouds

Financial aid sent back home High ability students moving to lower

cost institutions just because costs are perceived to be lower

Middle income families Those using equity- Sallie Mae Gallup

study

Recruitment of Low Income Student Watch background differences

Urban v. rural Minority NE to First Gen NE Needy Middle now low income Traditional low income

Bureaucracies have failed them repeatedly Longanecker reminded us that history is elite

education, but legacy-based now translated as wealth-based

Sylvia Payne as good resource Defining the family

FAFSA4CASTER

Most of all, remember the long-term importance

What we do and how we respond in this Age of Uncertainty really, really matters