News
As seen in theMay 2007 issue of The Greentree Gazette
In a Gazette Minute
On what topics do you find a school president and a school financial aid administrator in agreement?
They agree that affordability barriers perceived by prospective students can be lowered by outreach, financial aid counseling, and a sincere desire to serve a community that is made up of people with a variety of backgrounds. Presidents can build relationships with affinity groups that FAAs and enrollment managers can help sustain.
What doings in the financial aid office should presidents know more about?
A key reason prospective students fail to enroll is perceived unaffordability. And processing speed wins, particularly for distance enrollments. FAAs can help presidents and enrollment managers get a good fix on how many prospective students they touched; how many enrolled and started class; and why.
Are student loans properly described as financial aid?
They are financial aid, because they help Americans attend college. They aren't free aid, but they are important to our competitiveness worldwide. China doesn't have them. England, despite its higher education sophistication, lags the U.S. in student loans.
What software features accommodate preferred lender lists for your client schools?
Among our clients the FAA sets strategy, policy and governance, including which preferred lenders to list. From their specs we tailor the sorted order. But we have also enabled some clever techniques that re-sort with each fresh student who navigates through the site.
What special-purpose compliance functions have you developed for schools? Here are a few examples. We have extensive quality assurance auto-prompts for each document. Our software can fetch academic data at the time a student withdraws and perform a documented calculation of any amount due back to the federal aid programs. We initiate outbound calls to students selected for verification and/or comment codes.
What is the future of business process outsourcing on campus? A savvy outsourcing company can help a capable campus leadership team become an A-player in enrollment, cost control and customer service.