Luckily I work at a small school and everything is done on a one on one basis. I feel that students ask more questions when they are alone rather than when peers are present. At the end of my entrance and exit counseling I always stress the importance of repayment and good account standing with loan companies. I also mention that if they end up in a default status the IRS will keep their tax return. That in itself seems to drill in their minds how important satisfactory repayment is.
This is excellent information and I am going to suggest I try this in a least one of our campuses to see how the students respond. If it is favorable I might be able to convince other campuses to let me speak for a few minutes at their orientations too.
I spoke for a few minutes at our orientation just to introduce myself so they know who I am and that I will help them once they leave school.
I made up a handout about the pros and cons of repaying their Federal Student Loans, showing value as well as consequences along with my contact information on it. It just takes a few minutes and I tell them I will see them again at their exit interview. Creating rapport as much as I can in a short period of time.
I am the Default Prevention Specialist for our region and I am introduced through a letter given with their entrance or graduation materials, or sent with the student's withdrawal paperwork. I believe if I were introduced at orientation and at other sessions, as was suggested by another in the forum, I might have a better chance in establishing a relationship with the students. Once a student understands that I am here on their behalf they may feel that they can trust me to provide guidance with their student loan debt. They may, also, remember that I can provide information about postponements or explain the differences in payment plans available to students. Trust is very important to individuals and you really cannot gain someone’s trust through a letter. However, if a student phones me once they have received my letter I have had great success in establishing a relationship with that student.
This is a great example of building a positive relationship with the borrower from the beginning and providing them the tools they need to succeed.
Our FA dept. when doing the entrance counseling speaks briefly about default they put up a sign I made which lists the pros & cons of repaying there student loans. I'm starting to speak to our new students at orientation and handing out info on avoiding default. Then during the exit interview they have already seen me a couple of times and know that I'm here to help them. I take about 1/2 hour and have them fill out paperwork and talk to them again about avoiding default by doing the forbearance/economic hardship deferment. I also do one on one exits that seem to build rapport even better than in a group setting.
One useful point to keep in mind is that while all borrowers experience some sort of Entrance counseling, many borrowers who drop out will never attend an Exit interview; therefore good Entrance interviews are as fundamental to default prevention as quality Exit counseling.
Working with students personally during an exit interview and giving them your contact information helps reinforce the positive relationships you have already established throughout their enrollment. Borrowers will ultimately be more comfortable contacting staff members they are familiar with.
Reminding borrowers of their total debt and having a Financial Aid representative explain repayment options is an important part of exit interviews. Making borrowers aware of deferment options is a good way to let them know they don’t have to default if they face financial difficulties. I think an important part of that process, however, is encouraging them to contact you or your default prevention company when they need assistance, as different deferment options would be appropriate at different times, and it can be difficult for borrowers to fully understand these details. We like the opportunity to qualify borrowers personally for each deferment application, and walk them through the paperwork.
In order to improve our Exit Counseling sessions, I've been thinking about adding my business card to our exit packages that we already hand out, along with another copy of the student's award letter (which they get at the beginning of the program), and a deferment/forbearance form. We already do a group exit counseling session and keep it to about 20-30 minutes.
Our entrance counseling is a little shorter, but this also occurs as a group because all students have had phone conversations with the FA office in regards to the Stafford loan details. To improve our Entrance counseling, I'm going to put key points in writing for each student as a handout.
I agree. Using both audio and visual techniques, not only are you catering to different learners, but you are also reinforcing the same idea, making the information more likely to stick with them.
I like the idea of Admissions announcing that an entrance counseling session is going to be taking place with Financial Aid and then having the financial aid department schedule an appointment one on one with the student. We currently do a group counseling session with the students after they begin classes and I think a lot of them feel that they have already applied for the loan and started class so the information, although relevant, is not as important because they already feel that the money is on the way and they have already committed to starting school regardless of the terms noted in entrance counseling.
The attention is just not there with the group sessions as I'm sure it would be with one on one and prior to starting.
Send out dated postcards for drops and grads to update their information in our system to keep it current once every 3months for up to one year. One of our practices we do is send a letter out to all drops and grads after 90, 120, 150 days to make them aware of paying back their student loans.
We do one-on-one entrance counseling. We take the time that is needed for the student to understand what they are signing. We also talk to the students mid-way through their program about how important is it to repay your student loan.
Thank you for this post! It is excellent to see people approaching exit counseling in innovative ways. There is no reason we should not include useful and interesting information that is not typically covered.
Brenda,
I really like your school's idea of including people from all three departments in the exit counseling session. I think you would have a better chance of keeping the students' interest by having multiple speakers, especially if they have different demeanors and speaking styles.
The suggestion to withhold grades and diplomas is also an excellent one. Getting students to attend, much less value, exit counseling is a challenge for most schools.
For the Entrance counseling, the Admissions department sends out a packet of information and in there it tells the new student about the process they will be going through. Then the student comes in to meet someone in Financial Aid and they get a one-on-one session when they get their finanacial aid package.
This process has not been questioned so far, but one repeating theme in this course is that if we keep putting the information in front of them, there is a better chance that their financial responsiblity will be taken seriously by them. Finding ways to do that can only help.
Our Exit counseling has been a little bit more difficult. Students do not always take it very seriously because they know they see the finish line and they just want out of there.
Exit counseling included online and one-on-one sessions up until this year. Last month we started group sessions. There was someone from Career Services, Financial Aid and Default Management. We had their packets ready and each department took turns at speaking about our end of things. Then we were all available for any questions. It was a new experience for me and was not sure how it went, but there is only one student left to do the counseling out of all the March graduates. That is the best numbers ever for getting students done in this process.
The next step that is going to be added is that the instructors will tell students that if they do not do their Exit counseling, they will not be able to get their grades or diplomas.
It is a work-in-process, but we are slowly trying to improve all aspects of the process.
Brenda
Kellee,
I just posted to the initial question about starting group sessions for Exit counseling this year for our school. We had someone from Career Services there and resume writing and interviewing for a job was brought up during this session. It definetly did help engage a few of the students when it was brought up. I felt more like we were having a conversation, rather than preaching to them, and I do think that helped with what the students got out of that time we were together.
Brenda
Leslie,
It is great to hear a success story! We hope that all schools participating in our course will evaluate their presentation methods and content, and it is especially helpful for schools to see what has worked for other organizations.
We are an online school and we struggled with students completing the manual entrance and exit counseling brochures. Even with our explanations, the student did not seem to comprehend everything entailed with accepting a loan. We have transitioned to utilizing the online entrance and exit counseling. This has greatly improved the borrower's understanding by: providing more details regarding the borrower's rights and responsibilities, and requiring successful completion of the "quiz".
Schools should thoroughly and objectively assess their Entrance and Exit counseling procedures to determine the best strategy for their students. Schools catering to paralegals would have a completely different presentation than those catering to art students. The programs should be customized to fit the student population.
Ultimately, it is best to perform both one-on-one counseling and group counseling with videos. Presenting the information in different mediums will cater to the different learning styles of the students. Details of the debt, payment options, deferment options and default management contact information should always be provided in writing to every students for future reference.
