Index
Financial Aid Leveraging Package
SEM Works’ Advantage4
Leveraging Financial Aid and Scholarships4
Process Overview5
Process Details6
Scope6
- Conference Call6
- Pre-visit Situational Analysis6
Discovery6
- On-site Audit6
- Off-site Analysis of Financial Factors7
- Development of a Leveraging Model8
- Competitor Pricing and Scholarship Analysis9
- In-depth Webinar Report9
Plan
- Conference Call10
Index (cont.)
Implementation10
- Strategy Implementation Session10
- Client Relationship Management Training10
- Financial Factors 10
Formative Evaluation (optional)11
Other Optional Services11
- Environmental Scan11
- Market Opportunity Analysis15
- Academica Financial Factors Research21
- Customer Service Workshop24
SEM Works’ Advantage
When SEM Works develops financial aid leveraging models, our clients benefit from: our diverse higher education experience; ability to interpret data; optimize financial resources; and develop strategies that deliver enrollment results and maximize ROI. Consider our background:
- over 300 clients in the US and five foreign countries from higher education including: public and private universities and colleges, community, two-year and technical colleges, complex multi-campus institutions and districts, and proprietary institutions
- practitioners with over 450 years of experiencein higher education and consulting for higher education
- selected for the 2009 Best of Business Award in the Educational Consultant category by the Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA)
Leveraging Financial Aid and Scholarships
SEM Works’ Financial Factors services bring financial assistance strategies into alignment with the student recruitment and retention goals of the institutionand the needs of high priority student segments.
Our Financial Factors services provide actionable intelligence toassist institutions in addressing the following strategic questions:
- To what degree does the cost of education factor into enrollment decisions of target student segments?
- How aware are prospective students and their influencers of available sources of financial assistance?
- What is the ‘tipping point’ at which student financial aid and scholarship offers influence student decisions to attend a specific institution and persist in their studies?
- How, when, and where do various audiences seek information about the cost and financing of a college/university education?
SEM Works’ consultants conduct an operations review of the financial assistance programs, services, policies, systems and practices, as well as work with representatives of the Financial Aid and Institutional Research offices to conduct analyses that identify:
(1)The tipping point (or optimal aid) for accepted undergraduate freshmen, transfer, and returning students;
(2)The appropriate mix of scholarships as well as other aid sources to align with the demographic, academic, and socio-economic profile of target student segments; and
(3)Institutional budget required to achieve the institution’s recruitment and retention goals.
(4)A methodology for ongoing tracking of yield to inform mid-course packaging strategy adjustments as well as long-term packaging strategy modifications. INCLUDE OR OPTION????
Based on the processes and analyses presented in the charts below, we offer strategy recommendations such as frontloading packaging strategies aligned with the student search program, promotion of scholarship opportunities, renewability criteria, retention-focused aid practices, and scholarship and discounting strategies for institutionally identified high priority target populations.
Financial Factors ($35,000)Process Overview
SCOPE /
- Conference call to establish project scope and goals
- Pre-visit situational analysis
DISCOVER /
- On-site audit of financial aid and scholarships operations
- Off-site analysis of Financial Factors data
- In-depth Webinar report
PLAN /
- Conference call to discuss implementation steps
IMPLEMENT /
- Optional facilitation of implementation
ASSESS /
- Optional formative evaluation
Other Optional Services /
- Environmental scan
- Market Opportunity Analysis
- Academica Financial Factors Research
- Customer service workshop/training
SEM Works’ Financial Factors
Process Details
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- Conference Call- A conference call is held with key stakeholders to establish the institutional context and goals for the financial factors analysis, as well as the availability of data to inform the financial factors analyses.
- Pre-visit Situational Analysis- SEM Works conducts a high-level review of the government regulatory environment and local competitor context.
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- On-site Audit – Duringa one-day site visit, operations and workflow are analyzed to identify opportunities to improve:
- Financial aid and scholarships processing and timing
- Integration of scholarship offers with the student search and admissions process
- Customer service
- Data management
- Staffing (number, mix, organization, and skills)
- Communications strategies
This is a proposed sample agenda for consultant meetings with the campus. Of course the agenda will be finalized with the institution.
8:30 – 10:00Meeting with campus leadership to discuss desired outcomes for the project and enrollmentgoals
10:15 – 11:00Meeting with Institutional Research to discussadditional data needs and review of questions about preliminary data provided to the consultants
11:15 – 12:15 Meeting with Admissions to discuss recruitment strategies related to scholarships
12:30 – 1:45 Lunch with Institutional Advancement and Foundation staff to discuss scholarshipcriteria
2:00 – 4:15 Meeting with Financial Aid to review existingpackaging strategies
4:30 - 5:00 Wrap-up meeting with project sponsors
- Off-site Analysis of Financial Factors Data - SEM Works’ consultants work with representatives of the Financial Aid, Scholarship/Awards, and Institutional Research offices to:
Using a dataset provided by the institution, the following student identifiers will be analyzed to assess the effectiveness of existing financial aid and scholarship strategies: student name, application type (new student or transfer, graduate or undergraduate), admitted status, enrolled status, one-year retention status, state residence, nationality, ACT sub-scores and composite score, SAT/ACT scores and sub-scores, high school GPA, college GPA, computed HS GPA, tuition discount recipient, Expected Family Contribution, and financial aid offer and accepted amounts for Pell Grants, other federal grants, state grants, institutional grants, athletic scholarships, performance grants, foundation grants, and loans. Yield data (offer to enroll) from the existing packaging model by scholarship and need-based institutional aid amount also will be analyzed. The analysis will inform recommendations regarding optimal use of existing funds as well as areas where the investment of new dollars will yield a greater net revenue.
In addition to the requested financial aid data, the following enrollment trend data and scholarship information is needed to guide recommendations:
- Application, admission, and enrollment trends and yields by key student segments (e.g., freshmen, transfers, in-state, out-of-state, international, etc.)
- Retention and graduation data
- Student demographic profile
- Scholarship criteria and award amounts
- Institutional aid budget
In general, leveraging models work on two basic principles: (1) ability to pay and (2) willingness to pay. institutional grants should be used to address the “tipping point” in relation to ability to pay while merit scholarships should be focused on the willingness to pay “tipping point.” Regarding the latter, the willingness to pay principle assumes that the higher the academic profile, the more postsecondary options an individual has—thus requiring higher financial awards the higher the academic profile to incentivize students to choose the institution. An ongoing analysis of yield rates for new students will allow the institution to adjust award amounts up or down by cell to arrive at the “tipping point.”
The necessary requisite data points (SAT/ACT ranges, GPA ranges, and Expected Family Contribution) and anticipated yield from offers to acceptances will be included in the leveraging matrix. A simple Excel sheet will be provided for monitoring ongoing offers and acceptances by matrix cell, so the institution can track the impact of the leveraging matrix on enrollment and financial goals in order to make mid-course adjustments as deemed necessary.
Conduct Competitor Pricing and Scholarship Analysis - Using a list of admitted students provided by the institution, the SEM Works’ research team conducts interviews with informants to assess the following:
- Selection ranking of institutions in each student’s comparison set
- Reasons for selecting the institution or a competitor
- The relative competitiveness of TOTAL aid offers of comparison institutions
- The relative competitiveness of SCHOLARSHIP offers of comparison institutions
- The timing of need-based aid offerings relative to other institutions in the comparison set
- The timing of scholarship offerings relative to other institutions in the comparison set
- The perceived worth of each institution in the comparison set
- The perceived cost (gross and net after TOTAL aid offers) of each institution in the comparison set
- In-depth Webinar Report - A comprehensive and detailed Webinar report is delivered via PowerPoint to the institution’s leadership and invited guests within approximately two weeks after the completion of the audit and data analyses. The report provides a detailed description of:
- Audit findings and recommendations
- Competitor pricing and scholarship findings
- Parameters for a leveraging model including merit and needs-based awards
- A report framework for ongoing tracking of the leveraging models performance
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- Conference Call – A conference call is held with the project sponsor(s) and key stakeholders to clarify questions stemming from the report, and to facilitate discussions regarding the prioritization of recommendations and associated implementation steps.
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- Implementation Facilitation (Optional)
- Strategy Implementation Sessions –SEM Worksassists the institution in the initial implementation and formative evaluation of the strategies and plan. This typically involves a two-day visit with the institution’s strategy implementation team(s). Particular attention is given to identifying financial assistance performance analytics and a reporting methodology for ongoing tracking of yield to inform mid-course packaging strategy adjustments.
- Client Relationship Management Training-SEM Works offers a fun and effective customer service training workshop delivered in-person or remotely, as well as an entire staff development program offered via an interactive DVD system and inspiring video-based group activities.
- Academica Financial Factors Research - Based upon the Customized UCAS™ Applicant Financial Factors Report and Follow-up Consumer Panel Financial Model Testing (refer to Optional Research Services below), Academica Group provides detailed analysis and recommendations concerning the relative effectiveness of the tested financial package offers to each of the targeted student segments.
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- Formative Evaluation (Optional)
OPTIONAL OFFERINGS
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN ($7,500)Process Detail
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN ($7,500)
SEM Works will place a conference call to discuss the overall scope of the work and the environmental scan. SEM Works will conduct a comprehensive environmental scan that will:
- offer insights into strategic opportunities and challenges facing the school;
- provide a context for future planning and institutional decision-making;
- inform the development of marketing, recruitment, and SEM plans and;
- reveal major trends that may impact enrollment by examining relevant global, national, regional, state, and local data.
SEM Works Environmental Scan Framework
In the Environmental Scan, we report the major trends and implications at several levels as shown in the following table.
Trends and Implications
Categories / Trends / Implications
Demographic /
- Population growth
- Population composition (gender, ethnicity, age ,etc)
- Population mobility (including migration patterns)
- Recruitment targets
- Enrollment planning
Economic /
- Labor force
- Job market
- Industry focus
- Knowledge economy
- Funding sources for higher education
- Program development
- Marketing strategies
- Financial aid allocation
Social /
- Social expectations
- Ideology shifts
- Policy and political changes
- Educational values and expectations
- Recruitment strategies
- Marketing strategies
Technological /
- Emerging technology use
- Applications in higher education
- Issues and concerns
- Program development
- Technology infrastructure development
- Recruitment planning
SWOT
From the environmental scan as well as the situational analysis and audit, we provide a SWOT analysis that synthesizes trend information from these sources and enables the institution to develop related strategies. Our SWOT analysis offers a high-level view of internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats. In addition to serving as an executive summary for the key stakeholders, our SWOT analysis provides a foundation for identifying strategic opportunities that may be prioritized to best support institutional enrollment objectives and processes.
Environmental Scan Deliverables
- Demographic profiles reports with an emphasis on county-by-county data.
- Report containing tabular data identifying characteristics (with emphasis on county-by-county data) and summary discussion of trends, opportunities, and threats of relevance to the institution.
MARKET OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS
MARKET OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS ($36,000)Process Detail
Market Opportunity Analysis
SEM Works will conduct a market opportunity analysis that is focused on perceived institutional attributes in relation to competitors, demand for various programs and instructional delivery options, as well as interest levels and barriers for the institution and several key competitors. The market opportunity analysis includes (1) an estimate of the market size by segment; (2) a determination of the consideration level of attending the institution identifying potentially significant opportunities by looking at segments that are large and currently have high consideration of attending; (3) an overall market position vs. competitors with familiarity and consideration scores; (4) a segmentation analysis including geographic, educational objective, college degree, areas of study, age, and income, etc.; (5) a communication and media analysis showing student preferences; and (6) current student analysis. The analysis identifies marketing and recruitment strategies to improve the institution’s market position.
Communication with target populations includes:
High School Students—High school students will be contacted in two ways. Letters announcing a scholarship incentive program will be sent to high school counselors. In addition, SEM Works will send an e-mail invitation to a random selection of high school seniors from the school’s prospect database or to names purchased by the institution from NRCCUA. Response target: 150
Current Institution Students—An e-mail invitation will be sent to a randomly selected list of
the school’s students. The list will be provided by the institution.(Our experience shows that we will easily exceed the response target of 150).
Transfer Students—Area community college students will be contacted in two ways. A letter announcing a scholarship incentive program will be sent to area community college transfer counselors. In addition, SEM Works will send an e-mail invitation to a random selection of transfers enrolled in area community colleges. The list will be supplied by the institution.Response target: 150
Second Career/Adult Learners—An e-mail invitation will be sent to a random selection of area adults, ages 25 to 45, who have completed some college. The list will be purchased by the institution from an external list supplier. Response target: 150
Graduate Students—An e-mail invitation will be sent to a randomly selected list of prospective graduate students. The list will be provided by the schoolResponse target: 150
Survey Methodology
SEM Works will program draft surveys in Vovici, a leading online survey software. The draft survey will be available online for review by the campus. The institution will recommend changes, which will be implemented prior to the school’s final approval of the survey instrument.
Appropriate survey sample size is dependent upon the required accuracy of the survey results. Since institutions take significant action based on the survey results, we recommend targeting an approximate margin of error of +/- 5–10% at a 90% confidence level. Attracting potential respondents to online surveys requires two key elements: incentives and communications. We propose to establish a scholarship award incentive system to attract respondents.
All winners will be chosen through a random selection of all respondents. The incentive program would consist of the following awards:
High School Seniors: $750 scholarship to the college/university of their choice
Current Institution students: $500 scholarship to the institution
Transfer Students: $750 scholarship to the college/university of their choice
Second Career/Adult Learners: no incentive required
Graduate Students: $750 scholarship to the college/university of their choice
Data Analysis
The types of data analysis will depend on our discussions with the campus in the planning phase of the project and the subsequent survey design. In general, however, we expect to use a variety of quantitative analytical tools that will help the institution develop highly effective marketing and recruitment strategies.