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Institutions We Serve: 4-Year Colleges & Universities
Kurt Reilly • Nov 02, 2020
Traditional colleges and universities often have large student bodies and complex scholarship programs, so our scholarship management solution can make life a lot easier for everyone involved. Admins at four-year colleges that use AwardSpring report that the platform makes it possible to centralize and streamline a host of processes, saving time, effort, and expense.
Here are just a few of the specific ways our solution has helped our college and university administrator customers:
- Improved retention & enrollment: Our easy-to-use student application reduces barriers to completion, resulting in double the application volume. With a larger pool of qualified students, administrators can award every scholarship available and ensure they have the most attractive admission offer possible. Once enrolled, students with scholarships are more likely to graduate than peers without; data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) shows that students with scholarships have about 15% higher graduation rates.
“We have seen our application numbers grow from the hundreds to the thousands –
and we continue to see an upsurge every year.”
-Taya Flores, Scholarship Director & Student Affairs Senior Financial Officer, Utah State University
- Reduced time spent on scholarship administration by 50%: With AwardSpring, reviewers and administrators spend about 50% less time on scholarship tasks. That significant time savings can be spent on more impactful work, accelerating progress against institutional goals and improving quality of life for employees. Our solution’s dashboard, reports, and review interface all help scholarship admins make faster, better decisions, with no risk of human error.
- Full support for every working environment. From the very beginning, every AwardSpring process was designed to be mobile- and WFH-friendly. That’s been especially useful this year, when many four-year colleges moved to a remote working model. Seamless integration with every Student Information System (SIS) ensures that data is always up-to-date. And if admins ever have a question, our incredible support team is always available to help. Most software support teams are happy to hand over documentation in response to a question, but AwardSpring’s staff goes way beyond that. We’ll actually log into an admin’s account and screen-share exactly how to fix an issue or tackle a task, so that the solution is clearly understood.
“Since we started using AwardSpring, we’ve added 100 scholarships and doubled the money awarded to students,
from $846K to $1.4M – and we no longer have any unused funds.
With AwardSpring, scholarships have gone from being a chore to being a blessing!”
-Tracy Monin, Fiscal Support Analyst & Scholarship Coordinator, University of Arkansas
AwardSpring Blog
The FAFSA Simplification Act has brought about significant changes to the financial aid landscape, ushering in a new era in the FAFSA application process. While you’re likely familiar with the details, let's take a moment to recap the key highlights of this transformative legislation. Key Changes: Transition to SAI: The cornerstone of the FAFSA Simplification Act is the replacement of the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with the Student Aid Index (SAI). This shift aims to provide a more nuanced assessment of financial need, offering flexibility with SAI values, including the possibility of negative figures down to -1500. SAR to FSS: Another notable change is the rebranding of the Student Aid Report (SAR) as the FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS), reflecting the evolving nature of the application process. Negative SAI and PELL Grant Eligibility: One of the significant departures from the previous system is the allowance for negative SAIs. This change necessitates adjustments in how institutions package students for need-based aid. Additionally, PELL grant eligibility will now be determined using criteria separate from the FAFSA and resultant SAI, with the incorporation of IRS tax return data where feasible. As you embark to adapt these new protocols, it's essential to remain informed and proactive in navigating the evolving landscape of higher education finance. As an AwardSpring partner, we’ve made suggestions on how to leverage these changes to better support students on their educational journeys and ensure access to the opportunities they deserve. AwardSpring offers the following recommendations to guide institutions through this process: Recommendation #1: Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to Student Aid Index (SAI) The most consequential change to teams that are putting together Financial Aid packages or making scholarship awarding decisions are the EFC to SAI transition. We recommend you consider one of two options: Option 1: Re-label existing EFC fields as SAI to maintain continuity in data collection If you choose to re-label existing EFC fields, be mindful that doing so may impact historical data analysis, requiring a clear understanding by the consumers of any reports of the transition from EFC to SAI effective the date you make this conversion Option 2: Keep your existing EFC fields for historical purposes and create a new SAI field In this instance, you’ll need a thorough review of all of your qualifications and/or awarding decision-making processes to ensure SAI is being used and EFC is properly retired Notables: In the case where you’re using our SIS Integration feature, we’ll want to coordinate which path you’ve chosen so we can update the import process accordingly AwardSpring currently doesn’t allow our numeric fields to go negative creating a gap between the new SAI protocol and our existing numeric fields. We’ll be addressing this in a March, 2024 release so you can capture negative SAI values, if desired In either case, you’ll want to review scholarship qualifications tied to EFC and/or SAI, and ensure compatibility with the possibility of negative SAI values Recommendation #2: Student Aid Report (SAR) to FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) Much like repurposing EFC for SAI in our first recommendation, you have another consideration with SAR vs. FSS: Option 1: Evaluate the option of re-labeling existing SAR upload fields as FSS to streamline data collection recognize that this adjustment repurposes the field, necessitating careful consideration of historical data interpretation Option 2: Alternatively, create separate fields to accommodate the transition, albeit with potential rework depending on your unique configuration and whether you utilize SIS Integration Recommendation #3: Other FAFSA Fields There’s more variability here since you may have a wide degree of fields to consider. You should tailor any changes based on the specific field type, whether it’s being used as a qualification, and whether you’d need to make corresponding changes in your SIS. Summary Proactive assessment and strategic adaptation of FAFSA-related questions are crucial to seamlessly transition to the new framework outlined by the FAFSA Simplification Act. By carefully considering these recommendations, you can ensure alignment with regulatory changes while maintaining efficiency and accuracy in financial aid processes. As always, if you’d like to talk with our expert staff, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at support@awardspring.com.
We're absolutely thrilled to announce that AwardSpring has clinched the prestigious #1 spot in the G2 report for Scholarship Management Software, but we didn't stop there!