Preparing families for the financial aid cycle is about more than just paperwork; it’s about building trust, providing guidance, and reducing barriers to access. By starting early, communicating clearly, and leveraging tools like IRS Integration, your school can take a proactive approach to help families feel supported at every step.
Keep reading for some proven strategies from FACTS experts to make the financial aid cycle stress-free for both your families and your school.
What Preparations Can Schools Do to Simplify the Financial Aid Process for Families?
Before families even begin applying, it’s worth it to carve out some time to review and align your internal processes:
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Review Your System & Setup: Confirm open/close dates, test the application experience, and review custom questions.
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Check Your Documents & Policies: Review your internal aid policy, required documentation list, award strategy and prioritization, and communication materials to ensure they are clear and consistent.
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Coordinate Internally: Host a kickoff meeting with your admissions, finance, and communications teams to align messaging and responsibilities. You’ll also want to make sure everyone has the access they need and assign staff to be available for office hours.
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Create a Family Engagement Strategy: Set dates for financial aid nights or webinars where families can ask questions, update or create helpful resources, and proactively reach out to families who struggled last year. Consider also offering open office hours at the school where families can complete their application and get one-on-one support.
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Reflect on Your Prior Year: Seeing what went well (and not so well) last year is incredibly valuable to creating a strong process this year. Look at the percentage of incomplete apps, submission timing patterns, and common reasons for delays.
By setting the foundation early, you can reduce bottlenecks and set families up for success.
What Families Need to Know Upfront When Applying for Financial Aid
Families often delay applying because they don’t know where to start. Your school can guide them by sharing key reminders early in the cycle:
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Documents to Gather: W2s, 1040s, and other required paperwork like divorce decrees and supplicant documents. The FACTS Family Applicant Guide can help with this! We’re also excited to now offer IRS integration, which simplifies this step by pulling 1040 transcripts and W2s directly into the aid application.
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Defining the Household: Clarify responsibilities for split or blended families.
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Deadlines: Emphasize the importance of submitting early to secure priority review.
This communication doesn’t have to be formal or incredibly long. Families will appreciate any resources you can provide that frame financial aid as a partnership you’re playing an active role in and an investment in students’ future.
What Financial Aid Resources Should Schools Provide to Families?
Clear, consistent messaging builds confidence. While your team doesn’t have to do all these things, here are some tried-and-true messaging tactics we’ve seen make a huge difference:
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Create a school-branded FAQ document and dedicate a page on your website with the application link, award timelines and deadlines, and aid statistics.
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Reinforce the benefit of early action frequently through all your communication channels.
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Host Financial Aid Nights in the fall, either virtually or in person, to walk families through the application and address concerns. Make sure to provide takeaways like flyers and follow-up emails.
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Provide multilingual support and open office hours providing families an opportunity to complete the application and ask questions.
What Does a Strong Family Engagement Timeline Look Like?
Schools that communicate steadily throughout the aid season see higher completion rates. Here’s a sample timeline:
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October-November: Announce the upcoming season through communication channels like your newsletter, share guides and checklists, update your website, email families with information, and host your first financial aid info session.
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December-January: Target incomplete applications with reminders, nudges, and open office hours. Encourage early submissions with priority review messaging.
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February-March: Reinforce standard deadlines, re-engage late starters, provide tips for using IRS import features, and commit to extended office hours the week before the deadline.
Want to see more timelines from FACTS? Check out our Admissions Calendar!
8 Keys to Family Financial Aid Success
To bring it all together, you can follow these eight guiding principles to create a strong, family-friendly financial aid process. These keys serve as a checklist to ensure both your internal team and your families feel supported from start to finish:
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Clear & consistent aid policy
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Proactive communication plan
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Family-friendly application process
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Multilingual & on-site support
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School choice readiness
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IRS integration for accuracy and compliance
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Staff training and internal alignment
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Data and reporting readiness
Want more insights and tips on the best way to leverage tools in your FACTS solutions, plus how to factor in School Choice? Watch the full on-demand webinar that inspired this article to dive deeper into strategies for preparing families for financial aid success.
