11 creative strategies to improve community college financial aid

CREATIVE STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID11

WHICH STUDENTS ARE LEAST LIKELY TO APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID?

ACCORDING TO THE FINANCIAL AID CHALLENGE, IT’S THOSE WHO NEED IT THE MOST.

Q:

A:

COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH LOW TO MODERATE INCOME ARE THE POPULATION MOST UNLIKELY TO FILE

A FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA).

FOR MANY COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS, FINANCIAL AID IS THE ONLY

WAY THEY WILL COMPLETE THEIR PROGRAMS.

YET, FAFSA APPS AREN’T COMING IN FOR THE NEEDIEST STUDENTS.

WHAT ARE THE HURDLES BETWEEN STUDENTS AND FINANCIAL AID?

&HOW CAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID DIRECTORS REMOVE THEM?

Q:

LANGUAGE BARRIERS

OF DEGREE-SEEKING COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS COME FROM AN IMMIGRANT BACKGROUND, ACCORDING TO A 2003-04 REPORT BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS.

Make your school melting pot friendly by:

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DOUBLING UP: Provide bilingual services and materials. If you have a large non-English speaking demographic, offer multilanguage media or translation options on your websites.

1.

PARTNERING:Work with multicultural leaders to encourage college attendance within their communities.

2.

REACHING OUT:Conduct workshops or information sessions for students interested in community college and communicate financial aid opportunities. Be sure to keep the message culturally and linguistically appropriate.

3.

ARCHAIC PROCESSES

“THAT’S HOW WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT”

BE OPEN TO USING CREATIVE METHODS TO REACH STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH UNIQUE

SITUATIONS BY:

BEING MORE AVAILABLE:

Offer evening and weekend office hours. This is extremely effective as the community college student population is more likely to be working while in school and may have difficulty contacting your office during regular business hours.

4.

ANALYZING:Knowing what is working and what isn’t is the key to improving processes. Incorporate evaluation metrics and data collection into office practices, including internal QA.

NO SCHOOL IS TOO SMALL TO BE MEASURING EFFICIENCY.

5.

EMPLOYING TECHNOLOGY:

A number of community college students fall out of the financial aid process during verification. Platforms like StudentVerification make the verification process nearly painless by providing a student self-service portal. Any student who can take a picture with a smartphone or log into a social media account has the skills to use StudentVerification.

6.

STARTING RIGHT AWAY:

Get financial aid information in front of the student as early as possible. Good times are after the student has submitted the college application or once he/she has been accepted.

7.

DISTRUST OR MISUNDERSTANDING

ACCORDING TO THE FINANCIAL AID CHALLENGE, SOME GROUPS OF

COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS AND/OR THEIR PARENTS MAY BE WARY OF

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES THAT ASK FOR FINANCIAL INFORMATION.

AS CERTAIN FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE FAFSA, THIS PRESENTS A DISTINCT

PROBLEM FOR FINANCIAL AID OFFICES.

GETTING HELP:

Partner with other education institutions or community organizations to offer financial aid counseling to all students. Students and their parents may already trust these organizations, which will boost your credibility.

8.

CONNECTING:

Team up with local high school counselors to provide grade-specific information to students. If you build a relationship with students in advance, they’re bound to be more trusting of your organization even before they are accepted.

9.

QUIT EMAILING:

Do not ask for or accept sensitive documents through email. Parents and students are likely to be uncomfortable with sending certain information via email, including tax documents, social security or ID cards and bank statements. Look into a secure portal like StudentVerification, which protects files with goverment-grade data encryption.

10.

TALKING ABOUT IT:

Include a page on the financial aid portion of your school website that responds to concerns by outlining your department’s safety measures and the qualifications of your staff members. Be sure to put a positive spin on it, naming it something like “Our Commitment to Protecting Your Data” or “Security and <insert name of school>.”

11.

THANK YOU.

campuslogicfrom the team at