Donate

Author: admin

GAO Report on Financial Aid Offers Shows Little Has Changed, Progress is Needed

Posted on by admin

Response by Hannah Smith, Moneythink VP of Partnerships, and Brendan Williams, uAspire VP of Knowledge

For most students and their families, costs are a determining factor of where and whether they can attend college. While some progress has been made in recent years to increase cost transparency, financial aid communication still leaves students and their families in the dark.

Last week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’ non-partisan research agency, released a report that highlights glaring gaps in cost transparency in financial aid offers. These offers are a primary lever for students and families deciding which college to enroll in, or whether to attend college at all. While it comes as no surprise to those of us supporting students to interpret their offers, it was disappointing to see that the GAO’s findings echo research from nearly five years ago – with minimal progress made.

Decoding the Cost of College, released in 2018 by New America and uAspire, identified the troubling ambiguity and inconsistency of the information included in financial aid offers and made recommendations to provide the financial information students need. While many colleges have adopted more straightforward terminology, added cost calculations, and made other recommended changes, this recent research shows more needs to be done. Students and families still lack the information they need to make informed financial decisions about where to attend college and avoid taking on an unsustainable amount of student debt.

The study found that an estimated 91% of colleges don’t include or understate the net price of attendance in their aid offers. This makes it nearly impossible for a student to determine how much they will pay to attend a school. The report also highlighted the need to separate loans from financial aid that a student doesn’t have to pay back, like grants, and to distinguish that Parent PLUS loans require parents to meet borrowing criteria and often carry high interest rates. Additionally, the study found that 55% of colleges don’t state the total cost of attendance – including housing and meals fees, books and supplies, and other expenses.

While the GAO report sheds light on the ongoing need to improve and standardize financial aid and college cost communications, it must be undertaken in partnership with students and families. Solutions to improve terminology and formatting are well within reach, but we must ensure that:

  • student and family voices and experiences are prioritized in the development process; and
  • every element of the financial aid offer is consumer-tested to ensure the intended clarity is realized.

To do anything else would be a disservice to those most impacted by how financial aid is communicated. For many students, college is one of life’s most expensive decisions, with consequences that can persist for decades. Students have the right to clear, accurate, and timely information about the price of higher education so they can be empowered consumers.

Organizations like uAspire and Moneythink have been directly supporting students and advocating for these best practices through our programs and products for decades. Through our partnership, we’re providing cost transparency and elevating the voice of students, educators, and families who suffer at the hands of these inequitable practices. Students deserve a transparent and navigable process for financing college, especially when leveraging their futures with loans to pay for a college degree.
——-

About Moneythink
Moneythink has been a leading youth-centric financial capability organization for 15 years, supporting students to choose affordable colleges that align to their academic interests and financial circumstances. Our free online college affordability tool, DecidED, follows many of the best practices outlined in the GAO report, such as calculating the affordability of an award letter based on how much money a student would have to come up with to cover college costs and pulling apart free money and money that must be paid back.

About uAspire
For over 35 years, uAspire has worked to remove financial barriers to college success for students of color, low-income students, and first-generation college students by providing the financial information and resources necessary to find an affordable path to and through college. Based on our experiences supporting students and training practitioners, we developed the College Cost Calculator, a free online tool designed to help students decipher their financial aid offers and make an apples-to-apples comparison between colleges.

Introducing Our New VP of Development and External Relations

Posted on by admin

Please join us in welcoming our new VP of Development and External Relations, Shevrin Jones, to the Moneythink team!

Shevrin brings diverse experience in development, fundraising, and organizational leadership to our organization. He graduated from Florida A&M (an HBCU) with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology. Thereafter, he taught AP Chemistry for several years. From 2015 to 2018, he held the position of Director of Major Gifts and Strategic Partnerships for City Year Miami, an organization devoted to helping young people discover fulfilling opportunities. There, Shevrin managed a portfolio of around 150 donors and prospects and took an active role in identifying strategies to identify, cultivate, and maintain new sources of gifts and support.

As the first Executive Director of Florida Reading Corps, he secured the funding to expand the program from only three schools to statewide. As V.P. of National Advancement at Entrepreneurship For All, Shevrin developed fundraising and growth strategies with the mission of helping people launch their own businesses.

Shevrin served as a Florida State Representative from 2012-2021 and currently serves as State Senator, where he represents the largest Black district in the state. He was the first gay and LGBTQ Black person elected to the Florida legislature. Shevrin was recently appointed by the Biden Administration to serve on the Board of Advisors for HBCUs. He is completing his PhD in Educational Leadership with a focus on Black and Brown student post-secondary retention.

“I am so proud to be part of the Moneythink team,” Shevrin said. “When you can combine innovation into social good, and connect it to college affordability, I believe it is a win-win for everyone, especially our next generation.”

Welcome, Shevrin! We are so fortunate to have you on the team.

Welcome, Meera!

Posted on by admin

Moneythink is thrilled to welcome Meera Iyer to our Board of Directors!⁠

Meera currently leads marketing for Lending at SoFi and previously led product strategy for credit cards and loyalty at Discover Financial Services. She is excited to use her expertise in consumer financial services to drive adoption of Moneythink’s tools to empower students to pursue an affordable college education.

To learn more about Meera and the rest of our Board of Directors, visit our Team page.

In Heartfelt Memory of Tino Nyandoro

Posted on by admin

Our team is deeply saddened to share gut-wrenching news that Tino Nyandoro, one of our student interns, lost his life in a car accident in his home country of Zimbabwe. Tino was studying at Stanford University and had gone home for a short family visit before returning to school for the fall.

We offer our deepest condolences to Tino’s family and all those who held him close. It was clear that Tino’s life was filled with purpose and positive activity. This was noticeable even in the relatively short time he spent with our organization since June. We were all so impressed by and in awe of his deep, sincere curiosity, his graciousness, and his kind smile.

The world is certainly better because of Tino, and his example inspires us to live with even more genuine kindness, empathy, and purpose. If you would like to contribute directly to a memorial fund for Tino’s family, please contact development@moneythink.org.

A Remote Design Sprint Breakthrough

Posted on by admin

Recently, Moneythink Product Designer Jeanmarie Levy spearheaded a virtual design sprint – a feat which included organizing colleagues in three different time zones and several countries. The goal of the sprint was to improve the DecidED Advisor Dashboard and promote a more collaborative creative design space. 

Design sprints help make DecidED more user-friendly. Traditionally, these events take place in person; however, to increase accessibility, Jeanmarie organized this virtual version to ensure everyone had a seat at the table.

We are excited to share Jeanmarie’s story and process with you, and highlight how we’re already improving DecidED. As a nimble fintech non-profit, we believe in empowering our team to explore cutting-edge approaches to improve the lives of everyone who uses DecidED. 

(Jeanmarie was interviewed by our Communications and Marketing Consultant, Melissa Ramos. Our interview has been edited for clarity.)

Our Q&A With Jeanmarie

Melissa Ramos: Thanks for meeting to talk about your most recent design sprint! Tell us about your background and how you found yourself at Moneythink.

Jeanmarie Levy: My name is Jeanmarie and I serve as the Product Designer here at Moneythink. I am most excited about this work because the organization’s mission directly aligns with my core values of promoting access, retention and advocacy for first generation students. I myself identify as first-gen. Also, I am a former educator. I saw oftentimes where students would fall through the cracks of the college application process. Moneythink’s overall goal of reducing student debt is truly exciting for me. I have always been passionate about service and nonprofit organizations and how technology can improve people’s lives.

Melissa: It seems like your career and life experiences have helped you create a better informed product with DecidED, because you have a holistic understanding of the type of person this product serves.

Jeanmarie: Absolutely.

Melissa: Switching gears, can you explain the idea behind a design sprint? 

Jeanmarie: The idea for design sprints is a forward-thinking concept, where essentially, a team has a certain number of days to meet specific goals. These days are fully devoted to improving a product or design. Sprints bring teams together for cross collaboration, since it is beneficial for organizations to collectively come up with ideas together, instead of putting all the pressure on individuals to make big decisions. Design sprints allow us to do deep creative work around a specific problem, using our brains fully for this purpose.

Moneythink: How do you feel design sprints help Moneythink improve DecidED?

Jeanmarie: Design sprints help inform our product because we make time to take a step back and view the problems we are tackling more holistically. Design sprints give us the opportunity to empathize with users. We pride ourselves on being an equity centered organization, and we are constantly thinking about our users as a result. In this recent design sprint, we wanted to take things to the next level, so we brought in all of our teams – engineers, the development team, the partnership team, everyone. Design sprints help our product, our organization and employees better understand why we do what we do.

Melissa: Can you talk about human centered design factors into design sprints at Moneythink?

Jeanmarie: We strive to do human centered design and more so, equity centered design. Human centered design means the user is at the center of all decisions, but equity centered design invites users directly into the conversation. Equity centered design gives users the agency to make these bigger decisions with our product improvements. This is how we ended up on this particular design sprint topic: trying to improve our Advisor Dashboard. We made improvements based on real time advisor feedback.

Melissa: How did this fully remote design sprint differ from a traditional design sprint? 

Jeanmarie: Improving the Advisor Dashboard was a big challenge. We knew we needed a diverse team in order to make this happen – and I want to shout out Ben May (our API Product Manager) for helping me think outside of the box with this design sprint.

We involved our engineers because they are our product experts. They help to build this product every day. They’re all located in different countries. Our engineers are contractors, and we as an organization strive for them to have full ownership of this product. We are cognizant of the fact that we are an American organization working with contractors outside of the US. My biggest goal was to make sure our engineers felt included and that their expertise was highlighted. It was very impactful to have all of our engineers there, some of whom have been working on DecidED from the beginning.

Our goals going into the design sprint were composed of two parts. We wanted a solution for Advisor Dashboard improvement, but we also wanted to build this inspiring and collaborative team where everyone felt they had a voice. As a result of this design sprint, we have seen an increase in morale and trust, and overall positivity among all of us. The feedback was that it was awesome to have all teams cross collaborate and learn more about what our users go through.

Melissa: As the architect of this design sprint, what do you feel were the key takeaways?

Jeanmarie: Our advisors and educators have such a challenging and overwhelming role since they are trying to advocate against so much bureaucracy. Currently, our tool does a lot but not in a simple way. With new improvements, we are scaling everything back to make our advisors’ lives easier. 

Another big takeaway is the idea that cross collaboration among diverse thinkers and people is truly the way to solve big problems. When we work in silos, it’s an echo chamber. When you hear from another person, in another country, or with a different experience, it brings up a lot that hasn’t come up before. Giving people ownership helped reinvigorate a sense that there is a lot of power and capacity in the human brain – especially when we provide safe spaces. Now I have a solution for this design, but that’s because of our collaboration. I wouldn’t have been able to do this alone. It’s a big reminder that community always needs to be at the center of our work. 

Communal work is of critical importance to so many things. I think that we hit the biggest goal which was to make sure that the design sprint team felt heard, empowered, and seen. I wanted the team to feel this was a good use of their time. Some feedback I got from folks was that this space equalized all of us and our voices.

Melissa: What improvements will come to DecidED now that you have completed this particular sprint?

Jeanmarie: Lots! We already built a prototype and tested it with a long-time DecidED user. This particular educator commented that the improvements are lightyears ahead of our current dashboard. As a former educator, I keep in mind that when we design products we also need to teach users how to use this new product. I was happy to hear that this educator felt the improvements aligned seamlessly into his current work flow; it didn’t create extra steps, and it improved his work experience.

Our improvements will lead to clear, actionable steps that educators can take with students. We know the new way the tool will look will make this seamless and will help advisors in the long run.

Melissa: Very exciting that the improvements are already well received. We look forward to launching the new and improved dashboard soon! 

Interested in learning more about design sprints? Check out our resources below.

What’s a design sprint and why is it important?

The Design Sprint

And learn more about Jeanmarie and the rest of our team by visiting our Team & Board page. 

Statement on SCOTUS Decision Overturning Roe

Posted on by admin

Moneythink is dismayed and deeply saddened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. This June 24th decision drastically strips away constitutional rights to basic healthcare, including reproductive care,  which has been a center point of US citizenship, economic power, and security for nearly fifty years. Since the Court’s ruling we have already seen a number of states enacting triggers banning abortions altogether. Sadly, we expect to see many more states taking similar actions. In the longer term, this ruling has severe, far-reaching consequences for a number of other communities, including LGBTQIA+.      

We are forced, once again, to recognize and name that gender, generational poverty, access to quality education, access to quality healthcare, access to affordable housing, and intergenerational wealth are inextricably linked. Historically marginalized individuals and low-wealth communities shoulder the heaviest burdens in our country. Overall, these communities will experience the most disastrous impacts of this Court’s decision. While the myth of the unlikely connection between student debt and reproductive justice may exist, make no mistake that both student debt and abortion restrictions obstruct current and future generations’ chance at a financially secure future. For example, student loan debt and reproductive healthcare restrictions disproportionately harm young individuals of color, especially Black women. It’s well known that the national student debt crisis burdens Black women more than their white peers, limiting their ability to build generational wealth. Furthermore, the racialized gender wage gap forces Black women to carry student loan debt for longer periods of time, and the gap increases throughout their careers, making it harder to pay off student loans. Student loan debt continues to mount as individuals progress through their adulthood. As a consequence, those who are denied abortion care and forced to carry the pregnancy to term have greater odds of living below the Federal Poverty Level. The real burden of student debt and abortion restrictions can easily compound on each other – and facing the financial consequences of each is devastating. Individuals should have the basic freedom to make decisions about their futures, the freedom to decide if and when to parent, and the freedom to control their economic well-being. While it might be easier for us to see reproductive choice as separate from our mission, the reality is that basic healthcare is a social justice issue. We cannot have one without the other. 

There’s nothing that we can say that eases the sting, nor is there a magic wand that we can wave to rewind several days. However, remaining silent or doing nothing are not options. SCOTUS’s ruling will have immediate and devastating implications for members of our team, our partner organizations, and our communities. As an organization committed to social justice for all, it’s our moral obligation and societal responsibility to stand firm in our position that all people have the right to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. 

I am encouraging our team to take the time and space needed to process this profound shift. Likewise, in the coming weeks and months, we will assess what we can tangibly do to ensure that our team members have access to essential medical services, which is critical to ensuring the well-being of our organization.

Our vision is focused on financial freedom, social capital, and an inclusive economy for all. This is not exclusive to students. Rather, we aim for a world that affords all people the resources and dignity to live their healthiest, fullest lives. 

In community,

Josh Lachs

Reducing Income and Wealth Inequality: How Moneythink Supports All Students

Posted on by admin

The road to a college degree is precarious for many, especially for students who do not have access to support systems or guidance throughout the application process. Moneythink addresses and solves these gaps. Our organization was founded by and for students through student-driven grassroots movements. That’s why we are uniquely poised to empower students on their college journey. We have firsthand knowledge and experience thanks to the incredible students who founded our organization, and we continue to center diverse and ever-changing student needs in everything we do. 

Challenges Students Face

Our students come from unique backgrounds. They are aspiring, imaginative, gifted, creative, and powerful, but many are denied access to necessary systems, support and crucial information during the college process. Roadblocks include confusion around financial aid, lack of personal support, a confusing application process, and more. 

These roadblocks lead directly to missed opportunities, increased student loan debt, and put students in cycles where they cannot thrive or obtain true economic mobility. Our organization’s mission is to remove as many barriers as possible in the way of students’ success at this stage of their life journey. We directly address the gaps that students may fall through, and tackle head on the interrelated and complex issues of college affordability, student success, and loan debt. 

How Does Wealth Inequality Impact Students?

We can’t talk about social justice without naming the wealth inequality many of our students face. For students who already lack resources, cycles of income inequality affect them disproportionately compared to students with simultaneous access to resources and access to wealth. Often, access to wealth correlates with access to important resources and support systems. 

Take this startling statistic: a lower-income but high-performing student has less of a chance of graduating college than a high-income lower-performing student. Much of this disparity exists because wealthier students have access to resources and support than lower-income students do. For instance, wealthier students are often placed in better resourced school districts, complete with financial literacy coaching, college counselors, standardized testing preparation, and family support. 

The chasms of wealth are becoming more prominent in our country and it’s clear that the obstacles many students face are not individually created, but systematically imposed. As our organization grows, we are adapting our work to reflect and address this reality.

How Our Work Has Evolved With Students at the Center 

From our inception, we’ve kept students at the forefront of everything we do. Throughout all of our iterations – from our financial mentorship programs to virtual coaching to the creation of our free, college cost comparison tool, DecidED in 2020 – we have pivoted to meet student needs. 

While our initial mentorship and virtual coaching programs focused a lot on teaching students how to manage college related finances, we’ve realized that the issues many students face go far beyond what any individual alone can fix. DecidED is such an important leap in our work because our tool allows us to reach more students across the country, anytime, anywhere, while providing support, and the free, crucial and transparent information they need to attend college with the least amount of debt. DecidED is a game changer because the information our tool provides helps students make resourced and informed decisions. 

When students use DecidED, they upload financial aid award letters, and compare colleges based on both financial information and other important fit factors, like majors, graduation rates, and more. Advisors can also use DecidED to keep in touch with students and provide further support. However, we designed DecidED so that students could navigate the college application process on their own, especially if they come from under-resourced situations. 

If students are able to make a fully informed decisions, they are able to reduce the amount of debt they take on to finance school, and are able to utilize their degree in ways that help build wealth and stability.

Students Benefit From Our Work 

Addressing college affordability remains at the heart of our work because we understand the crucial importance of obtaining a college degree. A degree can help lift students and their communities out of poverty, particularly if graduates do not need to worry about exorbitant loan repayments or debt. 

One of our recent alums, a student from Pittsburg High School, says of college affordability: “If we are going to be honest, finances play a big role in choosing where you go whether you like it or not. Being able to afford college is what we need.”

Our work has helped over 33,000 students afford college across the country since 2008. These successes speak for themselves. As of 2018, our students have received over $2.4 million in financial aid, with 82% of Moneythink students completing their FAFSA (compared to the 55% national average). Over 80% of our students created a responsible financial plan to pay for college and ended up graduating from one of Moneythink’s recommended affordable schools. 

With recent improvements to DecidED, we have pivoted focus on helping students quickly and easily understand college affordability criteria, so they can make fully informed decisions faster than ever before. The affordability rankings within our tool also match recommendations from reputable college access organizations. 

Thanks to these usability improvements, students are more engaged with DecidED. Over 98% of student users utilized DecidED beyond the sign up stage, by uploading award letters, adding schools to their list, and comparing colleges. Although many of our student users are based in California, we have also expanded outreach all across the country, with highest engagement coming from students in Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Maryland.

And most important of all, over 57% of DecidED users selected an affordable college.

You Can Support Students, Too. Here’s How.

Our work wouldn’t be possible without supporters like you. In order to maximize our impact and outreach, spread the word about Moneythink to your friends, families, networks and communities. If you know a student on their college journey who is in need of financial aid information or support, encourage them to sign up for DecidED. (It’s free!) And if you’re able, consider donating to Moneythink. With your help, our work can reach more and more students, and provide game changing resources to those who need it the most.

The DecidED API: Learn About the Newest Way to Bring DecidED into Your Work

Posted on by admin

DecidED, the free college cost comparison tool developed by Moneythink, empowers students, advisors, and college access partners. We designed DecidED as a resource to translate complex financial aid award letters, provide guidance with comparing college costs and other fit factors, and much more. 

With our tool, students make sense of financial aid award results, and compare their college options based on personalized fit factors such as graduation rates and campus diversity. Advisors use DecidED in multiple ways to elevate their work; for instance, they can access the DecidED dashboard with real time student updates, students’ financial aid results and help students compare options for the best enrollment decision. Our partners gain crucial insights into student progress on the path to college, as well as financial aid data to inform their impactful programs and services. 

With DecidED, we are leveling the playing field for students, advisors and college access partners. That’s why we are excited to announce the crucial upgrade in our offerings. In addition to our free student and advisor-facing web tools, Moneythink is expanding DecidED’s reach and impact to strategic partners through our DecidED API.

What’s an API?

APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, are a software middle ground that helps two different programs talk to each other. Think of APIs like a messenger: delivering your request to a provider and then bringing a response back. 

The DecidED API leverages our unique financial aid award letter scanning technology to ease the caseload burden of advising organizations. Our API provides more holistic, engaging student support in real time along with customized data, all integrated into any organization’s applications and services. 

The DecidED API has been an invaluable resource for us. Jin Choi, Director of Scholarships Programs at 10,000 Degrees

Who is the DecidED API for?

Two African American students with backpacks standing next to each other talking outside of a college campus building.

Our API is designed with two users in mind:

  1. College access organizations and scholarship providers that need to interpret and/or analyze a collection of student financial aid results, and
  2. Organizations that want to view, track and compare award results across schools, cities or states and against other key student profile identifiers.

Our partner organizations put an overwhelming amount of work into supporting as many students as possible. We created our API to automate the complex but easily repeatable task of financial aid award letter translation and unlock more high-touch support from student-facing organizations. Our API takes in complex award letters and sends data back in ways that can be used to benefit students and organizations the most.

How does the API work?

Two men. One is seated and wears white rimmed glasses. The other is standing next to him. He is wearing a blue shirt. Both are looking at a laptop.

Understanding the actual costs of attendance for each institution no longer requires an advisor to review and analyze every individual letter. The DecidED API seamlessly translates award information so an organization’s staff can avoid manually inputting data and performing other time-consuming tasks. Our API takes financial aid award letters and other data and quickly extracts important information that organizations need to do their work. Then, our API relays that data into an organization’s existing programs and systems.

Our API can also:

  • Receive an award letter and respond with instantaneous clean and structured data
  • Easily share data with students and/or integrate data into proprietary applications and services
  • Provide more holistic, engaging student support in real time with customized data at hand
  • Clarify college finances by receiving personalized cost estimates before students enroll in a school to help inform their decisions. 

For more information on how we’ve architected the DecidED API backend, read our article on helping students find affordable colleges on the AWS Public Sector blog.

The DecidED API in Action

A group of people talking around a table, with a woman with short curly hair and black glasses highlighted on the righthand side. She faces the camera with arms crossed and smiles.

We’ve already piloted our API with scholarship providers and college access organizations looking to save time on administrative tasks so they can better support students.

Jin Choi, the Director of Scholarships Programs at 10,000 Degrees says, “The DecidED API has been an invaluable resource for us in the collection and analysis of over 1,700 financial aid award letters. The API took what used to be a very manual process and changed it into an automated system that has saved us hundreds of hours.”

With our API, 10,000 Degrees saved an estimated 3.5 minutes per award letter. This meant their advisors saved over 100 hours of manual input time, freeing up precious hours to focus on their students. 61% of award letters were translated in less than half an hour. These translated results allowed 10,000 Degrees to better hone in financial aid gaps of direct college costs and scholarships, create lists of students to follow up with on the financial aid process, and review data to identify different types of award letters, all within one tool.

Organizations save time on administrative tasks, like manually reviewing financial aid award data. They can make data-driven decisions and most importantly, can scale impact across current programs and systems. 

How can you bring the DecidED API to your organization? 

Connect with us to learn how the DecidED API could help your organization. Are you interested in trying our API for yourself? Send us an inquiry at info@moneythink.org and we’ll get back to you within two business days. 

And if you haven’t already done so, be sure to sign up for a free DecidED account today.

The Other Side of College Success: Advisor Resources for Data-Driven Conversations

Helping college advisors make data-driven decisions
Posted on by admin

A recent survey found that over half of Black and Hispanic/Latinx parents of high school students are reporting changes in their child’s post high-school plans, compared to 43% for white parents. Those changes include deferring a year when colleges allow it, or changing decisions on which college to go to. The same survey found that less than half of students plan to go to a four-year college, which is down from 7% only a month ago. If you were wondering if it makes sense for students to go to an all-online college in the fall, consider a recent survey that shows 33% of high school seniors would rather defer or cancel admittance.

Why Moneythink cares about this issue

Moneythink’s mission is to dramatically increase the number of historically underrepresented students graduating with postsecondary degrees while carrying little to no financial burden.

A core focus of our work—and why our agile, student-first team is so committed to our model—is to help students and their families understand the intersection between affordability and overall fit as early as possible in the college search process. With our technology, content, and senior financial aid advisor brainpower, we help students determine which schools offer the best VALUE and understand how to pay for it responsibly, setting them up for success. At Moneythink, success is not as simple as students completing their college path with a degree, though that is a tremendous part of it and a huge enough barrier by itself. We believe that success goes beyond students’ college years and should be defined by the completion of a degree without the unnecessary financial stressors that plague millions of low-income and first-generation students.

Since our inception in 2008, Moneythink has been a leader in financial capability for traditionally under-served youth. Along the way, we have mentored 32,000+ HS seniors and college students nationwide using our proprietary financial capability curricula — garnering accolades along the way, such as the White House Champions of Change Award.

Our outcomes show that we’re making an impact; and our work wouldn’t be possible without our partners. We have relied on a diverse set of college access nonprofits, public schools, and social-benefit collaborations to support our students’ journeys. For example, recent webinars with and insights from partners like Richmond Promise, ScholarMatch, and Taco Bell’s Live Más Scholars reinforce and remind us that there’s still much for us to learn. And much more for all of us to do.

“It is clear this type of support is needed and wanted by our students…Highlighting key areas that may be overlooked daylights the complexities of financial aid, which is a necessary starting point to engage students…and support them in making an educated decision.“

Richmond Promise

“Moneythink emphasizes the costs [for students and families], as opposed to the estimated bill, and a healthy caution around Parent PLUS loans.“

ScholarMatch
college student dabbing with diploma

What you can do now to support the Class of 2020 and transfer students

Because of our direct experience coaching students through financial decision making, along with paying attention to the landscape, we are here to offer relevant, timely information and resources to the field through capacity-building webinars, public content, and more to support #LessDebtMoreDegrees across the country.

Here are some answers to questions you may be asking.

Q: My student still doesn’t have all the information she needs to compare awards apples to apples. What can she do right now?

  • TuitionFit is one of the really great, accessible resources. They will help your student compare real financial aid offers and actual college prices by sorting through thousands of financial aid award offers shared by prior year users.

Q: My student seems like he’s eligible to get his deposit fees waived but it’s unclear how he can request a waiver at his college. What are his options?

  • You can use the NACAC Enrollment Deposit Fee Waiver if your student is experiencing significant financial hardship. A supplemental document outlines additional ways that you can advocate for him to get the support he needs.

Q: My student has the circumstances to appeal their financial aid package but we don’t know how to submit a strong appeal. Where can we go?

  • To request a change to your student’s college financial aid package, SwiftStudent can help you write a financial aid appeal letter for free with customizable templates.

Q: Should I support my students in deferring admission?

  • Money is going to be top of mind for students and their families when making the decision to go or not to go this fall. You will need to guide your students on a case-by-case basis depending on their college acceptances, financial aid award letters, and strength of the match. Only the college will have instructions on whether they accept deferment and under which circumstances so check with them first via online, by email, and by phone if needed.

Q: Where do I go for the latest information from my student’s college on their plans for the fall?

  • Colleges like Oregon State University are giving their admitted students the opportunity to tell the college what their plans are while making their responses “completely non-binding” through surveys.
  • The California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s Office gave students and staff some sense of what to expect this fall, announcing that “the planning framework for all 23 CSU campuses will be virtual instruction with very limited exceptions that meet rigorous and extensive safety and training requirements and are approved by the Chancellor’s Office as well as public health.”
  • There’s still room for differences across campuses and systems because of where colleges are located and how they’re affected by COVID-19. Students should check their emails regularly and sign into their college portals where they have access.
students raising hands in a classroom

How Moneythink supports YOU so you can support your students

Our college affordability tool, DecidED, scheduled for release this fall, brings transparency to the affordability options of students’ college choices. Especially as college costs, gift aid, and gap financial comparisons lack clarity, our tool has been developed to help you to better support strong enrollment decisions with the necessary financial data and relevant fit factors at hand — completely removing the guesswork out of college affordability. DecidED enables you to have even more productive and guided conversations with students about the tradeoffs of college options by:

  • Comparing true apples-to-apples affordability levels, quality, and fit across multiple college options;
  • Considering how graduation rate and future salaries outcomes might influence a students’ enrollment decision;
  • Enabling you to better support holistic and informed enrollment decisions grounded in an accurate and complete understanding of college costs;
  • Supporting your students in creating an action-oriented financial plan to responsibly pay for their first year of college, mitigating the chances of attrition or pausing out.

Do you like to use College Navigator for college profile information? DecidED’s college data comes from the same source. Want to get a head start on your financial aid planning curriculum and strategy for the Class of 2021?

It’s critical that we support the Class of 2020 through the transactional and social-emotional benchmarks of their college journey. This includes double-checking their financial aid, following up on appeals, active listening and affirmation, and coming up with backup plans together as needed.

As you think of ways to support your future college-aspiring students, let Moneythink help by giving you and your students the information they need. Together, let’s ensure that students are equipped and prepared to enter college without the unnecessary financial challenges that detract from focusing on personal growth and academic success.

Moving Forward in College and Career in the Time of COVID-19

student at a fork in the woods
Posted on by admin

If you are wondering what the new normal will look like, we’re all wondering the same thing. You had plans for the fall and you’re staying the course, you’ve changed your plans, or you’re in the throes of figuring out just how much those plans will change.

If you’re committed to starting college in the fall, expect others to join you! About 42% of students in a recent survey will not delay under any circumstances. Another survey from April shows that 17% of respondents are weighing a delayed enrollment to a four-year college until spring 2021. We’re also seeing that confidence to stay on track to college persists.

At Moneythink, we have your back. We want you to feel confident that, although the options may look different at least in the near future, there are still solid opportunities with the choice being yours to make. Here’s what you may be considering:

I’m still waiting to make a decision since other colleges have extended their deadlines. How do I make my choice?

student looking straight on the camera

Option #1. Accept for fall 2020 or spring 2021 and prepare for a potential virtual or hybrid experience.

Whatever the new normal looks like, colleges are getting ready for you! According to a recent report, 70% of colleges set up COVID-19 student necessity/emergency funds for their students as they prepare for the coming fall semester. While some colleges know their plans for the fall, others are still coordinating. “The majority of colleges and universities have not made a decision on the mode of instruction for fall,” and we expect this because the nature of COVID-19 is evolving across the country.

According to a recent report, 70% of colleges set up COVID-19 student necessity/emergency funds for their students as they prepare for the coming fall semester.

There is information out there so be sure to read it. Have any questions? Ask your high school counselors or local college access providers like Boys & Girls Clubs across the country, or local organizations like Making Waves, One Goal, Richmond Promise, and ScholarMatch.

If you’re thinking about taking a break for a semester or a year, “institutions are giving students the option to defer enrollment to later in the fall or to spring 2021.” Be sure to check with your intended college on their specific policy.

Option #2. Defer for a year — if your college allows it.

There are many reasons you may wish to defer, from staying home to help family, to taking the time to rethink your educational goals and plans. When you defer (also called taking a gap year), you plan to enroll in the next academic year (2021) in a college you were accepted to this year. Here are some things to know about deferring admission at your college:

  • The college needs to accept deferment.
  • Colleges maintain different policies to grant deferrals.
  • Some colleges require you to describe how you will use your gap year.

Contact your college to learn more about their process to be sure that deferral is a real option for you. Global Citizen Year has useful information on gap years. 

Option #3. Do not accept any colleges this year and reapply next year.

With this option, you’re not taking an official gap year. Instead, you are foregoing all of this year’s college acceptances and choosing to apply again for next year, fall 2021.

However, it gets harder to enroll in college the longer you wait, so be sure you have a plan. Choosing this option gives you a chance to reconsider and rebuild your list — and decide which colleges you will reapply to during your year off. To keep you organized, let us support you! Join our mailing list and we’ll tell you when our tool DecidED comes out. You can use DecidED to track your colleges, upload your financial aid award letters, and easily compare which colleges are affordable and the best fit for your needs!

Likewise, if you do choose to forego your college plans this year altogether, we highly suggest that you use your time wisely with work or volunteering, applying to scholarships, and focusing on activities that help you grow, enhance your skills, and extend your experiences and networks. Consider programs like City Year and Year Up who have rolling application deadlines and can give you hands-on training in real-world pathways, starting this fall.

Whichever of the three options you take now, keep in mind that there are trade offs that you’ll have to weigh. Remember that, in the end, going to college typically means increasing your earnings. College graduates, on average, will earn roughly $900,000 more than the typical high school graduate during the course of their working life, which is why going to college is a financially smart option. When you push college back a year, you are trading your post college earning potential for whatever you may earn during your year off. Whatever that tradeoff is to you, think critically, do your homework, and commit to your decision.

College graduates, on average, will earn roughly $900,000 more than the typical high school graduate during the course of their working life

To make smart financial decisions, consider affordability in your choice! Check out our Financial Aid Guide for steps on Using Awards to Calculate Cost of Attendance. For a visual tutorial, view a recording of our webinar below or download the full video here. Whatever your college decides and when they decide it, prepare to adapt to the situation, and commit to making the most of your college experience. You got this!