Friday, September 03, 2021
Is this it Part 1, or...
Excelsior, a retrospective...
Although I have multiple drafts on multiple topics sitting in my files, I just can't seem to finish one. Some are too dark; some are too personal; one is both, and one is just fucking pointless. The depression we've all suffered during this pandemic has killed my creative drive as well as few other things. As society reopens and I can reengage with work, friends, and all the activities I used to enjoy and, if I'm being honest, took for granted, I feel more and more like my former self. There will be time to appraise what steps were taken to limit (or ignore) the spread of COVID, but it's too soon for an accurate appraisal. Also, I'm way too pissed.
No, if I'm to write a post, I want to look at my area of expertise: financial aid. Specifically, I wanted to examine the prospect of free community college as suggested in the proposed 2021 Federal budget. I've ruminated on this possibility before. The most recent attempt I've had to navigate is, of course, Excelsior, the bane (and savior) of my professional existence. The thoroughly snarky posts I wrote on the subject, when the program was first introduced, were, after 4 years of processing the award, absolutely correct. It is every bit the mess that I thought it would be, and it made me indispensable to the financial aid office. I am the expert I hoped I would be, even as I am always somewhat confused. It's a one-eyed man in the land of the blind scenario, but it helps me professionally, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
The core of my feelings about Excelsior are consistent with any financial aid program that New York State would create at this point: it's all a mirage designed primarily to look good rather than to do good. New York isn't trying to get it right or make it easy, because Albany cannot afford it. The correct approach would have been to take TAP, the standard NYS aid program, and give the maximum award to whomever already qualified, but that would have required much more money and generated far less positive press. My derision isn't entirely fair, of course. Students do initially benefit from Excelsior, and for those who manage to keep the program all 4 years, it's a Godsend. Politicians can rightfully point to that small subset and claim Excelsior is an incredible benefit. Managing to keep the money both academically and professionally is the crux of the problem, of course, and the vast majority do not, instead owing money to New York State, either because the student didn't finish, didn't finish on time, or had to move out of New York after college to find a job. You owe New York a year of living and working in the Empire State for every year you get the scholarship, and people often forget that after 4 years of school. I blame binge drinking. The bulk of these requirements mean more work for financial aid counselors, not less.
The other side to financial aid is the Federal government. There's plenty of bureaucracy, contradictions, and confusion to keep all of us busy, and some of that is by design. We have to report our students' progress, whether or not our students are working upon graduation, how much they earn, if they're working in their field of study, making certain they are attending class, etc. The common theme of all this reporting is that the government's money isn't being fraudulently obtained or wasted by either the schools or the students, and that we are delivering the promised educational value. New York isn't all that different, but the Federal info dumps are mostly automated at this point, while Albany's work is often manual, with Excelsior a prime example. Aside from efficiency, the main difference between Washington and NY programs is that the federal government can create money from thin air while a state cannot. If DC has the will to throw fake money at a problem, it will get tossed. How that money is disbursed is another matter.
Continued in part 2.
