Did you know that February is Financial Aid Awareness month? During the month of February, according to NASFAA, the higher education community provides essential information to students and families about all things financial aid. Even if your institution is not in person, there are still ways to celebrate Financial Aid Awareness with students. Consider these ideas if your institution is looking for ways to push financial literacy this month:
- Share information and fun facts online: This can be done for students on and off campus and doesn’t take much planning to complete. All you need is an online platform (think: social media) and some fun facts and information that will benefit students and families. Most schools and/or financial aid offices are on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Offices can use one or all of these to push the information, depending on the content. Once the platform is decided, take some time to decide on what you want to promote, ideas include:
- Scholarship information: Provide students and families information about institutional or outside scholarships that are available. If the institution has a list of outside scholarships, share the link to the list for families to review on their own.
- Fun facts about financial aid: This can be federal, state, or institutional financial aid facts. Think about the number or percentage of students who receive financial aid from the institution or fun ways for students to access more financial aid. Consider sharing information from a state or federal level as well. The office of Federal Student Aid has information about how much aid is received each year nationwide and some states have state scholarship information that could benefit students and families.
- Upcoming deadlines: Is there an institutional deadline coming up for FAFSA or to review financial aid? Institutions can share deadline information for current and prospective students as well.
- Host informal webinars or Q&A sessions, online and in person (if available): This may take additional time and advertising to get students to attend. Many institutions and students are able to utilize zoom or even “live” options on social media to host informal informative sessions. If your institution has students on campus, consider a socially-distanced informal event.
- Host online Q&A or webinar sessions by fielding questions throughout the month or webinar events with weekly topics to allow students and families to ask questions online. Offices can also create contests to engage members online.
- If students are on campus, set up informal opportunities to introduce the office and staff to students and share information. A table or a meet and greet event in the student lounge area is another, safe, option to meet students and informally chat about financial aid/literacy. Try to have materials to hand out to students so they know how to contact the office when needed, whether it’s a business card, office brochure/magazine, or giveaways, if available. This will allow for students to connect with the staff on a personal level and provide valuable information for students who need financial planning help.
- Host a financial literacy event, online or in person (if available): These events will take planning and advertising to be successful and can be done online or in person. Events can vary from workshops to complete financial aid applications or learn about funding options to financial literacy sessions like “What is Credit?” and “How to Budget.” If in person, be sure to follow guidelines on the number of students that should attend and how to host these events safely. These sessions can be on campus or webinars, targeted at current and prospective students.
Some institutions create a week full of financial literacy events and/or promote them by incentivizing attendance with giveaways or a drawing based on attendance. How is your office planning to celebrate and promote Financial Aid Awareness Month?