"The announcement was a surprise to staff members in the admissions and financial aid offices of the Kennedy School at Harvard University. Most of their jobs were being eliminated, but not to save money," Inside Higher Ed reports.

..."'One thing I can say for certain is that this is certainly a unique setup,' Draeger said. 'One-stop shops have been around for a while, but this appears a bit different than traditional one-stops, where core financial aid and admissions functions are kept separate, partially due to the complexity of each of those offices and partially to retain operational firewalls. There will certainly be implementation challenges around keeping everyone up to speed with ever-changing, complex rules and regulations that I’m sure the school is well aware of. Some of those challenges might be mitigated by the fact that this is a graduate school, which has fewer federal student aid programs and rules to administer and comply with.'

Draeger predicted that 'a lot of schools -- particularly in the graduate sector -- will be watching closely to see if this results in better service and operational efficiencies.'”

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 8/2/2021