Tara Olsen, Director of Financial Aid, Tufts University School of Medicine
Gina Soliz, Director of Financial Aid, Syracuse University College of Law
Jeff Hanson, Director of Borrower Education Services, Access Group
It almost seems impossible to summarize the Financial Aid 101. The sheer amount of information disseminated during this 4-hour session was remarkable. I really wish I had known a lot of this information when I was a first-year grad student. Better understanding what I was getting into would have probably alleviated some of the stress of signing on the dotted line those many years ago.
As a relative new-comer to Access Group and the world of financial aid, it was a great idea for me to attend this session. I feel like I learned a lot … not enough … but a lot. All three of these presenters have an impressive wealth of knowledge and expertise. Tara, Gina and Jeff really explained the information in such a way that made it easy to follow and understand, even for a newbie like myself. They broke it down as follows:
· Overview of Student Aid Programs
· Historical Background of the Title IV Programs
· The Application Process
· Student Eligibility
· The Cost of Attendance
· Federal Methodology
· Financial Literacy and Loan Counseling Requirements
· Professional Judgment
· The Legislative Process
As I’m not a financial aid administrator, I took a few different things away from this session.
First … the trend to counsel students, not only on their loans and repayment, but also in the areas of financial literacy and debt management is awesome. I love the idea that lenders and schools are both investing in the future financial well-being of the students. And I feel great about my new role in that process as an employee of Access Group. Hopefully what I do will help these important lessons reach their audience.
Second … financial aid is wonderful as it provides access to postsecondary education to individuals regardless of their economic situation.
And lastly … financial aid is complicated, really complicated. Those who are responsible for understanding, administering, and communicating these programs deserve a lot of credit and respect.
To download a copy of the presentation from this session, click “Conference Materials for Download” located to the right under the “Reference” section.
Posted by: Libby Rosenberg
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