CINCINNATI – Student Loan Funding (SLF), an Ohio- based provider of education funding, announced today that West Virginia State University has implemented Your Electronic Award, SLF’s electronic financial aid award letter tool, to deliver customized financial aid award packages to its students. The university joins more than 60 other schools around the country — and becomes the first in West Virginia — using the Web-based tool to speed communications with students and reduce administrative costs.
“We are delighted that WVSU is a leader in financial aid administration as the first college in the state to implement Your Electronic Award,” said Jim Eickhoff, president of SLF. “As WVSU automates its award system, it is replacing time-consuming manual administration with an efficient, electronic delivery tool.”
WVSU students receive more than $18 million a year in grants, loans, work study, fee waivers and scholarships, and the university has been seeking to improve the efficiency of its paper-based financial award letter system. “Your Electronic Award has been a boon to our students and to the office of financial aid,” said Mary E. Blizzard, director of WVSU’s office of student financial assistance. “Students are receiving and responding to their financial award letters much more quickly and can head into summer knowing that their school finances are in order for the fall semester.”
Students who use Your Electronic Award typically reply to their award notification within three days, compared to up to three weeks for a paper award letter, said Eickhoff.
Your Electronic Award is a user-friendly tool that helps higher education institutions deliver customized financial aid award packages to students via the Web, establishing an online communication channel between students and the financial aid office. Online delivery of award information helps schools reduce printing and postage costs by an average of 30 percent, and eliminates time-consuming paperwork. WVSU sent 3,140 electronic award notifications and reduced mailing and labor costs by $4,000 in the first month of the tool’s implementation. The school can now track award activity, efficiently organize its electronic databases and correspond more easily with students.
Student Loan Funding, a subsidiary of Sallie Mae, is a leader in helping financial aid offices become innovative technology leaders. For more information on Your Electronic Award, school administrators should contact their Student Loan Funding or Sallie Mae higher education account executive, or call 877-477-7537.
