Financial aid and admissions should never overlap
There too many guidelines and regulations in the FA process to expect Admissions reps to learn along with admissions guideline in my opinion.
Diane,
Many of us share your passion.
I take major issue with this statement. There is no way that anyone who is wanting to 'make a sale' should be admitting anyone to any school. This is a serious problem if this is actually occuring. At our institution we definitely MUST be extremely knowledgeable about all types of available aid. As admissions advisors it is our DUTY to know this information. Misadvising is extremely serious yes, but if you want to be a serious advisor, you better know the ins and outs of financial aid, and any other funding that you plan on discussing with a student. We have graduation teams of finance, academics, and admissions, and we can and will go to these people with any areas that we are not as familiar with (such as when a student's funding comes in, we have no way of knowing that) but when it comes to enrollment you better know good and well EVERYTHING that student needs to know about going back to school, not just what it takes to get them to sign an enrollment agreement, in my opinion.
Russell,
Misleading information is against CIE rules.
This is the same at our school. It has a lot to do with potentially disclosing false or misleading information to a potential student that could be viewed as something enticing the student to enroll.
Diana,
Excellent practice.
Our school does not permit Admissions to discuss Financial Aid--I don't answer any Admissions questions as I was not trained for that. Admissions is trained to sign students--not counsel them on F/A.
I would not say "never overlap".
As an Admissions Representative, we provide a potential student with the details they need to make an informed decision. Those details include tuition. I'm not suggesting Admissions become FA experts, but you must have some basic knowledge to manage their expectation. Most students I meet have no idea how FA works and are more than a little nervous.
Explaining that someone in our FA dept will walk them through the process to discover what types of FA they qualify for is a relief.
Encouraging them to complete the process is so very important.
Financial aid and admissions have a clear definition where i work. As admissions i am not privy to their financial information, but i am aware on how our FA works. I stimply reply to any Financial aide questions with "That is a great question and i will let my specialist in that area assist with the answer. I would hate to misinform you, and i know that she will be able to provide all the information you need." So i assure them the answers are there and that an expert is the best person to answer.
Daniela,
It is a best practice. Thank you for your post.
We actually do the same thing, we give out all the admssions info but FA is concern we always encourage them to go directly and speak to them prior to any process been done so they can have a clear understanding in regareds to FA.
Frances,
Most schools use different departments to discuss financial aid. FA is complex and requires a different set of dynamics in dealing with the student.
As an admissions rep we are frequently told to stay away from discussing financial aid with students. My only concern is that financial aid reps really do not offer the same service and support that we do in admissions. There certain comfort level that is missing when prospects meet with FA reps.
Daylyn,
It appears you have a very good practice in place. Thank you for posting on this forum.
Nakia,
Agreed! Just as you stated, the in-depth information is best served by the FAO.
Heather,
You have a very good process in place. Thank you for your post.
We have Financial aid people that can go over the details. I don't allow my reps to discuss FA with a student. We require them to meet with Financial Aid. it protects the rep and the student.
