The State of Financial Aid…And What It Means To Your School

Mark J. Mitchell, Vice President, SSS By NAISDallas Joseph, Chief Financial Office, Baylor School (TN)

NAIS Annual ConferenceFebruary 25, 2011

Introduction

Biggest Challenges in Financial Aid Management Today– Shaky economy, consumer confidence– Access vs Affordability– Adequate funding for need– More high-income, former “full-pay” families– Increasing demand, increasing budgets

Growing fiscal and philosophical priority

How well are we positioned to tackle these issues?

2010 State of Financial Aid Survey

Online survey conducted by Insightlink Communications– Nearly 300 respondents representing a variety of schools

Aim to probe the key issues that financial aid administrators face and their “readiness” to tackle them effectively

Provide a glimpse into the reach and achievement of financial aid objectives

Identify support and training systems in place and where additional support is needed

“Top Ten” summary available

Responsibilities and Experience

Nearly all (93%) hold full-time positions– 37% “director of financial aid”

29% hold less than dir/asst dir level position– 66% work part-time on fin aid duties

Avg time spent on fin aid: 24%

Work experience evenly distributed but 42% have more than 10 yrs tenure in fin aid– Only 5% actively sought the fin aid role– Most (54%) accepted it as part of another position

Satisfaction and Purpose Most find the job satisfying (62% “very” or “extremely”

satisfied), but room to grow

The top four emotions associated with the job are positive (compassion, satisfaction, optimism, and acceptance)

Most find it highly challenging (92%) and rewarding (86%)– 96% agree that the job gives the opportunity to help others– 76% agree that the job lets them strive for goals that they

personally value– 89% believe the work matches the school’s mission – 85% believe the work aligns with the head’s vision for the

school

Only 65% find the work itself “enjoyable”

Challenges, Obstacles Top Five Challenges

– Difficulty balancing limited dollars with the expanding demand (86%)

– Getting parents to cooperate fully and in a timely manner (60%)

– Navigating difficult family situations (56%)– Balancing the tasks in the time I have in a week (47%)– Applying fair and consistent priorities in deciding who gets

aid (42%)

Disconnect between primary goal and its achievement– 88% believe “access” is the primary purpose of the aid

program– 66% believe that the program is achieving the desired “access”

Practices, Training, Networks

71% report the financial aid committee is the primary decision maker with individual fin aid awards– 90% use a committee for awarding– 69% report that committee members receive no training

Nearly one-quarter (22%) received no training when assuming the financial aid role in their first year– Only 17% send new hires offsite for training– 13% use no particular process for training

40% report having a network of financial aid colleagues that they communicate with regularly– Informal method of training, commiseration, sounding board– Phone, email, listserves, and face-to-face meetings most common

Key Learnings Financial Aid Professionals

--- on avg. spend less than 24% of their time on financial aid duties

--- 66% work part-time on fin aid duties

--- Most (54%) accepted it as part of another position

Nearly one-quarter (22%) received no training when assuming the financial aid role in their first year– Only 17% send new hires offsite for training– 13% use no particular process for training

Committed Resources– Difficulty balancing limited dollars with the expanding demand (86%)– Getting parents to cooperate fully and in a timely manner (60%)– Navigating difficult family situations (56%)

Implications

Tools (SSS, etc…) designed to help Fin. Administrators determine awards are now used as the definitive source for determining the award

Schools may be under- or over-funding current families and losing out on enrolling new families

Award process may be confirming perception among families that the financial aid process is flawed (consumer confidence)

Financial Aid Administrators require training to handle the complexities involved with the need assessment process.

Source: NAIS StatsOnline, Trends Report, Feb. 2011

Global Brand Simplicity Index: 2010The world’s perception of simplicity,its importance in our daily lives and the organizations that help make our livesless complex

Siegel + Gale, Feb 16, 2011

Stress, feelings of complexityflavor expectations, conversationsabout the fin aid process?