Summary – 2026 College Affordability Summit: FAFSA & Beyond

July 15, 2026

“Having the opportunity to attend the College Affordability Summit would provide great insight into emerging financial aid policies, FAFSA completion strategies, and best practices that directly impact student access and success. In my consulting role within a large intermediate school system, I am uniquely positioned to apply (and share) this knowledge, helping to improve financial aid awareness with students and families.”

Executive Summary

The Midwestern Higher Education Compact hosted College Affordability Summit: FAFSA & Beyond in June 2026. This Summit brought together practitioners and policymakers working throughout the education-to-workforce pipeline to strengthen college affordability across the region. Bringing together this broad group of stakeholders was critical since college affordability is not a singular policy issue, but rather a complex matter that depends on state funding, financial aid, institutional pricing, college completion outcomes, and workforce alignment. The Summit provided a forum for stakeholders from across the higher education ecosystem to exchange ideas, identify emerging challenges, share promising practices, and develop collaborative strategies to improve college affordability throughout the Midwest.

Summit Goals

  • Equip state-level stakeholders to address emerging topics related to college affordability that advances states’ postsecondary attainment and workforce development goals.
  • Strengthen intra-state and cross-sector sharing of best practices on college and career attainment, cost transparency, financial aid policy, and FAFSA completion support.
  • Promote regional and national collaboration, with a particular focus on the Midwest, by highlighting organizations and initiatives advancing FAFSA completion and college affordability and by facilitating dialogue around the sharing of resources and effective practices across states.

Attendance—Bringing the Best in the Midwest

Summit attendance centered on the Midwest, with 133 participants from MHEC member states and beyond.

  • State higher education executive office and other state agency leaders
  • State legislators and legislative staff
  • State college attainment network members
  • Higher education philanthropy organizational leaders
  • Community and national nonprofit leaders
  • K-12 partners and staff
  • Higher education institutional leaders

Summit Session and Content

The Summit featured two days of comprehensive engagement with notable guests and experts, including a question-and-answer session with Nicholas Kent, U.S. Under Secretary of Education and a fireside chat with Aaron Lemon-Strauss the Executive Director of the FAFSA Program at the US Department of Education.

Plenary Sessions included

  • How Philanthropy Is Advancing New Perspectives with the Joyce, Lumina, and Strada Foundations;
  • Collaborative Strategies to Support Adult Learner Re-enrollment and Affordability with ITHAKA S + R;
  • Federal Washington Update from SHEEO and NCAN; and
  • Evaluation of the Impacts of the FAFSA Changes from NCAN.

The Summit also included two interactive sessions designed to support organizational roles and state strategies to advance affordability. Nine breakout sessions further led attendees to opportunities on specific policies, practices, and implementation topics in more depth.

Key Summit Outcomes

  • Actionable Strategies: Attendees left with new policy and program ideas and communication strategies that they can use to continue to impact the discussion and perspective of college affordability in their states.
    • Participant feedback: “This was one of the most worthwhile conferences I have attended. The sessions were timely, informative, and directly relevant to the work we do supporting students and institutions. I especially appreciated the opportunity to connect with colleagues from other states, compare approaches to affordability and student aid programs, and discuss the challenges we all face in helping students access and complete higher education. The conversations were thoughtful, collaborative, and left me with several ideas I can bring back to [my state].”
  • Expanded connections: 83% of respondents reported making at least three new professional connections including 47% reported making five or more.
    • Participant feedback: “The most valuable part of the summit was the opportunity to learn from and interact with professionals from across the higher education landscape. It was incredibly valuable to hear perspectives from financial aid administrators, admissions professionals, state higher education agencies, legislative staff, governor’s office staff, federal officials, and policy experts. Bringing so many different voices together created a more complete picture of the challenges and opportunities facing students and institutions today.”
  • Collaborative Efforts: The event fostered stronger collaborations among attendees, creating the groundwork for ongoing partnerships and initiatives.
    • Participant feedback: “The most valuable sessions for me were the “job-alike” session and the state session. The job-alike session was a great opportunity to hear the challenges that are facing other Midwest states’ financial aid programs and the solutions they are employing, like the standard financial aid award letter being developed by Minnesota.  The state session raised some local issues that I wasn’t necessarily aware of, especially related to dual credit.”

Interactive Session Takeaways

  • State teams emphasized FAFSA completion as being one part of a broader affordability strategy, including outreach on financial aid awareness, direct admissions, dual enrollment, and clearer communication with traditional students and adult learners and their families.
  • Participants noted a need for more coordinated communication about college costs, aid eligibility, and the value of postsecondary education.
  • Several states identified financial aid design and state funding sustainability as pressing concerns, including need-based aid formulas and complexity of state aid programs.
  • States highlighted the importance of data systems and coordination among higher education stakeholders to better identify student needs, track outcomes, and support college affordability strategies.
  • States identified MHEC’s continued convening role as valuable for sharing promising practices, supporting peer connections, and helping states sustain momentum after the summit.

Next Steps

  • MHEC will publish an affordability and value information brief and insights on tuition pricing in the region.
  • Develop regional and national partnerships to advance the affordability efforts in MHEC member states.
  • Continue to connect with stakeholders throughout the year at key convenings.

MHEC Contacts

John Burczek Dreier
Vice President of Policy and Research
johnbd@mhec.org
(612) 677-2779

Jonathan McNicholes
Manager of Policy and Stakeholder Engagement
Jonathanm@mhec.org
(612) 677-2775