Using Your Marketing Skills to Be a Bright Spot in the 2024 FAFSA Crisis
It has been a very hard season for most admissions and financial aid offices. The federal government’s implementation of the new FAFSA has been, to put it kindly, a disaster. What started out as a “sometime in December” deadline, became a January 1 soft launch, a February 1 delay, and, announced January 30, a further delay into March. The stress in enrollment divisions across the country is palpable, as is the confusion among families as they try to navigate a process that is now nearly six months later than the usual cycle.
It is not that no one saw this coming. National higher education associations have been lobbying the Department of Education for almost a year to change the timelines to have less impact on students and institutions, but to no avail. The original December timeline was already a challenge, landing squarely in the middle of a recruitment and financial aid cycle. With the delays, the new timeline now puts us in the middle of the critical decision-making season for families.
As a higher ed marketing or communications leader, what can your team contribute to help alleviate this crisis both for your enrollment colleagues and prospective families?
Communicate Reassurance and Diligence
Right now, the market—and your prospective students, in particular—need reassurance. While your institution will not have all of the answers, your team can communicate that the university is diligently seeking them and will do its best to keep students informed. In essence, you are telling your audience that they can worry less because you will do some of the worrying for them. Provide reassuring messages from staff in your financial aid office that your team will work with students to get their packaging figured out no matter what the government’s process looks like.
Lead With a Customer Service Mindset
The delay is a particular challenge for private institutions that relies more heavily on scholarship packages than nearby public competitors. They risk families losing patience with the process and enrolling elsewhere. Private institutions can combat this by providing stellar customer service. Providing frequent communication through all channels—mail, email, text, phone, and social media—can help connect families to your institution as a source of information that can be trusted. Coach your campus contacts on how they can provide the latest updates in a positive, confident way. This will help build the loyalty needed for those families to choose you, even in an environment of uncertainty.
Become the Expert
At this point, no one in the market place has the full picture of what will happen or on what timeline, but this should not prevent your institution from becoming the expert that families turn to for the latest news—and how it affects them personally. One way to do this is to create a landing page on your website dedicated to the FAFSA situation. Through your communication flow, drive your prospective and current students there to see the latest updates and timelines.
Another way to signal your expertise is to get someone on your team in front of the media. This is a big story, and news outlets will be looking for answers. Having your institution in the public eye as an expert builds confidence that you are handling the crisis well and should be families’ preferred choice. Reach out to your local or regional news outlets to offer information and connect them to campus enrollment leaders as expert sources.
Give People Something to Do
No one likes to feel powerless or dependent on others to control their destiny. Even if we cannot solve the obvious problem, we all feel better when we can do something positive to impact the situation. Your team has the opportunity to point families toward positive steps that they can take now to help themselves in the long run.
There are several ways families can take action and get preliminary ideas of what their aid package may look like. Encourage students to begin now, including:
Proceed with filing their information. Even though Institutional Student Information Records aren’t yet available to financial aid offices, students can still file and receive a preliminary Student Aid Index score and information about whether they will qualify for Pell grants. Ask students to share that information with your financial aid office to begin discussing what their package could look like.
Pursue state grants. If your state offers a grant program, urge students to sign up early and have their paperwork completed to know if they will qualify.
Attend to unique needs. Encourage students who have special circumstances to be in touch with the financial aid office to have these situations documented.
Run estimated numbers. Remind families that they can utilize your institution’s cost calculator to get an estimate of what their costs and aid might be.
These proactive steps allow families to be part of their own solutions, while also offering your enrollment team more opportunities to engage with them and hopefully head off any potential deterrents to choosing your institution.
Stand Out by Stepping Forward
The FAFSA crisis has had everyone waiting, hoping, and guessing. In this uncertain environment, your institution can stand out by taking a proactive approach. Reach out to your applicants to reassure them that you are there to help. Present yourself as the trusted partner they need in the midst of uncertainty. Use your communications and marketing tools to position yourself as a reliable source for updates and advice, building confidence that you understand their concerns and are constantly monitoring the situation to provide the best help possible. Turn people’s stress into action by providing concrete steps that, if completed now, will benefit students in the future.
You can be a hero in this crisis. Your team can leverage the power of great communication to support your prospective families and help keep your institution on firm footing.
Could you use a fresh perspective on your enrollment marketing efforts—or some extra man hours to supplement your team? Let’s talk about how 5° Branding can help.
