NCASFAA Fall 2012

1. NCASFAA Fall 2012 Pioneers in PersistenceClearing the Path for Non Traditional Students November 13, 2012 Charlotte, NC Presented by:Mike O’Grady, Financial Aid Services Dr. Carlo Salerno, PAVE Ms. Sharon Oliver, Associate Vice President, North Carolina Central University

2. Persistence Why should Financial Aid Offices Care about “persistence?” Accountability - Accountability - Accountability Discretionary budget has a bull’s eye on it. Huge waste of tax payers’ money when students don’t graduate “Stop outs” are less likely to pay their student loans • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

3. The New Pipeline % that have a college degree • Non-Hispanic white population will increase by 10.2 million by 2020 • African-American population will increase by 9.5 million by 2020 • Hispanic populationwill increase by 24.1 million • 31.1 % • 17.6 % • 12.6 % Source: Lumina Foundation NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

4. Persistence’s PerfectStorm  Decreasing traditional college bound population  Worst economy since the Depression  Budget freezes on all levels  One out of four homeowners is in a negative equity position or no equity position Filling and keeping seats from a new demographic • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

5. Perfect Storm Continued • By 2020 65% of all jobs will require postsecondary education • In 1993 the average student loan debt load (in today’s dollars) was $14,500 • In 2011 the average student loan debt load was $26,600 • In 1999 the default rate was 5.6%, in 2010 the default rate was 9.1% • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

6. Financial Aid’s Role •  According to Thom Golden from Vanderbilt University, non-traditional students don’t enroll often due to: 1) Lack of Clarity. 2) Concerns over affordability, and 3) Lack of clarity around eligibility • According to ACE- 1.8 million low-income students would received financial aid but didn’t apply • Financial constraints are the number 1 reason for 50% of student who enroll and drop out. • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

7. Retention Funnel Recruiting students that don’t matriculate is extremely expensive and is a “lose-lose” proposition. A D M I T T E D G R A D U A T E S A L U M N I Sophomores Freshmen Juniors Seniors • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

8. Model of Communication Sender Encoder Decoder Receiver • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

9. Leveraging Technology for Better Customer Service • Transfer work-load to where interpersonal skills are needed • Reduce rote tasks • 24/7 • Institution can become bilingual • Consistent brand management • Mitigates budget cuts • Go Green • Use analytics as your GPS for default management • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

10. “The Medium is the Message”… Marshal McLuhan •  Snail Mail •  Direct Mail •  Phone •  Internet • Campus Visits • E-Mail • Facebook •  Twitter • Net Price Calculator • Dynamic Award Letters GPS all the above through automatic communications. • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

11. Staying Afloat  Diversify your staff - age, sex, and ethnicity  Technology, Technology, Technology  Leverage resources from the Department of Ed  Benchmark with your peers constantly  Acquire cross-cultural training • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

12. Case-Study: North Carolina Central University In 2007 Chancellor Nelms established the Quality Service Initiative (QSI) with the intent to: • Enhance customer satisfaction • Improve responsiveness • Improve effectiveness • Increase student retention and graduation rates • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

13. College “Culture Shock” & Veteran’s PTSD/I Awareness • Introduced by 1954 by Kalvervo Oberg •  Normally a student blames his or her “financial aid” as the reason for leaving school. •  Difficulty in assimilating to new culture and environment •  Anxiety, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion •  Phases: Honeymoon Phase-Negotiation Phase--Adjustment Phase (things become “normal”)-Reverse Culture Shock • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

14. Veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Injury (PTSD/I) • One in five veterans will experience re-entry issues or possibly PTSD/I • Approximately 200,000 women served in Afghanistan and Iraq • 23% to 33% of women veterans report experiencing “MST” of which 42% will acquire PTSD • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

15. Veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Injury (PTSD/I) • Re-entry issues for veterans often result in alcohol abuse, drug abuse, family or marital problems or suicide • Symptoms of PTSD may include anger and irritability, “spacey stare,” short attention span, confusion, trouble sleeping, and “self-medicating.” • What is your SAP policy regarding PTSD? • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

16. Internal Champions/Task Force—Consider a “One Stop Shop” Veterans Affairs Financial Aid Admissions Student Accounts Psychological Services Multicultural Affairs • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

17. Case study #2—Retention Pays A small private college of 1000 students in New York State with 43% of its Students Pell eligible instituted and early identification and automated alert system to improve their retention. In spring 2010 to fall 2010 they retained 36 students more than The previous year. In Fall 2010 to Spring 2011 they retained 39 Student more than the previous year. In Spring 2011 to Fall 2011 They retained 59 students more. And in Fall 2011 to Spring 2011 They retained 70 students more than the previous year. Total Net Revenue: Over 2 Million dollars. • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012

18. Doing less with more!!! •  Diversify your staff - age, sex, and ethnicity • Co-source with partners (more) • Leverage technology (more) • Bad customer service leads to bad retention • Improve communication internally and externally—include the families • Send award letters to students before they leave for the summer • Acquire an early alert system and process • NCASFAA Conference - Fall 2012