NASFAA STATEMENT OF ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

The primary goal of the financial aid professional is to help students achieve their educational potential by providing appropriate financial resources. To this end, this Statement provides the Financial Aid Professional with a set of principles that serves as a common foundation for accepted standards of conduct.

The Financial Aid Professional shall:

1. Be committed to removing financial barriers for those who wish to pursue postsecondary learning.
2. Make every effort to assist students with financial need.
3. Be aware of the issues affecting students and advocate their interests at the institutional, state, and federal levels.
4. Support efforts to encourage students, as early as the elementary grades, to aspire to and plan for education beyond high school.
5. Educate students and families through quality consumer information.
6. Respect the dignity and protect the privacy of students, and assure the confidentiality of student records and personal circumstances.
7. Assure equity by applying all need analysis formulas consistently across the institution's full population of student financial aid applicants.
8. Provide services that do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age, or economic status.
9. Recognize the need for professional development and continuing education opportunities.
10. Promote the free expression of ideas and opinions, and foster respect for diverse viewpoints within the profession.
11. Commit to the highest level of ethical behavior and refrain from conflict of interest or the perception thereof.
12. Maintain the highest level of professionalism, reflecting a commitment to the goals of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

 Adopted April 1999