Classification: Four-year private college or university;
Historically Black College or University.
Modules Used:
- Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for
Students.
- Module 4: Take Control of Your Future: Finishing School and Repaying
Your Loans.
How Used:
- Probationary students.
- Exit counseling.
Program Description: Rust College launched USA
Funds® Life Skills® as part of its exit-counseling program
with graduating seniors. Students are required to attend one of the sessions,
which are offered on three consecutive days the week before graduation. The
associate director of financial aid facilitates these sessions and incorporates
USA Funds Life Skills Module 4: Take Control of Your Future: Finishing
School and Repaying Your Loans in her delivery. Ninety percent of the more
than 100 graduating seniors have loans. The sessions generally last for 60-90
minutes and focus on topics such as budgeting, job and salary expectations, and
living expenses. The facilitator guides the students through the skills book,
personalizing each topic as much as possible.
After attending the USA Funds Symposium for Minority-Serving Institutions in
2004, the president and the executive assistant to the president returned to
campus with a strong commitment to student retention. Upon examining their
opportunities for improving student retention, they decided to target one of
their at-risk groups — the probationary student. For example, for the fall 2004,
rising sophomores and rising juniors who were placed on probation at the end of
either the spring 2004 or summer 2004 terms were required to attend special
workshop sessions that focus on financial and academic management. The associate
director of financial aid facilitates these sessions, using USA Funds Life
Skills Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for
Students.
Staffing Requirements: The associate director of financial
aid and the loan officer deliver Modules 1 and 4 to probationary students and
graduating seniors respectively.
Recommendations: The associate director of financial aid
stresses the importance of thinking through the potential strategies for
implementing USA Funds Life Skills. She has learned through experience that
small-group settings are superior to large-group settings for the program
activities. Smaller groups give students greater freedom to ask questions, while
allowing her to better personalize the sessions. Support from the president and
other senior administrators also is advantageous when trying to implement USA
Funds Life Skills. The facilitators of the program should attend a
train-the-trainer workshop to explore effective strategies for implementing and
presenting USA Funds Life Skills.
Campus Contact:
Suprena Duncan, Associate Financial Aid
Director
Phone: (662) 252-8000, Ext. 4071
E-mail: sduncan@rustcollege.edu