Financial aid season is upon us. Applications are pouring in, taxes are being verified, acceptance and rejection letters are being sent, and your school’s future classes are being determined. Your Admission Office is in high gear, and your Financial Aid Committee is running in overdrive. There’s a lot of energy on campus this time of year, and as Head, you’re right in the midst of it all.
When it comes to financial aid, no one wants to be rejected or told they only qualify for a portion of what they were applying for. Add a splash of rejection to the season’s natural psychological dipping point (hurry up spring!) and you have the perfect recipe for an explosion.
It’s important that you understand that everyone is little less themselves this time of year. However, that’s not going to make your job any easier. Explaining financial aid decisions is a delicate matter. What you need to face these disappointed families is a strong financial aid policy, a mission-based formula, and a splash of empathy.
Hopefully, you’re using a financial aid service that doesn’t share award information. We’re finding that schools that are making decisions based on what their competition offers are not making the best decisions for their own mission-based student bodies—and they’re lining their Heads up to face the heat from families who want to know why ABC School gave them X amount and you’re only offering Y amount. Of course, even if you don’t use a service that shares such information and your competitors do, you’re still facing the same firing squad questioning.
Using a service that helps your team make award decisions based on need and not on competition will ensure you’re awarding the right families for your mission—which is the most important element.This is also your strongest tool when addressing concerned families. Your formula should be customized to your school’s mission. Having a formula that works for your mission—not your competition’s—is not only how your school is going to survive changing economic situations, but also guarantees a strong student body for future graduating classes.
How do you handle families who come knocking at your door with financial aid concerns?
- One approach is to start with your school’s financial aid mission (which is different from your school's financial aid policy). It should already be accessible for applying families, and this is always the best place to start when addressing their concerns. Thank them for their interest in your school, acknowledge their child(ren), and remind them of your school’s goals looking ahead.
- Remind families that your mission should be their primary interest, not the final tuition payment.
- Keep the dialog open and diffuse aggression before it reaches an escalated level.
- Remind families that your Financial Aid Officers are professionals working for your school’s mission who have worked hard to make the best possible decisions for your school’s future.
- Remind families that applying for financial aid is not a guarantee of an award. (Hopefully, this is also worded in your school’s financial aid mission.)
Another approach is to leave the final decisions and the blame to the financial aid software. The beauty of using a financial aid service is that you don’t have to be burdened with rejecting families. When they come looking for the reasons behind the decision, you can point them back to the software.
Learn a better way to award your families. Request an online demo of FAST—Powered by ISM.
Additional ISM articles of interest
ISM Monthly Update for School Heads Vol. 11 No. 8 What Do You Know About Financial Aid Reporting?
ISM Monthly Update for Trustees Vol. 11 No.1 Board Policy on Financial Aid
ISM Monthly Update for Admission Officers Vol. 11 No. 5 Financial Aid Award Notifications
Additional ISM articles of interest for Gold Consortium members
I&P Vol. 37 No. 13 Financial Aid and Competition
I&P Vol. 36 No. 4 Three Types of Need-Based Financial Aid
