In June, about 150 practitioners, policymakers, and postsecondary partners gathered in Indianapolis for the 2026 Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) College Affordability Summit: FAFSA & Beyond. The event was a follow-up to the 2024 Midwest FAFSA Summit, held in Chicago, IL, but expanded into broader policy and programming to improve postsecondary affordability for students and families. Notably, all of the session materials from the Summit are available to the public via the previous link.
MHEC is one of four regional higher education compacts in the United States, serving 12 member states in the Midwest. The compact helps states share resources, conduct policy research, and collaborate on issues affecting higher education across the region. Its convening and research work regularly brings together state agency leaders, institutional partners, and national organizations to tackle shared challenges, and affordability is squarely in that wheelhouse.
This year’s Summit came at a particularly consequential moment. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) simplification is resulting in more FAFSA completions and expanded Pell Grant eligibility. Meanwhile, federal policy under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is introducing new policies for states and institutions, many of them challenging, and discussions about the value and cost of postsecondary education persist.
Over three days, the Summit tackled these topics from multiple angles, federal, state, and practitioner-level, and the sessions reflected both the complexity of the moment and the determination of the people working in it. Some highlights follow.
The opening plenary, “Redefining Affordability: How Philanthropy Is Advancing New Perspectives,” featured Lumina Foundation’s Katie Berger, Strada Education Foundation’s Justin Draeger, and the Joyce Foundation’s Chibuzo Ezeigbo. They tackled a big question that has been variously answered by many in the field: what does “affordability” actually mean, and how is philanthropy helping to redefine it?
Both Lumina and Strada have affordability frameworks of their own while the Joyce Foundation has raised awareness about affordability challenges in part through the National College Attainment Network's (NCAN's) Affordability Gap research.
The three panelists noted that too many students and families still lack guidance and information to consistently and appropriate assess the value and return on investment of education and training pathways, and in general called for more transparency.
Wednesday morning, attendees heard from two higher education policy leaders for updates on the present and future of the Trump administration’s view on affordability. First, Nicholas Kent, US Undersecretary of Education, addressed the crowd. Kent is the nation’s top federal official for higher education and the person responsible for overseeing the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio and the Pell Grant program. Kent took the stage as the administration’s implementation of the OBBBA gets underway, making this a timely and closely watched session for the Summit’s audience of state and practitioner stakeholders. He noted that, “It is an understatement to say there has been a lot of change coming out of Washington over the past year and a half.” He touted the administration’s aim to make higher education “more affordable, more accountable, and more transparent” through four negotiated rulemaking sessions over the past 18 months.
Kent was followed by Aaron Lemon-Strauss, Executive Director of the FAFSA Program at the Office of Federal Student Aid. Lemon-Strauss, who has quickly become a fan favorite for many NCAN members, delivered a rollicking and informative fireside chat where he described the process updates that have contributed to the success of the 2026-27 FAFSA. He also described the development process that has led to more frequent updates and fixes and a more nimble, responsive FAFSA overall. For a room full of people whose work depends heavily on the FAFSA operating smoothly and equitably, this was a high-interest conversation, and Lemon-Strauss devoted ample time to audience questions, notably explaining the recently incorporated fraud detection system.
Mid-morning, the plenary room shifted into interactive mode for a structured peer exchange among Summit participants. These sessions are a MHEC hallmark; they offer less presentation and more conversation, and this one gave attendees space to surface what’s working, what’s broken, and what questions they’re still trying to answer in their own states and organizations. This session was separated into role-alike tables, which offered the opportunity to meet analogous colleagues across state lines.
After lunch, attendees split into three concurrent breakout sessions:
The day closed with a second round of concurrent breakouts:
NCAN CEO Kim Cook opened the final day of the Summit with remarks that grounded the room in the stakes of our collective work. Cook, NCAN’s leader since 2008, brought both a practitioner’s grounding and a policy advocate’s eye to the big picture. Cook noted that there’s mounting evidence that students value college. FAFSA completions, college applications, and enrollments are all increasing. But we need to continue bipartisan support for Pell Grants, including shoring up the Pell Grant shortfall and working to restore its purchasing power.
Cook’s remarks rolled right into another view from Washington as SHEEO’s Vice President of Government Relations, Tom Harnisch, was joined by NCAN’s Senior Associate, Policy and Advocacy, Louisa Woodhouse, to discuss what’s next from Congress and the administration. The duo took questions from the audience after informing attendees about the projected Pell Grant shortfall, changes to federal student loan limits, the fiscal year 2027 federal budget, and changes to accountability rules, among other topics. The OBBBA has been reshaping the federal higher education landscape, and question around what comes next from Congress and the administration has direct operational implications for everyone in the room (and the broader field).
Following the Washington update, attendees dispersed for the Summit’s final round of concurrent breakouts:
The Summit closed where it arguably had to and with what the common thread was across attendees, no matter their state, role, or organization: with a reckoning on the FAFSA. Two years after the rollout of the simplified FAFSA, and a similar session in Chicago, your intrepid author was joined by NCAN Senior Consultant MorraLee Keller. Together, we synthesized what the data show about FAFSA completion in the current cycle (using data from NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker on high school seniors and from Federal Student Aid on all completions). We also highlighted the impacts of Pell Grant eligibility expansion, discussed the prevalence and success of universal FAFSA, and took audience questions.
The 2026 MHEC College Affordability Summit made clear that the field is not short on energy or ideas. The harder work, translating those ideas into durable state policy, sustainable programs, and equitable outcomes for students, continues. NCAN will continue tracking these developments and sharing resources with members. In the meantime, we are grateful for MHEC’s convening us all together to keep the work moving forward.