COVID-19 has exacerbated systemic and institutional barriers to equity that higher education institutions are working hard to address by seeking solutions to support students struggling to afford college or facing mounting debt burdens. To support its members in this effort, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) has undertaken a research project funded by the TIAA Institute to identify and strengthen the evidence for innovative financial aid strategies designed to improve affordability and reduce student debt for a significant number of students. Teams from nine institutions were selected as Affordability Fellows (hereafter “Fellows”) to investigate best practices and promising strategies for improving financial aid effectiveness and equity in the longer term.