How postsecondary institutions can use financial aid, scholarships, and other funding to strategically increase student yield and retention under the shifting models in Higher Education

1. ROADMAP FOR
ENHANCED YIELD &
RETENTION
By Kamia “Mia” Mwango

2. Challenges Facing Higher Ed
INCREASED COSTS &
REDUCED FUNDING
PUBLIC OPINION
REGARDING THE VALUE
OF A COLLEGE DEGREE
DECREASE IN 1ST-TIME
IN COLLEGE
(TRADITIONAL)
STUDENTS

3. Challenge = Opportunity
“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.”
– Bobby Unser
How can financial aid and admissions increase yield and retention by 10%? What actionable steps would you take and how would
you assess this?

4. Opportunity: Expand Partnerships
FUNDING PARTNERSHIPS WORKFORCE
PARTNERSHIPS
INSTITUTIONAL
PARTNERSHIPS
Decrease costs /
Increase funding
Increase enrollment pipeline & stable
revenue sources
Increase enrollment pipeline &
college readiness

5. Partnership
◦ A partnership can be defined as a collaborative relationship between organizations.
◦ The purpose of this relationship is to work toward shared goals through a division of labor that
all parties agree on.
◦ Partnerships are complex vehicles for delivering practical solutions to societal and community
issues.

6. Face the Challenge with Funding
◦ Financial aid can be a vehicle to address enrollment management hurdles
◦ Addressing financial aid / funding can help increase yield and retention
“Financial factors such as costs of
attendance, the availability and the
amount of financial aid, and the net
price affect student college choice to a
significant extent. – Hossler &
Bontrager, 2014

7. Face the Challenge with Funding

8. Funding Partnerships
◦ Costs of educating students have increased
◦ Support and care systems needed for student success are more complex and expensive
◦ Some cost-cutting measures and tuition increases can adversely impact enrollment
◦ Must maintain or further invest in critical enrollment functions at the University
◦ Critical functions for Enrollment Management Success:
◦ Marketing Dept. to counterpoint the “unemployed/underemployed” college graduate notion
◦ Admissions Dept. to keep prospective families interested & engaged; provide the right info at the right time to ensure enrollment
◦ Financial Aid Dept. for timely, clear, engaging award information to families; using available resources for tuition discounting; prompt &
compliant payments to students for retention*
◦ Grants and/or Foundation Dept. for identifying applying to, maintaining, reporting and keeping records of external funding
opportunities

9. Funding Partnerships
◦ More families rely on aid to close the gap between student resources and the cost of education, but are becoming increasingly
averse to student loans.
◦ Support the expansion of grants research and applications to fund university activities:
◦ University grants: https://www.stetson.edu/administration/grants/awards.php
◦ College grants: https://www.sfcollege.edu/advancement/sponsored-projects/index
◦ Offsetting university costs can help lower tuition costs or decrease operating costs
◦ Apply for short- and long- term additional federal, state and local/private funding for students:
◦ Example 1: https://www.stetson.edu/administration/financial-planning/affordability-tools.php
◦ Example 2: https://news.sfcollege.edu/2020/12/16/sf-receives-largest-single-donation-of-40-million-from-mackenzie-scott/
◦ Ensure adequate resources & accountability for the areas that support these functions:
◦ Adequate resources needed for initial expansion, may be able to maintain as scaled
◦ Cost-benefit analysis and continuous assessment of outcomes for accountability
◦ Assess current practices and affect on enrollment (i.e. Institutional Methodology vs. Federal, amount of effort vs. outcome)

10. Funding Partnerships Best Practices
◦ Ensure that families receive and understand
(timely) aid information
◦ Families likely to select schools that provide
clear award info before other institutions
◦ However, the type of aid offered makes a
difference
◦ Apply for additional grants, & form
partnerships to increase available non-loan
awards
◦ Streamline & reduce any unnecessary
barriers for financial transactions
◦ Apply for additional institutional funding to
reduce tuition costs

11. Weather the Storm with Workforce
Partnerships
◦ Traditional Student Life Cycle:
◦ Marketing / Recruitment
◦ Admissions
◦ Enrollment / 1st Year
◦ In Program / Retention
◦ Graduate
◦ Alumni
◦ New Paradigm:
◦ Marketing / Recruitment
◦ Admissions / Student Care
◦ Enrollment / 1st Year
◦ In Program / Retention
◦ Micro-credentials (Simultaneous
Certifications) / Embedded Programs
◦ Graduate
◦ Alumni
◦ Continuous Career Education/ Job
Certifications

12. Workforce Partnerships
◦ Micro-credentials (Simultaneous
Certifications)/ Embedded Programs
◦ Survey Alumni & local workforce: In-demand
certifications for the institution’s graduates
◦ Boost yield, graduation, job placement and salary
rates
◦ Uses mostly existing infrastructure and resources
◦ Internships / Externships (can use Work Study
funding)
◦ Continuous Career Education/ Job
Certifications
◦ Offer elite employee development programs to
regional employers
◦ Market direct-to-public certifications (can attend
the courses that are embedded in other courses)
◦ Hybrid models that partner with specific
employers to offer individual upskilling classes
for specific employee development (set number
of courses for an annual cost to the employer)

13. Workforce Partnerships

14. Be Prepared with Institutional Partnerships
◦ Competition for the shrinking number of high school graduates, as birth rates continue to decline
◦ Families increasingly selecting schools based on price sensitivity, as family wealth also continues to decline.
◦ Create additional pipelines for student enrollment:
◦ High school partner programs that help with college readiness, brand awareness and aspirational goals/ motivators
◦ High caliber transfer agreements with other postsecondary institutions (i.e. reserve scholarship funding for high-performing transfer
students)
◦ Assess yield outcomes, and student body composition to find niche student populations
◦ i.e. high-performing rural students who may consider other universities but ultimately like the close-knit campus community
◦ i.e. online programs / distance education, per the Feb. 2021 Strategic Goals document
◦ Recruit from these student populations once the assessment is completed.

15. Institutional Partnerships
◦ Institutional partnerships help generate a more steady, diverse and intentional pipeline of students
(increase yield)
◦ Proper academic, recruitment, administrative and financial terms in the agreement are key (costs can
outweigh the benefits if terms are not clear)
◦ Partnerships can also open the door for grant eligibility, depending on the activities of the institutional
partnerships, especially with secondary institutions

16. Institutional Partnerships

17. How can these partnerships increase yield &
retention?
FUNDING PARTNERSHIPS WORKFORCE PARTNERSHIPS INSTITUTIONAL
PARTNERSHIPS
Providing funding in timely, informative award
packages also makes it more likely for families
to select the university. The FA Office refers
students to other funding sources too. Well-
funded aid offices improve retention as
students get funds on time. Increased funding
sources can decrease costs for the school & for
families.
Workforce partnerships increase the attractiveness
of programs (yield), and keep students motivated as
they earn valuable industry certifications along the
way to their primary credential (retention).
Additionally, continuous learning and elite
employee development programs can generate
revenue while ensuring core programs stay up-to-
date
Institutional partnerships that maintain high
acceptance standards. Can help maintain
enrollment, diversity and completion goals.
Institutional partnerships can help mitigate
external factors such as the decline in high
school graduates/traditional students and can
help with college readiness for incoming
students.

18. Actionable Next Steps
◦ Learn & Review: Observation before Action
◦ Who are key stakeholders? What are the challenges from various perspectives? How can I help?
◦ Review critical reports, documents, agreements, policies and procedures.
◦ Assess: Provide initial thoughts based on my understanding of information from the
campus community
◦ Plan will be based on assessment, 2021 strategic plan, feedback from stakeholders and
direction from executive leadership…

19. Actionable Next Steps (2)
◦ Enhance grants applications as outlined in the 2021 Strategic plan.
◦ Seek grant funding for equity, diversity and inclusion while maintaining high academic/performance
metrics at the University
◦ Add additional funding sources from partnerships to diversify
resources available for student awards
◦ Work with campus and community partners for student crisis needs the Financial Aid Office is
unable to address
◦ Recent studies are showing that even on campuses with high-performing, higher income
students, students are experiencing crises that can derail them

20. Actionable Next Steps (3)
◦ Closely connect the timing of recruitment and additional financial aid
award information.
◦ Enhance information to families so they qualify for more federal aid (i.e. Professional Judgement/ Change of
Income)
◦ Assess timing of student acceptance, & assess yield impact (increase)
◦ Further enhance electronic financial aid services.
◦ For family convenience and to support students in online/distance programs
◦ Assess acceptance method, take student and family surveys
◦ Ensure any students with refunds (excess aid due as funds to students) are processed first
◦ Student aid for living expenses would get paid out early in the term to reduce concerns for families
◦ Assess 1st year and retention success for refund-eligible students once implemented

21. It Works: League of Innovation
Award, Reduced Student Loans
◦ Financial Aid & IT collaboration reduced student debt from $10.1m $8.3m in one year
◦ Loan averse students can begin or progress in their program with other partnership-funded aid &
can decline loans (Yield & Retention)
• Enhanced financial aid offer with Ocelot video explaining loan process, the right to accept or decline loans
based on need, & savings of subsidized vs. unsubsidized loans
• Redesigned student portal empowers students to easily decline unsubsidized loans or all loans if not needed.
• Student budgeting advice by a grant-funded financial literacy advisor (now through bank partnership, still no
cost)
• Improved student access to subsidized loans by changing the allocation model (packaging policy) for the
academic year.

22. It Works: Bright Futures Scholarship
Alerts
◦ Financial Aid, Registrar, Bursar/Finance, Provost collaborate to alert Bright Futures
students results in institution having the most Bright Futures recipients in FCS in recent 5
years – no audit findings!
• Intricate communication ecosystem with student portal, website, chatbot, staff/faculty training
and campus-wide buy-in to help students receive & maintain their scholarships (Yield & Retention)
• IT, Faculty, & Registrar collaboration with Financial Aid for alert when Bright Futures students
attempt to Drop or Withdraw from coursework
• IT, Faculty, & Bursar/Finance collaboration with Financial Aid when Bright Futures students Drop,
Withdraw, or Petition and need to immediately appeal or repay

23. Thank you so much!
Presented by:
Kamia “Mia” Mwango