1. Working with Families to Pay their “Out of Pocket”
Julie Haack, Saint Ambrose University
Julia Gwebu, Iowa State University
Michele Dunne, Grand View University

2. Iowa State University

3. Student Loan Education Office
Funded by Student Government and Office of Student Financial Aid
Created Fall 2014
Award Incentive
Meet with advisor and name is entered into drawing for $2500 award towards loan debt
We offer presentations and one-one-one counseling on:
Loan Repayment
Budgeting
Credit
Debt Management
Employees
3 full time advisors
3 peer mentors
2 work study students

4. Student Loan Education Office
Marketing Our Services
No Fear Finance
Our chats aren’t like that
Website
Give-a-ways/handouts
Orientation presence

5. Initiatives Private Loan Counseling
Targeted message to review student loan debt
Summer Orientation Resource Fair: “Know Before you Owe”
Promotion of monthly payment plans and 529 plans
Lunch and Learn
“Don’t Cancel that Class”

6. Private Loan Counseling
Required for 1st time undergraduate private loan borrowers at ISU
Must meet in person with full time advisor or peer mentor
We will certify first disbursement and hold second disbursement until counseling is completed.
In we met with
936 students for PLCs
404 of those were freshmen
Counseling includes
Post graduation budgeting
Overall loan debt
Loan repayment

7. The Impact
Total borrowing is trending downward at ISU: (Graduating class of)
While enrollment has been record setting at ISU:
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
$30,062
$29,455
$30,374
$29,898
$28,800
$27,571
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
28,682
29,887
31,040
33,241
34,732
36,001

8. Whole-Degree Financing and Planning, A Pilot Study
Grand View University
Whole-Degree Financing and Planning, A Pilot Study

9. What motivated us? Retention/persistence/completion
Financial risk-factors
Public discourse about student debt
Market concerns about affordability

10. Underlying Assumptions
Students need to PLAN for the whole degree
Predictability of Grand View’s costs for the entire degree are necessary for effective planning.
Increasing students’ knowledge about finances, by involving them in the creation of four-year financial (and academic) plans, will empower them to graduate on time (Heckman & Grable, 2011).

11. Underlying Assumptions
COACHING will help students along the way
Coaching and financial literacy education will help students adhere to their plans and increase the likelihood of degree completion (Robb et.al., 2012).
Graduating on time and making appropriate financial decisions will help students lower the cost of their degree and reduce dependency on debt.

12. Our Answer Define affordability…and show it
Provide a clear line of sight to graduation…
Financial plan for the whole degree
Academic plan for the whole degree

13. Affordability: A “model”
A college degree is affordable when…
On-campus R&B or off-campus rent, groceries plus other
Manageable: pmts. < 8-10% of monthly income
Family
resources
Financial
Aid
Student loans
Tuition & fees
Living expenses
Total time
Savings & earnings
Educational costs
Years to graduation
Grants, scholarships, tax benefits

14. Grand View’s answer… Make the cost of an entire degree predictable
Fix the price by guaranteeing inflation-based tuition increases over the 4 years
Provide a plan-of-study for the entire 4-yr. degree
Provide tools & expertise to craft a 4-yr. financial plan that considers the entire affordability equation
Calculate monthly payments for student loan repayment
Craft an individualized payment plan for family’s share
Provide ongoing support to stay on track &
revise the plans as needed

15. One-On-One Coaching Interpret financial aid award
Explain terms and conditions
Present various options
Monitor and review progress toward graduation
Review and flex as plans change

16. A personalized financial plan
Lay out all our costs
Project loan payments
Run different scenarios
Create payment plan

17. A four-year plan of study
Plan a clear academic path to graduation
Review regularly
Make changes as plans evolve
Stay on track

18. Ongoing financial literacy education

19. What it took An experienced, knowledgeable team
A robust institutional financial model
Development of the financial planning tool
Academic, Financial Aid, IT support
President’s Council and Board support
VISION & COURAGE

20. Improved retention Reduced borrowing Customer satisfaction
Results to date
Improved retention
Reduced borrowing
Customer satisfaction

21. 2015 Cohort (opt-out/non-responsive)
Impact on retention
2014 Pilot Group
Fall-spring retention: 9% higher than historic rate
Fall-fall retention: 17% higher than historic rate
Retention to 4th semester: 20% higher than historic rate
BUT…an opt-in effect ??
Blended retention for entire 2014 class is running 2-4% higher than historic rates at each interval
2015 Cohort (opt-out/non-responsive)
Fall-spring retention: 3+% higher
than historic rate

22. Impact on student borrowing
Average debt of first-year, full-time borrowers who graduated in : $38,160
Projected total debt for first-year, full-time borrowers:
2014 Pilot group: $29,586
(The average remained stable after the first year)
2015 Cohort: $29,248

23. Other results Business Office holds at registration decreased
Student/parent satisfaction is high
Student knowledge of finances is higher

24. Future development Rolling out formal financial literacy education
Moving financial plans to database format
Much better ability to track financial plans
New way to project revenue
Full implementation of plans-of-study will improve our ability to schedule classes
Considering a pilot for transfer students