Office of Student Financial Aid UNI School Code: 001890

Statement of Ethical Principles

(From the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)

The primary goal of the financial aid professional is to help students achieve their educational potential by providing appropriate financial resources. To this end, this Statement provides the University of Northern Iowa’s (UNI) Financial Aid Office and Professionals with a set of principles that serves as a common foundation for accepted standards of conduct. The UNI Financial Aid Office adheres to these principles.

Each UNI Financial Aid Professional shall, as is reasonable and appropriate:

1. Be committed to removing financial barriers for those who wish to pursue postsecondary learning.

2. Make every effort to assist students with financial need

3. Be aware of the issues affecting students and advocate their interests at the institutional, state, and federal levels.

4. Support efforts to encourage students, as early as the elementary grades, to aspire to and plan for education beyond high school.

5. Educate students and families through quality consumer information.

6. Respect the dignity and protect the privacy of students, and maintain the confidentiality of student records and personal circumstances.

7. Ensure equity by applying all need analysis formulas consistently across the institution's full population of student financial aid applicants.

8. Provide services that do not discriminate on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, or economic status.

9. Recognize the need for professional development and continuing education opportunities.

10. Promote the free expression of ideas and opinions, and foster respect for diverse viewpoints within the profession.

11. Commit to the highest level of ethical behavior and refrain from any conflict of interest or the perception thereof.

12. Maintain the highest level of professionalism, reflecting a commitment to the goals of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Adopted by NASFAA Board of Directors, April 1999
Adopted by UNI Financial Aid Office, December 2008