It is good to know where the line is drawn between the two departments, because confusion can lead a prospective student to frustration.
The separation of duty is very important between Admissions and Financial Aid. The role of Admissions is to respond to the student's inquiry about the school and provide them with information concerning the school's programs and disclosures. Financial Aid's role is to review the students financial reportings to create a financial plan that will allow the student to finance their education and explain to them the importance of repayment if a student uses student loans. It is important that these departments focus on their specific duties to ensure that the student receives factual and pertinent inforamtion. If a students recieves inaccurate information, this can produce negative outcomes for the school and the student.
Jonathan,
An important feature of orientation is who does what and when. Students should understand where they need to turn for assistance. This will increase student satisfaction and the level of customer service.
Cindy Bryant
An admissions rep.must be extremely careful not to provide information that is not their area of expertise. We never want to miss inform a potential student about the FA process or any other information. We have so much to cover as an admissions rep that we need total focus on what we are covering for the student's benefit. If we miss any important info,it might not help the student make an informed decision as to is this the right school for him. He or she is ultimately affected.
Magda,
Hi! Great advice, you are right that the admissions rep needs to be focused on the benefits of education and leave the financing to FA. It is good to know that every position serves a very important purpose in a school.
Cindy Bryant
When I go to my favorite burger place I dont expect to see my server grilling my burger and taking valet parking tickets at the same time. This breeds confusion. Its the same with Financial Aid and Admissions. The jobs are totally opposite from each other and would take too much out of any one person to be expected to cover all functions of both jobs with 100% accuracy 100% of the time. The students and the staff both would be confused and the level of accuracy and customer service would drop.
There's definitely a very fine line between Admissions and Financial Aid. Admission's role is to sell the value of the education and Financial Aid is to provide students with the different financing options available in order to be able to afford their cost of education.
Carmen ,
You are correct-these two entities must work together tomeet the students needs but in different arenas.
Cindy Bryant
As I see it, the main reason for separation of duties has to do with potential conflict of interest. Admissions task is to "sell" the school and Financial Aid's task is to present available options for financing education costs at the school. The availability of financing for education is not influenced by the number of students enrolled/enrolling at the school and if presented through admissions, that perception would be difficult to avoid. Separating the tasks allows each area to be "expert" in their part of the process and present the information to prospective students with less opportunity to influence their decisions.
Ruth,
Thank you for posting your thoughts regarding separation of duties in the forum.
Cindy Bryant
Admissions objective is to enroll students. An admissions representative is not trained and does not have the expertise to discuss fnancial aid with students, nor are they prepared to guide a student in completing a FAFSA or package their award. Tying the awarding of aid would be a conflict of interest for an Admissions rep. The emphasis should be place on the value of the education that the student believes to be worthy of the sacrifices he/she would make to attend school. The student should not be attending just to apply for federal financial assistance.
I believe that separation of duty is very important between Admissions Representatives and Financial Aid Representatives because then either department can become overwhelmed with so much information and it might lead to misrepresentation. Also, it's good for each department to have their focus points and stick to them. I believe that just knowing general information about the other department should suffice.
Admissions and Student Finance are an enrollment team. However, Admissions responsibility is to show the potential student the value of education and ensure that the institution and program of interest are the correct decision for the student. Once the student has made the decision that this is the right place for them, then it is the responsibility of the Student Finance department to give the potential student financing options to make going to school affordable to them. A potential student should never make the initial decision of going to school based on financial aid availability.
Linda,
You may have read my response to Brittney regarding balance and boundaries. What I didn't share was the points that you have made that they Admissions and Finance are a team with specific duties that should lead to the same goal> Enrolling a student in the program that best fits their needs.
Cindy Bryant
The separation is so crucial because of the nature of each position. An Admissions rep is there to help the student find the right fit for their education and it can be very easy to become personally invested in a student's success. This personal investment can become an issue when the financial reality is contradictory to the student's aspirations.
While most admissions reps are professionals, the temptation to fulfill a student's dreams of higher education by any means necessary would be too present if the rep was also administering federal aid.
FA personnel are invested in the future of the students as well, however from a different standpoint, one of grounded reality where they may have to explain to the student that its not the right time financially to attend school.
Working in conjunction admissions and FA personnel can ensure that students are realistically approaching their educational goals.
According to the stipulations of some (if not all) accreditors, Admissions may not receive commision or other goal-based inducements. Nevertheless, admissions representatives know that the financial success of a school depends in part on their ability to enroll students. They know that their continued employment depends on their productivity, which is added pressure to enroll students. On the other hand, Financial Aid representatives' goal is the ethical and accurate handling of federal aid. If Admissions duties and Financial Aid were not strictly separated, the potential for conflict of interest could be substantial. Even if the admissions representatives were completely ethical, there would still be the appearance of conflict of interest - and this could erode the trust in the school on the part of potential students, as well as media and members of the public.
The Admissions Rep needs to be focused on educating the potential student with accurate information and FA is not something that they would have accurate knowledge about, nor should they. There are rules in place for a reason. To not only give the student the best and most accurate information regarding both the Admissions and FA, but to also protect the Admissions Rep and Financial Aid Rep from being put in a potentially jeopardizing situation.
Having a distinction between admissions and financial aid duties is important to avoid the apearance of financial aid having a direct impact or bearig on if the student enrolls or not.
Treva,
Thank you for sharing such great advice. Financial Aid is quite complex and should be left in the hands of those that have studied the regulations and have a grasp on the language.
Cindy Bryant
It is imperative that the Admissions personnel know and understands he or she's role. Admissions' duties are to recruit potential students and is a part of the marketing team. However, Financial Aid duties are responsible to make sure the student understands how financial aid works such as loans. What to expect after graduating from school.
Therefore, it is solely important that the two roles are not crossed. Because they are definitely different.
