HES COMPLIANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES

The administration of financial aid presents many opportunities and risks related to compliance with federal and state financial aid regulations. Higher Ed Strategies, LLC (HES) is dedicated to helping clients manage such risk. We have found that each institution has a unique set of needs and may require some combination of the services listed below:

• Enrollment Management Risk Assessments
• Financial Aid Compliance Evaluations
• Financial Aid Operational Audits
• Human Resource Gap Analysis: Organizational Structure Design and Reorganization Assistance & Implementation
• Financial Aid Policy and Procedure Evaluation and Manual Development
   

ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT RISK ASSESSMENTS

• Departmental organizational structure
• The effectiveness of human resources
• Departmental budget allocations
• Current and future headcount risk
• Current and future financial risk of the plan (discount rate and net revenue)
• Internal controls (policies and procedures)
• Compliance with federal, state, and accrediting body requirements
• Succession planning of the strategy in the event of staff turnover
• Strategy sustainability – how viable will it be 5 to 10 years out?
• Potential unintended NCAA and Athletic Conference violations
• Competitive position within your market
• Use of information technology
• Use of social media and customer satisfaction

FINANCIAL AID COMPLIANCE EVALUATIONS

Financial Aid Compliance Evaluations benefit both the institution in need of compliance improvement and the well-run financial aid office. The value of this service is that it provides an impartial third party review of how well an institution is meeting compliance requirements before an audit or federal program review results in findings. This service is helpful for institutions experiencing staff turnover as it ensures that necessary policies and procedures are in place.  top
 

FINANCIAL AID OPERATIONAL AUDITS

A Financial Aid Operational Audit helps institutions identify and develop strategies for improving customer service to students. In today's competitive student market, this is a vital component of success for both recruiting and retaining students. top
 

HUMAN RESOURCE GAP ANALYSIS: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE DESIGN AND REORGANIZATION ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION

This assessment is valuable to intuitions considering a reorganization of all or part of the enrollment management function and helps determine if the organization has the right positions, the right number of positions and right people in those positions. The assessment is achieved through an analysis of organizational structure, position descriptions and responsibilities, enrollment management strategies and plan, policies and procedures, use of technology, communications plans, work flows and a comprehensive staff assessment.

The outcomes of this assessment can provide supporting evidence prior to implementing a reorganization or restructure. HES can also assist with designing and implementing a reorganization or restructure plan. top
 

HES FINANCIAL AID POLICY AND PROCEDURE EVALUATION
AND MANUAL DEVELOPMENT

The HES Financial Aid Policy, Procedure and Internal Control Evaluation service offers clients more than the delivery of a written document based on existing boilerplate language. This service capitalizes on the combined financial aid experience of our consultants, each having expertise in a wide range of settings including traditional semester based programs, for-profit and non-standard term programs. It employs a comprehensive, research-based, iterative process designed to review existing written and non-written policy. During the process, we identify compliance gaps and make recommendations based on current industry standards and best practices to reduce exposure to federal financial aid liability.

During the manual development process, we help the client organize, review and express unwritten existing policies and procedures to achieve the following objectives:
 

• Identify Federal and state financial aid compliance gaps
• Make recommendations to address compliance gaps
• Organize information in a systematic manner so that it can be easily searched and carried forward in times of personnel changes
• Make recommendations that supplement current policy when appropriate
• Eliminate duplicate and contradictory language and policies
• Address multiple student populations, campuses, and programs
• Format information and data in a “living” dynamic manual that can be easily updated as necessary
• Additional volumes can be added to incorporate financial aid policies that are interrelated with other areas including admissions, student services and bursary functions

To achieve the following benefits:
 

• Reduce financial aid compliance risk and financial liability that can result during compliance audits and federal program reviews
• Improves continuity of work flow during periods of staff turnover
• Improve operating efficiency across functions that support compliance
• Perform due diligence prior to the sale or transfer of ownership of a school or program
• Documentation is in an electronic format that can be accessed by institution’s intranet
• Each manual is reviewed by a CPA who has conducted compliance reviews for more than 20 years
• Tracking of text changes and authorship during the development phase
• Helps staff contribute to high - quality customer service top