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.

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