Financial Aid Toolkit survey

Federal Student Aid

2014 Financial Aid Toolkit Customer

Satisfaction Survey

[Programming instructions in bold brackets]

You have received this survey as part of an initiative the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid has undertaken to improve customer satisfaction for high school counselors, TRIO staff, and other mentors who help promote postsecondary education to students and their families. Specifically, we would like your feedback on some of the resources available at the Financial Aid Toolkit website (FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov).

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1845-0045. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions and completing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this survey, please contact Federal Student Aid/Customer Experience Office/Customer Analytics Group at 830 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20202 or customersurveys@ed.gov directly. [Note: Please do not return the completed instrument, form, application or survey to this address.]

CFI Group, an independent research and consulting firm, is conducting this survey, which is hosted on a secure server. Your responses will remain strictly confidential. If you have any questions or technical issues with the survey, please contact CFI Group at survey@cfigroup.com.

Thank you in advance for your valuable feedback.

Introduction

1. In which of the following capacities do you counsel, advise, mentor or work with students?

1. High school counselor

2. College access professional (such as independent counselors, TRIO, GEAR UP)

3. Within a community-based organization

4. Another capacity (please specify): _______________

5. I do not currently counsel, advise, mentor, or work with students, but I plan to in the future

6. I do not counsel, advise, mentor or work with students in any capacity and do not plan to in the future [TERMINATE]

2. What type of school/institution/organization do you work or volunteer for?

1. Junior High/Middle school

2. High school

3. State or public four year college or university

4. Private four year college or university

5. Community or junior college

6. Vocational, professional, or trade school

7. Library

8. College access organization

9. Community-based organization

10. Federal, local, or state government

11. Other (please specify): ____________

3. In what state and city is your school/institution/organization located? [provide drop-down menu for state and open-end for city]

4. How many years of experience do you have coordinating programs—or advising students—about college preparation or financial aid? [capture number – allow zero response]

5. Have you visited the website, FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov?

   1. Yes

   2. No [SKIP to Q10]

   3. I don’t remember/I’m not sure.

FAFSA Information

Please provide your feedback about the Financial Aid Toolkit page called The FAFSA at http://financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov/tk/learn/fafsa.jsp. This page offers information about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®).

6. On a scale from 1 to 10, where “1” means “poor” and “10” means “excellent,” how would you rate…

1. The ease of reading the page

2. The clarity of the page’s organization

3. Your ability to find what you need

4. The usefulness of the information provided

5. The ease of navigating the page

7. Do you anticipate that the information provided on The FAFSA page (for example, deadlines, tips on dependency status and filling out the FAFSA without parent information, and tools for comparing aid offers) will help you provide advice to your students about the FAFSA?

1 Yes

2 No

8. What additional information would be useful for you to advise your students on the FAFSA? [capture verbatim response]

9. The Financial Aid Toolkit offers a number of resources that counselors and advisors can use to educate students about the FAFSA. What format (fact sheet, PowerPoint presentation, video etc.) do you prefer to use in order to help you reach your students effectively?[capture verbatim response]

Communications

10. What resources do you currently use to find out about updates made to the FAFSA? (Check all that apply)

1. FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov

2. StudentAid.gov

3. www.fafsa.gov

4. www.ifap.ed.gov

5. Follow social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)

6. Consult with colleagues

7. Consult with financial aid staff at a college

8. Attend training or conferences

9. Other (please specify)

10. I don’t currently seek out information about the FAFSA

11. What resource(s) do you most prefer to use to find out about updates made to the FAFSA? (Please check no more than three of the below)

    1. FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov

    2. StudentAid.gov

    3. www.fafsa.gov

    4. www.ifap.ed.gov

    5. Follow social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter).

    6. Consult with colleagues

    7. Consult with financial aid staff at a college

    8. Attend training or conferences

    9. Via RSS feed from the office of Federal Student Aid

    10. Via e-mail from the office of Federal Student Aid

    11. Other (please specify)

12. Think about how you reach out to students. What methods of communication do you use? (Check all that apply.)

1. Formal presentations

2. Group meetings

3. One-on-one conversations

4. E-mail

5. Social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.)

6. Announcements in your school’s/organization’s newsletter or on its website

7. Brochures or flyers

8. Webinars

9. Text messages

10. Other (please specify)

11. I don’t currently do any outreach to students

[IF Q5=B, THEN TERMINATE]

Counselors and Mentors Handbook

This section of the survey asks about the Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid at http://financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov/resources/counselors-handbook-2013-14.pdf. The handbook is a PDF-only document (i.e., it is not available in printed form). It explains the basics of the federal student aid programs and describes the FAFSA process to give high school counselors and other mentors an understanding of federal student aid so they can assist their students.

13. Have you ever used the Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid?

    1. Yes

    2. No [Skip to ACSI1]

    3. I don’t remember/I’m not sure.

14. Please think about the Counselors and Mentors Handbook, and using a 1 to 10 scale where “1” again means “poor” and “10” means “excellent,” please rate the handbook on…

1. The clarity of the explanations provided

2. The usefulness of the content

3. The ease of finding the information you are looking for

15. The office of Federal Student Aid is considering whether to do away with the PDF Counselors and Mentors Handbook and instead incorporate its content into Web pages of the Financial Aid Toolkit website. Currently, the website offers some, but not all, of the handbook’s content.

Which of the ways of presenting the information from the Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid would be most useful to you? (Allow one response)

1. Separate savable/printable document like the current PDF

2. Incorporated throughout the website

3. E-book for tablet/reader

4. Not sure

ACSI Benchmark Questions

ACSI1. Using a 10-point scale on which “1” means “very dissatisfied” and “10” means “very satisfied,” how satisfied are you with your experiences using the information on the Financial Aid Toolkit website as a resource to advise your students about the FAFSA?

ACSI2. Using a 10-point scale on which “1” now means “falls short of your expectations” and “10” means “exceeds your expectations,” to what extent have your experiences using the Financial Aid Toolkit website site met your expectations?

ACSI3. Imagine the ideal FAFSA information website for counselors, college access professionals, nonprofit mentors, etc. How well do you think the Financial Aid Toolkit website compares with the ideal you just imagined? Use a 10-point scale on which “1” means “not very close to the ideal” and “10” means “very close to the ideal.”

Closing

16. Using a scale of 1 to 10 where “1” means “not at all likely” and “10” means “very likely,” how likely would you be to use the FAFSA page on the Financial Aid Toolkit website as a resource to help you advise students on understanding and completing the FAFSA?

17. Would you recommend the FAFSA page on the Financial Aid Toolkit website to other individuals such as yourself?

a) Yes

b) No

c) Maybe

18. In your own words, what could Federal Student Aid do to improve the FAFSA page on the Financial Aid Toolkit website? Please be as specific as possible. [capture verbatim response]

Thank you very much for your time and assistance! Federal Student Aid greatly appreciates your feedback and will use the results of this survey to better serve financial aid mentors such as you.

[END]