"As much of the U.S. labor market continues to contend with major shortages, college financial aid offices are struggling to find and retain qualified employees. While many had vacancies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this issue has become exacerbated in the last two years amid increased demand for financial assistance from students," Insight Into Diversity reports.

"The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) recently revealed the scope of this problem in a report released in late May. In an initial NASFAA survey administered to 500 institutions in March 2022, half of respondents said that their financial aid offices were operating at 75 percent staffing capacity for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic years. In a follow-up survey in May of an additional 500 institutions, 56 percent stated they were also operating at reduced capacity and, as a result, did not have time to respond to the original survey.

'What was once a challenge — albeit a manageable one — has become a crisis for many institutional financial aid offices that are struggling to remain administratively capable and adequately serve students, whose own needs have increased in the last two years,' the report reads."

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: 6/27/2022