Verification Gateway
Housatonic Community College is one of 12 community colleges in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system and is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city. Housatonic is devoted to serving students in all capacities of their journeys: whether they want to transfer to a four-year institution, earn an associate degree, or jump straight into the workforce. Housatonic also provides seminars and workshops to fulfill students’ community and personal enrichment needs. Because of the many geographic locations Housatonic serves, its student population varies in economic backgrounds and financial aid plays a big role in helping students pay for college. Reduced Staffing Reveals Verification Processing Concerns Housatonic’s decreased staffing levels in the Financial Aid Office had the potential to be a sizeable challenge for processing verification. The team had taken steps to clean up a previously paper-heavy process, overcome the over-stuffed file cabinets, and increase reporting accuracy. Still, the smaller staff was concerned about falling behind in completing verifications and the overall impact it would have on students. Housatonic wanted to find a solution that made the entire process easier for students to be awarded financial aid. Verification Gateway Replaced Paperwork with Time Omar Livingston, Director of Financial Aid at Housatonic, selected Verification Gateway (VG) as its solution because of the electronic and efficient platform it provided. Verification Gateway from Inceptia is an automated online platform that streamlines federal verification processing for students and schools. Offering interview-style questions, simple and secure document collection, complete reporting and personal interaction when needed, VG enables schools to process and package aid faster. Housatonic Community College Award Money Granted Faster for Students at Inner-City Community College
CHALLENGE Housatonic Community College had a secure room dedicated to processing verifications. It was as efficient as they could be and included piles of paper, but they were falling behind and grew concerned about the overall impact on students and enrollment goals. SOLUTION With Verification Gateway in place, Housatonic’s financial aid office was able to award students faster and boost enrollment.
RESULTS
• Reduced verification time by more than 50 percent • Tracked students completely through the process, which helped award sooner • No longer needed to use the work room for verification processing
9
Powered by FlippingBook