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2003
STUDY TO EXAMINE FINANCIAL AID FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL
STUDENTS
Washington, D.C. (January 17, 2002) -N The
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
(NASFAA) and Access Group, Inc. announced the launch of the
2003 Survey of Graduate Aid Policies, Practices, and
Procedures (SOGAPPP), a research project designed to provide
new information on the funding, distribution, and
administration of financial aid for graduate and professional
students.
While a substantial body of research exists
about financial aid for undergraduates, relatively little is
understood about the strategies that aid administrators use to
package aid for students in law, medicine, and other graduate
and professional programs. The SOGAPPP is intended to help
bridge this knowledge.
This will be the second SOGAPPP study. The first study was completed in
1999. This new study will provide an update on the policies
and practices aid administrators use to help graduate and
professional students finance their educational programs.
Daniel R. Lau, president and CEO of Access Group, Inc, said the new study
"will provide solid information on current costs of
attendance, current levels of aid and where it's coming from,
and an overview of the wide range of need analysis, packaging
strategies, and processing technologies now in use."
The 2003 SOGAPPP will use a Web-based survey to collect information on a
variety of topics of interest to the community that serves
graduate or professional students, including:
*
Full- and
part-time enrollments in graduate and professional programs;
* Tuition
and fee charges by program;
*
Proportion
of students who receive financial aid and amounts received;
*
Use of additional aid applications, need analysis
methodologies, professional
judgment, and other strategies for
determining student aid eligibility;
*
Loan packaging policies and use of private or
alternative loans;
*
Proportion of total costs covered by financial aid and
strategies used by
students to cover their "unmet"
financial need;
*
The effects of cumulative student loan debt and debt
burden on students'
career choices;
*
Use of processing technologies in the aid offices that
serve graduate or
professional students; and,
*
Demographic characteristics of aid administrators who
serve graduate and
professional students.
"In addition to providing useful information for financial aid
administrators who serve graduate and professional students,
the results of the survey will be helpful and timely to
members of Congress as they embark upon the reauthorization of
the Higher Education Act," said NASFAA president Dallas
Martin.
The SOGAPPP project will begin officially
in January 2003 and is scheduled to be completed
by November 2003.
Contact:
Kenneth Redd, NASFAA Director of Research and
Policy Analysis, (202) 785-0453 Ext. 138, reddk@nasfaa.org
or Mindy Kaplan Eline, NASFAA Director of Marketing,
(202) 785-0453 Ext. 116, elinemk@nasfaa.org
The
National Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators (NASFAA) is a nonprofit membership
organization that represents more than 10,000
financial aid professionals at nearly 3,000 colleges,
universities, and career schools across the country.
Based in Washington, D.C., NASFAA is the only
national association with a primary focus on student
aid legislation, regulatory analysis, training
for financial aid administrators. Each year, members
help more than 8 million students receive funding
for postsecondary education. For more information,
visit www.NASFAA.org
or call (202) 785-0453.
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