NAIS Access & Opportunity Summit

Details

Who it's for

Topics

Program Overview

While NAIS research confirms that schools value access and economic diversity as key goals for their financial aid investments, they often fall short of delivering on those values due to entrenched financial, structural, and/or cultural obstacles.

For instance, dating as far back as the 2008 recession, NAIS data suggest that it is becoming increasingly difficult for low-income families to secure the financial aid required to access an independent school education. As a result, highly valued outcomes like economic diversity have been compromised, especially among the middle and lower rungs of the income spectrum.

The NAIS Access & Opportunity Summit provides time and space for bold reflection. How might independent schools reimagine their role in addressing important national imperatives like income inequality and economic mobility? What can schools and associations do to underscore the philosophical and purpose-driven imperative for broader access while solidifying the financial resources needed to make it sustainable?

This two-day summit convenes independent school voices around the urgent challenges of access and opportunity—focusing on how schools can better align financial aid investments with their aspirations to serve the most financially vulnerable students and promote more equitable opportunity.

Unlike a workshop focused on skills, the summit aims to affirm shared values around the merits of broader access for students and for the school and also chart actionable steps schools can take to better live these values.

Topics Covered

• Rethinking Access and Opportunity Rethink what access and opportunity mean and look like in today’s environment.
• Navigating Obstacles Navigate financial, structural, and cultural obstacles to access and inclusion.
• Making Investments in Access Persuade boards, donors, and other supporters to make necessary investments.
• Innovative Strategies Identify innovators leading the way for inspiration on possibilities.

Faculty

• Mark J. Mitchell Vice President for Access & Affordability NAIS