Serving Undocumented Students Through an Online Application Zelma DeLeon, Executive Director, University of North Texas Lacey Thompson, Director of Operations, University of North Texas Steve England, Regent Education Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Overview Introductions University of North Texas’ (UNT) Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants Changing the Application Process Paper Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA) Challenges e-TASFA Benefits Expected Family Contribution Work in Progress Regent Education Demo Questions Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

UNT’s Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants UNT has experienced a growing number of students seeking financial assistance through a paper application process (TASFA) The UNT community has become increasingly involved with ensuring clear information is available to students and has looked for ways to simplify and streamline processes. Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

UNT’s Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

UNT’s Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Changing the Application Process We wanted to find a solution that would: Simplify the application process for the student Looking for a process similar to the FAFSA Provide an electronic application process for students and their families Reduce data entry errors and/or omissions by the student Provide e-signature capabilities Automatically calculate the Expected Family Contribution Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Paper TASFA Challenges Student completes and submits paper TASFA No edits within a paper application We would often make multiple contacts to students to resolve missing or conflicting information Students would often have to submit additional information, re-do specific pages or even re-submit entire TASFAs Parent signature challenges Depending on where the parent lived, the student may have to send the TASFA to the parent to get their signature before it can be submitted to UNT Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

e-TASFA Benefits Student completes and submits e-TASFA Built in edits within the online form Students are able to start and save an incomplete application They can come back to the application to provide missing information Online form will identify conflicting information and not let the student proceed until it has been resolved Electronic signatures Students and parents are able to sign electronically They are able to opt out, if needed Customized questions added within e-TASFA We were able to add a certain number of customized questions to the online form to collect information (i.e. expected enrollment) needed to process the application Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

2017-2018 TASFA Comparison Note: Went live with e-TAFSA end of January 2017 Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Expected Family Contribution Paper TASFA Utilized an online Expected Family Contribution (EFC) calculator Printed and imaged the calculation E-TAFSA An EFC is calculated by the online application using the Federal methodology EFC is provided to UNT within the export file Time Savings Calculating an EFC took about 5 minutes per student. 195 e-TASFAs x 5 minutes = 975 minutes (16 hours) Time saved from calculating EFCs was used to do awarding, finalizing files, etc. Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Work In Progress Only have a partial year of data available Went live with the e-TASFA January 2017 Expecting the majority of TASFAs to be completed online for 2018-2019 Expecting a decrease in “application to awarding” timeframe for students Current IT Project to load Export File into PeopleSoft Developing a custom page, similar to the delivered ISIR page, to easily review and verify information from the TASFA Export File Considering opening the online application up to International Admissions for assistance in awarding TPEG-International funds Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Regent Access Demo Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Questions? Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Thank you! Zelma DeLeon Executive Director, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships (940) 565-3901 Zelma.DeLeon@unt.edu Lacey Thompson Director of Operations, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships (940) 565-3378 Lacey.Thompson@unt.edu Steven England Vice President - Client Solutions, Regent Education (330) 494-3540 Steven.England@regenteducation.com