Next Generation of Financial Aid Notifications October 18, 2018

70 employees Oversees public 4 year institutions in WV 10 institutions 65,000 students 9 employees Oversees public 2 year institutions in WV 9 institutions 18,878 students

Division of Financial Aid Process state financial aid programs Over 150 outreach events a year Federal and state financial aid training Audit of state aid programs

State Financial Aid Programs Funding Levels PROMISE Scholarship $47,500,000 Higher Education Grant $40,619,864 Higher Education Adult Part-Time Student Grant $5,011,298 Engineering, Science and Technology Scholarship $452,831 Underwood-Smith Teacher Scholarship and Loan Assistance $328,349 WV Center for Nursing $425,000 Total $94,337,342

Award Notifications

Issues Returned mail with or without a forwarding address or bounced back e-mails Didn’t know if the student opened or read the information whether mail or e-mail

Verifying contact information Online applications ask students how they want to be contacted via e-mail or text Send them a 6 digit code either via e-mail or text that they enter back into the application to verify contact information

E-mail notification

Text notification

E-mail Notification

Analytics and Reports

Data Merit-based scholarship – 94% open rate Merit-based denial letter – 51% open rate Need-based grant – 63% open rate Industry average is 18%

Average time Award Letters Viewed @ 12 minutes

Average time before viewing award letter @23 hours

Time of Day

Brian Weingart, Senior Director of Financial Aid Contact Information Brian Weingart, Senior Director of Financial Aid Division of Financial Aid West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission 1018 Kanawha Boulevard East, Suite 700, Charleston, WV 25301 (304) 558-4618• brian.weingart@wvhepc.edu www.wvhepc.edu