This document outlines tools and resources available from Federal Student Aid to help college access professionals and students/parents with college planning and financial aid. It provides an overview of public service announcements, publications, web banners, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs that share information about Federal Student Aid programs. It also describes upcoming improvements like a Financial Aid Toolkit to consolidate resources and enhance the FSA4counselors website. Representatives were available to answer questions about leveraging these outreach materials.
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Tools and resources for college outreach and engagement
1. Tools and Resources for Outreach and Engagement
Federal Student Aid: 9/18/2013
No, Really! We're Here to
Help…
2. Connecting Customers with Resources
College Access Professionals
• Limited time and resources
• Competing priorities
Students/Parents
• Having conversations about college
• Shifting from passive information recipients to participants in the
conversation
• Will engage if “you are” where “they are”
FSA
• Has resources you can leverage
• Can help you reach and engage audiences
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3. What We’ll Cover
• Resources available from Federal Student Aid
• Ways you can use these resources
• Where to find these resources
• Coming soon…
• Q&A
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4. Public Service Announcements
Goal:
•Create awareness of Federal Student Aid and the availability of
funding to help pay for college or career school
Components (English & Spanish):
•Television
•Radio
•Print
•Web
Airing: Now through Dec. 2013
Available: StudentAid.gov/psa
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5. Publications: For Counselors
Counselors and Mentors Handbook
• Available online
• Overview of federal student aid programs and FAFSA
• Resource for working with students and answering questions
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7. Ordering Publications
• Order publications at FSA Pubs:
www.fsapubs.gov
• If you do not have a mailing list
(ML) number, you can request
one for placing orders
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20. Add the @FAFSA Stream to Your Site
Go to: http://twitter.com/widgets (must be logged in)
COPY & PASTE THE FOLLOWING CODE INTO YOUR WEB SITE: <a class="twitter-timeline" data-dnt=true href="https://twitter.com/FAFSA"
data-widget-id="258219635218972673">Tweets by @FAFSA</a>
<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id))
{js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-
wjs");</script>
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21. #AskFAFSA Office Hours on Twitter
•Integrates social media and
customer service
•Different topic each month
•Tweet questions using
#AskFAFSA
•SMEs available to answer
questions live
•Summarize for those not able
to attend
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26. Leveraging YouTube Content
Download any of our videos:
http://studentaid.ed.gov/resources
Click on the video you want to
automatically download
Subscribe to our
YouTube Channel for
the latest videos
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27. Embed Videos into Your Web Site
Instructions:
•Go to YouTube.com/
FederalStudentAid
•Select the video you’d like to
embed
•Click “Share” which will show you
a new menu
•Click the “Embed” option to
receive the code
•Copy and paste code to your site
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34. Social Media Campaigns
• FAFSA Completion (Dec. 28 – March 31)
• Heavily promoting the availability of the 2013-14 FAFSA and the
importance of completing it early
• Team online Jan. 1st
• Loan Repayment Campaign (May 10 – June 30)
• Messaging about responsible borrowing, repayment plans, etc.
• Messaging targeted to specific groups and geographic locations
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35. Social Media Toolkits
Social Media Toolkits are available for:
•FAFSA Completion
•Responsible Borrowing/Student Loan Repayment
The Toolkits contain topic relevant:
•Facebook Posts
•Tweets
•Videos
•Infographics
•Links to relevant blog posts
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41. Financial Aid Toolkit – COMING SOON!
• Consolidates and organizes FSA resources and content into a
searchable online toolkit
Current
FSA4counselors
Website
• For organizations and
individuals that interact with,
support, or counsel students
and families on funding a
postsecondary education
• Updates
FSA4counselors.ed.gov
• Target Release: Fall 2013
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42. Homepage Design
• Site structured
around four main
content areas:
• Learn About
Financial Aid
• Conduct Outreach
• Get Training
• Search Tools and
Resources
• Site will display on
PC and mobile
devices
DRAFT
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43. Search Tools and Resources
• Searchable
database of
resources
• Customers can filter
their search by:
• Resource Type,
such as videos,
presentations,
how to guides
• Audience Type
• Topic, such as
FAFSA completion
and loan
repayment
• Time of the Year
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DRAFT
44. Other Resources
FAFSA Demo Site
www.fafsademo.test.ed.gov
• User name: eddemo
• Password: fafsatest
Students can also contact:
Federal Student Aid Information Center
• General info about federal student aid
• FAFSA, PIN, and SAR assistance
• 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243)
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45. FSA on Social Media
www.facebook.com/federalstudentaid
www.twitter.com/fafsa
www.youtube.com/federalstudentaid
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46. Questions and Discussion
Questions on the information
presented today?
Any thoughts on current FSA
resources?
What resources are we
missing that you would find
helpful?
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47. Contact Us
Wendy Bhagat, Director of Awareness and Outreach
wendy.bhagat@ed.gov
Susan Thares, Digital Engagement Lead
susan.thares@ed.gov
Tina Pemberton, Manager of Customer Communications
tina.pemberton@ed.gov
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Hinweis der Redaktion
What are office Hours?
We decided to produce social media campaigns around the federal student loan lifecycle. Our campaign began with our 1/1 #AskFAFSA event which yielded positive results at a surprising rate. This seasonally targeted approach has helped to expand our depth of content around specific loan lifecycle events for borrowers.