Using a Latino Lens to Reimagine Aid Design and Delivery
Deborah A. Santiago
March 2013
Overview
Federal financial aid is critical to student access and success in postsecondary education for many students, including most Latinos. However, current realities are challenging the effectiveness of federal financial aid policy today.
This white paper uses a Latino lens to articulate challenges and opportunities for financial aid policy using both public data and input by students, institutional partners, and other stakeholders. The Latino lens is not intended to exclude consideration of other groups. Instead it offers a contemporary lens to more accurately see America’s student population and provides a fresh perspective on financial aid policy using the profile of this young and growing population as the baseline, rather than the footnote, to define the post-traditional student.