"Mark McNasby is used to harried university officials reaching out for help resolving stressful situations, but last month, he began to receive similar requests from one particular group: financial aid officers," Inside Higher Ed reports.

... "Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said the need for 24-7 answers has increased in recent years—but providing the answers through a bot needs to take consideration."

"'Being able to respond to student inquiries quickly has been an evergreen issue because there’s always things changing,' she said. 'If the question is, ‘What’s the deadline for me to do X?’ that’s easily addressed, but especially in the financial aid space, once you get into areas of ‘My family situation is a bit different now,’ or ‘How can I appeal?’ there are all kinds of follow-ups'"

"It remains to be seen which colleges will be the leaders in this space: McCarthy said smaller, more nimble institutions could be among the first, while Wright-Moore said larger institutions more flush with money and resources could move more aggressively."

"'A lot of it will depend on the trajectory institutions take over all and whether they’re slow to move on this,' McCarthy said. 'We’ve seen a little chatter; it starts with aid administrators talking about how they, as individuals, use it, and it’s ‘See, this saved me a lot of time.’ Then they’re thinking, ‘How can I leverage this, in terms of office and process?’'"

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 11/28/2023