Gross, Jacob P.K.

English

University of Louisville

Journal of Student Financial AidVolume 45 | Issue 2 Article 17-31-2015Editor's ColumnJacob P.K. GrossUniversity of Louisville, jacob.gross@louisville.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfaPart of the Higher Education Commons, and the Higher Education Administration CommonsThis Editor's Column is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Journal of Student Financial Aid by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's InstitutionalRepository. For more information, please contact thinkir@louisville.edu.Recommended CitationGross, Jacob P.K. (2015) "Editor's Column," Journal of Student Financial Aid: Vol. 45 : Iss. 2 , Article 1.Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfa/vol45/iss2/1 Journal of Student Financial Aid  National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators  Vol. 45, N2, 2015 1 Editor’s Column      n late July, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators wrapped up its National Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference program included the types of sessions you would expect for higher education professionals working in an environment where technology and policies are fast changing, with topics ranging from federal guidance on providing consumer information to privacy and data protection. A clear technocratic undercurrent ran through this year’s conference. Yet, interest sessions and hallway discussions also touched on topics such as promoting financial literacy, student advising, student retention, communicating with students, and leadership, to name a few. The event reminded me of the very fundamental role that financial aid administrators play as educators and advocates.  The coming year marks the 50th anniversary of two important moments for financial aid and higher education generally: the enactment of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 and—not coincidentally—the founding of NASFAA less than a year later in 1966. Following the growth in federal student aid ushered in by the HEA, NASFAA was born from the need for financial aid professionals to speak with a single voice on Capitol Hill when advocating for the best interests of their students and institutions. For a half century, NASFAA’s primary goal has been eliminating financial barriers to higher education and “opening doors of educational opportunity.” With the upcoming reauthorization of the HEA and college affordability increasingly in question for our nation’s lowest income students, this advocacy is perhaps more important now than ever.   In this context, the Journal of Student Financial Aid will devote its next issue (Volume 45, No. 3) to reflection, examination, and discussion of the upcoming HEA reauthorization and what it means for students and financial aid administration. Guest edited by Dr. Laura Perna, the issue will feature work by a combination of researchers, policy experts, and practitioners, providing diverse perspectives on issues that have been of fundamental concern to NASFAA and financial aid practitioners for decades.  In the current issue (Volume 45, No. 2), our authors likewise provide research to help illuminate complex and fundamental issues in student aid. Their studies tackle ongoing questions about the effectiveness of merit aid in modifying student behavior, non-borrower perceptions of student loans, and so-called crises in higher education.   Jacob Gross Editor   I 

Editor\u27s Column

Journal of Student Financial AidVolume 46 | Issue 3 Article 112-1-2016Editor's ColumnJacob P.K. GrossUniversity of Louisville, jacob.gross@louisville.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfaPart of the Higher Education Commons, and the Higher Education Administration CommonsThis Editor's Column is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Journal of Student Financial Aid by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's InstitutionalRepository. For more information, please contact thinkir@louisville.edu.Recommended CitationGross, Jacob P.K. (2016) "Editor's Column," Journal of Student Financial Aid: Vol. 46 : Iss. 3 , Article 1.Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfa/vol46/iss3/1 Journal of Student Financial Aid  National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators  Vol. 46, N3, 2016 1 Editor’s Column Volume 46, Issue 3        s we finalize this issue in early November, we are in the last days of the 2016 presidential election. Higher education has arguably not been at the center of the political debates, but access and affordability have popped up here and there as topics of discussion. The costs of college and how students pay those costs—especially student loans—remain concerns for both political parties as well as the broader public. Whoever is president when this issue is in the hands of readers, college cost and student loans will almost certainly remain a pressing policy issue.  The contents of this issue reflect these prevailing public and political concerns. Three of the four articles address topics related to the use of student loans to pay for college. Mezza and Sommer use several nationally representative datasets to explore the extent to which credit scores compared to debt levels are predictive of loan default. Norvilitis and Batt explore demographic and attitudinal predictors of student loan use. Finally, Hsu and Fisher also explore factors affecting use of student loans, but do so using household-level data from the Survey of Consumer Finances. Each of these studies touches on different aspects of student loans, ranging from aspects that impact use of loans to contributing factors of loan default. The opening article, about competency-based education, also addresses important issues related to how students pay for college. In it, Porter discusses how current financial aid systems could be restructured to support students earning a credential through competency-based rather than credit-hour-based approaches.   Jacob Gross Editor   A 

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