By the time many private career college students begin their studies, they already have significant responsibilities. Those students who have been out of school for a number of years are concerned about their ability to succeed at the post-secondary level. Working with students to develop a solid support mechanism, and to provide financial counsel through informed staff and student loan representatives is helpful to the student achieving success.

While the first contact with a prospective student is normally a casual, introductory interview, during the second meeting between a student and college staff, a variety of financing options are usually discussed. Once a student decides to apply for Canada Student Loans funding, college financial aid staff typically provide the student with detailed Canada and provincial student loans information. Some colleges even administer comprehension tests to measure student understanding of their obligations and responsibilities under the Canada Student Loans Program.

Most private career colleges surveyed have one or two people on staff whose responsibilities include working with students on matters relating to funding their education. Larger institutions, particularly those with student enrollment greater than 200, are more likely to have a full-time financial aid specialist on staff. Medix School in Kitchener recently hired a full-time financial aid specialist tasked with undertaking activities to improve the college’s student loan repayment rate. Where the hiring of a full time specialist is not feasible in smaller institutions, the goal should be to have one person on staff who is well trained and resourced to provide timely and informative counsel to students and to oversee an effective default management program.

Provincial student loans representatives play an important role in ensuring that students have the most current information regarding student loans. Smaller career colleges especially benefit from periodic contact from their representative. These visits provide updated information to college financial aid staff on any changes to student loans programs, and often involve meeting with students either individually or collectively to answer questions or troubleshoot issues.