Carol,
Many schools seem to be moving toward online entrance and exit counseling. With students so used to doing everything online already it's not surprising that they prefer this method. I like how you had mentioned in a previous post that you still set up individual meetings to answer any questions. Making sure they understood and retained what they learned is a vital part.
Cheryl Kesson
Carol,
I really like the efforts you put into assisting your students. I think it's great that you teach them to use NSLDS. You are introducing them to a useful tool and reinforcing the fact that they have loans and this is where they will always be able to find their information.
Working on a sample budget with them is a great practice as well and something I wish someone had done with me when I first left school!
Cheryl Kesson
I too have had past experience with struggling with getting students to complete the manual entrance and exit counseling brochures.
I now find success with having students complete online entrance and exit counseling. This may be due to the nature of my student body and students being tech-savvy, and preferring to do items online vs. paper.
I can imagine that your default rate is improving with students completed entrance and exit counseling online, and comprehending their loan amount and loan obligations more clearly.
We currently have students complete Entrance and Exit Counseling online. In addition, I also meet with students individually in person to answer any questions they have with their repayment resources, and to show them how to pull up their loans on NSLDS.
To assist with default prevention efforts, I also meet with students individually each quarter within their program to review their aid borrowed, and to work on a sample budget/financial literacy.
Michael,
I agree that it is very important that financial aid terms and acronyms be explained to the student. We are so used to hearing them everyday that we can forget how foreign it may sound to someone outside of financial aid. Keeping things as simple as possible will help the student to not feel so overwhelmed.
Cheryl Kesson
I think it is important to define and explain words that are specific to or have a different meaning when referring to financial aid. Entrance and exit counseling procedures should be similar because they the loans are still there and will need to be repaid. It is important to reiterate loan servicer contact information and to-date debt totals. Interest may have accrued on some form of aid and will need to be disclosed to the student upon completion or withdrawal of their program.
Kathy,
That is a perfect way to personalize an online exit for a student AND help them learn to use NSLDS. During your personal contact with students they also have the opportunity to ask questions about their personal circumstances as well as exit interview informationj. Great idea!
Diana Mateer
Our school is also an online school. We have started requiring the online exit counseling for the students, also I require the students to call me back with the total amount of their loan and who their servicer is. This helps the student learn to use the NSLDS system.
Diane,
I think you are giving all of the right pieces of student loan information at the right time, including when disbursements are made during the in-school period. You are emphasizing important points and repeating them frequently, plus personalizing the exits with custom information in a small group setting is a great idea!
Diana Mateer
Entrance and exit counseling are done in-person at the school. Students watch the entrance/exit counseling video and take a brief student loan quiz, highlighting key areas. Exit interviews are limited to three students at a time and all receive a personalized payment disclosure for their loans in addition to servicer name, phone number and website information. The importance of loan obligation is emphasized and students are encouraged to call their servicer or the school with any questions / problems. Students sign the acknowledgement to receive loan disbursements and take the student loan quiz again at this time.
Joshua,
You have identified one of the biggest challenges of loan counseling--making it relevant while keeping it to the point and interesting. I have found that using examples of hypothetical students similar to the borrowers I am speaking with helps drive the information home for them.And you are correct in that encouraging interaction and questions makes the sessions much more meaningful. If one student has a comment or question, chances are that other students have the same comments or questions, and everyone benefits!
Diana Mateer
Usually the entrance and exit counseling are long and boring, so I like the idea of keeping it short but straight to the point. I believe we should do the counseling in a way which encourages the students to ask questions, this will help them to think about the responsibilities of borrowing loans and will better prepare them in repayment.
Joseph,
In-person loan counseling, with a back-up plan for students who cannot complete entrance or exit interviews that way, definitely ensures that students get the information you want them to focus on. Your information stimulates questions that students cannot ask when completing loan counseling on-line or by video. In-person counseling may be time-consuming, but its benefits in helping students understand their student loan rights and responsibilities are enormous. Congratulations on your commitment to this practice!
Diana Mateer
We have both on-campus and on-line students. We prefer face-to-face counseling. So far all of our entrance and exit interviews have been on-campus. The students live in reasonable driving distance. We have to prepare ourselves for the inevitable student that can't come in.
shawn,
One on one loan counseling is a great means to inform the student about general concepts as you discuss their specific indebtedness and financial aid status. But you are right that it is not always possible to do it this way. The next best thing is to conduct small group in-person sessions in which you discuss the general concepts and invite students with specific questions about their loans to meet with you individually. Sometimes a group session will be the stimulus for a renewed interest in the student's own indebtedness, and the session will motivate them to research and ask questions.
Diana Mateer
one on one really is the best way. I know it is tough to do but, I have to agree with all who preech it. Also keeping the student informed about where there fa stands
Carolyn ,
You identified a great way to supplement group exit sessions--provide the graduates with sonme exit information in advance of the session and give them some task, however small, to complete prior to attending the group session. Then the students come more prepared to the exit session and may even have more questions. Group exit sessions can be great ways for students to learn from each other as well as from you. If one student asks a question, it is pretty likely that the other students in the group had a similar question!
Diana Mateer
Kimberly,
Supplementing exit interviews with information presented in a student success class at the end of the last quarter of enrollment should surely pay off, since it can never hurt to repeat vital information that a student will need to know very shortly after graduation. The students will know how seriously your school takes your obligation to provide this information, and hopefully they won't leave your campus with unanswered questions about their loan debt. That ending course is also a great opportunity to collect references for graduation announcements (and for financial aid in the future of course).
Diana Mateer
A few of the ways our Entrance and Exit counseling procedures can be inproved to help default prevention are to include the total amount of loan debt for each student specifically. Currently, we give the student the information for maximum loan amounts, but they may be more interested if they have specific to them information.
We could also improve on the one on one sessions for Entrance and Exit counseling. Our school requires the students complete Entrance counseling online and are available to answer any questions they have after they have completed it. Also, Exit counseling is about an hour and done in a group setting. Perhaps, one on one counseling may have more detailed information for the indvidual student instead of giving just general information.
A third way to improve is to identify who our graduates are earlier and mail them the Exit counseling booklets and have that as a requirement to complete prior to graduation. I believe that will spark the student's interest more intead of just having a group Exit counseling sessions that are about an hour. It may give the student an oportunity to really read the information instead of just trying to fulfill a requirement and give them ample time to ask questions regarding their loans specifically.
I plan to share this information. Currently, I know that our FA Office advises in several ways, including entrance, exit and during a class that is common to all students in their last quarter. The information that is covered in this lesson will be shared in order to see if we have other opportunities to counsel students before graduation in addition to making sure all highlighted areas are part of the discussions.
