Newsroom

Tip of the Week

January 31, 2018

Communicating with students and parents

If you are like many in our industry, financial aid chose you for a career – not the other way around.

Even though many professionals did not choose financial aid as a career, they stay in the profession because of the opportunity to help other people. And, for someone who is in a profession so they can serve others, it can be stressful to communicate bad news – something we have to sometimes do in this profession.

Communicating with students and parents who might be frustrated about the financial aid process is a daily challenge for financial aid staff. Here are some tips for communicating with students and specifically dealing with difficult situations:

1. Ask questions: Find out as much as you possibly can about the situation. Sometimes the real problem isn't what they are upset about at the moment. For example, it may not be what they have called you about, but perhaps how it is impacting something else in their lives.
2. Listen: Sometimes all a student or parent needs is someone to listen and understand their situation.
3. Repeat and summarize: Repeat back to them what you understand their issue to be and how the issue can be addressed, if possible.

Be sure to follow Mapping Your Future on social media and visit our website to find tips and other information and ideas for your students and parents.

Subscribe to Tip of the Week.
To unsubscribe, click Opt Out.

Mapping Your Future^®, Inc.
P.O. Box 2578, Sugar Land, TX 77487
(800) 374-4072