Tag: Financial

  • Making Higher Education More Affordable: The Role of Financial Aid Strategies

    Making Higher Education More Affordable: The Role of Financial Aid Strategies

    Key Takeaways:

    • Financial aid optimization transforms financial resource allocation into a strategic enrollment tool, aligning affordability for students with institutional goals.




    • By leveraging real-time data and tools like Liaison Othot, institutions can craft tailored financial aid strategies that address individual student needs and enrollment strategies.




    • Optimization enables proactive adjustments to financial aid strategies, ensuring accessibility while supporting student retention and institutional sustainability.




    • Strategic financial aid leveraging balances affordability for students with long-term enrollment and revenue objectives.

     

    The rising costs of higher education and fear of long-term debt have left many prospective students and their families questioning whether they can afford to pursue their academic dreams. For institutions, this presents a dual challenge: attracting diverse students and ensuring enrollment goals align with their mission. An effective and aligned financial aid optimization strategy offers a powerful tool to meet a campus’s enrollment goals. By combining institutional funds with federal and state resources effectively, colleges and universities can increase access and affordability in higher education while achieving broader enrollment objectives.

    From offering enough aid to make tuition manageable to continuously refining financial aid strategies based on real-time information, optimizing plays a pivotal role in strategic enrollment management (SEM). It transforms financial aid awarding from a static process into a dynamic tool that not only attracts and enrolls students but also supports their retention by effectively meeting their financial needs.

     

    What Is Financial Aid Optimization?

    Financial aid optimization transforms the allocation of financial resources into a critical enrollment tool. By aligning the overall enrollment leveraging strategy—regularly and in real-time at the individual level—optimization allows campuses to address student affordability needs in a unique and tailored way.

    At its core, optimization is a dynamic, data-informed process. Institutions develop annual plans for allocating financial aid (leveraging), basing decisions on previous cycles’ successes and challenges. Unlike traditional static leveraging models, modern optimization approaches incorporate continuous adjustments informed by real-time data. This lets colleges and universities respond proactively to shifting enrollment trends and keeps their financial aid strategies effective throughout the year.

     

    How to Make Higher Education More Affordable and Accessible

    More accessible higher education starts with understanding the financial challenges students face. For many undergraduates, the cost of tuition, housing, books, and other expenses can make college seem out of reach, even with federal and state aid. For example, a student from a low-income household may find that even the maximum Pell Grant award leaves a significant financial gap. Similarly, a middle-income family might struggle to cover tuition despite not qualifying for significant need-based aid.

    Financial aid leveraging allows institutions to tackle these challenges head-on by creating tailored aid packages that remove financial barriers for students. This approach relies on a mix of need-based and merit-based strategies, often informed by tools like FAFSA data and predictive analytics.

    One of the key advantages of financial aid optimization is its flexibility. Institutions can use data to fine-tune aid offerings based on unique student needs and behaviors. For instance, Liaison’s Othot platform, a cloud-based predictive and prescriptive analytics tool designed specifically for higher ed, can analyze factors such as a student’s location, academic profile, and campus engagement to build aid packages thatneeds. This granularity ensures that the financial aid awarding strategy not only meets the affordability threshold for students also aligns with the overall enrollment strategy being employed on the campus. An aligned optimization approach ensures that the affordability component is integrated into the strategy for specifically targeted cohorts or students, maximizing the likelihood of their enrollment.

    Optimization also lets institutions adapt aid policies for entire cohorts or demographic groups. For example, schools can address rising inflation in high school GPAs by recalibrating merit-based awards to prioritize equity and maintain fairness in their financial aid distribution. This adaptability keeps aid plans relevant as the dynamics of higher education continue to shift. By relying on data and continuously streamlining their financial aid models, institutions can make higher education more attainable for all students while maximizing their impact.

     

    The Strategic Impact of Financial Aid Optimization

    Financial aid optimization goes beyond simply helping students cover tuition—it’s about achieving a delicate balance between affordability for students and sustainability for institutions. By carefully crafting aid packages that meet the financial needs of students without overextending institutional resources, colleges and universities can enhance their enrollment efforts while maintaining financial health.

    For example, reallocating funds for strategic distribution among students could result in higher net tuition revenue (NTR) without sacrificing enrollment numbers. This demonstrates how strategic adjustments can yield significant results when financial aid decisions are guided by data, tailored to meet institutional priorities, and aligned to overall enrollment strategies.

    Retention and persistence are critical factors to consider when determining how to optimize financial aid. An effective leveraging model doesn’t stop at enrollment and the conclusion of a successful first year—it considers the long-term success of students. By analyzing which cohorts are more likely to persist and graduate, institutions can refine their aid offerings to improve outcomes for all students. This approach ensures that financial aid strategies not only attract students but also support their success throughout their academic journey.

     

    Aligning Financial Aid With Student Success and Institutional Goals

    Financial aid optimization is a powerful way to make higher education more accessible while helping institutions achieve their objectives. By combining institutional, federal, and state resources with data-driven optimization tools, colleges and universities can craft aid strategies that address affordability, bolster student retention, and maximize their impact.

    Institutions looking to enhance their financial aid and enrollment can benefit from Liaison’s suite of solutions, including Othot. Whether your team is just beginning to explore financial aid leveraging or has years of experience, Liaison’s tools provide the flexibility and insights needed to meet your unique goals. From devising an initial plan to optimizing existing processes, our solutions are designed to assist schools at every stage of their journey. Contact us today to learn more.

     

     

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  • Financial Aid Conversation Strategies for Enrollment Success

    Financial Aid Conversation Strategies for Enrollment Success

    The decision to enroll in college is significant, and students rely on institutional guidance to make informed choices. Financial information, particularly regarding tuition costs and financial aid, is often one of the first things they seek. Unfortunately, many higher education institutions struggle to initiate the conversation early in the enrollment funnel, which can lead to student frustration, decreased enrollment, and potentially higher student debt.

    Engaging in financial aid discussions with prospective students early on in their enrollment journey is a crucial opportunity to alleviate concern and create a smoother experience. We’ve put together actionable strategies to help higher ed professionals initiate these conversations, better manage the student experience, and remove a significant barrier from their decision-making process. Explore strategies for how and when to have these conversations and highlight the key differences between traditional students and online adult learners, providing insights to increase enrollment and student success.

    Gain additional insights into effectively managing financial aid discussions in our latest recorded webinar.

    The Importance of Early Funnel Financial Advising

    As consumers in today’s digital age, Modern Learners are accustomed to having information instantly accessible at the click of a button.  Before committing to a program, students seek transparency about tuition costs and financial aid directly on the university’s website. According to EducationDynamics’ Online College Students Report, 90% of online college students begin their search on a college’s website, with 60% specifically looking for cost and financial information. However, only 36% report being able to easily find this critical information. The report also reveals that 58% of students prefer to learn about costs when they first visit a school’s website, while 26% expect this information after their initial inquiry.  Only 10% are willing to wait until they hear back from the school post-application, and just 6% after acceptance. These findings identify a critical gap in the student experience.

    Addressing this gap is vital for effectively guiding students through their enrollment journey. It’s also important to acknowledge that not all students have the same familiarity with navigating college financial processes. For example, the Online College Students Report found that 36% of online college students are first-generation college students, who may lack experience with navigating the college enrollment process, making conversations centered on financial aid even more critical.

    Additionally, many online students have already incurred student loan debt from prior enrollment, which can impact their ability to finance their education through federal aid alone. This existing debt often influences their decision to re-enroll. Therefore, engaging in financial discussions and understanding the impact of various factors, such as debt and previous financial experiences, is essential.

    Tailoring financial information and support to meet diverse needs is just one part of the broader conversation about enhancing financial literacy for prospective students. Financial literacy is an important component of their overall student journey, and by prioritizing this education and personalizing the approach, institutions can better support their students’ success while also improving enrollment outcomes.

    Building a Comprehensive Financial Aid Conversation Strategy

    When a prospective student inquiries and connects with an advisor, it presents an invaluable opportunity to provide a comprehensive review of tuition, costs, and all available financial options. At this stage, it’s important to ask questions that allow for individualized support, offering personalized answers tailored to each student’s specific financial situation. Remember, many students may already feel frustrated after struggling to find this information on the website. To address this, proactive financial conversations are key.

    Despite the importance of financial clarity, many enrollment interviews with prospective students fail to delve deeply into financial options. Instead, students are often directed to only the FAFSA, which limits the students access to information on other options. Discussing other options, such as scholarships, grants, and payment plans, can help reduce the greater debt load and give students a clearer understanding of how financial decisions impact them each academic year.

    Student Journey Mapping

    Student journey mapping is a strategic process that helps institutions visualize and optimize the student experience from initial inquiry to enrollment. When integrated with financial advising, student journey mapping becomes a powerful tool for identifying gaps in existing financial aid conversations and ensuring students receive the support they need early in their enrollment process.

    To start, assess your current student journey map by identifying all pre-enrollment touchpoints where financial advising is currently provided. Consider where financial discussions are taking place and how they are being conducted.

     Ask questions such as:

    • Where is financial advising currently provided?
    • How is financial information currently provided?
    • What gaps exist in these conversations?

    Once you have reviewed your existing student journey map, create a revised version that reflects a best-case scenario student journey. Consider the following:

    • Has the party responsible for financial advising changed or evolved?
    • Is the current system access still relevant?
    • Are there training or knowledge gaps that need to be addressed?
    • What specific questions should be asked during pre-enrollment advising to better address students’ financial needs?

    By addressing these considerations, institutions can create a more seamless and supportive financial advising experience that meets the unique needs of prospective students.

    For more detailed guidance on student journey mapping, visit our Student Journey Mapping page.

    Training Enrollment Teams

    Effective financial aid conversations are instrumental to student success, and well-trained enrollment teams can make a significant impact. With well-trained enrollment teams, institutions can provide clarity and support while fostering trust in the financial aid process. Here are four strategies for ensuring your team is prepared:

    1. Sell the Vision: Communicate the importance of financial aid discussions in shaping the student experience, motivating your team to approach these conversations with empathy and purpose.
    2. Solicit Feedback: Ask your enrollment team for input on their challenges and needs to ensure that training practices directly address their concerns.
    3. Create or Outsource High-Quality Training Content: Develop or outsource engaging training content that covers financial aid topics. Consider leveraging professional support, such as our Financial Aid Advising services, to ensure your team is thoroughly supported.
    4. Incorporate Relevant Resources or Data: Integrate current data and resources into your training materials, such as insights from the Online College Students Report to help your team understand the specific financial challenges students face and how to address them effectively.

    By implementing these strategies, your team will be better equipped to guide students through complex financial decisions, ensuring they feel supported from the first conversation through to enrollment.

    Beyond FAFSA

    While the FAFSA is a starting point for financial aid, it’s important to explore a range of financial aid options to better address varying student needs.

    Students may benefit from alternative financial aid options such as tuition reimbursement programs, employer-sponsored education benefits, scholarships, grants, and flexible payment plans. These resources can help reduce their reliance on loans and alleviate stress throughout their academic journeys.

    Through presenting a range of financial aid options, institutions can empower students with greater access to financial support, increasing their chances of enrollment success while minimizing financial stress.

    Monitoring and Adapting

    To better understand the effectiveness of your advising strategies, consider tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) related to financial aid conversations. Monitoring these KPIs allows you to identify areas of improvement and make necessary adjustments to ensure students receive the best possible support.

    Relevant KPIs to track include:

    • FAFSA Submission Time: Measure how quickly students are completing their FAFSA applications after engaging in financial aid conversations.
    • Packaging to Direct Cost: Track how effectively financial aid packages cover direct costs, such as tuition and fees.
    • Revised Award Letters/Packages: Monitor the frequency and outcomes of revised award letters or financial aid packages based on ongoing financial aid discussions.
    • Increased Payment Plans: Look for a rise in students adopting flexible payment plans due to better financial aid conversations.
    • Tuition Reimbursement: Track the usage of tuition reimbursement or employer-sponsored education benefits as alternative financial aid options.

    Continuous monitoring and adjusting as needed are key to optimizing the financial advising process. By regularly reviewing KPIs and the quality of financial aid conversations, enrollment teams can ensure that their advising strategies remain effective and aligned to student goals.

    Resources and Next Steps

    Leverage Our Expertise

    At EducationDynamics, we recognize that navigating the financial aid process can be a challenging part of the student journey. Our dedicated financial aid coaches provide your team with personalized support, helping to reduce the workload on your internal teams, allowing them to focus on core responsibilities. By partnering with us, you can streamline the financial aid process, increase efficiency, and improve enrollment outcomes.

    Watch the Recorded Webinar

    For a deeper dive into effective strategies for addressing financial aid conversations with prospective students, don’t miss our recorded webinar. This session offers valuable information on integrating financial guidance into the pre-enrollment experience and enhancing your financial aid conversations. Watch the recording now to access comprehensive approaches that can augment your institution’s financial advising process.

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  • Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Help Employees Achieve Their Financial Goals

    Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Help Employees Achieve Their Financial Goals

    by Julie Burrell | September 17, 2024

    The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program can offer significant financial relief to higher ed employees, but many don’t know they qualify for this benefit. PSLF is open to most full-time higher ed employees of nonprofit colleges and universities who have direct federal student loans.

    HR can spread the word to current employees and use loan forgiveness as part of a retention and recruitment strategy. The average amount of individual loan forgiveness under the PSLF is $70,000, which makes the PSLF an especially attractive benefit to potential employees.

    Here’s what you need to know about who qualifies for PSLF, how to offer a free webinar on PSLF to your employees, and what steps you can take to ensure eligible employees enroll.

    What is PSLF?

    Public Service Loan Forgiveness forgives the balance of direct federal student loans after 120 qualifying payments made by the borrower if they work for a qualifying employer (after October 1, 2007) and are under a qualifying repayment plan. It’s intended to reward and incentivize public service, like teaching, nonprofit work and work in the public sector. PSLF eligibility isn’t about what job an employee does or what their job description is; it’s about where they work.

    Who qualifies for PSLF?

    Full-time employees of a nonprofit organization or a federal, state, tribal, or local government are eligible. Full-time work is defined as 30 hours or more per week. That means most full-time higher ed employees are eligible for PSLF, including those who may work part time at your institution but are also employed at other qualifying jobs (as is the case with many adjuncts). But the PSLF only applies to direct federal student loans. Borrowers with other federal student loans may be able to consolidate them into a direct federal student loan.

    How do I ensure my institution counts as an eligible employer?

    Use the PSLF Help Tool, which will search the federal employer database. The help tool is also useful to recommend to employees since it’s a step-by-step guide through the enrollment process.

    Six Tips for Getting the Word Out

    1. Partner with Public Service Promise, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that offers free webinars led by experts.
    2. Encourage HR staff to apply for PSLF. With firsthand experience, you and your team will be able to speak knowledgeably about the process.
    3. Publicize PSLF as a benefit to your employees, especially those who may not know they can take advantage of this program, including adjuncts and non-exempt and part-time employees.
    4. Include information about PSLF on your benefits websites or portal.
    5. Consider appointing a knowledgeable point person on campus, like a financial aid officer, to help answer employee questions.
    6. Involve non-exempt, adjunct and part-time employees in outreach campaigns. Employees can meet the 30 hours per week requirement with more than one job. So if they have multiple jobs at multiple qualifying employers, employees can add those hours up. And the PSLF instructions include how to calculate hours worked by adjunct faculty. Payments do not need to be consecutive, so even adjuncts without summer appointments can still take advantage of PSLF and start to chip away at the 120 payments.



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  • More Than Half of Financial Aid Employees Likely to Seek Other Employment Within the Next Year – CUPA-HR

    More Than Half of Financial Aid Employees Likely to Seek Other Employment Within the Next Year – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | May 13, 2024

    A majority of those who work in financial aid at the nation’s colleges and universities are job hunting, according to new research from CUPA-HR and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). What are they looking for? Better pay, opportunities to work remotely and a more flexible schedule.

    A new report examining pay, pay equity, staffing, representation and retention in the higher ed financial aid workforce outlines several findings from analyses of data of financial aid employees from CUPA-HR’s 2022-23 higher ed workforce surveys and the 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey. Positions included in the analyses are chief student financial aid officers, deputy heads of financial aid and student financial aid counselors.

    The analyses found that more than half (56%) of financial aid employees are at least somewhat likely to seek other employment opportunities within the next 12 months, with 1 in 3 (33%) being likely or very likely to do so. Four in 5 (79%) rank a pay increase as one of the top three reasons they would seek other employment opportunities, while 3 in 5 (59%) rank an opportunity to work remotely as one of the top three reasons they would seek other employment opportunities. The desire for a flexible schedule is also ranked as a top reason for seeking other employment by nearly 2 in 5 (37%) financial aid employees.

    Other Findings

    • Institutions with the highest number of FAFSA applications have far more student financial aid counselors than institutions with the lowest number of FAFSA applications. At each increase in FAFSA application quartile, the median number of student financial aid counselors per institution doubles (or nearly doubles). Institutions with the greatest number of FAFSA applications on median have six more student financial aid counselors than institutions with the least number of FAFSA applications.
    • On median, institutions have four financial aid employees working in one of the three examined positions. Thirteen percent of institutions have a one-person financial aid office. Even the institutions that process the lowest number of FAFSA applications tend to have need for more than one person working in their office – over half of these institutions have at least three people in their financial aid office.
    • The representation of people of color declines as the level of financial aid position increases. The representation of people of color is almost two times higher among student financial aid counselors than among chief student financial aid officers. The representation of women overall among chief student financial aid officers is lower than the representation of women within the lower-level financial aid positions, but the difference is much smaller than the declines seen for people of color.
    • Pay equity is lower among chief student financial aid officers than among lower-level financial aid positions. Black women and Hispanic or Latino men are paid equitably within student financial aid counselor and deputy head of student financial aid positions, but not within the chief student financial aid officer position. At each increase in position level, White women’s pay relative to White men in the same position decreases. White women are paid equitably to White men in student financial aid counselor positions but are paid only 94 cents per $1 paid to White men in chief student financial aid officer positions.
    • Among financial aid employees, years in position is lowest among student financial aid counselors. Of all financial aid positions, student financial aid counselors have the highest concentration of people who have been in their position for fewer than two years (43%). Retention is better among deputy heads of student financial aid and chief student financial aid officers; one-third have been in their position for 10 years or longer.

    Read the full report, The Higher Education Financial Aid Workforce: Pay, Representation, Pay Equity, and Retention, and explore the interactive graphics.



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