We counsel the students on their loan repayment options before they start repayment via group and individual exit counseling. Our default and retention department contact the students during this time to help them with any repayment options that they may have.
Dale,
Yes, I agree that maintaining good contact with students can be challenging, and the more references you can collect and keep updated, the better your chances to reach students with valuable information. I suggest a minimum of six references if possible. Diana
To assist our students in avoiding delinquency we work to maintain contact with them and keep them educated on the importance of repayment. This has proven to be effective however maintaining contact with the student can be challenging. I often refer to reference information as a tool when trying to contact the borrower.
Elysia,
I believe that you said earlier that you have online programs at your school, so online exit counseling is a given. I would be curious if you do any tracking of how many of your dropped students do the exit counseling, and how you track that your graduates have met the requirement. Paarticularly in an online environment in which face-to-face counseling is impractical or impossible, the addition of a default management department or service sucha s your school has can really make a positive difference in student loan management.
We have a dedicated Borrower Support Services office that can be used by any of our students at any of our 20 campuses. Upon graduation or dropping, we send an email with the link to online exit counseling and an attachment which is a brochure for this department.
The Financial Aid Department conducts exit counseling sessions weeks before students graduate. We provide literature for the students on loan management and repayment options and provide free service for loan management through a separate agency. We also advise them of the total loan debt, payment amount and the importance of updating their information and keeping in contact with their loan servicer.
Ashley,
Knowledge is power--that is so true! Repetition of information and reinforcement of key concepts throughout a student's enrollment make it more likely that students will be more knowledgeable and use that knowledge to exercise their options and avoid delinquency.
Diana Mateer
Knowledge is power. Explaining on a continuous basis throughout the enrollment period the options available is the answer.
Moises,
Job placement and student loan repayment are inevitably important to one another as you note. Not only is employment a critical component to student loan repayment,he job placement office is another great place to collect information on students in case you need to locate them after graduation for any student loan purpose. Job placement and loan exit counseling activities can also be conducted hand-in-hand so Job Placement and Financial Aid Offices are working together to prepare the student for life after school ends!
Diana Mateer
It is very important to focus on job placements, because that will definitely encourage the students to avoid deliquency.
I think a good way to assist the borrowers letting them know you are there to guide them in the right direction. Direct them to your 3rd party default prevention company if you dont know the correct answers or even take the step in contacting the student's servicer together.
I agree, friendly reminders and open communication are very important. It is important for the student to know they have someone they trust who they can go to for information and guidance.
We constantly keep a close watch on these students and make sure they get all the information they need. Keeping in contact with them is priority and reminding them that avoiding payments will hurt them in the future. Calling, sending emails, and letters are very effective in keeping a good communication between the school and student.
Being proactive with payment reminders is extremely beneficial to students. With loans being transferred and sold to mulitple servicers payments can become confusing. While the student may have good intentions, if they are not sure what to do they may end up doing nothing.
We try to keep in contact with delinquent students. We send them forms in the mail to help keep them from going into default . We also send out reminder when the payment coming due and all the infomation that needed for the payment to be send to .
A reminder during the borrower's grace period about their first payment is a great way to start them off on the right path. With all the loan transfers it is important to make sure they know who their loan servicer is, especially in cases where they have multiple servicers.
Monitor student account and contact student when their payment is coming due
and to ensure they have all the information where the payment should be sent to .
I agree both are excellent times to educate the borrower. I think it is important to remember that any opportunities you have in between are important as well such as check disbursement time. The more reminders the better.
In my opinion the delinquency is prevented from the first orientation that gives students on student loans and reinforced in the exit interview
I agree the key is communication. Even when working with a default management company the school needs to ensure the lines of communication are open betweeen them and the student.
