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University of Massachusetts Amherst
SARIS - Student Affairs Research, Information and Systems
Financial Aid Survey (S99-F)

Executive Summary: Students reported an average of 1.7 office visits, 1.5 phone calls, and 0.2 meetings with a financial aid counselor during the current academic year.  Over one-third of those visits took place during the first week of a semester.  The average reported wait for office visits was about 10 minutes.  Students who contacted the office by phone were most likely to interact with both a person and a recording and to be somewhat more satisfied with the interaction with the staff member.  About three-quarters of the students described themselves as satisfied with both the amount and composition of their financial aid packages.  Almost half of the respondents had been awarded Work Study, but only 65% of those who received an award had actually searched for or returned to a Work Study job. 

On Tuesday, April 6, 1999, Project Pulse conducted a telephone survey to investigate student satisfaction with Financial Aid Services. Pulse interviewers attempted to contact 938 students who were randomly selected by computer from the entire undergraduate population of 1998-99 financial aid recipients in the University’s database. Of these, 514 were successfully contacted and 425 (82.7%) agreed to be interviewed. See Table 1 for the final disposition of the sample and Table 2 for a demographic summary of the respondents. The response rate for the survey was 45.3%. Sampling error is plus or minus approximately five percentage points.

Almost all of the students interviewed (92.0%, n=380) said that for financial aid purposes they are considered Massachusetts residents. Three-quarters (75.5%, n=312) are considered dependent for financial aid purposes, 18.4% (n=76) are considered independent, and 6.0% (n=25) did not know whether they are considered dependent or independent.

One group of questions explored respondents’ knowledge or awareness of aspects of the financial aid system. Less than one-third of those responding (29.7%, n=124) were aware that students can apply for non need-based financial aid such as a Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) loan if they are not receiving any need-based financial aid. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed (63.9%, n=264) reported that they know how much money they have borrowed in student loans so far, 30.3% (n=125) said that they did not know, and 5.8% (n=24) said that they did not have any student loans. Students also were asked to name the deadline for filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the form used to apply for financial aid. Relatively few students (16.9%, n=71) selected the correct due date of March 1. Almost one-third (31.7%, n=133) thought the form was due some time in February, 29.3% (n=123) selected some other date, and 22.1% said that they did not know.

Students were asked if they had ever contacted the Financial Aid office about various programs or services. Approximately one-third of the respondents (36.2%, n=150) had contacted the office about the availability of excess checks. Smaller proportions had been in contact with Financial Aid Services about summer financial aid (12.1%, n=51) and about the scholarship search service (6.9%, n=29). Independent students were significantly more likely than dependent students (26.3% vs. 9.0%, c²=19.05, p=.000) to have been in touch with Financial Aid Services about summer financial aid.

Respondents were asked approximately how many times they had contacted Financial Aid Services either in person or by phone during this academic year. The majority of those interviewed (60.8%) had contacted the office in person, 44.4% had done so by phone, and 10.7% had met one-to-one with a financial aid advisor. (Figure 1 compares the proportions of students who have contacted Financial Aid Services or sought financial aid information through various channels.) Students averaged 1.76 visits to the office, 1.5 phone calls, and 0.18 one-to-one meetings with a financial aid advisor.

Figure 1: Proportions of students who have contacted Financial Aid Services

Another battery of questions focused on students’ use of on-line financial aid services and information. Approximately one-quarter of the respondents (26.2%, n=110) said that they have visited the Financial Aid Services website. Almost the same proportion (24.8%, n=104) reported that they are aware that they can use the scholarship search on the website, while a larger proportion (42.7%, n=179) are aware that they can search for work study and non-work study jobs on the website. When asked if they have ever used the UMass WISE system to get financial aid information, 40.1% (n=168) said that they have done so.

Students were asked a series of questions about their last experience with each kind of contact with Financial Aid Services. Figure 2 details student satisfaction with four different types of contact experiences. When discussing visits to the office, respondents reported waiting an average of 9.6 minutes. Over one-third (38.5%, n=94) said that their last visit to Financial Aid Services office was during the first week of a semester. Students whose last visit to Financial Aid Services' office was during the first week of a semester reported having waited an average of 11.5 minutes. Those whose last visit was at some other point in the semester reported an average wait of 8.8 minutes. Most of the respondents (83.8%, n=212) said that they were “very” or “somewhat” satisfied with the service they received during their last visit. Students who visited the Financial Aid Services office during the first week of a semester and those who visited the office at other points in the semester did not express statistically significant differences in their levels of satisfaction with the service they received.

Figure 2: Satisfaction with various kinds of contacts with Financial Aid Services during the last such contact.

Students who contacted Financial Aid Services by phone were asked whether they had spoken with a person, listened to recorded information, or did both. The majority of students (59.9%, n=109) said they had done both, 30.8%(n=56) only spoke with a person, and 8.8% (n=16) only listened to a recording. Most students (84.8%, n=139) described being “very” or “somewhat” satisfied with staff members’ responses to their questions. A smaller proportion (67.2%, n=82) described the recorded information as “very” or “somewhat” helpful.

Pulse interviewers asked students to rate the convenience of Financial Aid Services' office hours. Over one-third (37.0%, n=138) said the hours are “very” convenient, 45.3% said they were “somewhat” convenient, 14.7% said “somewhat” inconvenient and 2.9% said “very” inconvenient. Of those who described the hours as inconvenient, 24.2% would like the office to be open before 10 am, 43.9% would like the office to be open later than 5 pm, and 30.3% would like it to be open both earlier and later.

Another series of questions focused on students’ financial aid packages. About three-quarters of the respondents said that they were "very" or "somewhat" satisfied with the amount of their awards (74.0%, n=305), and with the make-up of their financial aid packages (74.2%, n=297). Almost half of the respondents (47.2%, n=194) received a Federal Work Study award during this year. Of those students eligible for work-study, 59.8% (n=116) looked for a work-study job, 5.7% (n=11) kept a job from last year, and 34.5% (n=67) did not look for a job (see Figure 3). Among students who looked for a work-study job, the largest proportion of students (38.8%, n=45) found their primary job through someone they knew. Others found positions through the job-posting board at the student employment office (24.2%, n=28), through a posting elsewhere (18.1%, n=21), through some other mechanism (8.6%, n=10), or through the web (4.3%, n=5). Another 6.0% (n=7) did not find a work-study job (see Figure 4). Most students (87.0%, n=94) said that it was “very” or “somewhat” easy to find their primary work-study jobs.

Figure 3: Did you look for a work-study job?

Figure 4: How did you find your primary work-study job?

Receipt of Federal Work Study awards varied by academic class: 61.5% of first-year students, 46.6% of sophomores, 46.1% of juniors and 31.0% of seniors received a work study award (c²=21.30, p=.000). Among students who received a Work Study award, there was also significant variation in the proportion of students who had actually looked for a Work Study position: 70.0% of the first-year students, 56.1% of sophomores, 56.1% of juniors, and 41.9% of seniors looked for a job (c²=19.14, p=.004).

Financial Aid Services send out a booklet designed to provide students with a range of financial aid information. Slightly over half of the students (52.0%, n=179) reported receiving the 1998-1999 booklet. Of those who said they had received the booklet, 63.0% (n=109) kept it for future reference and 77.8% (n=116) said that the information it provided was "very" or "somewhat" helpful.

Students were asked how they would prefer to receive information about financial aid options. Almost all the respondents said that they would prefer to receive information by regular mail (75.0%, n=309) or by e-mail (20.4%, n=84).

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