1. Serving Undocumented Students Through an Online Application
Zelma DeLeon, Executive Director, University of North Texas
Lacey Thompson, Director of Operations, University of North Texas
Steve England, Regent Education
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

2. Overview Introductions
University of North Texas’ (UNT) Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants
Changing the Application Process
Paper Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA) Challenges
e-TASFA Benefits
Expected Family Contribution
Work in Progress
Regent Education Demo
Questions
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

3. UNT’s Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants
UNT has experienced a growing number of students seeking financial assistance through a paper application process (TASFA)
The UNT community has become increasingly involved with ensuring clear information is available to students and has looked for ways to simplify and streamline processes.
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

4. UNT’s Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

5. UNT’s Undocumented Financial Aid Applicants
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

6. Changing the Application Process
We wanted to find a solution that would:
Simplify the application process for the student
Looking for a process similar to the FAFSA
Provide an electronic application process for students and their families
Reduce data entry errors and/or omissions by the student
Provide e-signature capabilities
Automatically calculate the Expected Family Contribution
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

7. Paper TASFA Challenges
Student completes and submits paper TASFA
No edits within a paper application
We would often make multiple contacts to students to resolve missing or conflicting information
Students would often have to submit additional information, re-do specific pages or even re-submit entire TASFAs
Parent signature challenges
Depending on where the parent lived, the student may have to send the TASFA to the parent to get their signature before it can be submitted to UNT
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

8. e-TASFA Benefits Student completes and submits e-TASFA
Built in edits within the online form
Students are able to start and save an incomplete application
They can come back to the application to provide missing information
Online form will identify conflicting information and not let the student proceed until it has been resolved
Electronic signatures
Students and parents are able to sign electronically
They are able to opt out, if needed
Customized questions added within e-TASFA
We were able to add a certain number of customized questions to the online form to collect information (i.e. expected enrollment) needed to process the application
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

9. TASFA Comparison
Note: Went live with e-TAFSA end of January 2017
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

10. Expected Family Contribution
Paper TASFA
Utilized an online Expected Family Contribution (EFC) calculator
Printed and imaged the calculation
E-TAFSA
An EFC is calculated by the online application using the Federal methodology
EFC is provided to UNT within the export file
Time Savings
Calculating an EFC took about 5 minutes per student.
195 e-TASFAs x 5 minutes = 975 minutes (16 hours)
Time saved from calculating EFCs was used to do awarding, finalizing files, etc.
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

11. Work In Progress Only have a partial year of data available
Went live with the e-TASFA January 2017
Expecting the majority of TASFAs to be completed online for
Expecting a decrease in “application to awarding” timeframe for students
Current IT Project to load Export File into PeopleSoft
Developing a custom page, similar to the delivered ISIR page, to easily review and verify information from the TASFA Export File
Considering opening the online application up to International Admissions for assistance in awarding TPEG-International funds
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

12. Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

13. Regent Access Demo
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

14. Questions?
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

15. Thank you!
Zelma DeLeon
Executive Director, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships
(940)
Lacey Thompson
Director of Operations, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships
(940)
Steven England
Vice President - Client Solutions, Regent Education
(330)