Introduction
AccessApplied provides students, parents & counselors with the resources they need to understand all aspects of college affordability and financial aid.
Developed by college financial aid experts, the site provides resources that translate every important college affordability and financial aid topic into language that is easy to understand. Our webinar curriculum offers live Q & A sessions that protect the privacy of students and parents who have sensitive questions and who would be hesitant to ask these questions in a room filled with their friends and neighbors.
We are confident that the site provides families and counselors with the tools and the knowledge needed to maximize their financial aid opportunities and to identify colleges that are a financial fit for the family.
Our Experts
Jim Briggs
Jim Briggs spent over 35 years providing training on financial aid and federal income taxes to thousands of college financial aid officers at hundreds of different colleges.
He also worked extensively with many of these colleges to help them refine the information they used to award their financial aid. He was retained by the financial aid offices at many colleges to review complicated financial aid cases in order to ensure that families were awarded all of the aid they were entitled to receive.
For decades, Jim traveled the country, visiting college financial aid offices to conduct training sessions and making presentations at financial aid conferences. This work kept Jim in close contact with the financial aid community and on the cutting edge of all financial aid issues.
Jim is a recognized expert in Federal Methodology (FM), Institutional Methodology (IM), federal income taxes as well as the FAFSA and the CSS Profile forms.
Over the years Jim provided consulting services to both the College Board and the 568 Technical Committee – the two organizations responsible for maintaining the Institutional Methodology (IM) – on matters relating to need-based financial aid eligibility.
In addition Jim and David developed the policy and procedures manual now used by many schools to evaluate family businesses and rental property during the financial aid review process.
David Charlow
After serving more than twenty years as a Student Affairs professional at Columbia University, including thirteen years as Executive Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid, David now offers his broad base of experience and expertise to families seeking best value opportunities for their college bound children.
Over the course of his career David has counseled thousands of families during the financial aid process. He has reviewed countless financial aid applications and evaluated many financial aid appeals.
A recognized financial aid expert, David served for many years on the national financial aid committees charged with reviewing and updating the financial aid formulas used by many colleges to award aid. His experience includes:
- Six years on the College Board’s Financial Aid Standards and Services Committee – a group of financial aid experts that advises the College Scholarship Service (CSS) on matters pertaining to the Institutional Methodology (IM) used by hundreds of schools to award financial aid. While serving on this committee David was involved in the development of the CSS Financial Aid Profile form and on the Image and Documentation service (IDOC).
- Four years on the special 568 Technical Committee – a small group of financial aid experts that developed the highly influential and oft adopted 568 Methodology now used by dozens of highly selective schools to award hundreds of millions of dollars in need-based aid.
David has decades of experience supporting students from lower income backgrounds. He has worked extensively with students enrolled in the New York State Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and he was one of the earliest adopters of the QuestBridge Scholars Program.
David has also provided FAFSA training to volunteers from the Urban League and the National Community Tax Coalition who provide FAFSA support to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
In addition to his many years of financial aid experience, David has worked as an admission officer, an academic advisor and a rowing coach.
