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FAS Will Hold Spring Seminar on May 7th at Foxwoods Resort and Casino Posted January 2010 FAS is excited to announce that we will hold our annual spring seminar and workshop at the legendary Foxwoods Resort and Casino. We have booked the brand new MGM Grand for our workshop site to take place on Friday, May 7th 2010. We have had a very large number of clients request this site for its excellent offerings in amusement and amenities. Be sure to book early and leave time to play! Remember if you are only going to attend one financial aid seminar/workshop this year, you should choose this all inclusive workshop. We will be sure to share all the necessary updates and new procedures in Federal Student Assistance, as well as, discuss some hot topics that will directly affect your school's operation this year. When you book your room, be sure to mention Financial Aid Services to recieve the very low rate of $129/night! Compare this to upwards of $300/night for regular stay. We anticipate both rooms and seminar to sell out early. Please make your reservations and register as soon as possible. Access Registration Here. FAS Upgrades Servers for Better Performance and Security Posted September 2009
Financial Aid Services, Inc., recently invested in a new high-end Dell PowerEdge server to insure efficiency with all electronic data and web applications between FAS and clients including our new EDGE web application. FAS understands that proper electronic data maintence, whether it be speed, storage space or security are significant factors that institutions must consider when trusting a software provider or third party servicer with remote services. Therefore, FAS constantly monitors its resources and insures secure and efficient processing with up to date hardware and software.
EDGE Financial Aid Loaded into Client Schools Posted September 2009 Six client schools now are loading student data into the new EDGE financial aid module. FAS will be working closely with these schools to be sure bugs are worked out and the web application is functioning properly. FAS is also adding more features and is testing EDGE to provide the next phase to clients. Many client FAS schools still cannot believe FAS has upgraded them with out charging any extra fees. FAS ressures all clients that it will provide the EDGE upgrade free of charge for the first phase as a token of our gratitude for client loyalty and patience. FAS hopes to have more client schools load EDGE this coming winter. GAO Recommends ED to Stregthen Oversight to Proprietary Schools A new report on student financial aid practices at proprietary schools released by the General Accountability Office (GAO) concludes that the Department of Education should strengthen its monitoring and oversight of institutions in the for-profit sector. The study, Proprietary Schools: Stronger Department of Education Oversight Needed to Help Ensure Only Eligible Students Receive Federal Student Aid, found areas of fraud and abuse in the "ability-to-benefit" and high school diploma requirements and linked these weaknesses to the potential for greater default rates in unqualified students who do not succeed in college because they are not adequately prepared. GAO analysts, posing as prospective students, took the basic skills test at a proprietary school and observed the independent test administrator giving out answers to some of the test questions. In addition, the analysts' test forms were tampered with-their actual answers were crossed out and changed-to ensure the individuals passed the test. GAO also identified cases in which officials at two proprietary schools helped prospective students obtain invalid high school diplomas from diploma mills in order to gain access to federal loans. The GAO stated that their findings do not represent nor imply widespread problems at all proprietary schools. However, the report identifies significant vulnerabilities in Education's oversight and states that Education's inadequate monitoring of basic skills tests and lack of guidance on valid high school diplomas enables unqualified students to gain access to federal student aid.
Schools Turn to Outsourcing During Recession Ever wonder why more schools turn to outsourcing during a recession? Is it really just about the cost being much less to the school? How about control? Outsourcing immediately solves the money problem without the learning curve. To many struggling schools, it is a "no-brainer" to cut staff who are under performing and expensive when times are tough. Outsourcing allows them to do this without training new hires. Many schools just want to cut some staff hours back and outsource their work for a less cost per hour without the big learning curve to get the job done. But is there more to it than that? --YES! Experience and proven performance is a big incentive to outsource. It is hard to measure and control a single staff member's knowledge and accuracy. When a school contracts with an outsourced company, they are usually able to easily review background and obtain references as to the outsourced company's performance and pooled experience. (And they do not need a large human resources department to do this.) If a school does their homework, they will choose an outsourced company who is known and reputable amongst other schools and industry agencies, thus giving them a 'leg up'. Loyalty is valuable and sometimes questionable with staff. Ultimately a school immediately gains the stability of a contract with an outsourced company. A contract provides agreed upon tasks the outsourced company must perform for the length of the contract, so they do not have to worry about the job getting done or costly turn-over and training. They also can easily budget their costs and not have to anticipate providing increased "incentive" to staff in the form of benefits such as skyrocketing health insurance, accumulating vacation benefits, matching 401K etc. Outsourced companies tend to produce more output-less mistakes! Most outsourced companies have proven systems geared to handle large amounts of work and processing in an efficient or streamlined fashion. These systems, whether human or automated, replace staff members with "bad habits' or processing flaws that slow the process or may even jeopardize the school's well-being. So does the school lose or gain control when outsourcing? Based on the above, the school gains more control when outsourcing. Most school executives get to have direct contact with their outsourced company's managers and supervisors just as they would their own. Outsourced companies have a real interest in keeping the school as a satisfied client and will be sure the job it done right. Issues tend to be handled more professionally without departmental drama and gossip that can surface in some schools and ultimately the school makes the call in any changes. Therefore, the school tends to have more control and time to deal with other areas of the school.
FAS Client Schools Cohort Default Rates Still Low After averaging the FAS client cohort default rates for FY2007, FAS found that its clients successfully keep their rates low. Though the client average of 10.4 is up from previous years, it still remains on the low side. Many believe the slow economy has contributed to lower rates. Institutions must play a proactive role in keep students out of default by following their default management plans as required by ED. Institutions must also remember that changes made by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) alter the current Cohort Default Rate (CDR) definition by including more time in a borrower's repayment period in the CDR calculation. That definition doesn't affect institutional eligibility until Oct. 1, 2011, but it will include students that began repaying loans on Oct. 1 2008. This will require institutions to be even more vigilant in monitoring increasing rates and finding ways to educate borrowers to pay back student
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