On August 4, NASFAA President Dallas Martin wrote a letter to Raza Kahn. president of MyRichUncle, expressing the Association's "strong objections to [his firm's] recent advertising and marketing material."
"The focus of your marketing campaign implies that financial aid administrators are unethical, uncaring about how they serve students, and engaged in activities detrimental to students seeking federal or private loans," Martin continued. "Needless to say, we strongly disagree with this all-inclusive, undocumented characterization." The letter also expressed offense at an approach that "encourages students to question the trustworthiness and practices of all financial aid administrators and to ignore or bypass the available services and information that their offices provide."
Martin emphasized that since its inception, NASFAA and its members have worked "to promote and encourage programs that provide educational opportunity and to serve effectively the interests and needs of students, institutions, government agencies, and sponsors." He explained that NASFAA achieves this through coordination of plans and programs pertinent to student financial aid.
"In addition, NASFAA has a Statement of Ethical Principles that serves as a common foundation for accepted standards of conduct," Martin wrote. "Among these principles are that the financial aid professional shall 'make every effort to assist students with financial need; be aware of issues affecting students and advocate their interests at the institutional, state, and federal levels; and commit to the highest level of ethical behavior and refrain from conflicts of interest or the perception thereof.' I believe, contrary to your implied insinuations, that almost without exception NASFAA members embrace and adhere to these principles."
While NASFAA respects the rights of all service providers to try different marketing approaches, the Association would hope that such approaches would always respect the integrity of the hard-working people of our profession.
Posted August 10, 2006 on www.NASFAA.org, the Web Site of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).
Copyright 2006. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited
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