College Admission Officers

College admission professionals play an important role in providing information about financial aid. More than three-quarters (79 percent) of secondary school survey respondents reported that local colleges and universities are their most common source of financial aid information and training.

Students and families also rely on the admission counselors they encounter during the college search and application process for important information about financial aid and college costs. Admission counselors frequently receive questions about college costs and financial aid.

Knowledge of Financial Aid Topics

For many topics, a much smaller proportion of admission counselors with 1-5 years of experience reported being well-versed, in comparison to all admission counselors. These early career professionals are often the staff members who interact most directly with students at recruiting events, including high school visits and college fairs.

In a similar pattern to specific topic knowledge, college admission counselors with fewer years of work experience were much less likely to report being very prepared to answer specific questions from students and families related to college costs and financial aid.

Admission counselors benefit when their institutions provide formal training in financial aid, and particularly if the training is ongoing.

Admission counselors who were offered training also reported being more prepared to answer all of the student/family questions included on the survey.