Arne Duncan & Jacquelyn Fraas 
College Affordability Academy [EPUB ebook] 
A Blueprint for Counseling Families

The College Affordability Academy: A Blueprint for Counseling Families is for anyone involved in the college recruitment and enrollment process. The book provides information that high school and college administrators can use to advise prospective and current students and their families with unbiased information about enrolling in and paying for college. The book may be used as a stand-alone volume or to accompany the College Affordability Academy training modules. In 2015, the College Affordability Academy (CAA) began at Robert Morris University as an internal training initiative for admissions and financial aid counselors to help make the college-financing system as transparent as possible for prospective students. Since then, the audience has grown campus-wide to include faculty mentors, student support staff, and even members of the board of trustees. Through the advocacy efforts of Wendy Beckemeyer, Vice President for Enrollment at Robert Morris University (and author of Chapter 7), the CAA has been featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education and by EAB and the College Board as well as at conferences throughout the country. In addition to this book, nearly 75 colleges and universities have requested to implement the College Affordability Academy to train staff on their campuses. At Robert Morris University, the College Affordability Academy has changed how we serve prospective students and their families, but it has also impacted our staff across campus. From admissions counselors to student affairs advisers and financial aid professionals, we serve students with an emphasis on how to make their college experience not only transformative, but affordable. The College Affordability Academy goes beyond information sharing to application of the knowledge and tools taught in the modules. As the modules are completed, participants work in interdisciplinary groups develop capstone projects that help translate what is learned in the Academy to prospective students and their families. At Robert Morris, capstone projects were reviewed by a panel of experts from outside organizations.