3 Ways You Benefit from Financial Aid and Tuition Management Integrations

The impact of rising tuition costs year after year has also increased the demand for more financial aid awards. It is valuable for private K-12 schools to understand how to balance what might at first seem two competing needs – the ability to meet your families’ aid needs and covering the rising costs of education for each student. Strategically partnering your processes for financial aid and tuition management can actually boost your school’s revenue and overall diversity and using software that supports financial aid and tuition management in one process can benefit your school’s long-term revenue growth strategies. 

Here are a few examples of how this strategic partnership could work to benefit your school: 

1. Change the conversation about financial aid and tuition… 

It’s not uncommon to think of financial aid as a drain on resources or causing gaps in your school revenue. However, offering financial aid, flexible (reduced) tuition, or a sliding scale of tuition can boost enrollment in your school overall as well as create a stronger revenue stream. However, the way we talk about aid, both internally and externally, can unintentionally make it seem inaccessible and impact your school’s socioeconomic diversity. 

When the conversation is framed the right way, financial aid can also help your school increase socioeconomic diversity. By changing the way your school presents and discusses financial aid (internally and externally), you can become more accessible to middle income families. These families might think they won’t qualify for any aid, so they don’t apply to your school at all. It’s important to keep in mind, that often middle-income families need less aid and contribute to higher enrollment rates. Over the long-term this also reduces the strain on funds set aside for financial aid.  

2. Using one tracking system from application to award…  

Private schools using disparate systems to process financial aid applications and final awards incur more hours manually tracking financial aid information and correcting processing errors. This often can take away the focus on building deeper relationships with families and students.  

By having a financial aid solution partner that provides automation for many of the financial aid tasks, schools quickly see benefits in getting back more time to spend on programming, recruitment, and fundraising.  

With an integrated tuition management system including financial aid awards made through Community Brands, schools can make awarding decisions using the methodology of their choice (TADS FA or SSS) knowing the awarded funds will be applied expediently, securely, and directly to each student’s specific tuition account.  

3. Increase on-time payments when you make it easy to apply and easier to pay tuition… 

Families are impacted positively as well when a school automates financial aid awards and tuition management. With awards applied directly to a student’s account, families can feel confident the amount due is correct when they go to make their tuition payments (not to mention making life easier for your business office!)  

By providing families the value of an option to pay tuition online, at their convenience, schools make it easier for them to make payments on time. Parents simply go to the school’s branded online portal and can pay when they’re thinking about it without any extra errands!