1 / 9

Enhancing Student Financial Aid Programs at Agriculture University Peshawar: Key Insights & Recommendations

This report outlines critical observations and recommendations for improving student financial aid mechanisms at Agriculture University Peshawar. Key issues identified include insufficient dedicated staff, lack of management capacity, and absence of management information systems (MIS). Recommendations for establishing minimum standards include staffing requirements, office resources, and periodic process reviews. Proposed financial aid mechanisms such as scholarships, work-study programs, and student loans aim to provide viable solutions to enhance student support and improve enrollment and performance.

ursa
Download Presentation

Enhancing Student Financial Aid Programs at Agriculture University Peshawar: Key Insights & Recommendations

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Develop Action RecommendationsOn Student Financial Aid Dr. Said Khan Kalil, Vice Chancellor Agriculture University of Peshawar NasirKazmi, Deputy Chief of Party HEC-FAD Program

  2. Key Observations • Unavailability of dedicated staff to run financial aid programs. • Lack of capacity to manage and run financial aid programs • Absence of MIS applications • Delays in the short-listing of applications • Slow tracking of individual financial aid applicants • Integration with Finance and Results sections • Absence of mechanism to randomly verify information provided by the scholarship applicants (short-listed) • Lack of organized internal and external review process – impact studies

  3. Key Observations

  4. Financial Aid – Minimum Standards • Staffing • Manager - Financial Aid • Admin / Account Assistant • Office Space • One room (to begin with) • Furniture, Equipment and Tools • Computer(2), Printer (1), Scanner (1) and UPS (2) • Office Tables, Chairs, File Racks and other accessories • Online MIS application (customized)

  5. Financial Aid – Minimum Standards • Training and Development • Periodic Process Reviews • Internal (Management, Faculty, Administration) • External (HEC, Donors) • Impact Assessments • Case Studies • Mid and End term evaluation for each program • Interviews of beneficiary students

  6. Financial Aid Mechanisms • Existing • Scholarships • Need Based • Merit Based • Merit and Need Based • Loan Program • National Bank of Pakistan • Internal (in very few cases)

  7. Financial Aid mechanisms to explore • Work-Study Programs • Students receive aid from university or government in exchange for limited number of work hours per week on campus • Internships (Paid) • Students work for companies, non profits or government for minimum wage plus academic credit • Cooperative Education • Students work off campus for entire semester at a company / agency linked to it academic specialty (business, IT, Eng., Agri) for a good wage (no academic credits) and gain work experience

  8. Financial Aid mechanisms to explore • Student Loans (forgiven for key areas) • A percentage of the loan balance is forgiven for each year but the graduate works in a key field (teaching, medicine, IT business, agriculture) • Higher Education Saving Programs • Parents place money into a special investment account to be used to pay university fee. Government provides matching grant. Principle loans are tax free • Other ????

  9. Activation of Financial Aid Mechanisms • Is the mechanism viable (practical )? • What percentage of total students’ strength may be the beneficiary per year? • What incentive does the university have to initiate a financial aid mechanism? • Should the participation of students in a specific mechanism add to their credit? • Staffing & training required? Explain. • Additional funds to be allocated by the HEIs to activate this? Explain. • How the participation would effect students’ enrolment and performance?

More Related