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HES Compliance Services
Choose from out list of compliance related services or
we will design to meet your specific needs.
Compliance Evaluations
Operational Audits
Revenue Reviews
Financial Aid Analysis
Policy Evaluation
P & P Manual Development
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HES
COMPLIANCE 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
minimize and manage such risk by providing clients
assistance with the evaluation and development of
institutional polices and procedures that provide the
necessary internal controls.
We have found that each institution has a unique set
of needs and may require some combination of these
services. HES can provide your institution the following
services as well as services designed to meet specific
needs:
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FINANCIAL AID COMPLIANCE EVALUATIONS
Financial Aid Compliance Evaluations offer a thorough
evaluation of an institution's compliance with federal,
state and institutional financial aid regulations.
During an onsite visit, consultants meet with staff to
gather information and data related to compliance.
Higher Ed Strategies, LLC provides the institution a
detailed report that identifies both strengths and
weaknesses of an institution's compliance with financial
aid regulations and rules. The report also provides
written recommendations for improvement.
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.
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FINANCIAL AID OPERATIONAL
AUDITS
Many financial aid departments meet compliance
requirements adequately but fall short in how they
support an institution's overall enrollment goals. A
Financial Aid Operational Audit provides institutions
with a review of how the financial aid function is
operating by looking at policies and procedures,
workflow design, human resources and the use of
information technology. What makes our service unique is
that it also includes a review of how the financial aid
function integrates with other enrollment management
functions including admissions, student accounts and the
registrar. The service also considers how the financial
aid function supports the retention and re-recruitment
of students.
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
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TUITION DISCOUNT & NET REVENUE REVIEWS
Executive leadership and middle management's
understanding of the principles of tuition discounting
and net revenue are necessary for the successful
management of institutional financial aid resources. It
is common to find differences in interpretation and
understanding of tuition discounting among trustees,
executive administrators and financial aid
administrators at the same institution. These
differences often result in a lack of alignment of
strategic and financial goals and financial aid
packaging strategies.A Tuition Discount and Net Revenue Review provides a
review of an institution's tuition discount rate and net
revenue goals. It includes an evaluation of the
understanding and application of tuition discounting
across campus constituents, helps identify the
influencers of the discount rate at the institution, and
helps determine whether the financial aid awarding
strategies are aligned with discounting and net revenue
goals. top
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HES COMPETITIVE MARKET FINANCIAL AID
ANALYSIS
Many colleges and universities have admissions
departments that provide a competitive edge.
Unfortunately, that edge gets lost when it comes to
financial aid. A Competitive Market Financial Aid
Analysis provides an institution with a review of how
competitive its financial aid function is within the
marketplace. It helps identify ways to improve how to
the financial aid function supports the recruitment and
retention of students. The review also includes market
research on what an institution's competitors are doing
in terms of merit scholarships and financial aid
awarding practices.
The benefit of this service is that it helps an
institution make its financial aid strategies, policies
and procedures competitive with overlap institutions.
This helps improve admission and retention efforts.
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HES FINANCIAL AID POLICY AND PROCEDURE EVALUATION
AND
MANUAL DEVELOPMENT
Many colleges and universities do not have financial
aid staff that haves the time or expertise to review and
revise existing financial aid policies and procedures
and develop a comprehensive financial aid policy and
procedure document that meets compliance requirements. A
Financial Aid Policy and Procedure Manual is highly
recommended by the U.S. Department of Education and
helps an institution demonstrate that it meets the
administrative capability requirement of participating
in Federal Title IV programs.
The HES Financial Aid Policy and Procedure Evaluation
and Manual Development service provided by Higher Ed
Strategies, LLC offers clients more than the delivery of
a manual 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 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:
- Helps 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
- Helps improve operating efficiency across functions
that support compliance
- Helps with due diligence work before or as part of a
sale of a school or program
- Provides report 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
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Higher Ed Strategies, LLC
860.386.6729
info@higheredstrategies.com
18A Pasco Drive
East Windsor
CT 06088
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