Dr. David Gardner, deputy commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, said that all too often, colleges have discouraged low-income students rather than encouraging them. Officials need to find a better way of delivering services such as financial aid to students and “not to say it’s all up to them.”
Spellings created the Commission on the Future of Higher Education in 2005. Ideas from the commission and last year’s national summit on higher education have helped spur increases to the Pell Grant Program and the launch of an FAFSA Forecaster online tool to give high school juniors early notification of their financial aid eligibility.
At the opening of this year’s summit, Under Secretary of Education Sara Martinez Tucker announced that the department is starting an effort to reform and simplify the financial aid system. She said that the initiative would require support and input from college officials, economists and groups that advocate for students.
Click here to post and read comments
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
