Classification: Two-year public college or university.

Modules Used:

• Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students.
• Module 2: Seek out Financial Aid: Funding Resources and Financial Obligations.
• Module 3: Work Hard but Smart: How to Be Successful in School and Graduate on Time.

How Used:

• Financial-aid-probation counseling.
• Student-support services.

Program Description: Students on financial-aid probation were targeted for intervention using USA Funds^® Life Skills^®. Because the financial issues that these students faced often were intertwined with academic and personal issues that were beyond the scope of the financial-aid office, the director of financial aid turned to Student Support Services for help. Prior to activating this new initiative, staff members from Student Support Services attended a USA Funds Life Skills train-the-trainer workshop, where they identified potential strategies for using the program.

The financial-aid staff incorporates Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students and Module 2: Seek out Financial Aid: Funding Resources and Financial Obligations in required counseling for students who are on financial-aid probation. This counseling is carried out in small groups using many of the interactive techniques incorporated throughout the USA Funds Life Skills program. The staff sees this as a great opportunity to get students to open up in a non-threatening environment with highly effective materials. Students also receive copies of the skills books.

Student Support Services uses Module 1 and Module 3: Work Hard but Smart: How to Be Successful in School and Graduate on Time for orientation, classes for at-risk students and workshops on various financial topics.

Staffing Requirements: The financial-aid staff facilitates Modules 1 and 2 with students on financial-aid probation. Student Support Services staff is responsible for delivering Modules 1 and 3.

Recommendations: The most-expedient strategy for getting other areas on campus to embrace USA Funds Life Skills is to arrange for them to participate in a train-the-trainer workshop. According to the director of financial aid, the workshop increased excitement for the program and awakened her colleagues to options they weren't considering initially. She advises others to start slowly, establish little successes along the way and add applications over time. Feedback from the users is essential to keep the program viable. She sees USA Funds Life Skills as an evolving program with improvements being added as adaptations are requested for special groups.

Campus Contact:
Myrna Perkins, Director of Financial Aid
Phone: (620) 792-9270
E-mail: perskinsm@bartonccc.edu