Daniela,
Your last point is a crucially important one. Students are understandably wary when contacted by a company they have never heard of, so making your relationship with a default prevention company clear and comprehensible will go a long way toward building trust.
Additionally, the way a third party is marketed within your school can make a difference. We would suggest focusing on the ability of the outside company to answer questions and offer assistance. To students unfamiliar with the concept, ‘default prevention’ may sound a little scary, and it can be difficult to convince seriously delinquent students that we are not involved in collections. If the financial aid staff emphasizes that a third party exists to assist students, they can help us be more effective.
Kellee Gunderson
Maylin,
It is great that you are actively identifying students that require attention, and NSLDS offers useful data reported by federal loan servicers.
In addition to NSLDS reports, institutions whose loan portfolio still includes FFEL servicers should also look for delinquency information from the individual loan companies.
Kellee Gunderson
We run reports from NSLDS that lets us know the students that are delinquent or past due. We contact those students and help them to contact the servicer to find out what options are available to them.
Our school has hired a third party to assist the students. The third party Company sends them letters and calls them. However, we do something at the school as well. During the Exit we emphasize the importance of keeping in touch with their servicers. We also encourage them to login to NSLDS to view their loan history and we introduce our Default Prevention Company as a service to the student and not as a collection agency and the importance of not avoiding any calls or disregarding any mail they may get from them.
I agree that communication is important.
This includes communicating and emphasizing the seriousness of taking out a student loan.
Many times, it's easy to sugarcoat the idea with ease and simplicity. And many times, we are all hopeful that our education could immediately lead us to the light we all hope to seek, which is finding that dream job, being financially stable because we have attained our degree. But sadly, that is not always immediately the case.
While taking out a student loan is one of the best investments, the investors don't always act within reason and the outweighing benefits are not clear right away.
Outlining the consequences of delinquency or default can help a student realize that that is not where they want to end up. In addition, outlining the options and benefits can allow the student to embrace the respobsiblity with some grace.
Also- to all the financial aid reps out there, you should defitnitly ensure you are doing everything you can to qualify the student for as many grants as you can first! Many students who attend these proprietary schools come from low-income families and are eligible for many grants and do not need loans!
We do one on one counseling and find it most effective at the same time we always strive to update student information while counseling the student on all available resources. the online tools are all every helpful.
Lorena Villarreal
Joy,
You make an excellent point. Students may not know what they are looking for or where to go to get the forms they need and when they do get them they may seem overwhelming. Helping them understand them from the beginning can make the process less intimidating. Having a sudent complete an in-school deferment form when they re-enroll is a good way to help them take ownership and familiarize them with the process.
Cheryl Kesson
Re-entering students are required to sit with financial aid to check their loan balances, loan statuses and complete a deferment form. This is a good habit for students to understand a paper trail is necessary to maintain a current loan status. Also, within the student loan Exit Interview packet, we include various types of forms for deferments and forbearance. We have found, one is more likely to complete a form if they don’t have to go looking for it.
Barbie,
Congratulations on building a strong sense of cooperation and communication within your organization! I am sure that this has already benefitted your students in many ways.
Kellee Gunderson
Right now the school I work for has a team of individuals who meet with the students on a regular basis to not only talk about their in-school loans but to discuss their plans for future loans.
We also have the students talk about loan payments with the career services department. When the student is helped in finding the job they have always wanted they are already encouraged to make payments on their loans!
using communication is very important at our school, that is how we help each other
Veronica,
Excellent idea! Connecting with students who are preparing to graduate gives you the opportunity to cast financial responsibility in a highly positive light. You can congratulate them on completion and discuss post-graduation plans while at the same time providing loan repayment information.
Kellee Gunderson
At our institution we maintain reports on who is graduating or who is about too. Once we find out we go ahead and bring them into our office and counsel.
Jessica,
Congratulations on your new position! You have a wonderful opportunity to start things out in the right direction and to implement new ideas as you grow. I wish you the best of luck as you move forward.
Cheryl Kesson
The financial aid program is fairly new to my school as am I to the position, so I havent exactly dove into other ways I can help our students avoid delinquency. I think mailing students reminder postcards/letters and contacting them during their grace period are some great ideas. I feel like I am already winning the trust of our student body, everyday more and more students come into my office asking me for help on how to set them up with a user profile on their loan serivcer's website so they can start making payments while still in school.
Dave,
We are excited about your commitment to a lower CDR!
You have touched on several elements of a successful default prevention strategy: accurate and abundant demographics, thorough borrower education upfront with reinforcement throughout enrollment, and proactive contact with borrowers during and after the grace period. In addition, partnership with a default prevention company, in addition to cooperation between departments, will help your institution meet its goals.
Kellee Gunderson
We are working with Champion College Services to help contact our students to get them on the right track in making payments. If they can't make a payment Champion is helping to make them delay the payment through forbearance or deferment. Our college is working proactively with our current students to get their updated addresses and references. We are trying to educate them more about the responsibilty of them to make their payments. We are working hard to get our cohort rate down.
Jennifer,
You are definitely helping your students by making sure they understand the information presented!
Too often, exit counseling consists of simple quizzes that do not challenge students to think seriously and critically about their financial health. Engaging students in discussion helps them to apply exit counseling materials to their own personal circumstances and plan a reasonable repayment strategy.
Kellee Gunderson
After a student completes the Exit Counseling we discuss all of the options that they have for repayment and confirm understanding. By confirming understanding of deferment, forbearance, and all of the different payment plan options the student can feel as if they have options to make their repayment successful.
Julie ,
Repetition and relationship building are keys to success and something we stress all the time. Being familiar with your students and spending time with them while they are enrolled leaves a lasting impression and they know that they have someone to turn to if they need help in the future.
Cheryl Kesson
