10 Tips To Develop A Student Success Campaign A student success plan is a set of procedures used by an institution to ensure that its students are successful. Schools that are actively committed to promoting student success help their students learn, graduate, obtain employment, and demonstrate financial responsibility through repayment of the funds borrowed to finance their education. GSFC would like to share several tips that will help your post-secondary institution ensure student success through these measures. 1. The significance of a title impacts how a campaign is defined. Be careful not to use a title associated with the duties of financial aid such as, "A Default Prevention Campaign." A more common unified title could be Student Success and Retention Management Campaign. 2. To generate synergy on campus, seek approval of upper management and/or the president to start an integrated campus wide campaign, creating a vested interest between departments and a willingness to assist. 3. Form a committee with representatives from every area of enrollment management, making sure the committee has an awareness of the debt level of students. 4. A default prevention campaign functions best when implemented in phases based on campus involvement with a lead coordinator, preferably a dedicated default prevention coordinator. 5. Combine traditional strategies such as reviewing delinquency reports and financial literacy sessions with non-traditional strategies along the lines of investigating unique connections found in statistical data or recurring student concerns. Promoting student success instead of default prevention will encompass both. 6. Update assessments of student enrollment every two years. 7. Create institutional resources to locate borrowers after leaving school and implement a procedure where every office must verify a student's current address for those still enrolled. 8. Allow students to keep their school email addresses after they withdraw or graduate so you have an easy way to reach them to offer assistance. 9. Require students on academic probation and re-entering students to complete a course which includes study skills and time management. 10. Get financial aid and money management in the curriculum for classes that have a financial component, even if it is only one hour each term. For more specialized strategies unique to your institution, contact Regina Venson, Default Prevention Specialist at 770-724-9083 or reginav@gsfc.org. MARCH 2010 ARTICLES 10 Tips To Develop A Student Success Campaign Georgia Student Finance Authority to Suspend FFELP Reminder for schools transitioning to the Direct Loan Program Upcoming Training Opportunities GSFC411 ARCHIVE February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 More RELATED LINKS GAcollege411 Partner Update Compliance Corner Archive Board of Regents Technical College System of Georgia Mapping Your Future Department of Education Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089 GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org Georgia Student Finance Authority to Suspend FFELP In February, a letter was distributed to our colleagues informing them about the suspension of all lending activity under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) effective March 15, 2010. According to GSFC President Tim Connell, "this decision was a very difficult one to arrive at but the combination of pending federal legislation, a declining market for FFELP loans and a very adverse economic environment tells us this is the right thing to do." Please refer to the following "Dear Colleague" for additional information. GSFC will continue the administration of state funded scholarships and grants such as the HOPE Scholarship Program, assist students with loan default prevention, promote GAcollege411, provide training and outreach services to parents, students, counselors and financial aid professionals. MARCH 2010 ARTICLES 10 Tips To Develop A Student Success Campaign Georgia Student Finance Authority to Suspend FFELP Reminder for schools transitioning to the Direct Loan Program Upcoming Training Opportunities GSFC411 ARCHIVE February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 More RELATED LINKS GAcollege411 Partner Update Compliance Corner Archive Board of Regents Technical College System of Georgia Mapping Your Future Department of Education Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089 GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org Reminder for schools transitioning to the Direct Loan Program Schools transitioning (in full or in part) to the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (DL) Program may be undergoing several changes in their processes to accommodate the change in programs to disburse federal student loans. As with FFELP, students receiving a direct loan are required to complete entrance counseling for Stafford and Grad PLUS Loans before receiving the first disbursement and exit counseling upon withdrawing, graduating, or ceasing at least half-time attendance at the school. Schools can continue to use Mapping Your Future's Online Student Loan Counseling (OSLC) to meet requirements, though schools need to take some additional steps to fully meet regulations, such as providing school-specific information in entrance counseling and providing average indebtedness and DL servicer information for exit counseling. Information about regulatory requirements for entrance and exit counseling is in the OSLC User's Guide at mappingyourfuture.org/oslc/ugregulations.htm . MARCH 2010 ARTICLES 10 Tips To Develop A Student Success Campaign Georgia Student Finance Authority to Suspend FFELP Reminder for schools transitioning to the Direct Loan Program Upcoming Training Opportunities GSFC411 ARCHIVE February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 More RELATED LINKS GAcollege411 Partner Update Compliance Corner Archive Board of Regents Technical College System of Georgia Mapping Your Future Department of Education Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089 GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org Upcoming Training Opportunities GSFC is pleased to announce training for our colleagues on a variety of topics. Click here to view a list of all training events during the month of March. Listings include titles, course descriptions, dates and time. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact LearningResources@gsfc.org or Kathleen Caldwell at kathleenc@gsfc.org or by calling (770) 233-4809. MARCH 2010 ARTICLES 10 Tips To Develop A Student Success Campaign Georgia Student Finance Authority to Suspend FFELP Reminder for schools transitioning to the Direct Loan Program Upcoming Training Opportunities GSFC411 ARCHIVE February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 More RELATED LINKS GAcollege411 Partner Update Compliance Corner Archive Board of Regents Technical College System of Georgia Mapping Your Future Department of Education Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089 GAcollege411.org - www.gsfc.org