The school I work for is a 10-month program and we only start one class each September. We also have rolling admissions, so it is very common for a student to apply and be accepted in October then wait to start in September the following year. Typically, a student is given two weeks to apply after they completed their admissions interview, then within a week of their acceptance I call them to do an initial FA overview to discuss the FAFSA and other funding options. From this point forward either myself or someone in the FA office follows up with that student every 2-3 wks until their FAFSA is complete. Once that occurs we package the students Federal Aid and budget with the student for needs on living expenses and discuss alternative loans, because the Federal Aid is typically not enough to cover their needs. Once a student is approved a loan we complete their FA package.
Would it be wise for us to compress our processing timeline in Financial Aid and if so do you have any suggestions? We have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of our current process internally, and feel it is best to spread it out in order to have a reason to contact the student over the 6-9 months they wait to start our program. However, we are open to suggestions.
