Public higher education has long been unaffordable for many students, especially for Black and Latino students, who have substantially…
December 03, 2020 by Tiffany Jones, Jaime Ramirez-Mendoza 
Public higher education has long been unaffordable for many students, especially for Black and Latino students, who have substantially less wealth, on average, than their White peers. Unfortunately, the economic devastation caused by COVID-19 has only exacerbated these financial inequities for Black and Latino households, who have been hit hardest by unemployment and income loss amid the pandemic. The current economic downturn may not only impact how much Black and Latino families can pay for college, but how much aid they will be awarded for the upcoming year. That’s because, in the upcoming cycle, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be based on their tax returns from 2019, i.e., two years prior, and institutions will use that information to calculate how much students can afford to pay out of pocket for college and how much to award them in aid.
This “prior-prior year” policy was put in place in 2016 to make it faster and easier to complete the FAFSA, so that more eligible students would receive financial aid and be able to attend college.
But while this policy lets students get an earlier start on the FAFSA, which usually would be a good thing, it also means that, in the case of students whose families have experienced a financial setback or job loss amid the pandemic, institutions could be using pre-COVID-19 income information that no longer reflects students’ financial reality.
One potential solution is for students to seek a professional judgment from the financial aid office, which can assign a financial aid officer to review their situation and decide whether adjustments to the FAFSA are warranted, so students can qualify for more aid. Unfortunately, many students — particularly Black and Latino students, who are more likely to be first in their families to attend college and may not have parents who know the ropes — are unaware that appealing for more aid is even an option. With these racial equity implications in mind, this brief analyzes the professional judgment process, its advantages and limitations, how financial aid officers can address racial justice, and provides recommendations on making professional judgment practices more equitable.
How financial aid officers use professional judgment and their discretion could well determine whether underrepresented students of color and those from families with limited financial resources can access a higher education and go on to finish their degree, or become one of the estimated 36 million or more who drop out and miss out on the social mobility that a degree can offer. Institutions and policymakers should, therefore, do more to make these decisions transparent, and ensure that financial aid officers have the tools and the discretion to use professional judgment to advance equity rather than limit opportunity.
The recommendations made here would help ensure that professional judgment is used in a way that advances equity and provides students with the resources they need to pay for college. There are some policies that could not only give students more seamless access to aid, but ensure that there is aid available for financial aid officers to distribute to those who need it most. States and institutions should prioritize need-based aid over so-called “merit” aid, which could reduce the likelihood of students having unmet need. And the federal government should:
Throughout the creation of this brief, we had excellent contributions from experts and financial aid officers from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), who are dedicated advocates for public policies that increase student access and success. We would also like to thank the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation for funding this report and for their continued focus on racial justice and equity issues in higher education.
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