The Role of the Financial Aid Office
in Campus Retention Efforts
Presented by Bonnie Weaver
Agenda for today’s session
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Some common definitions.
Who, exactly, is at risk of dropping out?
The role of data in retention efforts.
What data can Financial Aid add to the discussion?
What do institutions do that puts students at risk?
What impact does quality service have?
How do we communicate our successes?
Retention words
• P, P, R, C
• Persistence
– Term to term
• Progression
– Course success
• Retention
– Return rate from Fall to Fall
• Completion
– Is it the same as graduation?
Defining Success on your campus
• What are some of the additional measures of success
used on your campus?
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IPEDS GRS-Data Collection
SAP-Student Academic Progress
Transfer rates
Satisfaction surveys
Which students are at risk?
• If your Dean asked you this question:
• “What students do you feel are most likely to be
unsuccessful on our campus?”
• What would you say?
• What risk factors would you list?
Academic
Underprepared
Limited academic skills
Poor study habits
Doesn’t see value in course
Poor academic performance
Part-time course load
Lack of career and educational goals
Feedback that is too little too late
Personal
Lost
Stressed
Closed to new ideas/experiences
Low self-esteem
Undisciplined
Unmotivated
Insecure
Uninformed
Unrealistic expectations
Student-institution mismatch
Life Issues
Financial difficulty
Job conflicts
Home-family difficulties
Personal problems
Health problems
College not necessary for career goals
Social
Alienation and social isolation
Subject to negative peer pressure
Uninvolved in college activities
Little involvement with faculty
Why data mining?
• When you have data, you take assumptions off the table.
• You can find out what students think about you if you ask
them—while they’re still enrolled.
• Data can help you prioritize your interventions.
• Creating a sense of urgency to act without data is a
challenge unto itself.
• It’s impossible to sustain momentum without data to
support your successes.
What Data does Financial Aid Offer?
Institutional risk factor
• What do we do that puts students at risk?
Institutional
Experience scheduling problems
Experience administrative/billing problems
Experience negative attitude in classroom/advising
Experience poor teaching
Academic program not available
Get the “campus run around”
Get no assistance during probation
Delivering Quality Service in Financial Aid
• What are some of the most frequently heard student
complaints about the Financial Aid Office?
• How could we measure whether we are doing better in
these areas?
Some Reasons For The
Knowledge/Performance Gap
1. Busy/rushed/overworked.
2. Poor Listening skills.
3. The “Law of Familiarity”-using words they don’t
know.
4. Reaction to student.
5. Service system problems (e.g., policies).
6. Failure to identify individual needs/situation.
7. Lack empowerment.
8. Personal distractions.
How can we communicate our success?
• What measures of
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Processing
Dollars
Students served
Quality Service
could we provide to our retention committee?
What can Financial Aid offer?
• We have lots of data that could inform the retention effort.
– Share it!
• We have great successes to highlight in managing
complex systems delivered to large populations.
– Count it, measure it, and publish it!
• We have budgeting expertise.
– Deliver it to campus programs and to students!
• We have quality service delivery and information that can
contribute to student satisfaction.
– Commit to it, model it, and bring it to the retention table!
Thank you!
Bonnie Weaver
Debt Management Consultant, USA Funds
866-497-8723 x5698
Bonnie.weaver@usafunds.org