No Clear Winner: Consumer Testing of Financial Aid Award Letters - Summary & Report
Recognizing that a plethora of untested consumer information is now available for prospective and current students and parents, NASFAA in 2012 contracted independent research firm JBL Associates, Inc. (JBLA) to consumer test the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) Shopping Sheet and two NASFAA-designed alternative financial aid award letters among consumers through focus groups and a questionnaire.
This study tried to ascertain how consumers would understand the information on a model or standardized award letter notification. Three letters were tested:
- Letter A was the U.S. Department of Education's Shopping Sheet.
- Letter B was an award letter developed based on the recommendations from the NASFAA Award Notification and Consumer Information Task Force.
- Letter C was a NASFAA-designed hybrid of the Shopping Sheet and NASFAA Task Force letters.
JBLA conducted focus groups in three geographically diverse locations with students and parents at the high school level, and in colleges across all institution types (community college, four-year public, four-year private nonprofit, and for-profit). They tested for participants' comprehension levels of financial aid concepts and content as presented in each letter,and sought participant feedback and opinions regarding:
- The level of clarity in each letter;
- Features they either found helpful or confusing; and
- Suggestions for improvement
Overall, no clear winner rose to the top. When asked for their opinions of the letters, students and parents alike felt overwhelmed and confused by the information presented.
Details of the study's findings and recommendations for next steps are included in this report.
Resources
- No Clear Winner: Consumer Testing of Financial Aid Award Letters (Full Report, 2.29 MB PDF)
- Improving Award Letters and Consumer Information
Publication Date: 2/11/2013
Related Content
Can We Round Clock Hours Up When Determining If the Student Completed the Payment Period?
Student Aid Offer Model: Dependent Student (with notes)
Student Aid Offer Model: Graduate Student (without notes)
Improving Financial Aid Offers
NASFAA Survey: Students Are Learning Their Financial Aid Eligibility Sooner, Thanks to Early FAFSA
NASFAA Survey on Aid Offer Format and Timing
NASFAA Survey on Aid Offer Format and Timing
Lawsuit Alleges Over a Dozen U.S. Universities Illegally Collaborated to Limit Financial Aid
How Is Athletic Name, Image, and Likeness Compensation Treated For Title IV Purposes?
Off the Cuff - Episode 210 Transcript
FSA Issues Guidance On How Financial Aid Offices Should Treat Name, Image, and Likeness Compensation
ED Reissues Recommendations for Institutional Aid Offers
Parent PLUS Loan Packaging Comes Under Scrutiny
Award Notification Software Provider Specifications & Contacts
Does the First-Come, First-Served Prohibition Still Apply When Awarding FSEOG?
Media Inquiries Spur Schools to Re-examine Aid Offers for Clarity
New Report Aims to Design Better Financial Aid Offer
2021 Will Test Us. Here's How Rethinking the Aid Offer Will Help Us Through
Issue Brief: Financial Aid Offers
NASFAA Issue Brief: Financial Aid Offers
Can a Student Receive the CARES Act Withdrawal Benefits More Than Once?
Glossary of Terms for Financial Aid Offers
Ongoing Study Shows Targeted College Aid Boosts Student Enrollment and Reduces Debt
How Do We Process Direct Loans When We Attach an Intersession To a Standard Term Academic Year?
Do Discharged Loans Count Against a Student's Aggregate Loan Limit?
Packaging & Notification of Awards Test
Are Overpayments Waived If the Student Withdraws From Some But Not All Classes Due To COVID-19?
Indirect Expenses for Students Often Outweigh Tuition, But Are Hard to Identify, Report Finds
Do We Return Federal Pell Grant and Scholarship Funds After an Award Recalculation and Overaward?
‘Summer Melt’ Intensifies Amid Global Pandemic
Blue Icon's First Year Marked by Expansion and Adaptation
Examining Software Providers' Compliance With the NASFAA Code of Conduct Report
Examining Software Providers' Compliance With the NASFAA Code of Conduct Report
When Do Emergency FSEOG Funds Need To Be Spent?
How Long Can We Extend a Term Or Payment Period Due To Coronavirus?
Advertisement