Rethinking Financial Aid Support in a Time of Rising Workloads

Blackboard Market Research

The top three issues facing Higher Ed are consistent across multiple personas, from Presidents, Technology Leaders and Faculty

Rising costs and decreasing revenue

Recruiting/ enrolling students

say “retaining students” is most critical issue facing Higher Ed

58%53%

48%

% Critical to Solve by Persona (C-Level, Academic & Administrative, Tech Leader, Faculty)

7.2 out of 10rate “staff capacity” as a significant impediment to solving enrollment and retention challenges

The top three barriers facing Presidents when attempting to solve enrollment and retention challenges

7.1 out of 10inability to access actionable data

7.1 out of 10inability to scale processes

Survey Ratings from HERDI President Advisory Panel on 4/7/15

Blackboard Market Research

Students now…

choosewhere, how, and when to get their education

Students are consumers

Tech savvy and mobile

Seek course and degree options

Value and outcomes focused

Attentive to skills and competencies

A service gap exists

Increased expectations and demand doesn’t always mean increased resources, so the institutional workload pays the price

Nee

ds

and

exp

ect

atio

ns

Time

Wideningservice gap

How VCCS Tackled Their Financial Aid Challenges

Virginia Community College System operated with a traditional service model

Old/traditional service model

23 colleges across

40 campuses

A lot of challenges

About Virginia Community College System

VCCS Financial Aid Picture

YearStudents Receiving

Financial AidPercent

of All StudentsTotal Amount

Disbursed

2012-2013 99,860 35.7% $494.1 million

2011-2012 100,108 34.7% $480.4 million

2010-2011 91,838 32.0% $434.5 million

2009-2010 79,127 28.1% $350.0 million

2009-2010 60,112 22.9% $220.0 million

2008-2009 51,922 20.8% $172.6 million

Let’s focus on Northern Virginia Community College

78,461 students

6 campuses

Just outside

Washington, DC

Students from 180+ countries

with varying financial aid

support needs

Increases faster than enrollment each yearNOVA FA Office Workload

FAFSA Trend Pell Recipients

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14

95% 106%

Challenges and Solutions

Hired Associate Director, Communications & Enrollment SupportCommunications

Hired Assistant Director, Training and developed multi-faceted training program

Resources with varying expertise spread over all of northern Virginia

Contracted with Blackboard Student Services for a NOVA Financial Aid Support Center and hired NOVA Coordinator

Long lines on campuses and many unanswered phone calls and emails

Restructured and moved campus staff under CFAO; hired managers with higher-level skills

Campus staff who reported to their Deans of Students

Contracted with FAS for verification assistanceLate seasonal spikes in ISIRs

A Look at Our Financial Aid Support Center

NOVA/Blackboard PartnershipResults

Live outbound call campaign drove 73% FAFSA completion

24x7 multi-modal financial aid services to support over 80,000 students

Effective outbound campaigns reaching 150,000 students

Students wait time on campuses greatly reduced; staff have time to address student needs

Student satisfaction rate greater than 80%

Next StepsRolling Out Best Practices to All Virginia Community Colleges

Complete 2021 InitiativeVirginia’s Community Colleges

will lead the Commonwealth in

the education of its people by

tripling the number of credentials

awarded for economic vitality

and individual prosperity.

VCCS + Blackboard:A Shared Philosophy

Reach Engage Retain

Student

Old/traditional service model

Student Accounts

Systems Support

Advising

Student Affairs

Admissions

Financial Affairs

Financial Aid

Registrar

Streamlined pathway

Studentsor

Instructors

TechnologySolutions

Advisors

How it works

Scalable 24/7/365 solution

Virtual one-stop-shop

Rapid integration of institutional data

Multi-modal service delivery

Proactive self-guided help

Extensive knowledge base

Faster, more accurate service

Students & Faculty

Advisors

AdvisorDesktop

Service Desk Self Service

Blackboard SIMS Platform

Insights& Analytics

Institutional Data SystemsLMS SIS CRM

Technology Platform

Technology & People Solutions

DataIntegration

Real Results: VCCS

“We don’t have lines on campuses anymore. We don’t have unanswered calls.”

4K+ new students from Fall ‘13 to Spring ‘14 re-enrollment campaign (10% increase to overall student body)

912 new students from summer registration campaign

150K+ proactive outreach communications to students

73% Financial Aid utilization ratefrom outbound call campaigns

Tidewater Community College

Northern VA Community College

Joan Zanders, NOVA

80%Satisfaction

scores

88%First-call

resolution rates

“We don’t have lines on campuses anymore. We don’t have unanswered calls.”

Challenge:

100% of FA support provided by college staff – whether they be simple process questions or more complex issues.

Solution:

Comprehensive Financial Aid & Student Account Service Center serving 23 colleges and 280K students allowing for VCCS to focus on strategic initiatives

How It All Comes Together

Phoenix, AZ

Killeen, TX

Somerset, KY

Greenville, SC

Financial Aid Support Center

Includes a comprehensive, searchable Knowledge Base (KB) to address potential questions (FAQs)

Blackboard provides a CRM with robust history of all student interactions – call recordings, chat session records, ticket data, survey responses

Provides proactive automated and in-person outbound calls to enhance file completion and drive up engagement levels

Allows for a more complete “customer service” approach – over 99% response rate for all tickets in 2014 (30 second speed to answer; 14% escalation)

CRM Allows students to attach documents for completing checklist items. Documents are saved in the ticket history and accessible by student and licensed staff

Key Takeaways

1. Institutions are experiencing a widening service gap where the

expectations and demand for student services are increasing but this

doesn't’t mean that resources are also increasing.

2. The traditional service model does not provide for a satisfactory

student experience. By streamlining the pathway with technology

solutions and live advisors, students, instructors, and staff can much

better meet the demands and expectations of students.

3. Blackboard’s SmartView Technology combines our technology &

people solutions and data integration of your LMS, SIS, CRM to

provide you with a scalable 24/7/365 solution.

Contact us for your complimentary assessment

Fall enrollment declines exceeding average among all community colleges

Financial Aid departmental workload growth despite slowing enrollments

~25% growth in FA applications & Pell recipients requires new servicing model

[Your Institution’s]Financial Aid Workload Growth

125,364 164,134

185,462 203,422

43,870 60,080 67,195 61,028

-

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

FAFSA Applications Pell Recipients Total Headcount

Source: NCES/IPEDS, FSA 2009-13

38.0%27.2%

12.5%

64.7%

47.9%

15.9%

Total Financial Aid Workload Percent Change from 2008 - 2013

For your free complimentary assessment and custom report, contactJohn Ozturk.

john.ozturk@blackboard.com

919-573-4920

Contact Us

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