Financial Aid Leveraging Scholarship Optimization and Predictive Services

The vendor required to provide financial aid leveraging, scholarship optimization, and predictive services to develop and implement data-informed strategies for awarding institutional, state, and federal financial aid in ways that maximize enrollment, improve student retention, and increase net tuition revenue.
1. Financial aid leveraging model
•    Develop or refine predictive models to inform instructional aid awarding strategies, incorporating students’ characteristics such as academic performance, residency status, financial need, and demographic factors.
•    Recommend data-informed scholarship awarding strategies that align with university goals for affordability, student access, and institutional return on investment (ROI).
2. Data analytics and predictive modeling
•    Conduct comprehensive analyses of historical trends in enrollment, financial aid distribution, student retention, and student success metrics.
•    Provide tuition revenue forecasting under various aid distribution scenarios to support strategic planning and budgeting efforts.
3. Scholarship optimization
•    Conduct a comprehensive review of existing institutional aid programs, including but not limited to:
o    Presidential scholarships
o    Dean’s scholarships
o    Purple and white transfer scholarships
o    Graduate tuition waivers
•    Evaluate current scholarship tiers, award criteria, renewal rates, and utilization trends.
•    Identify gaps or inefficiencies in current aid strategies relative to SEM objectives.
•    Develop recommendations for:
o    Restructuring existing scholarships tiers.
o    Introducing new or revised scholarship models that improve yield, diversity, and retention.
o    Establishing award levels based on data-driven leveraging models.
•    Provide cost modeling and projected enrollment impacts under proposed scholarship frameworks.
4. Strategic services and training
•    Collaborate with university financial aid, admissions, and enrollment management departments to align aid strategies with recruitment goals.
•    Provide training and professional development for university staff on:
o    Leveraging and predictive modeling concepts.
o    Use of aid optimization tools and dashboards.
o    Best practice in scholarship administration and compliance.
•    Recommend and document policies and procedures that:
o    Support title iv, state, and institutional compliance.
o    Ensure sustainable and transparent financial aid management.
5. Reporting and deliverables
•    Annual and semester-based reports detailing:
o    Scholarship and aid distribution outcomes.
o    Impact on enrollment, retention, and net tuition revenue.
•    Interactive dashboards or tools that enable university staff to visualize and analyze financial aid data for decision-making.
•    Recommendation report summarizing findings, analysis, and proposed scholarship model structures.
•    Ongoing services and support throughout recruitment and admissions cycles to adjust strategies as needed.
6. Performance requirements
•    Deliver all reports and recommendations in both electronic and editable formats.
•    Virtual and on-site progress meetings with university stakeholders.
•    Provide timely responses to data requests and inquiries.

- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: November 21, 2025