Reach, Engage and Retain Your Students with Financial Aid Help Desk Support!
Scene 1, Financial aid office of a college: Two phones ringing incessantly, an inbox flooded with emails from prospective students, a pile of financial aid applications lying unprocessed, and a clock announcing the end of office hours.
Scene 2, Somewhere in the US: A student, exasperated with the rising cost of getting a college degree, calls the financial aid office continuously, sends his 4th email since morning, resolves to visit the office in person the next day.
What might appear like two scenes out of a modern-day tragicomedy belonging to The Theatre of Absurd, are a routine during the enrollment season in universities. Increasingly expensive degrees make financial aid help desk support imperative to get in and stay in- college. As if it isn’t already difficult enough, steps in the complicated process of getting the required financial aid. That’s when Financial Aid Help Desk Services come to your rescue.
Financial Aid Help Desk assists the students with filling applications, providing the information about the available grants/ scholarship options, tracking the financial aid status, and receiving the awards. It attends the prospective and returning students’ calls and answers the emails around-the-clock.
Obtaining financial aid is an overwhelming process. There are so many steps that need to be followed, documentation to be done that a first-timer finds the application process cumbersome. The financial aid help desk guides the applicant from the initial documentation to the reception of the aid. Financial aid makes it possible for a great number of students to go to college or afford a college they thought they couldn’t, thus financial aid help desk services play a crucial role in a student’s life cycle. Besides being life-changing for the students, financial aid is critical for higher education institutions also. The following are three ways in which financial aid help desk support helps institutions accelerate their student success objectives.
Increases Student Enrollment:
Institutions spend millions on enrollment campaigns. So, if these potential students don’t get converted into enrolled ones, they lose out on all that money. A financial aid office becomes a critical marketing feature for any institution to attract prospective students. It provides prospective students with detailed information about the financial aid process and thus increases an institution’s enrollment rate.
Increases Student Retention and Graduation Rates:
Students who have access to financial aid are more likely to stay in and graduate from college. Thus, if an institution has a financial aid help desk, students don’t have to drop out because of financial constraints and get the aid they deserve, resulting in higher retention rates for the institutions.
Frees Up Your Staff:
A proficient financial aid help desk leaves your IT staff free to attend to various other tasks like reviewing applications, verifications, disbursement, etc. AI has automated the financial aid help desk and simplified the award process significantly.
Thus, a financial aid help desk scales the growing gap between the number of students who can receive financial aid and those who actually end up starting classes and completing graduation at an institution.
Anthony Banford is an esteemed executive with 19 years of experience in technology, consulting, and education. He begins his latest chapter as Chief Revenue Officer at BlackBeltHelp, aiming to innovate in the higher education support industry. His move follows a successful stint as Head of Revenue at StudentBridge since March 2023, where he significantly contributed to the company’s merger with Full Measure Education, enhancing its service offerings.
Todd Hollrah joins BlackBeltHelp bringing 25+ years of experience managing service delivery operations for several Fortune 500 clients around the globe. After a distinguished career as an executive in the BPO industry, Todd will provide critical insight into building an exceptional customer experience combining both live voice and automated solutions.
Inspired by a family computer that always needed fixing, Chris Uthe has submerged himself in business and technology for the last 20 years. His first company, a PC repair and networking business, was started at just 16 and successfully fueled a deep interest in solving problems as he helped business customers throughout his hometown adopt technology into their business. He would go on to successfully run a media & managed IT company before joining the Ed Tech industry with a successful 13-year tenure within an ERP/SIS company leading the Student Portal & Learning Management division. His last startup, EdSolio, helped to fuel the winds of competency-based education by providing a comprehensive view of a student’s work and achievements. Chris is now focused on creating successful learners by ensuring the highest quality help and support through the use of AI backed toolsets spending the last 3 years in the student engagement and support markets.
Quaiser Absar is the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Institutional Computing at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
Bringing in over 2 decades of experience with him, Manish has ensured seamless operations in terms of client delivery, reporting & analytics, quality, training, and transitions with a special focus on technical integrations to help reduce costs and improve the bottom-line.
Anthony has served higher education in diverse, leadership roles for over 30 years and has helped organizations thrive through his expertise in developing, analyzing, and executing growth strategies. Prior to joining BlackBeltHelp, he served in College Administration as well as in leadership roles within Blackboard Student Services and Ellucian, Inc.
Accomplished IT Specialist and Manager with extensive experience in a higher education setting and demonstrated abilities to effectively manage both student and professional staff. Self-motivated problem solver, who is skilled in managing many issues and prioritizing their importance to find resolutions in a timely and effective manner. Possesses strong abilities to adapt to new technologies by extrapolating from existing experience. Possess first-rate communication and collaboration skills to work with diverse groups effectively.
Lila Buytendorp has been serving as the Director of User Services at Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC) since 2000. In this role she is responsible for staff & lab desktop computing and end user support. She guides and supports technology based on the curriculum needs and ensures technology is implemented to support the emerging needs of the college. She builds and supports integrated systems to improve efficiencies and uses technologies to support data-driven decision making. Lila is a member of the Capital Projects Planning and Design Committee to ensure new or remodeled facilities have appropriate technology.