Making Friends with Financial Aid: Collaboration Strategies to Make Recruiting and Onboarding Easier

Thursday, April 24, 2025

3:15 PM - 4:15 PM PT

Approach: Tactical
Level: Intermediate

Author(s)

Melanie Steele, MBA

Executive Director of Graduate Admission
Ursuline College
Pepper Pike, Ohio, United States
Rhonda Austin (she/her/hers)

Assistant Director of Financial Aid
Ursuline College
Pepper Pike, Ohio, United States

This session will provide examples of ways the Financial Aid Office and the Graduate Admission Office can collaborate the ultimate goal of recruiting graduate students and onboarding them to their program. We will provide do-able ways to increase students' understanding of the financial aid process... making it easier and more fun! Some of the tactics we will discuss range from simple handouts to one-on-one meetings to attending and presenting at orientation. The ideas that we will discuss are customizable for any size institution and will get everyone's creative juices flowing.

Learning Objectives:

Learn tactical ways that financial aid and recruiting can collaborate to help prospective and new students better understand the financial aid process.
Evaluate collaboration strategies for possible implementation.
Develop and implement an action plan with ways you can implement these (or other) tactics at your own institution.