All Access

Awarding school-based aid can be simpler - We'll show you how

Join Access Group for a morning that could transform the way you award school-based aid ... making it simpler and more efficient.

For more than 15 years Access Group's Need Access product has been helping graduate and professional schools award school-based aid. Now, as we launch the next generation of Need Access, it's being expanded to include undergraduate financial aid offices. Discover how Need Access can help bring your students' need into focus.

 

Sign up for the date and location that works best for you!

Boston, MA              January 24, 2012         Boston Marriott Copley Place

New York, NY          January 25, 2012         New York Marriott Marquis

Philadelphia, PA      January 26, 2012         Loews Philadelphia Hotel

Washington, DC      January 27, 2012         Washington Marriott Metro Center

 

At the close of each event, we'll hold a raffle for all attendees. Through the luck of the draw, one attendee will win a $1,000 donation to their school's scholarship fund.

Direct Loan Servicing: A Year Later

Posted By: Amy Manfredi @ Access Group

We had a great Direct Loan Servicing discussion led by Vicki Shipley. 

Representatives from Nelnet, Sallie Mae, Great Lakes and FedLoan Servicing fielded questions ranging from their efforts to standardize communication and how they are working with the Department to ensure borrowers are prepared for repayment to the soon-to-be-launched Special Direct Consolidation Loan Program.

Regarding their communication with borrowers, clarity and transparency is key.  Communication from the 4 TIVAs should be consistent, all bearing the Department’s logo, so that the entity servicing their loan is transparent.

They strive to communicate with the borrowers in the manner most convenient;   whether it is mail, email, or text messages.  A few of them are even using mobile apps, Facebook and Twitter.

They encouraged the attendees to counsel their students to familiarize themselves with their servicer, get acquainted with their web portals, validate their contact information and opt-in to their communication options. 

The panel noted that while extended and graduated repayment options are being chosen frequently, they believe that the requirement of documentation for IBR has deterred many borrowers from applying.  Their websites have tools for the borrowers to calculate the benefits of IBR and since these tools are seeing a lot of usage, they hope more will enroll.

The last big topic was that of the ”Special Direct Consolidation.”  The window of opportunity is an important point to remain mindful of – they indicated that applications will be processed between January 17th and June 30th.  Each servicer will be assigned borrowers to whom they can market the program and counsel as to its pros and cons.  The servicers will not know which borrowers they will be assigned until they receive their lists.  We were all reminded that to qualify, the borrower must have an "anchor loan” which is a direct or PUT loan and another federal loan not held by the Department. 

All in all, it was a session with a lot of dialogue and valuable information.

Last Minute Conference Reminders and Updates

As we get closer and closer to the 2011 Access Group Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference, here are just a few things to note.

Reminders

• If you plan to attend the Financial Aid 101 session, please make sure you bring a calculator. It might come in handy.
• Be prepared to get a little wet. The Great Water Balloon "Toss-for-the-Cause" is shaping up to be serious competition.
• Don't forget to read blog posts by your colleagues at TheAllAccessBlog.Org. Today's featured post is from Susan A. Bogart, Director of Financial Aid, Penn State Law
• Getting to and from the hotel is simple. To arrange for SuperShuttle service, simply visit www.supershuttle.com and use Group Discount Code 5YDUH; or call 800 BLUE-VAN (258-3826) at least 24 hours prior to your arrival or departure to schedule reservations. Visit the Conference website for more travel details.
• Discipline-specific sessions are back! If there is a topic you think you and your colleagues would like to discuss, send that topic to conf2011@accessgroup.org and we will add it to the list.

Updates

• Of course the weather in Florida will be dreamy with highs in the mid-upper 70s and lows in upper 50s to low 60s.
• We've had a very last minute cancellation from a guest speaker, Frank Luntz. But have no fear; we've got something even better up our sleeve. Ari Fleischer, Former White House Press Secretary/Spokesperson, Political Analyst and Communications Expert will be joining us on Friday morning to give us The Daily Briefing – an in-depth analysis of the latest news coming out of Washington and the hottest controversies of the day.

That's it for now. In the coming days, you can keep up with any new announcements, reminders or updates right here at TheAllAccessBlog.Org.

See you soon!

Why I Attend the Access Group Conference, Year after Year

Posted by:  Susan A. Bogart, Director of Financial Aid, Penn State Law

Aristotle said it first.  “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Steve Jobs said it in a way I love.  “My model for business is The Beatles.  They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check.  They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts.  That’s how I see business:  great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”—Interview with 60 Minutes, 2003.

The muppets in this video said it in a way that sings through my soul.

 

The first time I attended an Access Group Conference it was all about only one part:  what I could learn.  I attended sessions voraciously and absorbed everything I could.  Finally…an educational experience that was specifically about the graduate and professional school population!  There were no Pell Grant sessions to tune out and no TEACH Loan Grant sessions to glaze over.  This was all about my students and what they needed.

But I learned quickly that the best benefit of attending the Access Group Conference was the opportunity to meet other people who work in graduate/professional school financial aid.  They knew what I experience in my job.  They shared their experiences and I learned from them.  I shared my experiences and others learned from me.  And it didn’t stop with the conclusion of the conference.  You can’t help but develop a network of colleagues.  And each individual person has an area where they stand out as a true expert.  When I have questions throughout the year, I don’t hesitate to reach out to this network of colleagues friends to get another perspective.   When I have doubts or confusion, I have people to turn to for ideas or advice.

I’m human.  I have weaknesses.  And I have strengths.  And I’m sure I would have succeeded in my job without the network I developed with the help of this conference.  But having the strengths of others placed easily within my reach has consistently helped me to make a positive difference for my students.

The reason I attend the Access Group Conference year after year is simple.  It’s because “When you put them all together (I am sure you will agree) the whole sounds better than the parts, as you can plainly see.”

2011 Access Group Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference

Mark Your Calendars ...

 ... for the only conference focused exclusively on graduate and professional aid.

If you are a professional in higher education - whether your role is in finacial aid, admissions or student services - the 2011 Access Group Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference has the resources, insights and solutions you need to help your students achieve success.

• Hear nationally acclaimed speakers
• Learn from experienced industry leaders
• Network with peers who share your passion and understand your challenges

Program details and registration information will be available soon, so look for conference updates here on All Access, on the conference webpage and on Twitter.

Save the Date! 

November 17 - 19, 2011 - Sandpearl Resort Clearwater Beach, Florida.

 

Introducing the All New (and Improved) Need Access!

For 15 years, Need Access has helped graduate and professional financial aid administrators award their institutions’ need-based aid.  Well, frankly, after 15 years, it was time for Need Access “to have a little work done!” 

In January, we proudly launched the new Need Access website and here are the top five changes: 

• Most noticeably, we’ve introduced an updated branding scheme to Need Access.  The Need Access marketing team, working with our agency, developed a new product logo, color scheme, and then incorporated those into a new site look-and-feel for Need Access.

 

•  Also as part of the re-design, we introduced a new tag line for the school market. Since “the best thing since sliced bread" was taken, we decided upon, “Need Access - bringing student need into focus.”  You’ll see this new brand identifier on materials that you receive regarding Need Access. 

 

• We also expanded needaccess.org to include content for the school administrators.  In the past, we’ve published Need Access information for the schools and FAAs under accessgroup.org, but with the re-design we’ve created an area for schools.  To find information about Need Access, simply go to needaccess.org and click into the School Administrator area, “learn how Need Access can work for you. 
  
• While we’ve always been proud of Need Access and the positive feedback from our Need Access schools, we took this opportunity to introduce more on-screen help.  Most notably, we’ve expanded the student and parent help sections and introduced a global site search.

 

• As we always strive to keep your students’ in mind, we incorporated significant improvements to the student and parent application process.  We updated the application to follow modern web conventions, introducing an interface modeled after traditional website forms and applications, hopefully making the application even easier to use.

The Need Access team isn’t slowing down after introducing these improvements – we’ve already started on the Counselor software product.  Be sure to keep an eye on your e-mail for upcoming product announcements. 

Click the button below to go to the new NeedAccess.Org and use the comment function at the end of this blog post to let us know what you think. 

Posted by:  Christina Martin

 

Reaction - Will Student Loan Debt Be the Next Bubble?

As student indebtedness continues to be an issue in the financial news, I’m sure you’ve seen at least one article lately suggesting that student loans may be the “next bubble to burst.”  Blogs have been abuzz with talk of the Wall Street Journal,and Washington Examiner articles.  Even back in May 2008, Andrew Gillen and Richard Vedder raised the same question on Inside Higher Ed. 

I, too, am worried about the trends in student borrowing. Not only are graduate and professional students borrowing larger amounts, undergraduates too are now averaging more than $20,000 in student loan debt. When you add that all together it does cause one to pause and wonder, “When is student loan debt too much?”

 

We tend to look at student loans as an investment in the future, but as with every investment one must figure the possible ROI (return on investment) and the risk/reward ratio.   Again, asking the question, “How much is too much?”

 

The good news is that the upcoming Access Group Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference this November has several programs that are intended to address this issue. They include the session,“Will Student Loan Debt Be the Next Bubble?” and the full-day Financial Literacy Forum that will provide very important information about how we can help students cope with their ever-increasing debt.

 

I’m eager to see what is said and what we may be able to do to cope with the bubble if it does become reality.  In actuality, providing borrower education and improved financial literacy may be one of the most effective ways we can fend off the potential “bubble” that some are predicting.

 

What do YOU think?   As you read these articles and hear what some experts are saying, what is your level of concern?  Is your office already taking steps to prepare your students for the financial realities of a possible “bubble?”

 

Use the “comments" link below to let us know what you’re thinking.

 

Posted by: Jeff Hanson