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Meredith Clement: [00:00:00] Okay everyone. So this is MEFA webinar on getting first generation students to the end. So excited for the presentation today and I will hand it off to our presenters.

Jaron Tucker: Good afternoon everyone. Thank you again for coming. If you have been to our presentations before, and welcome to all the first time attendees for this session.

My name is Jaron Tucker. I currently am, I am currently the Associate Director of Office service and scholarships here at the University of Connecticut. Um, I have long had a passion of working and supporting first generation students as I am a former first generation student, um, of low income, more importantly.

Uh, so I have faced a lot of the challenges and stuff that we will discuss today. So this is a passion project of mine, so I’m hoping that you enjoy the content that we put on, um, for you today.

Natalie Wong: And hello, I [00:01:00] am Natalie Long. I am a Senior Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

I am also a first generation student, so similar to Jerome. This is a very big passion project for me, um, and helping these types of students gain accessibility to higher education.

Jaron Tucker: So going over some of the topics that we will cover, um, in this webinar today. Um, we’ll look at what is a first generation college student, uh, the variance that exists within the population, um, the issues students face before and after acceptance, as well as the hurdles they may encounter during their journey to graduation.

Um, we’ll also look at how we can support first gen students and ensure they are armed with the tools to survive and thrive.

Starting off with the definition of a first generation student. So by definition, a first generation student is born to parents who have not graduated college. So this [00:02:00] means a student whose parent attended college for three years but did not graduate, would be considered a first generation student. Um, one of the most revealing things that was learned a lot in preparation for this presentation, um, is that there isn’t a lot of data collection on first gen students at individual colleges and universities.

Um, it would be extremely hard for someone to come to a general cause and effect based on the data that exists out there. Um, but since the inception of this presentation, there has been some significant changes. Um, but we hope to see a lot more changes over the years, um, especially when we get into some of the topics like default rates, um, throughout the population.

So now let’s focus on some of the different types of first gen students within this population. So here we have outlined the students who are in different groups. So, and student group [00:03:00] one. Um, I like to classify that as student group one and student group three are the ones who need the most information broken down due to the fact that they may not have a point of reference to prepare them for the aid process, both institutionally and federally.

Student one, the student group one are students who are typically Fed Aid eligible, but do not have. May not have a mentor or support to navigate the college experience. Um, student group two will be better prepared than most of the other groups since they’ll have a point of reference to pull from. Um, one of the caveats that exists in student group two is can, can also be that a particular school that they’re relative graduated from.

So for example, if they had a cousin or, um. An uncle that is essentially that graduated college, that could be a point of reference that they will be able to pull from that. A student and student group, one would not because they don’t have anyone of close age or proximity, that they will be able to kinda [00:04:00] learn some information before they make their journey out, um, to college student.

Group three are, are going to be the pa the students who tend to have more challenges as in relation to the financial aid process. So these are the students who don’t necessarily have the ability to do a FAFSA under the normal circumstances in the same way that the traditional students, so these are typically gonna be students who are consider, who are refugee status students granted asylum.

Um, they could be a CU Cuban Haitian immigrant with a conditional entrant. Orphan war of the court, these are all students who have individualized requirements to receive federal aid. So typically there is more documentation that needs to be provided and more conversation that needs to be had in order for students to be able to maintain their federal eligibility.

Um, and then student group four are the ones that are not federal aid eligible. Um, [00:05:00] but institutionally they can be provided with some support. So I’m proud to say here at Yukon, um, we do have kind of an undocumented student, um, financial aid forms. So while we are not able to give them federal aid, they are able to submit essentially a financial application for us to be able to provide them with university assistance, um, to navigate around the hurdles that they wouldn’t be able to receive federal aid for.

Diving into some of the issues at hand. Uh, so for first gen students, there are many contributing factors. Um, but here are some of the four common occurrences that we’ve seen within the population. So as one of the main ones is financial burden. So many students from who come from who are considered first gen, come from low income households and have affordability or dependency issues.

So if you think about it, there are. [00:06:00] In this particular group, many can have taken out large student loans, um, to pay for school and have a job throughout their college career. Um, you know, after all is not just tuition to worry about. There are textbook housing bills, food, laptops, and in some cases there are even students who have kids or family that they are caring for, um, and have to put in a little bit extra time to make sure that they have the finances to be able to support all these things.

Now, naturally, if they’re not going to a full need school, um. These type of things could become a little bit more complicated. So when you add the concepts of the financial burdens that they may also be experiencing, um, there is also the, the fact that it will be difficult to navigate a new environment while also trying to work through some of these resources and trying to make sure that they have these resources.

Um, and so naturally you don’t want to have a situation where a student is now taking on this excessive amount of depth and nothing to show for it, which we’ll [00:07:00] talk about a little bit later when we go into some of the default rates that bring this, um, one of these issues to the forefront. Um. The other topic in particular is the, also the lack of support.

Um, so as you all know, all school systems and districts are not created equally, and households vary in a variety of ways. So you may have school districts, students coming from school districts that are not well-resourced, um, and they may not have the same level of support at those schools. Um, first generation students usually don’t have a parent or family member to help them navigate the college system, which tends to put them at a disadvantage before they even begin applying.

So this is increasingly involved with the competitive process in itself when it comes to applying for schools. Um, and so not everyone has the great counselor support at their schools where they may have a dedicated, um, college school counselor to be able to help them navigate [00:08:00] this. Um, and so sometimes there.

Trying to figure it out on their own with minimal support. Um, so they are often left on their own to research schools and fills the study, um, and fill out applications that are, in some cases, this is their first time even a being asked some of the financial aid questions that they’ll see on a fafsa. Um, and naturally needing a lot of support to be able to answer those questions accurately.

Um, luckily FAFSA simplification has made it at least easier for students to complete it. Um, so naturally there’s going to be that that adjustment for them is a little bit easier this time around because of the level of questions and a lot of the data that is now being pulled, um, from the IRS to help minimize some of those, um, mishaps that those students have.

Um, the other thing I will point out that inequitable access to resources. So this is really just kind of building on the point that, you know, college itself has. [00:09:00] Always the traditional, the second generation and third generation students have always been the ones that have been able to thrive in these situations.

Um, while first gen students tend to have to figure things out, um, and the access to resources could really be things such as, you know, inability to access college, um, readiness programs to get ready for what life looks like in college and navigate in that processes. Also being, not having the well-resourced, um, being in a well-resourced school district where you have those additional opportunities where there’s that, um, additional support to be provided to students so therefore they can help navigate this process.

So these are just some of the issues, um, that those students face. Um, overall. And then the last thing is life. It comes at you fast. Um, and everyone’s situation is always dramatically different. Uh, so. Naturally, there’s going to be things [00:10:00] both family and personal that may impact things. They may not be able to balance all of those things.

And while you’re trying to navigate a complicated process, like applying for school and figuring out what school is best for you, naturally, these are the type of things that can all can hinder you. And then once they actually get to college, the things that can happen in their personal lives that may also impact their success, um, when they are on campus as well.

Um, one and once that, that I did want to point out is just because of the, the type of support for first gen students. Um, and had in 2018, Eastern Kentucky University was answering around 2001st generation student questions per day. Um, and so I think that that is. Something to help get context for as far as like if you don’t do enough planning and being able to provide some of the information to these students upfront, that you will see an increase in the amount of work you have to do on the back [00:11:00] end to help support these students when they do reach your campus.

Natalie Wong: So. To your point, some of the key financial concerns that this population has are categorized in these five little blocks over here. But there are of course, a plethora of others that they may be concerned about as well. But the first is a lot of first generation students have a lack of awareness about the true cost of college.

Um, I think a lot of families still think college can somewhat be unattainable or there isn’t the proper financing options for them, but that’s untrue. So I think it’s up to high school counselors and college administrators to show people how affordable college can be and help them truly understand the overall cost to attend their institution, not only for the first year but all four years.

Um, the other is there is limited understanding sometimes with these financial aid options, such as parents and scholarships and loans. ’cause again, um, many of these students, their parents attended some college or no college, [00:12:00] so they’re not familiar with the different types of aid that is out there to help assist them with paying for college.

The other is fear of debt and or financial insecurity. This is a really big one. Again, a lot of people think colleges can cost an absorbent amount of money, but if they’re educated and have the right skills or have the right access to resources, they can lessen their fear of debt and have those conversations with their families and administrators, um, about how they can make a financially sound decision for themselves.

The other one is the fafsa. Though FAFSA simplification has improved a lot. It can be difficult navigating the fafsa. Um, I know a big population that was affected this year were students where their families did not have social Security numbers. Um, 25, 26 is looking a lot more promising, but again, that’s a very difficult process to navigate.

Um, so making sure that as high school counselors or college administrators that we’re doing our best to help, help ensure these families that something hopefully can be [00:13:00] done and they can get the access that they deserve to finance their college experience. Um, and verification processes can also be a roadblock.

Um, but verification has gone significantly down, so hopefully that isn’t as big of a hurdle as it has been in the past. And then lastly, renewal requirements. Um, just making sure students are aware that FAFSA is a yearly. Application that they have to do that things may change from year to year, but just to educate them and be prepared for that experience.

Um, and then for many of these students, there is insufficient emergency funds. Like Jerome said, when life hits you hard sometimes there aren’t the fundings there, and that kind of throws them off of what they thought their original plan was and how can we help them navigate maybe some of those changes so that they can continue to be successful.

Um, the graph really just shows how additional, how a lot of first generation students and families are not just supporting themselves, but helping support others within their family. Um, only increasing the financial concerns of then adding college onto [00:14:00] something they have to pay for.

Jaron Tucker: So focusing on the financial concerns thought it would be really important to kind of highlight from both the perspective of what school counselors should. Try to target with their students and getting them to understand, but also knowing that we have higher education officials on this, um, webinar as well, the institutional outreach that can help maybe prevent some of these things before it gets too far right.

So students with low sais in particular looking at their financial fit within schools, so naturally you’re evaluating things like your total program cost and if it would be cost efficient for you to actually attend the school and. Pursue that degree program, right? So if you’re a student with a low SAI, uh, naturally you would probably want to target schools that meet full financial need.

Um, because if you know [00:15:00] that you don’t necessarily have a pool of resources to pull from, or if you’re worried that your parents’ credit might not be good enough for you to be able to attend a school where they don’t meet full need, but you will end up needing to pull out additional support, um, naturally you probably should wanna avoid that school unless you have the resources or you have the confidence that your Pam, your parents, um, or your caretaker would be able to provide you with those additional resources to help make that cost fit.

Um, and so some of the things that. It’s also important to ask those students who are looking to apply for schools is finding out if the student’s, um, parents may have a 5 29 plan. Um, because they may have, they may have a reflected income that will showcase a low SAI, but they also could have some support and revenue that might actually be able to help facilitate the students.

So really kind of understanding a student’s financial need and how it fits with them [00:16:00] within the school that they are targeting. So you wanna make sure that that is something that the students are being aware of and it, it’s something that they don’t have to find out the hard way. Um, ’cause some, too many times we’ll see students who will just kind of be like, I’ll figure it out when I get there.

And by the end of the fall term. There’s still no, there’s still no solution. And then it gets to the point where like now you’ve attended a school for a year and you may have a balance, and now all of a sudden you don’t end up being able to continue at school and register there, and then you end up having to register at another institution in future if you can’t afford.

So really trying to minimize some of those things that happen to those students and get in the mental mindset, like yeah, if maybe a dream school, but you also have to think of how you fit financially within that institution and, and if you can afford their degree programs. And from the institutional outreach side, um, one of the things that I’ll highlight here that we do at Yukon is that [00:17:00] particularly for our out-of-state students.

We always send them, uh, once the FI financial awards letter go out, people have made their commitments. We always make sure we send them their award letter personally, like and by mail so they have it in hand, um, as well as, um, electronically to ensure that they understand that this is how much the program costs, like this is how much you are expected to pay.

Um, and then this is what your yearly award will look like. And like, this is how much money you will need to have as your resources, like to make sure that you don’t end up with a balance. Right. And one of the key things is we know at colleges the cost of attendance is built up of a variety of factors, and it’s a combination of actual build costs, but also what we have identified as living expenses.

Right? So those are not. Direct bill costs and those can fluctuate. So students have the understanding that this is actually what’s going to be on my [00:18:00] term bill and this is the stuff that I have to make sure I’m paying directly to the university. And then having the understand that this is the money that I can maybe adjust.

Like it’s not something I have to pay directly, but it’s something that I have to keep in mind that I’m gonna need money to do things for living expenses or parti, particularly travel, depending on the way the school’s financial aid program is set up. So for institutional side, making sure that students understand direct bill costs versus indirect expenses, right?

So those are some two key components that I think it would be really good for students to have that information upfront to help minimize some of the back and forth that may happen, um, once they get to campus. And it might be a little bit too late depending how far they are in the game.

All right, so one of the things that I wanted to highlight here is due to the fact that schools can lose their federal loan eligibility if they have a student loan [00:19:00] default rate over 30% for a three year period. Just highlighting the stats here, that as you can see, um, low income and first generation students, they had a 46% default rate, um, a few years ago.

And then actually this. This chart is, is outdated from the time that it was originally done, but because of everything that has been on pause with, with student loan repayment, uh, naturally getting the data currently is a little bit more problematic just because there has not been as much collection on it.

Um, but because of the, the fact that the stat was 30% for schools to not lose their eligibility and seeing how the population itself would exceed that in some cases, like this is just the issue that we’re seeing within first gen students and them leaving school without actually earning a degree, but having, you know, these insurmountable amounts of debt but nothing to show for it.

Um, when they leave some of these institutions. [00:20:00] I just wanted to highlight a few default rate facts. Um, here. So, 91.8% of all student loans come from a federal government with 10.8% of the student loan borrows defaulting on their educational loan within their first year repayment. 25% of borrows default within their first five years of repayment, and then 10 to 20% of student loans are currently in default.

Um, and then 15.6. Percent of student loan borrowers who attended private for-profit college default within the first year repayment was 7.1% of private nonprofit college attendees defaulting on their student loans. And in 42.8% of borrowers with loans and default owe a debt of 20,000 to $48,000. Um, and 77.6% of borrowers owe 40,000 or less, um, in default to student loans.

Um, and this is in relation to first gen students. So this data is [00:21:00] reflective of the first gen student population. Um, so as you can see, this was, this was the driving force for why me and Natalie did this, put this presentation together, is understanding that there is a. A large amount of students within this population that fall into these buckets, and they don’t really have a way to get out of it because either they didn’t earn the degree and being able to secure a position that will allow them successfully pay it.

But also there hasn’t been a lot of financial literacy, um, done in relation to smart loan borrowing and students just feeling like, well, I gotta get, I gotta borrow what I need to. But there’s other things that naturally will factor into the fact that a student may end up defaulting and, you know, hitting their end point at some of, at, at the institution for a variety.

Other reasons, which will also go to, um, in the next few slides.

All right, so now we’ll [00:22:00] go through some of those hurdles that actually happened before and after acceptance. So starting with before acceptance. Um, naturally the financial hurdles, particularly students of low income and first generation, um, there’s the application fees for college. Um, you also have to deal with the deposit deadlines.

Last year was really, uh. A mess because a lot of schools adjusted their deadlines while some others held fast. And that was the first time students were caught in a crossroads where they had to either commit early to an institution and not make the decision because of everything that happened with, um, FAFSA simplification and the delays for eight officers to get outwards early.

So last year in particular was a, was a terrible time for students who had to deal with competing deposit deadlines, while most institutions in a normal year usually have the same, um, deadline. So that was one huge one in the LA in this most recent year. [00:23:00] Um, and then pro aid process literacy naturally.

Now with the SAI being the EFC, um, there is a reeducation that financial aid administrations, now we have to kind of get into the habit of making sure we’re saying SAI and never say an EFC. For even in some cases now, educating the students who are familiar with the EFC process and not the SAI. So having that conversation, but also the way that schools award, like what does it mean when a school says they meet full financial need?

It means different things at different places. Some say that means that we’ll meet your full unmet need after your federal aid. Some say we will just cover whatever it is that is your full unmet need without loans. Right. Uh, Harvard was one that did their award process. They didn’t include loans when they said that they meet full financial need.

Um, but there are some who also will meet full financial need after you, [00:24:00] after you’ve accepted your federal loans. Right. So there’s, I. Process around the, the, a literacy and verification being minimal now will help eliminate some of those things. But speaking back to the student group three, where there’s gonna be that additional documentation that they need to have, which they probably have not been required to submit before.

All right? So they’re going to now have to know about the literacy around the financial aid process and receiving aid. Um, and then fee waivers. That is not something that everyone just knows about, but there is the ability to have, um, your deposit fee waived in some institutions or as well as having fee waivers for applications.

When submitting a, a application to a school, that is something that students are not also aware of and knowing how to ask for that. Right. And seeing if a school has a policy on how they handle fee waivers, right? So that’s one, that’s some of the financial hurdles before they [00:25:00] get accepted. Um, and then the personal HUR hurdles is going to be things like selecting the right school.

Is it the right fit for you? For the students who still don’t necessarily know what they are going to go to college for and want to figure out what their degree is, that becomes a tougher challenge. Like are you gonna select the right school to that? Has the degree program that you ultimately end up in, um, what is the flexibility as far as changing the majors and the restrictions on there?

Right. Competing responsibilities. Do you actually, for the students who might be in their senior year. You know, they’re grinding to make sure that they make it to graduation on time. They may be balancing a job or two, and now all of a sudden, like now they have to navigate the college, um, process. So, you know, there’s additional things there that they are undergoing that may make that more complicated for them to be able to make that selection, um, without taking in a few things into consideration or even having the time to do it in the way that they need to.

Um, and then [00:26:00] parental approval is a huge one. Naturally, the parents also have some type of say, ’cause they are gonna be the ones, um, potentially footing the bill if it ends up being a, a student going to a school where they might not meet fi full financial need or they meet enough but the family is in a different financial situation.

The parents have to be in agreeance that the student, that they want the student to go to that particular school. So they are also seeking approval for that. Um, and naturally application guidelines and acronyms. Financial aid, we love acronyms. Um, and in some times we have to also remind ourselves that we are talking to people for the first time.

So like, they don’t know acronyms, but there are acronyms that we have to make sure that they are educated on. Um, and know that when this is referred to, uh, that this is what that means. So making sure that you outline the acronyms to the students before just using it kind of matter of factly. Um, so ensuring that [00:27:00] they also know, and that’s something that those students end up having to navigate around.

Um, because even if you look on most college websites, there’s probably an acronym for something, um, on their financial aid page. So those are just some of the financial and personal hurdles before acceptance for our first gen pop. All right. Some of the hurdles after acceptance, uh, these are the academic and financial hurdles.

So things like R two T fours, love those acronyms. Return to title four calculation, right? This is those situations where a student may withdraw from all classes past a certain point a time where they’re not eligible to keep their full amount of financial aid. So now all of a sudden they could be left with a situation where they were already given a refund based off of the amount of aid they had on their account versus what their actual costs were.

And due to a reduction that we had to do on federal aid now could leave that student with a balance. So when I mentioned [00:28:00] about the default rates, right, these are the, these are some of the situations where students could find themselves, ended up not being able to continue on with a college, um, and then ended up.

Having to pay loans. ’cause once that six month counter is gone, if they start, if they took out any loans and then they’re lacking repayment on those, now all of a sudden those end up in default. And now you have an issue where the student wouldn’t even be able to receive loans again until they clar, until they get this situation rectified.

Right? So RCT four is one of the biggest things that ultimately can delay a student from continuing on because if they’re not aware of the ramifications or they think that it will be minimal ramifications, that naturally will derail ’em for the next, the start of the next term instantly. Um, SAP satisfactory academic progress.

Now, once a student falls below undergrad in particular, once they fall below that 2.0 threshold, um, and [00:29:00] 67% completion rate, now all of a sudden they’re at risk for not being able to receive federal aid going forward Now. A lot of times institutions will inform students that they’re on academic probation is usually the term before.

Um, they’ll lose the aid. Um, but students need to know that they’re, just because you are not meeting SAP doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for you at that institution. There is a process to appeal, um, and explain like, Hey, things were going bad for me this year due to XY reason, and now going forward I feel like I will be able to be successful in my courses.

You know, due to the fact that I’m like tutoring, I’m, I’m taking on tutoring opportunities and really being able to invest myself a cer certain situation got under control, right? There are processes that are in place to ensure that students have the opportunity to express what occurred and it’s not just the end of the road for them if they’re not meeting sap.

Um, so that’s really important for [00:30:00] them to know, um, and. Just stressed out enough, because I’ve seen too many times where students would be like, well, I, I guess I’ll just go to, I guess I have to go to another school since I’m not meeting progress here. Which that’s never really the best case to leave a situation like that when, if you’ve, especially if you earned some credits already at that institution.

Um, and then changing circumstances I’ll highlight before unusual enrollment, since it typically doesn’t impact as many students as it has before, um, changing circumstances. One of the biggest things that I feel like, you know, in the financial aid world is the ability for us to actually help students, um, in ways that, you know, with having prior year tax information on the fafsa, there’s a lot of things that could have changed since then for a family’s financial picture.

And sometimes students are not aware that like, yeah, I. We’re going based off of 2022 tax info, for example, [00:31:00] and like now it’s 2024. And like I, my family has lost some of that income that was reflected not knowing that, oh, I can actually point that out and maybe have a review done. So therefore it captures what my family current financial picture is.

Um, and these are the type of things that could help, you know, get the students back to where they need to be or like be more reflective of their ability to pay for school, which I don’t necessarily feel is always the thing that is advertised as much. Um, because it’s one of those things where it’s very, it’s what it says, changing circumstances, right?

So special circumstances involving that. Um, and then unusual enrollment I’ll highlight here just because. For example, the student I was talking about where like, oh, they just go and enroll at another school. Um, this is when they would get flagged for that. If they enroll in, I believe it’s two or three more [00:32:00] institutions within a three academic year period, they’ll get flagged for something called unusual enrollment, which would cause the, which would then need, require them to then appeal for express, like what happened.

Um, so like if they didn’t earn any good grades at the previous institution, when they’re flagged for the unusual enrollment or unable to provide transcript, they could now put themselves in a situation where they can’t receive, um, federal aid at that new institution. So the whole thing of moving on to another school if you end up failing at one, is not necessarily the best practice, um, because you will eventually hit some type of roadblock if you continue with that logic.

Um, and then finally the personal hurdles. Naturally filling out a place, especially if you’re a student commuting to another state, um, that is not necessarily, uh, a state you’re familiar with, or even someti in some cases, especially if you’re a student coming from [00:33:00] certain backgrounds and then you end up at a school where this may be your first interaction with certain groups of people and you’re not necessarily feeling like there’s a community for you.

Um, those are the type of things that could lead to not only just filling out a place, but also feeling homesick and feeling like you’re lacking your community. Um, and then needing, and then having that desire to kind of be back home, uh, and then be in with your people, especially if you feel like the academic experience is not what you wanted.

Um, and so those are things that students have to navigate, but also understanding that there may be resources on campus for them to get assistance and seek help. Um. To get more education on things and be aware that there may be affinity groups on campus, um, for them attached to and events that they can attend to.

You know, kind of start feeling. ’cause if you’re just going on in your head and you’re like, I’m not making any connections in the classroom, there are other ways to get connected, [00:34:00] um, to other people within the academic community that would help. Um, and then degree change of heart is what I like to refer to as like, you decided to do two years, um, in one major and then you decided to switch to a major that is nowhere in the same vein.

So now all of a sudden the amount of credits you earned for those two years might not be transferable to the other program that you switched to. So then it just prolongs your journey in college. And then as. You know that there is limits on the amount of federal funding you can receive, particularly for the free money, like the Pell Grant.

Um, so you, it is things like that that needs to be outlined to students so therefore they can see the full picture and not kind of learn some of these things as it goes on, like as it happens to them.

Natalie Wong: So the slide is just to show who are these [00:35:00] students seeking advice from? And as you can see, a lot of the students don’t speak to anyone, and that’s the biggest issue. So it’s creating a safe space for students to come and speak to you. Um, the second place is the financial aid advisor, then academics, faculty members, and other staff.

So how do we empower these families and get them to start to communicate with us? So it’s through inclusive advising. The first is, like I said, cultural sensitivity. Recognize and respect the diverse cultural backgrounds and values of these students. Create that space so they feel comfortable coming to you and having those discussions and don’t feel fearful of asking questions.

I think everyone can relate to when you don’t, when you’re unsure about something or it’s a new experience, you’re kind of nervous to even ask because you don’t want to almost feel like, like uneducated or ignorant about a question you’re asking. And I think especially when it comes to money, people are always worried about asking and then being [00:36:00] kind of put off because they seem like they can’t afford it or their questions just aren’t translating well to the person they’re speaking to.

Um, so really making sure you’re creating that safe space so that they can talk about their finances openly, um, and make it less stressful and scary, um, to talk about these topics. And I think that’s just being kind and empathetic to these family situations and knowing that, you know, your time you’re giving them is so valued by them.

Um, so really they will be appreciative of it and it will also help you, um, also help you as a person. It makes you feel really good when you know that you’re helping someone. To speak off of that. One interesting fact with first generation families is this is a population that still really cares about education.

I think it’s brought up a lot like, is college worth it anymore? And for this population, it’s still very much is worth it. And people who are working in higher ed institutions, I think this is something you can tell your leadership why you should funnel resources into supporting first [00:37:00] generation students because these are the students that want to come to your institution.

They want to be there also. Um, they did kind of a fun survey where it was asking what is the likelihood a student would recommend their university or promoted. Once finishing and first generation students have a far higher likelihood of then promoting the institution they attended versus a non first gen.

Um, so really putting that time and investment into these students can really pay off years later. The other thing you wanna make sure is that you have accessible communications, if possible. Always have things in different languages. Um, if there’s a person in your office that is bilingual. One thing we did in my office is though we don’t have a staff member that speaks Spanish, when we were hiring our student employees, we looked to see if any of them were bilingual and we have them.

Assist us in creating some of those communications for us, translating into Spanish or Portuguese, um, to help families that come into our office so that they can better understand, again, it’s key to have empathy and patience with dealing with [00:38:00] this population. Again, you always wanna create that judgment free space where families do feel comfortable asking the questions and concerns they may have.

Like I always say, there is no dumb question when it comes to financial aid and as administrators, you know, we ask a billion questions ourselves. And then really partnering with community based organizations. These are great resources for schools to have, um, really build the rapport with those families.

And also they have a bunch of resources that they can offer to you. Um, financial aid administrators I know are always so burdened by the amount of work we have. So when you partner with community based organizations, sometimes they can help alleviate that or at least provide you with materials that you can then assist and send towards your students that they’re not speaking to.

And a lot of the services that they offer are free. So really making sure students are aware of that and take advantage of those resources, um, so that they have the ability.[00:39:00]

So, uh, for the high school professionals, these are a couple key support strategies, um, that we recommend. The first is, if you have the ability to host a FAFSA completion night for your students and families, have a night if you’re able to, where you can gather families to come and fill out the FAFSA and bring in professionals.

There are many, like I said, community-based organizations that are more than willing to host these. Also your local institutions, typically the financial aid offices. This is the work we love and are passionate about and are willing to help out during these nights. Um, another really good resource are the professional organizations for financial aid administrators.

A lot of them have committees where they have a group of people that already they know want to volunteer and be a part of this. So Fsfa completion nights are fantastic if you can post them. The second is if you can offer an early financial wellness workshop. One really important thing is people don’t realize that sometimes these students don’t have the education on how do you budget for college life?

[00:40:00] How can you be smart with your money? How when you have this financial aid package, can you minimize your borrowing and student debt? And knowing, like again, education on what is a student loan? Is it scary to take out? Is it worth it to take out things of that sort? Um, and again, educating them on the different financing options.

Like what is a parent plus loan versus a private loan? What is there a loan option that can fit your family situation? Um, and giving them those resources and tools. So being able to host those workshops can be very beneficial. Um, and again, you can host one where they’re understanding their financial aid packages.

They can bring in, especially for seniors. It. It’s in the winter, you can have them bring in the offers they’ve already been receiving and kind of show them the difference in the different types of a, the aid they’ve been offered. Um, it’s really important when thinking about financial aid, again, like we keep trying to stress the four year picture.

So when you’re looking at those, no. Is it saying that tuition will go up every year? How much of their financial aid package is renewable and can continue for [00:41:00] those four years? Um, is the, is the institution already showing like these are different financing options? Um, which ones are going to be achievable for that student?

One thing, um, that I’ll talk about when we go to the college side is just really having clarity within your financial aid offer. The third is you want to collaborate with local organizations to provide scholarship databases tailored to first gen students. So again, just creating that access and having it easily accessible for them to know where can they find, um, legitimate scholarships that can help them fund their college experience, but reminding them that it is work.

The work they put in is also what they’re gonna get out. We really stress that here. Um, with our high school readiness program, we have what we call the Pathways program at Sal. We do tell them, they’re like, your goals are achievable, but it is gonna require work. And just reminding them that their work will pay off if this is something they truly want to pursue and have.

And then fourth is, [00:42:00] again, partner with colleges to provide realistic financial planning scenarios. So have them already, bill, have your students already call their financial aid offices and create that comfortable relationship with them and have them talk out the different types of scenarios. With our institution, what we really focus on is the housing aspect.

What does it look like if you live on campus versus off? Are there opportunities you have for more scholarship money later down the road? These are things to think about. Um. If there’s an institution they’re very interested in, like say the first year seems very affordable, but they wanna ensure again that you can do year two, three, and four.

And also ask them about additional fees that may be associated with the program that aren’t necessarily necessarily being shown up front. Um, so helping your students really connect already with financial aid offices is always great. I know we do many three-way calls with high school professionals on the phone, and we’re more than happy to take the time to explain anything and to explain everything and answer all the questions they may have.[00:43:00]

So for the college side, these are some key support strategies that you can do if you’re on the college financial aid. Um, portion of this. So one is to really offer those one-on-one counseling sessions. Like I said, putting your time and effort and energy into these students really pays off for you as well as the institution.

So taking that time to explain their aid package that you’ve just offered to them, the repayment options that your institution has for them. Like for instance, can you do a monthly payment plan? What, how many months can you do a payment plan for? Can you do a hybrid method of loans and payments? Can you reduce loans during the type of year?

These are all questions that sometimes this population isn’t aware to ask. So really helping them know what questions they to ask. People when they’re talking about financing their college experience. The other is if you have the financial ability in your institution, but really promote having an emergency aid [00:44:00] program.

So quick turnaround, microgrants for unexpected expenses, really making sure you’re offering resources. Again, if you have the financial ability to this population, because if they have the support, they can succeed so well. And that’s what we all want. We want to watch our students succeed. Um, so really talking to your leadership about having some type of program set up for certain scenarios.

Again, simplify communication. So you always want to be clear jargon-free language, and any aid documentation. Um, the ones I would highlight again, are the financial aid offer. Um, if your institution hasn’t aligned with like the College Cost Transparency Act, it’s actually a great tool to kind of have your letters be built off of because it’s very clear on the requirements that they have.

And it will show layers of this is what your offer will be if you just wanna borrow grants, and then this is what your offer will be if you borrow student loans. And again, it does have, you do have to put the cost of attendance on the letter, which is important because again, you need [00:45:00] to look at it from a whole, even though you’re only gonna pay your institution maybe $15,000.

You could accrue costs much larger than that, which are shown in the COA and reminding them that financial aid, you know, may not directly cover these costs. But again, they’re flexible costs. That’s up to you on the budgeting decisions you make. Um, if you can afford that institution, the other letter that you really wanna have clear.

Languages is in your SAP letters. With sap, it can be very intimidating ’cause this student is probably already stressed out academically because clearly they are struggling within their academics and now they may struggle financially. So when you’re sending that letter, you don’t want to send it out and have them be intimidated by it.

So really look at the language to make sure it’s welcoming because a student on SAP is someone you wanna see in your office and have a conversation with and help them get back on track. But if you send them a scary letter, they’re probably gonna ignore it and then just fall off. Versus if you send something that’s more welcoming, saying, we understand that college [00:46:00] life can be underwhelming and that now you’re in this situation, obviously have all the federal regulation language in there, but just with a kinder undertone, this may help the student actually want to come and see you and work through the challenges that they’re facing.

If the institution, again has the ability, it’s always great to have peer mentorship programs with students and talk to students they can actually relate to and share a common experience with them. Um, though I am a first generation student, I haven’t been to college in a very long time at this point, so I am probably sometimes not the most relatable to them.

But for someone who is in the institution and has maybe faced similar struggles, pairing upperclassmen and up with incoming students can really help them create that sense of community, um, which is so important in order for them to be successful. And then lastly, offer financial, financial wellness programs if you have the ability.

Um, one initiative we did with our student workers, um, ’cause typically if you have federal work study, you probably [00:47:00] have some type of need is we did lunch and learns, so we offered to provide lunch and then we would talk about a topic such as credit management, tax preparation and savings. Um, free food always gets students to come sometimes, but really setting up these students for life success I think is really important.

So if you have the ability to offer programming with some type of incentive, it really can have such an impact. And again, um, at my institution, you know, we don’t always have the bandwidth, but there are so many resources out there with, um. Like partnerships with some of, um, like someone like Mefa where if you reach out and you just ask them, Hey, is there anyone on your staff that could potentially present for us?

Um, you would be surprised how many companies are so willing to provide those resources for you. Um, I planned a whole day, um, outside people coming in, and it just required a simple email and a thank you, and they were more than willing to participate in a day like that.[00:48:00]

Lastly, you have to remember, it’s an ecosystem. There’s steps and layers to this. So it starts again at the high school and college and community organization level where if everyone works together, you really can have these students succeed. I think the more education and resources provided earlier is always what’s key.

So already with your freshman and sophomore, already getting them in the mindset of college is a goal that they can achieve, but these are the steps that you’re gonna have to take in order to get there. Um, parents and families make sure you’re building awareness with them. Again, this is their first time going through the process as well, and they also need to be educated.

So making sure you’re also providing resources for them. Um, and again, having them in multiple languages because a lot of first generation students, sometimes their first language at home is not English. Um, and the student can explain, but again, it’s the student and the parents first time. So having a student also explains something they’re not very familiar with, can be difficult for them to then translate to their parents.

[00:49:00] Um. If for your, for the colleges, if you have a career, career service center, which I, most of you, I assume do, um, see if they can offer internship opportunities for career preparation without financial burden. Like really make sure your career center is looking at the student population Are, these are students that need money.

So sometimes like though they’re phenomenal free internships, like really help them, um, connect them maybe with some of the more paid opportunities or opportunities that can give them all that can meet all their needs. And then again, alumni and networks are key. Like I said, first generation students are more likely to promote the university itself and all the opportunities they received.

So see if you can foster again, some type of mentorship and network opportunity after students have graduated. Um, I know my alma mater does events all the time with current students in a first generation start program with. Current alumni that are now in the working force and connecting them and teaching them how [00:50:00] to network and build those professional relationships.

Um, so there is a lot of work to be done, but again, it’s gonna, everyone involved in these four squares are part of helping that student achieve the final goal.

Jaron Tucker: And since we’re talking about building, uh, and providing structure, I think it’s really important to talk about student employment when it comes to first gen students. So, and I’ll handle this twofold. So from a school counselor’s point of view, um. Talking about the benefits of what work study can be. Um, so naturally work study for students, uh, it allows ’em to earn wages.

Um, and it doesn’t count as like the regular income. It’s still looked at as a need-based wage. And now with some of the changes with the department ed, we schools are now responsible for uploading the wages of work study earnings. Um, so therefore [00:51:00] this question gets answered correctly. Um, since over the years we’ve seen that they have never answered it correctly, um, as consistently as they need it to.

Um, but just the work study benefits as far as it helping, helping the students gain the skills necessary in order to be successful in their next stop. Um, if you end up going to school and not working a job, it’s not like you’re going to, I would say you get in a, the. You’re putting yourself at a disadvantage.

’cause naturally, if you both went to a high ranking institution, if you end up going for a job interview against someone who happened to go to the same school as you, the difference could be that they actually worked for two years and you worked for none. Right? So the concept of working while in school, while it may seem stressful, it is something that is a huge necessity to allow the student to be successful when they leave that institution.

Right? So, and some of those [00:52:00] things rely around flexible scheduling. The idea that, oh, I can’t work a job while I’m in school ’cause I have class. And what, who’s gonna hire me if they know that I have all these class? Like on campus, employment is set up to be flexible around a student schedule. There’s reason why there’s rules and regulations around students not being able to work.

Do doing work study while they actually have scheduled classes. Right? So having that component and understanding like you should be looking to work when you get in school. ’cause not naturally. That also provides additional resources for the students who have that they can either apply to towards their bill or they can utilize that for personal expenses.

So that could be the difference between a student feeling like they can actually afford going to institution and not in some cases, depending on the SAI versus need-based gap from the institutional side highlighting some of the things that work study can do. Right? So like we already [00:53:00] talk about the need based component, the way that’s counted, but also you can build the expectation into awarding structure like.

Trying to motivate students to work towards it. And I always say you can incorporate language around the work expectation into your communication. So for example, let’s say you want to do it with a cost of attendance expense that isn’t a fixed build expense. So you say, I’m going to say you should work for $1,500 of your.

$3,500 living expense, um, budget to incentivize students to work, right? But knowing that it’s not necessarily going to be a build cost for that student and that’s not going to hinder ’em in the way. Now granted, if you are a non, if you can’t meet full need, I do not necessarily recommend that, uh, practice.

’cause as that will impact the type of aid package you will be able to award. But for schools that meet full financial need, it is something to consider if you are [00:54:00] trying to, you know, incentivize students to work while being in school. Because essentially we do need them to gain that experience. So therefore they are set up for success when they leave the institution, whether it’s in four or five years.

Um, and in part of that. One of the biggest things you can do. ’cause I know that a lot of financial aid people, um, sometimes you are the one person doing work study and you don’t necessarily have the resources to be able to do a lot of things you might want to do when it comes to highlighting student employment and getting more student engagement.

So that’s why I recommend partnering up with career services. They are in the line of work of connecting students with employers. So they will be a good resource to be able to maybe try to elevate your message, um, naturally also working with payroll and finance. Um, so you can also help provide a pay schedule structure and help minimize some of the time report and pay [00:55:00] discrepancies in relation to student employment and federal work study.

Um, human resources if you need to try to manage and create some student employee relationships as well as some policies. Um, one of the big things that I feel like gets lost in this climate is the understanding of what professionalism looks like. I think there’s the expectation that students know what professionalism looks like, and a lot of times they don’t learn that until they work a position either on or off campus where that.

Guidance can be given, right? So HR is another component since they do a lot of training for naturally the university as a whole, they would be a good resource if you’re trying to boost what you can potentially offer the students and seeing if you can extend the platform. Um, and most importantly, an international student office.

Um, this is going to be the, probably the biggest population that is interested in working. Um, there are a lot of [00:56:00] complications when it comes to their ability to work as far as getting certain documentation in, but those students are always very anxious to work when they, um, arrive to campus. And that could be the difference between a student being able to successfully remain at the institution or maybe leaving at the end of the year.

Um, and international students are usually able to provide documentation they need in order to be working. Now there’s limitations on where they can work. So on campus is a huge thing, um, for the international students. So. That is another office to work alongside with because they usually have the assistance with paperwork, um, to ensure that the students have what they need to be successful when they reach the us, um, to attend their institution.

All right. And then the last thing I wanna highlight is the student handbook. I feel like this is one of those things where it can easily be [00:57:00] relied on because the lease allows you to say, Hey. We made sure that all information was there. We’ve given it to the students, but can you really ensure that they’ve actually digested the materials needed?

Right. When you think about when they may be getting the handbook, it might be the first week of classes, it might be right before they reach campus. Can you ensure that they’ve incorporated, they’ve ingested all the information that you needed in order for them to be successful? Right. So that’s why I say the holy grail can sometimes fail because while this is treated as the holy grail for most institutions, there are some infor, there is some information that you would probably wanna hand in digestible doses.

Right? So anything related to aid awards and like things that need to be given such as documentation. Maybe if there is a verification that needs to be done or, hey, there is, you have, we noticed that you did. We received your GPA from the registrar. We noticed [00:58:00] that, you know, you aren’t necessarily up to, to standard.

There is the potential ramification for you and like whatever blurbs you may have in your handbook. Let that be stuff that you’ll send out to students and also point to like, Hey, this is reflected in the handbook on page six, right? So being able to make sure that. You can reference the handbook and make sure that it’s provided at the times when it’s really going to be necessary for the students to have, they’re reading a lot for classes.

There’s, there’s always the chance that they’re going to miss something. So making sure that you bring that information back up to the forefront, right? So that’s why I say notify students earlier, the potential implications in their aid, in their enrollment status, making sure you adjust your offer letters to maybe include information about sap.

Or merit aid requirements on there, so therefore they have it. And that could be something that you decide to do individual. Like if you [00:59:00] have, if you usually send out notifications for merit awards separately from the standard financial aid award letter, especially if there’s a gift agreement that requires students to have to submit thank you notes, just things that you might wanna start applying these logics to.

So therefore you’re ensuring that the students are seeing the information in digestible doses and maintaining a great relationship between financial aid, admissions, academic advisement, registrar, and student accounts. I feel like all those offices need to have a great relationship because everyone does something that impacts the other.

Right? So from financial aid side, their admissions is always relying on us to make sure that students are aware of how affordable they can have, um, their educational experience to be. And that might drive their number. As far as their ability to yield students, right? So think of academic advisement when there comes times with sap.

Students need to meet with those advisors and making sure that they are armed with success [01:00:00] to be able to make sure that they don’t fall. Um, subject to SAP registrar, I always like to say the loan reporting, like the full-time status and halftime status, making sure that those loans remain on hold and not a repayment.

You need registrar support for that. And student accounts, we make the money apply to the bill. Make it not a problem anymore, right? So anything related to student bills, financial and student accounts should always be joined at the hip because we are the ones that make the balances go away. Um, essentially.

Um, and then also one of the main components initiate a leave of absence discussion and how it impacts their a in future, right? So when you talking to a student and you know that they’re. Talking about going on leave. You already know that there may be a RT four that me might need to be done, but also letting them know like, Hey, if you’re not back in school by a certain point in time, there will be this [01:01:00] loan repayment clock that starts on you.

And like, unless you do certain things to ensure that you remain And, um. You can either request a hardship or things of that nature, like having some financial literacy around Lowell’s and its impact so students never get to the point where they’re defaulting and then having to play catch up to eliminate that issue.

Making sure that you kind of continue to put things that you see coming in the future if X doesn’t happen for students, and making sure that they’re armed with those, um, with that information to ensure that they don’t encounter it directly without the support around them. ’cause once they aren’t here, you know, we don’t have the ability to reach them the same way that we do.

We can ensure that they’re reading their emails if they’re no longer here and they’re dealing with something personal, right? So you wanna make sure that you arm that suit with everything they need before you are no longer able to, you know, have conversations with them in that same breath. [01:02:00] All right, if you make it make sense.

First, first gen students can survive and thrive and be successful, right? So everything we talked about is all about the literacy component. Arming the students with information, making sure that they’re aware of all the potential hurdles and DA and pitfalls that can happen throughout their journey.

That could be financial aid related. Naturally, other things come into play, but essentially you just have to make things make sense, which sounds very cliche, but it is one of the more fundamental things. Like for them, everything. They’re learning everything for the first time. If they don’t have a good education program or good orientation program to ensure that these type of things are happening, this type of information is being given, can you really be confident that.

Your first generation students are gonna be successful when you get on campus, right? So make sure that you are taking the time to look at the materials that you’re sending out to [01:03:00] students from the counselor perspective. Make sure students are being armed with information around, around their financial aid practices of the institution that they’re looking to apply for, to make sure it’s a feasible opportunity for them and not a situation that could potentially, you know, not lead to them being successful, right?

So those are the things that you wanna make, make sense for those students. And here are some resources that, um, you can feel free to tap into, um, for, especially before campus. Um, the Center for first Generation. Um. Student success is a, is a new organization, I believe at this point. Now they might be five years up and running, but they have done a lot of information gathering and knowledge to be able to educate the first generation students, but also working alongside higher ed administrators to ensure that.

Information is being, um, stored in hubs, so therefore students have access to it. Um, you [01:04:00] Aspire is a nonprofit organization ensuring that all young people have the financial information and resources necessary to find an affordable path to and through college. Um, their single focus is on college affordability and removing financial barriers so that every student has an equitable opportunity to attain a post-secondary degree without burdensome depth.

Um, and then Gear UP is, gear Up stands for gaining early awareness and readiness for undergraduate programs. It is a national initiative that encourages more young people to have high expectations, stay in school, study hard, take the right courses to go to college. Um, and so, and then the Commonwealth, uh, dual partnership, dual enrollment partnership.

Um. That I’m blanking on Natalie.

Natalie Wong: I, I think I know if it was a specifically.

Jaron Tucker: I be, I believe it [01:05:00] has to, no, it’s Gear Up is really more so that, uh, but I’m sorry guys. I think this is one that we just forgot about a little bit, but, um, the other three, we can attest that those are also very helpful organizations they have also worked with.

Um, when I was working in Massachusetts, US Aspire was always one of the main, um, organizations. We used to do a lot of fafsa, um, prep with. Um, they helped us a lot with, when I was at Northeastern, um, our Foundation year program, which was a lot of first gen students, um, who was looking for the opportunity to be able to attend Northeastern’s undergrad day program, um, with a full tuition scholarship.

And we did a lot of FAFSA prep with that organization. Um, and so I. There are, these are very great resources before campus if you’re looking to connect students with organizations that are doing the work, especially if you’re, um, a school counselor working in a district where you may [01:06:00] not be able to give the level of attention and detail that you would like because you might not have the firepower to be able to do so.

This is great references that you can bring to students and give them some outside, um, support from the school as well.

And that concludes our presentation.

Meredith Clement: Great. Thank you so much J and Natalie, that was so much great information. For those who are on the webinar, thanks for joining us today. We will send this around shortly in the next day or two, so you’ll have the recording and a copy of the slides. I did look up that dual enrollment partnership and it’s for students in Massachusetts.

It just allows high school students to take college classes and earn credit to help them finish their high school diploma and get college credit. So sounds like a great program. All of those resources that were mentioned are all linked, so once you get the slides you can link over and read more about each of those.

Uh, let me see if we have [01:07:00] any, we had a few questions and oh, someone answered that same question as awesome about the dual enrollment, so that’s great.

Jaron Tucker: Thank you, Michael.

Meredith Clement: Yeah, perfect. All right, so thanks everyone for joining us today. Great presentation. Thank you Jaron and Natalie again, and hope you all can join us on another webinar soon.

Take care. Thank

Natalie Wong: you.