Russo appointed to federal financial aid committee

Author: Julie Hail Flory

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Joseph Russo, director of student financial strategies at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (ACSFA), an organization that serves as independent counsel to the U.S. Congress and Secretary of Education on federal student financial aid policy.

Appointed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Russo is one of two new members to join the 11-member committee, along with Scott Giles of the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation.

I am pleased to have Scott Giles and Joseph Russo join the advisory committee,Spellings said.Their added expertise will contribute to the valued recommendations that this committee makes to ensure sound financial aid policy.

Russo is a graduate of Le Moyne College with a bachelors degree in English, and he holds two masters degrees – in student personnel from Syracuse University and in education from the State University of New York.

Previously a financial aid administrator at Le Moyne and Genesee Community College, Russo has 42 years of experience in the field, including the last 29 at Notre Dame. He has served as a consultant to numerous organizations and was a charter member of the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid and Amateurism. He also has testified before congressional committees on major public policy issues related to student aid.

Russo is the co-author of two books on financial aid published by Random House.In the summer of 2006 he served as a fellow at the Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies at New College of Oxford University and has authored another book titled “Student Financial Aid: Lessons for the UK from the US.”

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1986, ACSFA conducts objective, nonpartisan and independent analyses on important aspects of the student assistance programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Membership consists of a geographically and professionally diverse group of financial aid officers, students, college presidents and administrators, directors of student loan guaranty agencies, leaders of national educational associations, a banker and other policy experts from across the country. The advisory committee aims to promote program integrity, eliminate or avoid program complexity, integrate delivery across the Title IV programs, and minimize burden on students and institutions.

_ Contact: Joseph Russo, 574-631-6436,_ " Russo.4@nd.edu ":mailto:Russo.4@nd.edu _
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