The nation must create a “sense of urgency” to increase need-based financial aid through a range of new policies, including incentive grants for colleges and universities that effectively serve low-income students, a coalition of leaders said at a national higher education summit Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Along with colleges and the private sector, government must provide a strong “net increase” in need-based aid, said Tally Hart, senior advisor for economic access at The Ohio State University and chair of a summit policy group charged with financial aid improvements.
The goal, she said, is “not to shift numbers among programs but to have real growth in serving needy students.” New policies should include:
· State or federal incentive grants to colleges that enroll, retain and graduate low-income students;
· A new “Counselor Corps” funded by the federal government to go into high schools to provide college and career counseling; and
· New financial incentives for states to increase business investment in need-based financial aid.
Students need support services as well as financial help to succeed in higher education. “Money alone won’t do it,” she said. Policymakers also should “avoid pitting groups against each other” in this debate, to minimize conflicts between low-income students and their middle-class counterparts.
