John Heisner Memorial Lifetime Achievement
This award is the highest award IASFAA can bestow. Recipients of this award must have actively worked in IASFAA and the profession to achieve their goals over an extended period of time.

Distinguished Service
This award is intended to recognize outstanding achievements to the financial aid profession and IASFAA. Individuals selected for this award must have made outstanding achievements in the pursuit of IASFAA's goals and have made significant contributions over a sustained period of time.

Meritorious Service
This award is presented to an individual or a committee who has made significant contributions to IASFAA or the financial aid profession. Selection is based upon leadership or work on special projects. It is not required that these projects have lasted for an extended length of time. This award could also be for a single accomplishment.

Outstanding New Contributor of the Year
This award it presented to an IASFAA member that has made a significant first contribution to the association or the financial aid profession.

Student Success Story of the Year
The Description: The Student Success Story of the Year is intended to focus on a specific individual while symbolizing the real purpose of financial aid, which is to provide the means to pursue and realize a post-secondary education.

The Criteria: IASFAA is not attempting to select the "most successful" former financial aid recipient, but rather to choose someone who can be representative of all aid recipients who are successful. The nominee for the Student Success Story of the Year must meet the following qualifications:

The nominee must be in the last year of their program at the nominating institution or must hold a degree or certificate of completion from a post-secondary educational institution which is an eligible institution for U.S. Department of Education Title IV student assistance programs.

The nominee must have received need-based financial assistance while enrolled at the institution.

The nominee will be invited to attend the Fall Conference for a formal presentation of the award.

IASFAA continues to emphasize the student. It is fitting that at its conference IASFAA chooses to honor a student who is a successful financial aid recipient and, in so doing, to honor all students who needed aid, received aid and used that aid to achieve success.

The Selection: Nominations for this award will be solicited from the IASFAA membership. A special nomination form with a descriptive letter will be sent to all IASFAA members with the intent of soliciting nominations. The IASFAA Awards Committee will evaluate each nomination and hold discussion on the merits of each potential recipient. The IASFAA Awards Committee shall have the prerogative to request additional information if necessary. The final selection will be based on the concept of what the award is intended to represent.

The Presentation: The Student Success Story of the Year will be presented either during Financial Aid Awareness week or the IASFAA Annual Fall Conference. Travel expenses for the student award recipient will be assumed by IASFAA. A representative from the student's institution will also be asked to attend.

The Format: The Student Success Story of the Year will be in the form of a wooden plaque with the IASFAA medallion and appropriate text identifying the student's name, institution and date presented. An identical award will be given to the student's institution and presented to the representative of the institution. The student receives the direct recognition while the institution receives indirect recognition.