Giving Out Information
Does your Admissions Office give out financial aid information to families? Do you think the admissions staff have adequate training and understanding of financial aid to give out any advice?
Yes I understand that our admissions staff does have the knowledge to offer minimal financial aid office due to their training and years of experience working in the admissions department.
Our Admission Office has Financial Aid brochures which they give out to prospective students. Even though they do not have the expertise of all financial aid regulations, they do have the basics. When students ask questions that are more complicated, they refer the student to the Financial Aid Office.
Our Admissions Office gives out basic financial aid information to prospect students including distribution of Financial Aid Information packets prepared by the Financial Aid Officer. The students are referred to the F.A. Office to receive more detailed information on programs and how to complete the FAFSA and Student Loans applications.
Hello Sergio,
Welcome to FA231! I hope you find this course informative and helpful.
Sounds like your current Admissions staff had a good policy on giving out FA information. They key is to make sure they "know what they don't know" and when to refer students to the Financial Aid Office.
When Admissions hires new staff members there should be some training from a member of the Financial Aid staff. Periodic meetings with a person from Financial Aid will help keep them abreast of the ever changing regulations.
Hello Maria,
So glad you have decided to take my class! Welcome!
It is wonderful that the Admissions staff at your school have learned enough about financial aid to give out minimal information. Many admissions folks resist even learning about financial aid.
If they are giving out any information at all, it would be important to make sure that they know their limits and who to go to for advice. As new Admissions staff comes on board their responses to financial aid questions should be monitored until all are comfortable with their abilities.
Hello Ileana,
Welcome to my course and I hope you find it informative and useful!
Glad to see that the Financial Aid Information packet is prepared by the Financial Aid Office. It is all about the Admissions staff knowing "what they know and what they don't know" and that they have the resources to find the answers and to refer to the Aid Office.
Even with the information packet, when new staff come on board, some individual training by the Financial Aid Staff would be advisable.
Our Admissions office gives only very basic FA information. Basically they let the student know that we do offer financial aid, what type we offer and anything over that they take the student to the FA office for further discussion. I do not think admissions should go into any type of FA discussion with a student. For one, it can be construed as a crossover conversation and could could issues, and for two the admissions reps are not familiar enough with the process to give information to the student. It is a complicated process with many factors that should only be discussed by the professionals.
Tracy,
Once again I agree with you. Even the appearance of "crossover" conversations can present difficulties.
Our Admissions team has only a very basic knowledge of financial aid but is trained to have the Financial Aid personnel answer any and all questions about financial, just as the Financial Aid Officers defer many questions regarding enrollment and admission to the college back to Admissions. They have a good working relationship, each keeping within their boudaries.
Does your Admissions Office give out financial aid information to families? They give out very basic information. Like the fact that we offer financial aid to those who qualify, where to complete the FAFSA, and our federal school code.
Do you think the admissions staff have adequate training and understanding of financial aid to give out any advice? No. Conversely, I don't think the financial aid staff has adequate training to give out admissions advice. The line between departments is very clear and is there for a reason.
