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 4: Take Control of Your Future: Finishing School and Repaying Your Loans.

How Used: Freshman-orientation classes.

Program Description: The financial-aid staff identified USA Funds^® Life Skills^® as a proactive default-management strategy that could help them achieve their goal of reaching as many students as early as possible with budgeting and other important financial information. They met with the dean of student services and the dean of instruction to explore potential avenues for delivering the program. They decided to integrate the program into freshman-orientation classes for which the financial-aid staff already was providing general financial-aid information. To familiarize the class instructors with the program, the financial-aid office invited USA Funds consultants to conduct a training workshop on campus.

The financial-aid adviser developed two separate one-hour sessions for instructors to include in their course syllabi. Financial Aid 1 includes Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students and the module's interactive CD. Financial Aid 2 includes Module 2: Seek out Financial Aid: Funding Resources and Financial Obligations and Module 4: Take Control of Your Future: Finishing School and Repaying Your Loans. The one-credit course is required of all freshmen and may be taken during either of the back-to-back eight-week sessions each term.

Financial-aid staff reports an improvement in communication with students since the USA Funds Life Skills modules were incorporated in the freshman-orientation classes. They see better-informed students making inquiries in their office at the appropriate times.

Staffing Requirements: With some assistance from the director of financial aid and three of the freshman-orientation instructors, the financial-aid adviser delivers Modules 1, 2 and 4 to all sections of the freshman-orientation classes.

Recommendations: The financial-aid staff reports that garnering the support and cooperation of their colleagues in student-services and the academic areas was essential in getting USA Funds Life Skills implemented at GCCC. To maximize the benefits of the program, they support a required forum, freshman-orientation classes. After experimenting with two different modes of delivery for the financial-aid sessions, the staff discovered that in-class delivery is preferable to offering the sessions for class credit at alternative times. Making the presentations fun for the students also is key. The financial-aid adviser uses candy bars as the reward for correct responses to the quiz at the end of her presentation.

Campus Contact:
Lesa Gilbert, Financial Aid Advisor
Phone: (620) 276-9667
E-mail: lesa.gilbert@gcccks.edu