WASHINGTON, D.C. - Despite fiscal constraints that have put current funding levels of federal student aid in limbo, there are still concrete steps that universities and colleges should take to make college more affordable for low-income students.

That was one of the key messages delivered Monday at the 35th annual meeting of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU).

"Your policies can make a huge difference. Federal policies can make a huge difference,” Pauline Abernathy, Vice President at The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), an Oakland, Calif.-based advocacy organization, told attendees during a presentation titled “Student Debt: A Growing Crisis.”

Among other things, she said, university administrators should make sure their institutions are doing everything they can to get students maximize on federal loans to avoid taking out riskier private student loans. Federal loans offer repayment options such as deferments. She also noted that Black students are more likely to take out the more risky private loans than other students.

“It has to do with whether there’s a person in a leadership position and that school has decided to address it,” Abernathy said. Students need help in getting the maximum amount of federal loans. “There’s abundant evidence that it makes sense and that it could be effective. That’s a case where there’s truly unnecessary borrowing going on that could be addressed.”

The NAICU conference, which drew 400 university administrators from throughout the nation, continues through Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. The fact that the conference is being held just a stone’s throw from Congress is not by mere happenstance.

Throughout the conference, attendees were advised to prepare to make their case to Congress for federal student aid.

Dr. David Warren, president of NAICU, made no bones about the issue of the independent colleges and universities pleading their case on Capitol Hill.