USA Funds and Truckee Meadows Community College in Nevada have partnered to promote a holistic approach to student loan debt management. The partnership has included implementing a financial literacy curriculum and peer counselors for TMCC students, communicating to student loan borrowers to promote successful loan repayment, applying analytics to better target outreach to borrowers, and […]
Maybe the last thing you want to do in environmentally conscious Oregon is implement an efficiency-oriented solution that ends up resulting in greater paper use. Administrators at Portland State purchased an enterprise content management solution for admissions, registration and records, financial aid and business services that—among other deficiencies—necessitated the printing of a prospective student’s application […]
Models of Efficiency recognizes institutions exhibiting best practices in their efforts to increase efficiency, improve productivity and leverage existing resources. Implementation of new technology or expanded use of technology already in use is at the core of most winning initiatives. At many colleges and universities, there is a domino effect across campus, heightening interest in […]
At a time when the gulf between liberals and conservatives seems to be wider than ever, there is one topic about which they agree: the reasons for the rising cost of a college education. Why do colleges and universities keep raising tuition, asks Timothy Noah in The New Republic? Because they can. And Allysia Finley […]
Institutions that are successful in preventing loan defaults make it a campuswide effort, according to a recent survey by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS). Nine community college administrators from institutions of varying sizes and locations were asked about traits of their borrowers and defaulters, […]
With national student debt at a stunning $1.2 trillion and financial pressure playing a key factor in retention, colleges must take the initiative to help students maximize opportunities for financial aid. Yet many colleges have downsized their financial aid offices and automated various functions. At Mercy College, we take another approach: We’re dedicated to humanizing […]
The U.S. economy has been through major changes in the last several years, and the effects are being felt on campus. In many cases, this turmoil shows up publicly in the form of a credit-rating downgrade. On some campuses, a change in the credit rating has no effect on the day-to-day operations; on others, it […]
Streamlining the awarding and processing of student loans—Federal Perkins as well as institutional loans—began at the Illinois Institute of Technology with a simple question and a frustrating answer. “It started because I asked, ‘What is the process?’” recalls Jackie Anderson, associate director of student accounting. “No one really knew.” So Anderson rolled up her sleeves […]
The coming change in how student loan default rates are calculated may mean bad news for some colleges and universities. With the new calculations, the rate at which a group of students later defaults on loan payments will increase for most institutions, and schools with a particular default rate for three consecutive years will lose […]
Although managing enrollment efforts has never been easy, it was not that long ago when the traditional funnel was somewhat predictable. As an admissions counselor in my early days, I could easily work backward to set goals for my territory, starting with my goal for the number of enrolled students. I then used historical data […]
