Communicating Scholarships: Our Compiled Tips and Tools
Through our research with colleges and universities across the country, we have seen that student price sensitivity has been increasing (meaning students are less likely to enroll as out of pocket price increases). Many factors contribute to this increased sensitivity including rising costs of education, inflation, COVID, the economy and questions about the value of a college education. This makes price transparency (clearly communicating tuition, fees and scholarships for students) very important for schools to understand and embrace. Price transparency boosts enrollment rates, empowers students, and fosters a more inclusive environment. This is particularly important with changes to the FAFSA process.
But what are the best ways to achieve price transparency? We got together with Amy Jenkins (Meadow) and Kris Rogers (higher ed CMO) to talk about it and give tips on how to make your institution more price transparent. In case you missed the original, the recording can be found here.
We talked about a lot of great tools and strategies to use, and here are our takeaways.
FINANCIAL AID WEBSITE CLARITY
Financial aid websites get a lot of traffic, so it’s important for these pages to be thorough and usable. Since the Meadow and SightLine teams spend a lot of time on these sites, we teamed up on this article of the top four issues we see and tips for improvement. Spoiler alert: Our number one tip is to publish your merit chart online
THE LAW OF AVERAGES
In the webinar, we talked about challenges that come with clearly communicating costs. One challenge is feeling like there are so many caveats and customization with individual student costs, it’s easier to not put anything and instead just talk with students. The problem with that is you are losing an unknown amount of prospective students who come to your website and stop looking because they have no idea how much your school costs! Displaying average costs is better than providing no cost estimates.
USE VIDEO!
Have a step-by-step FAFSA tutorial video you can share on your website and email to students. You can also talk through a glossary of terms or describe specifics to your institution’s process. Consider personalized videos from counselors to students and scheduling Financial Aid Zoom meetings with students and families.
NET PRICE CALCULATOR (NPC)
Historically NPCs have been outdated, hard to use and hidden but if you want students to see what it will actually cost to attend your school and eliminate the sticker shock of the tuition page, an NPC can be a great tool. Most students and families want something they can do quickly and on their phone so make sure yours is easy to navigate, easy to understand (ideally in multiple languages) and quick to complete. Meadow designed theirs with students in mind and it shows - their average completion rate is 76% which means you are able to show a lot more students that your school is affordable. If you’d like a demo of Meadow’s NPC, let Amy know!
LISTEN
Check in with your admissions counselors to understand what they’re hearing from students and families. Staying on top of new concerns allows you to adapt your communications.
EMBRACE NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Chatbots are evolving and can be a more comfortable way for students to ask questions. Cold calling an office can be intimidating, so interacting with a chatbot is preferred by some people. Giving students options on how to find information is a way to demonstrate a student-centered approach.
BE PURPOSEFUL
Say why you’re reaching out verses a generic “checking in” message. Stating your purpose in voicemails and email subject lines is a clear way to communicate any action items that need to be addressed.
LEVERAGE ANALYTICS
Do you know your student price sensitivity levels? Do you know if you are using scholarship dollars most effectively to attract the students who will be most successful at your institution? SightLine’s financial aid optimization answers these questions and much more. Let Erin know if you’d like a demo of our capabilities.
