STREAMLINING FINANCIAL AID
State considers consolidation process
The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education is looking for ways to make financial aid easier for students and families to access as the need among students is predicted to grow, but experts say the potential fixes are meaningless unless the rising cost of college is addressed.
In June, the board is expected to vote on a number of changes to streamline the financial aid system for some of the neediest students. Right now the state provides 31 different financial aid programs. State officials say the effort is an initial step in making school more affordable and getting more students to graduate.
“It could really incentivize the system,” Commissioner Carlos Santiago told the Herald. “We want more students to make more credits and finish earlier.
The question for students is, ‘Can I afford to do that?’
“These students are balancing a lot,” Santiago added. “It is making the system more efficient.”
Proposals include consolidating need-based aid programs into a simpler streamlined system and repackaging the state’s tuition waiver system into a grant program. The changes, if approved by the board, are expected to roll out for fiscal year 2020.
Some higher education experts say the changes would do little unless more money is invested in the system.
“It is a certainly positive step for the board to look at changes to improve the system,” said Noah Berger, an analyst for the Mass. Budget and Policy Center. “It ultimately won’t solve the bigger problem that due to state funding cuts the cost of higher education has gone up dramatically. It has led to students taking on more and more debt.”
One of the major proposals is a $7 million increase in the financial aid for next year’s state budget, which is targeting community college students eligible for federal need-based Pell grants.
The potential changes come as the financial needs among students are predicted to grow as low- and moderate-income students make up more of the future college population, according to a recent report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The average “unmet need” for full time students was $11,163 in 2014.
Tuition hikes at colleges across the country have also far outpaced increases in federal financial aid. And the purchasing power of the Massachusetts MassGrant, the state’s need-based grant program, has also fallen, the report found, from 88 percent in 1988 to only 8 percent of average tuition and fees in 2013.
According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the state has cut spending on public higher education by 14 percent since 2001.
“They’re only looking at a small piece of the affordability crisis,” said Zac Bears of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts. “It won’t address massive student debt for lowand moderate-(income) students across the board.”