Chaminade College Preparatory School returned to FACTS after another financial aid management platform fell short. With FACTS, they regained efficient workflows, reliable reporting, and an easier experience for families. See how the right fit made all the difference.
Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, Missouri, is a private Catholic boys’ school serving grades six through 12. The school enrolls nearly 900 students, including about 60 resident students from around the world.
More than half of Chaminade families rely on some form of financial assistance. This means the school’s approach to financial aid (and the technology it uses to accept and review applications) impacts the entire school community.
When Change Doesn’t Go to Plan
Lisa Hermannes, Chaminade’s business office administrator, is on year 17 of overseeing the school’s financial aid process. For much of Lisa’s tenure, Chaminade relied on FACTS Financial Aid Management (formerly FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment) to deliver a process that supported families, the business office, and school leadership.
After 15 years with FACTS, Chaminade began to explore other options. But after switching to a different financial aid software provider, Chaminade faced obstacles they did not anticipate.
They immediately realized the new platform would not live up to its promises. Chaminade’s review process is collaborative and rigorous. They need software that can accommodate multi-person reviews and provide comprehensive data to support decision-making. The new platform could do neither.
Sometimes it’s the internal process, not the software, that needs attention.
Limited reporting options meant leadership didn’t have the dashboards necessary to complete their reviews. Unreliable data left Lisa and her team with extra work to ensure the accuracy and completeness of applications. They spent hours tracking down missing documents and doublechecking information.
Lisa expressed her frustration, saying, “We paid for a system that offered less functionality, flexibility, and administrative burden than what we had with FACTS.”
Families Felt the Impact, Too
Chaminade’s leadership and staff felt near-immediate frustration with this new platform, and these impacts trickled down to the family experience as well.
Most schools in the area use FACTS, so families are comfortable with the system and familiar with how it works. But Chaminade’s switch to a new platform meant families had to start from scratch, learn a new system, and manage another account. This caused a lot of frustration. A higher application fee and less straightforward communication only made the situation worse.
“It just didn’t align with how we operate or what our families expect,” said Lisa.
Returning to What Works
During this time, FACTS introduced an IRS integration feature that made the process even easier for families and school administrators. It allowed FACTS to automatically pull W-2s and tax returns from the IRS, reducing the number of documents families must upload. This feature enables schools to reduce paperwork, simplify verification, and increase data accuracy.
Chaminade wanted to improve their processes and give families the fastest, easiest application experience possible. When Lisa and her colleagues heard about this enhancement, they knew they had to return.
Chaminade is preparing to go live with FACTS’ new IRS integration capability in the 2025-2026 school year. But as they await the implementation of this feature, they’ve already seen improvements from their return to FACTS Financial Aid Management.
Returning to FACTS gave us the efficiency and confidence we needed.
FACTS immediately offered the support Chaminade needs for their collaborative, rigorous review process. Leadership now has easy access to comprehensive reports, and staff have regained workflow efficiency. FACTS’ intuitive dashboard saved time and helped them stay organized during busy seasons.
Lisa and her team also saw significant improvement in document validation and tracking. FACTS monitored applications at every stage, confirmed documentation quickly and accurately, and ensured nothing was missed. This reduced the need for repeated follow-up with families and gave everyone peace of mind.
“For our business office, FACTS is significantly easier to use,” said Lisa. “It aligns well with our internal processes, which have been refined over many years. We are able to deliver a financial aid process that is both thorough and responsive.”Lisa and her team also saw significant improvement in document validation and tracking. FACTS monitored applications at every stage, confirmed documentation quickly and accurately, and ensured nothing was missed. This reduced the need for repeated follow-up with families and gave everyone peace of mind.
“For our business office, FACTS is significantly easier to use,” said Lisa. “It aligns well with our internal processes, which have been refined over many years. We are able to deliver a financial aid process that is both thorough and responsive.”
The Benefit of Reliability
Chaminade’s return to FACTS brought immediate improvements in workflow and organization. Leadership was confident in the process’s accuracy and the information’s reliability. Families appreciated returning to a familiar platform, which made the application process smoother and less stressful.
Lisa’s advice for other schools is clear. If you are considering a switch, make sure you are asking the right questions. Do you need new software? Or do you just need to evaluate your internal processes?
For Chaminade, FACTS is the best fit. Their commitment to customer support and improvement of the school and family experience with new features like the IRS integration provides Chaminade with exactly what they need.
Having reliable technology lets us focus on relationships, not troubleshooting.
Looking to the Future
With FACTS at the center of their financial aid process, Chaminade is confident they can continue to serve their community well.
Lisa and her team look forward to future refinements that will make the experience even better for families and staff. Chaminade’s experience shows that successful financial aid management comes from aligning technology with your school’s unique processes and people. When the right platform is in place, everyone benefits.
See how FACTS Financial Aid Management can streamline reviews, reduce paperwork, and improve the family experience.
