Consumer Information Disclosures

Institutions participating in the Title IV financial aid programs must disclose a plethora of information to prospective students, continuing students, parents, and sometimes the public. The types of disclosures include:

  • Specific information about the school and its programs,
  • Details of the available financial aid programs,
  • Instructions for students on “How to Apply” for financial aid,
  • The publication of certain school policies, and
  • Disclosures of school outcomes, data metrics, and performance.

The only practical solution is to use your website in combination with your catalog (which should also be available electronically on your website) to effectively communicate this information while allowing for the frequently required updates.

TITLE IV CONSUMER AND FINANCIAL AID DISCLOSURES

The Federal Regulations require institutions to create and maintain about thirty different disclosures (depending on a number of factors). But most significantly, failure to publish and accurately maintain all of these disclosures can subject the institution to accusations of “misrepresentation”, which can result in both financial penalties and negative public relations.

FA Experts® understands that the daily pressures of administration and customer service rarely allow school personnel the time to create and maintain all the required disclosures – let alone keeping up with the constant changes. If you then consider that maintaining a full set of disclosures for all of the Title IV compliance regulations requires the collaboration of at least half a dozen institutional departments, and that the disclosures can be viewed by the regulators 24/7, the importance of ongoing compliance becomes apparent.

FA Experts® helps institutions develop a simple yet compliant set of web pages and catalog items to provide for each of the federal requirements. Beyond that, your trusted FA Experts® team of compliance professionals can help create an internal plan for continuous updates and provide training to institutional staff to ensure the disclosure requirements are not only met initially – but are maintained into the future.

SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST A CONSUMER DISCLOSURES…

FA Experts® is highly experienced in helping institutions re-engineer their policies and processes to create a synergy between regulatory compliance, process efficiency, and customer service. If your institution could benefit from our experience, please give us a call at 866-767-5692 ext. 0. Let’s talk about working together to build a highly effective, customer-centric approach to compliance.