Driving Enrollment Through Aid Transparency

As a public research institution, Rowan University is deeply committed to expanding educational opportunities for its constituents. Located in Glassboro, New Jersey, Rowan serves approximately 20,000 students across undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, including two medical schools and the state's first veterinary medicine program.

"We feel very strongly about access and affordability, and that we place our students first and foremost in everything that we do," said Heidi Kovalick, Director of Financial Aid at Rowan University. "One of the things that we're most proud of is that we will always make sure that we do right by our students."

Rowan's strategic pillars emphasize expanding educational access, reducing financial barriers, and supporting student success across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Yet, like many institutions, the university found that the complexity of the financial aid process itself was undermining those goals.

To improve transparency and maximize aid distribution, Rowan implemented Student Financial Success solutions, now part of the Student Aid capabilities within Ellucian Student.

"Our students have become more proactive in managing their financial aid," Kovalick said. "Ellucian Student Financial Success tools have made it incredibly easy for them."

Campus Communicator: Clarifying Aid to Drive Enrollment

Before choosing Ellucian Student Financial Success, Rowan had identified financial aid offer confusion as a significant barrier to enrollment. Federal College Financing Plans were compliant but difficult for families to interpret, often highlighting intimidating total cost figures without sufficient explanation.

Using Campus Communicator for dynamic offer letters, Rowan has redesigned its financial aid offers to feature plain language, personalized scholarship naming, and step-by-step cost calculations that clearly illustrate how grants and scholarships offset tuition and fees.

"We were able to break things apart and put it in very simple language that we wrote ourselves, the way we would speak to our students and parents," Kovalick said. "Students understood what it would cost and felt that things were very clear, that they knew where they stood."

The impact was immediate. Open rates increased from 73% to 84% year over year and Rowan also saw a 23% increase in enrollment deposits, giving enrollment leaders confidence that students were actively engaging with their financial aid information.

"We can see how quickly students are opening their offer letters, and they are literally opening them as quickly as we were sending them out," Kovalick said. "We know that if they are opening their award letters, we are at least starting the conversation of how a Rowan education is an affordable option."

Scholarship Universe: Expanding Equitable Access to Funding

To expand affordability, Rowan improved scholarship access for admitted students without merit aid, replacing paper-based applications and manual review processes. With Scholarship Universe's AI-powered matching algorithm, students can now view scholarships for which they qualify immediately upon logging in, based on data integrated from the university's Banner student information system.

"Students are very excited because when they log in to create their profile, they see already the scholarships that they match for," Kovalick said. "That is very encouraging to them, and we can reassure the parents that the scholarships are vetted and safe."

On the administrative side, Rowan has also begun converting many institutional scholarships into direct awards, eliminating the need for committee reviews and streamlining financial aid distributions while continuing to honor the donor’s intention.

"Before, there were literally 130 committees," Kovalick said. "Being able to automate that process is something I'm very excited about."

Student Forms: Streamlining Student Aid Processing

Rowan previously relied heavily on paper-based processes to administer and audit financial aid. Students submitted documents in person or by mail, and staff manually scanned the paperwork. Errors or missing information often led to long delays and repeated follow-ups.

With Student Forms, Rowan has automated verification, appeals, and documentation workflows, enabling real-time communication with students through mobile-friendly forms, email, and SMS. Integrated business rules and lifetime documents reduce redundant requests and compliance risk while accelerating processing.

"Students can snap a picture or upload a PDF, and our staff can review it right away instead of waiting weeks," Kovalick said. "They can either accept the document or ask for changes or additional documentation if they're missing it."

As a result, verification timelines have dropped from weeks to less than 24 hours in many cases. The financial aid office was also able to reduce the number of full-time staff members required to carry out the work.

"I have two staff members now who are doing verification, whereas before I had six because it was paper-driven," Kovalick said. "The students are just as fast, also. When they send a text message out requesting additional documentation, they sometimes have students reply back within minutes."

Improving Transparency Through Early Outreach

Looking ahead, Rowan plans to leverage Campus Communicator and Scholarship Universe to identify and address student balances earlier in the enrollment cycle, equipping students to make informed housing and financial decisions before outstanding balances become a barrier to persistence.

"We never want students to leave with debt and no degree," Kovalick said. "Starting these conversations earlier supports both our students and the institution."

As Rowan continues to grow enrollment while maintaining affordability, its partnership with Ellucian remains central to advancing its student-first mission.

"I feel like I'm not in this alone," Kovalick said. "When we are implementing a new tool or making changes to one of our current products, I always have Ellucian's Student Financial Success team just a phone call or email away."