Sessions & Speakers

Brad Barnett is an Accredited Financial Counselor, Certified Personal Financial Manager, and Certified Financial Aid Administrator who works as the Associate Vice President for Access and Enrollment Management/Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships at James Madison University. Closing in on three decades of experience in the financial aid profession, Brad has been active in state, regional, and national financial aid associations as a presenter, committee member/chair, and elected officer. A past president of VASFAA and SASFAA, he has also served NASFAA on the Financial Affairs Committee, as Treasurer, as Conference Chair, as a Standards of Excellence (SOE) Reviewer/Team Lead, and as a SOE Assessment Leader. Currently, Brad is serving on the NASFAA Board of Directors and holds the position of NASFAA National Chair. Brad received the VAFSAA Excellence Award, VASFAA Life Membership Award, SASFAA Distinguished Service Award, and NASFAA Regional Leadership Award. In addition to these activities, he teaches personal finance courses (on-line and in person) at JMU and provides financial counseling services on a professional basis outside of his role with JMU.

Justin is president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. He serves as the primary voice of NASFAA and as the liaison between the association members, the U.S. Congress, federal agencies and the media. Most of Justin's career has been devoted to assisting disadvantaged populations achieve their educational goals and better their communities. Since 2002, Justin has been engaged in either administering, interpreting, communicating, or developing student financial aid policy. His prior experiences include working as a financial aid director, regulatory and policy analyst, and spokesperson. He has held senior positions overseeing government relations, communications, and policy work. Justin has testified in multiple Congressional hearings on student financial aid, college access, student loan policy, and the interplay between federal agencies and colleges and universities. He is frequently quoted in the press and has appeared on The Today Show on NBC, National Public Radio, APM's Marketplace, Fox Business News, CNBC, and C-SPAN, and is often quoted in national news outlets. Justin serves on several boards of directors that promote health and education. He earned his undergraduate from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Baker College. Justin lives in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife and three children.

Dennis joined the U.S Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) in June 2020 as a senior advisor for the Office of Student Aid Experience and Delivery (SEAD). He joined the FSA’s office of Policy Implementation and Oversight (PIO) as the director of the Policy Research and Analysis Group (RAG) in September 2021. PIO advises FSA on higher education policy to ensure that operations are considered in policy development and, once enacted, that policy is implemented to meet intended goals. RAG leads the agency’s efforts to conduct rigorous and policy-relevant evaluations to inform key policy and program implementation decisions. Before joining FSA, Dennis served on the faculties at the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Florida. He was the founding director of the University of Florida’s Education Policy Research Center and coordinated multiple graduate programs in education policy and higher education administration. While on the faculty, he completed a multiyear fellowship with the Office of Evaluation Sciences (formerly known as the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team) and partnered with federal agencies to implement behavioral sciences principles to increase benefit access and agency efficiency. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Policy from the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia. He is a nationally respected scholar and published academic on topics including the economics of education; higher education finance; federal student aid; the impacts of federal, state, and local education policies; higher education access and completion; and labor market outcomes.

Justin is president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. He serves as the primary voice of NASFAA and as the liaison between the association members, the U.S. Congress, federal agencies and the media. Most of Justin's career has been devoted to assisting disadvantaged populations achieve their educational goals and better their communities. Since 2002, Justin has been engaged in either administering, interpreting, communicating, or developing student financial aid policy. His prior experiences include working as a financial aid director, regulatory and policy analyst, and spokesperson. He has held senior positions overseeing government relations, communications, and policy work. Justin has testified in multiple Congressional hearings on student financial aid, college access, student loan policy, and the interplay between federal agencies and colleges and universities. He is frequently quoted in the press and has appeared on The Today Show on NBC, National Public Radio, APM's Marketplace, Fox Business News, CNBC, and C-SPAN, and is often quoted in national news outlets. Justin serves on several boards of directors that promote health and education. He earned his undergraduate from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Baker College. Justin lives in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife and three children.