2026 President’s Message

To my fellow Financial Aid Survivors, Warriors, and Miracle Workers:

Welcome to 2026. If you are reading this, congratulations—you have successfully navigated another year of “regulatory guidance,” survived the inbox avalanche, and likely consumed enough caffeine to power a small city.

Let’s be honest: working in financial aid is not for the faint of heart. We are the unsung heroes of higher education. We are the ones who translate impossible bureaucracies into tuition payments. We are the ones who explain to parents that, no, we cannot just “move some numbers around” on the FAFSA, while simultaneously handing a tissue to a student who just realized they can actually afford to stay in school.

I know times are tough right now. The landscape of higher education is shifting under our feet, budgets are tight, and the workload never seems to shrink. It is easy to feel like we are just cogs in a machine, endlessly processing verification documents until our eyes cross.

But I want to remind you of something critical:
What you do matters.

To our students, you are not a processor; you are a lifeline. You are the difference between a dream deferred and a degree earned. You are the reason a student sleeps a little better tonight knowing their classes are paid for. Higher education is an investment—perhaps the most important one a person can make—and you are the broker making that investment possible.

When the days are long and the regulations make zero sense, remember that our students depend on us. We are the gatekeepers of opportunity. That is a heavy burden, but it is also a profound privilege.

And you do not have to carry it alone.

CASFAA is not just an organization; we are a family. We are a collection of people who understand exactly why you have a headache at 3:00 PM on a Tuesday. We know the unique language of “SAIs” and “R2T4s” (sorry, I promised no jargon, but old habits die hard).

Whether you are at a Community College, a UC, a CSU, or a Private institution, CASFAA is here for you. We are here to provide training when the rules change, advocacy when the policies don't make sense, and a happy hour when you just need to vent to someone who gets it.

We take care of our own. That is the CASFAA promise. So, lean on us. Reach out to your colleagues. Share your resources. And never forget that even on the hardest days, you are changing lives.

Here’s to a 2026 filled with clean audits, funded students, and a whole lot of resilience.

With gratitude and solidarity,

Shawn Domingo

2026 CASFAA President