Dwayne’s World – April 2024
Removing Barriers to Education
The Importance of Equitable
Student Financial Aid
Financial Support Cover
In February, we submitted the 2022-23 Annual Report on Student Financial Support to the university’s Committee on Academic Policy & Programs. Financial support plays a critical role in realizing U of T’s mission of accessible academic excellence. It is foundational to how we perceive ourselves as an institution and our role in Canadian society. Higher education has great value for the individual, of course, with improved lifelong earnings being the most oft-cited benefit: One of the most robust empirical regularities studied by labour economists is the strong relationship between education and earnings. The societal benefits conferred by a highly educated population are also significant: lower unemployment rates, better health outcomes, and greater civic participation, to name a few.
Making higher education attainable is good for everyone and a critical driver of social mobility.
Fulfilling U of T’s Financial Aid Commitment
With this duty in mind, the University of Toronto has long committed to providing financial support to assist students with accessing a U of T education. The Policy on Student Financial Support (1998) states that “no student offered admission to a program at the University of Toronto should be unable to enter or complete the program due to lack of financial means.”
Removing financial barriers to attending university, however, is easier said than done.
The Question(s)…
How do you design a financial aid system that meshes well with other sources of financial aid (e.g., provincial and federal programs), but also directs aid to those who need it most?
How do we, as an institution, define “need” for our students?
These are thorny questions that force us to confront practical questions: where should we direct our financial aid dollars?
U of T Leads other Ontario Universities in Financial Aid Distribution
The mechanics of the disbursement of financial aid are also important. How do we effectively get money into students’ pockets? It is important to have processes that support easy access this funding. The Student Financial Aid report shows that U of T distributes more financial aid to students than other Ontario universities. U of T’s commitment to provide essential financial aid was also highlighted in the report of the Blue-Ribbon Panel on Postsecondary Education Financial Sustainability (2023). It noted that we could be trusted with the freedom of setting our own tuition fees because of our strong track record of giving tuition dollars back to students who need it most. In a postscript, the report Chair, Alan Harrison, observed that U of T provides almost $3,481 per full-time equivalent student in student aid, which is $1,300 more than the figure for all other Ontario universities.
In 2022-23, U of T provided $308.6M in support to students, an increase of $25M from the previous year. Need-based support in the amount of $101.8M was provided, with 73% allocated to students in undergraduate programs. Our academic divisions provided approximately $62.5M in need and merit-based funding to students. 58% of this funding was issued to undergraduates and graduate students received the remaining 42%. These impressive numbers are a testament to the hard work of our Financial Aid and Awards team. They also demonstrate notable gains in our ability to match students with available financial aid, whether based on merit or need, increasing our rate of disbursement.
UTAPS Redesign Improves Accessibility
Making our financial aid dollars more accessible to students was the primary driver of the comprehensive redesign of the University of Toronto Advanced Planning for Students (UTAPS) program, which has been informed by insights and best practices from various disciplines, including Behavioural Economics. The UTAPS program had several challenges, particularly around the timing and transparency of the process. Students did not know how UTAPS was calculated, whether they were eligible, how much they would receive, and when they would receive it – despite the “advanced planning” moniker, UTAPS was awarded in-year, after the start of classes. The redesign has involved developing a new, simple application that more accurately gauges unmet need, aligning UTAPS funding decisions with admission decision timelines, and letting students know at the time of admission how much they can expect to receive. Providing students with this knowledge aids their decision-making in choosing which school to attend, and reinforces messages highlighted on our new financial literacy website, Let’s Talk Money.
Estimates Lead to More Accepted Offers
Financial aid literature points to the significance of students knowing, in advance, how much money they can access to attend a post-secondary institution. Receiving a financial aid estimate prior to or with an offer of admission leads to increased enrolment. It is also apparent that if financial aid applications are cumbersome, students are deterred from applying. U of T researcher Phil Oreopoulos and colleagues conducted a study in which individuals were provided personal assistance with completing the notoriously complex Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), a requirement for those seeking federal education grants and loans in the United States. College-aged individuals in families who received assistance completing the form, and who received a personalized financial aid estimate upon completion, were substantially more likely to attend college and receive financial aid than those in the control group, who did not receive this support.
The Failure of FAFSA and Success of the UTAPS Redesign Project
This year, the disastrous roll-out of a revised FAFSA form by the US Education Department made even more evident the importance of a well-designed financial aid application process. A major overhaul of the FAFSA, intended to make the process of applying for college financial aid easier by simplifying the form and process (by reducing the number of questions from over 100 to under 40, for example), was plagued by significant implementation delays and technical malfunctions. These difficulties have meant that many students have been unable to complete or submit their forms successfully, and as a result, colleges do not have the information they need to compose financial aid offers in sufficient time for the standard May 1 acceptance deadline for US institutions. Without knowing how much financial aid they are eligible to receive, students cannot make informed choices about which institution they should attend, or whether they can afford to attend a postsecondary institution at all. Some may give up on submitting their financial aid forms entirely, forgoing the opportunity to enrol this year. While it is not yet clear what the ramifications of the bungled FAFSA implementation will be, it will certainly have a negative impact on financial aid disbursements and enrolment.
I am happy to report that our UTAPS redesign is going much more smoothly. I look forward to providing an update in a future issue. In closing, I’d like to highlight the incredible contributions of the UTAPS team, who led and implemented the ReDesign Project and were recognized with an Excellence Through Innovation Award for their efforts, and our stellar Financial Aid and Awards team for their consistently important work in distributing financial support to our students. I’d also like to recognize the work of Annabel Thornton, a PhD student in the Department of Economics, who has contributed to the UTAPS project and is involved in evaluating how students respond to the new program design.
Money Meets Music
In keeping with my predilection for identifying songs that fit the theme of my musings, I submit the following suggestions (which, admittedly, reflect my own musical exposure). Instead of talking about money, how about some singing?
- Money (Pink Floyd)
- Material Girl (Madonna)
- Money (That’s what I want) (Flying Lizard cover – The original R&B version is by Barret Strong, and it was also covered by the Beatles.)
What “money” themed songs are your favourite? Feel free to submit ideas here!
