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Good Afternoon! Welcome
to
Professional Judgement:
It’s Your Decision
Sit down…relax.
We will begin
shortly.
Professional Judgement:
It’s Your Decision
P.J. Basics
Fall 2002 MASFAA Conference
Scott D. Lewis, Debt Management Consultant
USA Funds Services
© NASFAA 2000
Topics Covered
Statutory Authority & Evolution
Underlying Concepts
Principles of Need Analysis
Professional Judgement Principles
Areas of Professional Judgement
Documentation
© NASFAA 2000
Statutory Authority
Section 479A of the
Higher Education Act
provides the authority
for the financial aid
administrator to
exercise discretion
known as “professional
judgement.”
© NASFAA 2000
HEA
Section
479A
Evolution
Higher
Education Amendments of
1986 broadened professional
judgement authority
© NASFAA 2000
Underlying Concepts
Need Analysis used to
allocate limited financial aid
resources
© NASFAA 2000
Principles of Need Analysis
Family responsible for college cost
Aid distributed based on ability to pay not willingness
Ability to pay determined independent of
college cost
Horizontal vs. vertical equity
Snapshot approach
Need Analysis results are a benchmark
© NASFAA 2000
Correction, Update or
Adjustment?
Correction = FAFSA information initially
reported incorrectly can be corrected
Update = Initial FAFSA information which
was correct when the FAFSA was filed,
but has since changed, can be updated
Adjustment = A financial aid administrator
wishing to make a change while
exercising professional judgement can
make an adjustment
© NASFAA 2000
Professional Judgement
Principles
Can use discretion in certain areas when a
student’s family has unique or
extraordinary circumstances
Circumstances must differentiate an
individual student from a class of
students
© NASFAA 2000
Professional Judgement
Principles (cont’d)
Must be made on an individual case-bycase basis
Across the board changes are not
permitted
Policies and procedures to objectively
identify students
Subjective - No wrong or right answer
You must make your own decision
© NASFAA 2000
Areas of Professional
Judgement
Dependency Status
Data Elements
Cost of Attendance
FFEL & Direct Loan
Eligibility
Satisfactory Academic
Progress
© NASFAA 2000
Cannot Use Professional
Judgement to:
Change a student’s status from
independent to dependent
Adjust the EFC directly
Alter the need analysis formula
or change table values
© NASFAA 2000
Cannot Use Professional
Judgement to: (cont’d)
Create a new category of costs
Include expenses for post-enrollment
activities, such as bar examinations or
professional licensing fees, in the student’s
cost of attendance
Circumvent statutory FSEOG selection
criteria
© NASFAA 2000
Documentation Requirements
You have the authority to
request and use
supplemental information
Special circumstances and
action taken must be
documented in the student’s
file
© NASFAA 2000
Purpose
of
Documentation
Provides
additional
information and a history for
future reference
© NASFAA 2000
Two Types of Documentation
A written request from A clear record of:
the student and
– Decision made and how it
–
–
–
–
–
Letters
Bills
Receipts
Pay Stubs
Other third party
documentation
© NASFAA 2000
–
–
–
–
was reached
Decision date
Description and date of
actions taken
School policy and
procedure citation
Name and title of decision
maker
Maintaining Documentation
Documentation may be maintained in paper
or electronic files
© NASFAA 2000
Impact of Packaging Policies
and Available Funds
Is
there additional aid available to
meet the increased need?
© NASFAA 2000
Case Studies
The Big Spender
You Never Know Who is Listening
Pickles or College
© NASFAA 2000
Professional Judgment:
It’s Your Decision
Questions?
© NASFAA 2000