How often do you come across one of your institution's former students that wants to enroll, but doesn't have the money to pay off an outstanding balance from when she was enrolled several years ago? Here's one of our higher education recruitment tips that may be able to help.
Outstanding balances isn't the first thing that comes up when I am conducting a recuitment assessment, but it is something that inevitably comes up from the recruitment team.
"What am I supposed to do to help them, if they can't even afford to pay $75 that they still owe?"
Or, sometimes it's phrased like this, "I just don't understand why 'they' won't let him back into the program. I know he owes money, but it's only $100."
Truth be told, if the student owes thousands of dollars, there really isn't much you or the institution can do until she pays the money she owes for her previous semesters.
BUT most often, I find that the enrollment team, and often the director of the team, aren't aware that students can use a small portion of aid (up to $250), for a previous balance.
So if the student is committed, and ready to work on her education, then she may be able to get back on track AND pay off that outstanding balance.
I'm not suggesting this will the magic cure, but there are certainly a few students we may be able to enroll each year if they were aware of this opportunity.