Leading Through Crisis

Upward to 90% of all students rely on the more than $250 Billion in financial aid to attend college. In early 2024, the financial aid process came to an abrupt stop.  With the new FAFSA form’s technical difficulties and severe delays, higher education faced one of its greatest challenges in decades. Colleges and universities were unable to process and package financial aid, and students were left uncertain of where they would attend college or if they could afford higher education at all.  Colleges and universities faced the risk of significant enrollment shortfalls from new and returning students. 

When the FAFSA form and Student Aid Reports were finally available, almost 5 months late, U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, announced the College Support Strategy providing funding to help under- resourced colleges and universities address the significant timing crisis.

With funding for the program secured, the right model was needed.

Robert Heil had anticipated the fallout from the failed FASA rollout months in advance and had developed an innovative model of surge support services for his Financial Aid Services, LLC (FAS) clients that would enable them to overcome the crisis.  Soon, Robert was tapped to become a trusted advisor for leaders and policy makers inside the White House, The Department of Education, EdTech companies, and non-profit organizations on how colleges could address the crisis.  Robert’s innovative solutions and support model became pillars of the College Support Strategy and his firm was one of the few organizations tapped to support the program, highlighting the significant impact of public-private partnerships. 

To address the FAFSA crisis, other influential companies, foundations and philanthropic organizations in America chose to work with Robert to make his surge support model available to under-resourced universities, including 62 HBCU’s and many other minority- serving institutions.

Key initiatives included:

• Technology Optimization:  The FAFSA timing crisis did not afford college and universities the time needed to configure their student information systems for the required changes. Knowing technology was core to solving the crisis, Robert’s support model allowed campuses to quickly configure and optimize their student information systems, streamline imports of FAFSA data, automate business rules and signature systems for faster processing, while decreasing risk of compliance errors.
• Training and Advisory Services:  Expert financial aid and operational guidance to equip institutions to award on a compressed timeline.
• ‍Operational Support:  Providing tools and staff support to prepare aid packages, modernize the aid distribution process for students, and carry out the new student aid compliance requirements ensuring aid reached students in a timely and efficient manner.

• In response to the flawed FAFSA rollout, Robert was a trusted advisor to leaders inside the White House, The Department of Education, EdTech companies, and non-profit organizations in higher ed to positively impact the 29,000+ financial aid professionals in the industry and over 17 million students who attend college each year.
• Many of the most influential foundations and philanthropic organizations chose to work with Robert to make his firm’s strategies and services available to under-resourced colleges and universities including 62 HBCU’s and many other minority-serving institutions.

Throughout his career, Robert has been recognized as an education and business leader who steps into complex situations and produces results.  Robert’s ability to provide clear, actionable solutions and work within a complex political environment was instrumental in shaping strategies that impacted hundreds of campuses and the millions of students they serve. 

Robert’s expertise in fostering public-private partnerships highlights the significant impact these innovative partnerships and solutions can make in creating greater access and affordability to higher education.