University Business - October 2011 - (Page 46)

cfo Campus At Stonehill College, Eileen O’Leary encounters parents with unrealistic expectations about how much debt their children should take on. Tough Conversations says. For high school seniors who want the Columbia experience but really can’t afford four years of tuition, he and his staff often make specific recommendations about courses of study at community colleges so that those folks can make a successful transfer. “We want those students to enroll at Columbia,” he explains. The hope is that if a student can only afford two years at Columbia, they will be the last two years, where the student can take upper-level classes and become a happy, successful graduate instead of having to transfer out early on, with mostly general education credits and a bitter experience. “It gets tricky for students because they fall in love with a college,” Monroe says. The staff at Prescott College (Ariz.), a liberal arts school with many nontraditional students, often has to talk to students about from our president to give our best advice,” she says. Twice that the challenges of being an undergraduate and a working adult. In she can recall, students and parents have complained to the presthe last few years, the campus has faced a new issue: people who ident about the recommendation that they were given, and both want to enroll but who had defaulted on a student loan from times, he supported the staff. years earlier in their academic careers. The number is small, but Not every campus has taken the same view. In June, Kaplan the situation is entirely new. The admissions staff works with University, an online for-profit university based in New York, these applicants to help them start fresh. “People can resolve their was ordered to pay $1.6 million to settle lawsuits alleging pundefaulted status,” says Mary Frances Causey, director of finan- ishment against whistleblowers. Employees complained that cial aid, but default can also hold up the transfer of transcripts. Students who pursue nontraditional academic paths don’t ‘We need to recruit students who have a real chance always understand that the loans for even to succeed at the college educationally, socially, and one semester come due six months after financially. It is critical to our health as an institution.’ leaving campus, and some of them get —Murphy Monroe, Columbia College Chicago into trouble. Campus Officials The tone and culture of a campus starts at the top, and admissions and financial aid officers don’t always have the luxury of telling a student to go elsewhere, transfer in two years, or take a part-time course load so they can work. Bringing in a successful new class is challenging. “We are a nonprofit college that is tuition-dependent, and we have a budget to think about,” says Monroe. That’s why getting the backing of the administration is critical if that kind of conversation must sometimes take place. At Columbia College Chicago, officials support the admissions process because they want those who attend to be successful. “The relationship between enrollment and retention is important,” Monroe says. “We need to recruit students who have a real chance to succeed at the college educationally, socially, and financially. It is critical to our health as an institution.” O’Leary says that the Stonehill financial aid office can suggest less expensive schools as alternatives. “We have sanction 46 | October 2011 they were being asked to admit students to a surgical technology program even though there were no externship programs available for them. Without the externship, those enrolled often defaulted on their student loans because they could not get certified to work in the field. At Prescott College, the administration has supported borrower education programs because officials were unhappy about an uptick in the default rate. “We’ve all been interested in getting students to think about this sooner, before they leave campus,” Causey says, and that concern has given her office the resources needed to better advise students. Faculty, Advisors, and Student Life Administrators For years, discussions of financial aid have taken place at the periphery of the institution: at admission and graduation, by administration and not by those working in academic or student universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - October 2011

University Business - October 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Cloud Email
Tuition Setting
Campus CFO
Independent Outlook
End Note

University Business - October 2011