Big ideas for student retention

By Angela Henry, USA Funds

Student retention has become more of a hot-button issue in the last few years, and rightly so. A recent New York Times article noted that “sixty percent of people go to college these days, but . . . more than a quarter of those who start college drop out with no credential.”  Helping students finish their programs of study is an important part of setting them on the right track to achieve their long-term goals, and it can even increase the likelihood that they will repay their education loans.

Complete College America, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing the number of Americans that attain post-secondary degrees and certifications, offers ideas that it refers to as “Game Changers.” Here are a few of these ideas for you to consider incorporating into your school’s retention plans:

·         15 to finish. This campaign is centered around making students aware of the benefits of taking 15 credit hours per semester to stay on track for a four-year graduation.

·         Structured pathways (also known as GPS Guided Pathways to Success). The idea here is that when students select a program of study, they receive a pathway to complete that program, including which courses to take and when they should take those courses to finish on time.

·         Co-requisite support. This recommendation involves putting students directly into college courses and providing co-requisite support to those students that need additional support. This may include things like additional lab or classroom time, academic support or peer mentoring.

·         Block scheduling. We know that a lot of students have other commitments: life, family, work, etc. Block scheduling makes it possible for a student to take his or her courses together, making it easier to plan for life around classes.

Ruffalo Noel Levitz, a consulting firm focused on higher education enrollment management, student success and fundraising, also provides some recommendations for ways to help with student retention:

·         “Intrusive” advising. Ruffalo Noel Levitz recommends that we need to get away from the notion that advising is simply course selection for a semester and make it about educational planning for the entire program; planning with the end in mind.

·         Financial literacy. We need to provide ongoing financial counseling and education for students and their families. Think beyond your financial aid recipients to include appropriate interventions for all students and their families throughout the student lifecycle.

·         Study the data. Each institution is unique and each incoming class is a bit different. That’s why Ruffalo Noel Levitz suggests identifying "specific needs for specific subsets of students" to target the appropriate intervention.

The most important step is to make sure you have some sort of actionable student retention plan that involves many different departments and takes your unique institution’s needs into consideration. Your school’s plan should also be measureable, so you can analyze what is working and make changes as appropriate.

Nudging Students Toward Smart Borrowing: Using loan summaries to help borrowers better understand their loans

By Matt Nettleton, Inceptia Strategic Business Director

As students increasingly rely on loans to finance part or all of their college education the need for relevant, timely information to help make informed borrowing choices has become more critical than ever.

Students themselves are indicating a need for such initiatives, as demonstrated through a number of surveys that uncover numerous confusing concepts for loan borrowers. Consider the following:

·         48% of borrowers either don’t know or incorrectly estimate the amount they have borrowed.1

·         28% incorrectly believe they have no federal loans at all.1

·         94% of student borrowers do not understand their loan repayment terms.2

The ramifications for borrower confusion can be significant. When students do not invest in or avail themselves of existing loan counseling resources, those students, as well as schools and society at large, suffer from the effects of over borrowing, lower degree attainment, increased attrition, and student loan default.

A number of schools and states, however, are using a simple yet innovative approach to help students actively manage loan debt as they progress toward degree completion. These institutions use loan summaries, sometimes called “debt letters,” to supplement loan counseling practices and expand on financial education outreach—keeping students apprised of their individual borrowing levels and allowing them to make informed choices about future repayment scenarios.

Loan summaries/debt letters are a simple, low-touch effort to keep student borrowers engaged in the active management of their loans while in school. While letters can vary among institutions, commonalities include a summary of current aggregate borrowing, estimated monthly repayment amounts, and resources for learning more or obtaining help. These summaries are strategically scheduled to be delivered at times when students are making financial aid and/or course registration decisions, thus providing a highly-effective, just-in-time intervention for borrowers.

Inceptia’s newest research brief, Loan Summaries: Nudging Students Toward Smart Borrowing, examines how three different universities administered their loan summary initiatives and the corresponding results on student behavior. The results offer support that this simple, lost-cost practice can impact not only borrowing behaviors, but also academic performance and enrollment persistence. Furthermore, the brief offers best practice considerations for schools looking at implementing loan summaries as to support student success.

The research brief and a recorded webinar diving deeper into the brief’s findings and offering insight and strategies on how loan summaries help borrowers better understand their loans can be viewed at https://www.inceptia.org/smart-borrowers/.

1. Akers, E. and Chingos, M. (2014, December). Are College Students Borrowing Blindly? Brookings Institution. Retrieved from: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Are-College-Students-Borrowing-Blindly_Dec-2014.pdf

2. Rathmanner, D. (2016, January). January 2016 Student Loan Borrower Survey. LendEDU. Retrieved from https://lendedu.com/blog/January-student-loan-survey.

Financial education throughout the student lifecycle

By Angela Henry, Strada Education Network

We know that “one and done” financial education for students is not enough. You need to consistently communicate throughout the stages of the student lifecycle, providing education on relevant topics at the right time.

Stage 1: Application and First 90 days of school

·         Look at your entrance counseling process. Your program may be meeting the regulatory requirements, but is it providing students with the information they need to set them off on the right foot?

·         Evaluate your financial literacy efforts. Are you providing students and their families access to the appropriate money management education to make a financial plan while they are going through application process?

·         Assess your packaging strategy.

·         Encourage students to complete a budgeting worksheet to understand their resources and expenses.

·         Help students research outside scholarships.
           

Stage 2: In-school period

·         Emphasize the student’s responsibility to borrow only what he or she needs and to spend that money wisely.

·         Look for opportunities to integrate money management education into the student's academic program.

·         Help your students access their National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) account.

·         Talk to students about their loan needs for the entire length of their program, rather than thinking of borrowing as a once a year decision.

·         Don’t wait for exit counseling to remind students of repayment options.

Stage 3: Final year and program completion:

·         Ensure sure students register with their servicer(s) and establish initial contact.

·         Provide student the link to the NSLDS and help them find a listing of all of their loans.

·         Emphasize the importance of selecting the right repayment plan for their situation.

·         Remind borrowers that, as their circumstances and income change, they can make additional principal payments or change their repayment plan.

Stage 4: Post-graduation (or withdrawal):

·         Communicate with borrowers during grace period to let them know that you are there to help, and if they run into difficulty making payments, they should contact you.

·         Provide students who withdrew without completing their programs information on getting back in school.

If you need assistance with borrower outreach, consider a third-party cohort management solution.

Congratulations to the 2016 CashCourse Educator of the Year: Kristin Bhaumik

The CashCourse Financial Educator of the Year award honors an educator going above and beyond to promote financial literacy on their campus. This year’s inaugural award goes to Kristin Bhaumik, the assistant director for special programs at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. Bhaumik leads the charge on financial literacy at Michigan. She developed a for-credit financial literacy course called “The Financial Savvy Student.” Her course syllabus uses expert resources from the campus, local community, NEFE and CashCourse. A leader beyond her own campus, she serves as the Michigan Student Financial Aid Association President and on the Executive Board for the Midwest Association of Financial Aid Administrators. The CashCourse team is thrilled to honor Bhaumik’s work as the 2016 CashCourse Financial Educator of the Year. Kristin Bhaumik shared her insights and more about her work in a Q&A with the CashCourse Team, which you can read by clicking here.