Abstract
The process of applying for and receiving student financial aid is an incredibly complex process involving multiple stakeholders (students, institutions, parents, counselors), levels of information (federal, state, institutional, personal), and modes of communication (print, email, text message, social media, phone calls). Moreover, first-generation students, low-income students, and students of color are most likely to struggle with the financial aid application and awarding process, further marginalizing these students. To date, research has examined how complicated the financial aid process is, how to identify financial aid communication issues, and how to remediate financial aid communication to render it simpler and more intuitive for students and their support networks. Building upon those decades of research, we aim to provide a conceptual framework to demonstrate the complexity of financial aid communication during a student's collegiate career. This conceptual framework will organize financial aid communication in a way that demonstrates the ebb and flow of the student's overall financial aid journey. The aim of creating and examining this conceptual framework is to help financial aid practitioners understand the complexity of the communication to address information gaps and provide students with information and resources in a timely manner that demystifies the financial aid application and awarding process.
Recommended Citation
Takatori, Alyssa; Weber-Wandel, Karla A.; and Taylor, Z.W.
(2025)
"Like Playing Plinko: A Conceptual Framework for Student Financial Aid Communication,"
Journal of Research Initiatives: Vol. 9:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/jri/vol9/iss1/8
Included in
Communication Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Higher Education Commons