Several months ago, the College Board formed a group aimed at setting goals for reforming federal financial-aid programs for students. The group was formed in the wake of a Department of Education commission that called for major changes to these programs, but did not outline specific methods for achieving their goals.

The Rethinking Student Aid Study Group will attempt to determine whether current federal aid programs are achieving the goals they have set for themselves. After an assessment has been made, the group will decide on the best way to improve or overhaul the system, said Michael S. McPherson, one of the panel’s leaders and president of the Spencer Foundation, a group dedicated to improving education through research.

“We see this as a three-year project,” McPherson said. “We’re still in the first year. So in the initial stages we’re commissioning a set of papers of what is now known about these policies and their impact.”

Instead of looking at ways to improve these aid programs through policy, the group is dedicated to leaving politics out of the equation for now. They believe straight-forward, unbiased statistical and research evidence is needed to find the best solutions.

“The group that we selected was based principally on their research expertise, their extensive knowledge and their research issues,” McPherson said.

The group has faced some criticism for leaving out higher education lobbyists from the panel. Lobbyists argue that ignoring the political landscape in which reforms need to take place is ill-conceived, according to a press release from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Dan Mann, director for the Office of Student Financial Aid at the University, said that leaving politics out of the equation in the beginning stages of the study may be for the best.

“When these types of topics are looked at,” Mann said, “they start to deal with the political aspect and things don’t get considered because of that.”

“There is a political reality to all of this,” he added. “They may not be represented in this initial study group. But, they want to look at this in a sort of holistic way without politics, to come up with some requests and then address those political aspects.”

After the group has reached some conclusions on the steps to take to improve federal student aid, they will take into account political considerations. But not before hearing all sides of the issues, McPherson said.