Learning to Speak Financial Aid: Results from a National Financial Aid Jargon Survey
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Abstract
To better understand what prospective undergraduates understand about the process of applying for federal student aid, this study captured nationally-representative survey data from 1,230 prospective undergraduates applying to four-year, bachelor’s degree-granting U.S. institutions of higher education in Fall 2018. A financial aid jargon survey was administered to assess what financial aid jargon terms are unfamiliar or confusing to prospective students. Results suggest some prospective students understand financial aid jargon, but many reported jargon as unfamiliar and confusing, such as FAFSA, master promissory note, entrance counseling, data retrieval tool, and non-filer’s statement. After controlling for demographic information, respondents who reported being gender non-binary conforming (p=0.03) and bilingual (p=0.03) reported more jargon terms, while respondents preferring not to disclose their religion (p=0.00) provided fewer jargon terms with statistical significance. Implications for research and practice are addressed.
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