July 19, 2002

A Partnership Approach Could Improve Student Aid

By WILLIAM C. NELSEN, KRISTIN D. CONKLIN, and SARAH A. FLANAGAN

Last month, the Congressionally established Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance released a follow-up report to last year's "Access Denied" that documents in even greater detail the barriers that inadequate student aid poses for hard-working and talented young people who want to enter and complete college. "Unmet need," the gap between the cost of attending college and all the resources a student has available (including family money, grants, and scholarships), is the emerging