Letter from NASFAA President Addresses Reauthorization

[The followed letter was e-mailed August 18 to NASFAA Members who receive Today's News.]

August 18, 2003

Dear NASFAA Member:

In September, we anticipate that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness will begin markups to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). I am writing with two important requests as we enter this time of increased legislative activity.

• We need you to stay focused on critical financial aid issues

• We need your involvement in the legislative process as never before.

While these issues are critical to all of us--and particularly to many of the higher education associations that represent college presidents, business and admissions officers, faculty, and state officials--they are not central to the process of providing assistance to students or to the daily operations of the financial aid office. NASFAA is and will continue to be an active participant in the coordinated efforts of the higher education associations to address creatively these broader legislative initiatives. However, we will focus the majority of our efforts on matters directly related to increasing and improving the delivery of federal aid dollars to needy students.

We believe many lawmakers are sincere in raising broader issues such as affordability, accountability, and access. However, giving attention to these matters can divert efforts away from other topics that go to the core of our interests as financial aid administrators. Furthermore, in the current economic and political climate, some believe that these issues are being used to diffuse the discussion of the issues we care about most.

Clearly we cannot allow this to happen, but NASFAA cannot succeed alone. It is imperative that you and your colleagues become and stay involved on matters that directly affect your students, your office, and your work. If we are unified in communicating our core needs to Congress--such as the need to increase grant funding and the need to raise loan limits--then we are more likely to achieve our goals.

We recognize that this is an extremely busy time for you, but unfortunately we cannot control the Congress's schedule. Therefore, we will try to be judicious about our requests for your assistance. In the coming weeks, we will share more specifics with you and outline the steps that must be taken to help us to reach our goals. As you know, NASFAA has developed a comprehensive set of recommendations, some of which are different from the approaches taken by other groups. Where possible, we continue to work toward consensus proposals with partners in the student aid arena. While we note that some of the consensus proposals may differ from NASFAA's initial recommendations, we expect them to embrace the fundamental goals and policy positions that have been approved by NASFAA's Board of Directors. We anticipate that details of these community consensus proposals may be available soon.

Our past experience has shown that it is essential for the higher education community to speak with a unified voice. With your help and support of these recommendations, we can actively focus Congress's attention on critical student aid matters and succeed in reauthorizing a Higher Education Act that will efficiently and effectively deliver financial aid funds to needy students across the nation.

Again, thank you for your continued support and willingness to help us send the right message to Members of Congress.

Sincerely,

Dallas Martin
NASFAA President

Posted August 19, 2003 on www.NASFAA.org, the Web Site of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).
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