Financial Aid Toolkit Website Evaluation Online Survey and Online Focus Group

Financial AId Toolkit Online Evaluation

Intro - Introduction

Market Connections is conducting research on behalf of Federal Student Aid (FSA), an office of the U.S. Department of Education. FSA would like your feedback regarding their Financial Aid Toolkit website.  The evaluation should take only about 5-7 minutes to complete.  Your responses will remain anonymous and will only be reported in aggregate form. Thank you in advance for your time.  Your input is very important. Click the "Next" button below to begin the survey.

Note: please make sure your pop-up blockers are disabled to allow you to click through to the website where indicated or desired.

Screener1_Role - Role

In which of the following capacities do you counsel, advise, mentor or work with students?

• High school counselor (1)

• College access professional (such as, independent counselors, TRIO, GEAR UP) (2)

• Within a community-based organization (3)

• Another capacity (please specify): _______________ (97)

• I do not counsel, advise, mentor or work with students in any capacity (99) [THANK AND TERMINATE]

STOP	Screened – Role Screener Thank You Thank you for your willingness to participate in this evaluation. At this time we are looking for counselors and advisors of students.

Screener2_Involvement – Involvement

In which of the following ways are you involved in counseling, advising, mentoring or otherwise working with students relative to their higher education goals and financial aid options?

Select all that apply

• Identifying financial aid options (1)

• Advising on or recommending financial aid options to students (3)

• Coordinating programs for students on topics related to financial aid (4)

• Coordinating programs for students on topics related to college preparation (5)

• Providing non-financial advice or counseling to students (e.g., related to college preparation) (6)

• Other (please specify) ____________ (97)

• I have no involvement with students relative to higher education goals or financial aid (99) [THANK AND TERMINATE]

STOP	Screened – Involvement Screener Thank You Thank you for your willingness to participate in this evaluation. At this time we are looking for individuals involved with students relative to college guidance or financial aid.

1. Challenges – Challenges

What are your greatest challenges in coordinating programs for, counseling or advising students and parents regarding financial aid options? [OPEN-END]

• _______________________________________________________________________________

2. InfoSources – Information Sources

Where do you turn most often for information to assist you in coordinating programs for, counseling or advising students and parents regarding financial aid options? [RANDOMIZE LIST]

Select all that apply

• A financial institution (i.e., bank or lender)

• Colleagues

• Search engine (please specify): _______________________________________________________

• Websites (please specify): ___________________________________________________________

• Government sources (please specify): __________________________________________________

• Other (please specify): ______________________________________________________________

• I have never searched for information to assist me with counseling, advising, or working with students regarding financial aid

SiteReview – Site Review

Please take a few moments to browse FSA’s recently launched Financial Aid Toolkit website (FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov), then return to this page and click “Next” below to complete this evaluation. [LINK TO WEBSITE THROUGH URL AND “FINANCIAL AID TOOLKIT” IN A SEPARATE POPUP WINDOW - GLOBALLY]

Note: please make sure your pop-up blockers are disabled to allow you to click through to the website where indicated or desired.

3. Impression – Impression

Overall, what is your impression of FSA’s Financial Aid Toolkit website?

• Excellent (5)

• Good (4)

• Neutral (3)

• Fair (2)

• Poor (1)

4. FirstVisit – First Visit

Was this your first visit to FSA’s Financial Aid Toolkit website?

• Yes (1)

• No (2)

• I do not recall (99)

5. Satisfaction – Satisfaction

Please rate your satisfaction with the following aspects of the Financial Aid Toolkit website:

[RANDOMIZE LIST]	1 - Very dissatisfied (1)	2 - Somewhat dissatisfied (2)	3 - Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (3)	4 - Somewhat satisfied (4)	5 - Very satisfied (5)	N/A (98)
Overall appeal (1)						
Credibility of information (2)						
Availability of informative content (3)						
Relevance to my needs (4)						
Ease of navigation (5)						
Intuitive layout (6)						
Organization of information (7)						
Search functionality (8)						
Usefulness of information (9)						
Usefulness of calculators and tools (10)						

6. Agreement – Agreement

Please rate your level of agreement with the following aspects of the Financial Aid Toolkit website:

[RANDOMIZE LIST]	1 – Strongly disagree (1)	2 – Disagree somewhat (2)	3 - Neither agree nor disagree (3)	4 – Agree somewhat (4)	5 – Strongly agree (5)	N/A (98)
The language on the site is easy to understand (1)						
The site helps me to understand FSA’s resources and services (2)						
The site persuaded me that FSA understands my needs (3)						
The site helps me better understand FSA’s mission (4)						
The information on the site is relevant to my work with students (5)						
The site will be a valuable resource for my work with students (6)

7. Missing – Missing Elements

[ASK IF RATINGS OF <5 FOR CREDIBILITY, AVAILABILITY, RELEVANCE, ORGANIZATION, USEFULNESS OF INFO OR USEFULNESS OF TOOLS] In your opinion, what, if anything, is missing or may not be readily available on the Financial Aid Toolkit website that is relevant to your needs or may be more useful? Please be as specific as possible. Type “nothing” if the site currently meets your needs. [OPEN-END]

• __________________________________________________________________________________

8. Changes – Desired Changes

[ASK OF RATINGS OF <5 FOR APPEAL, EASE, INTUITIVE, OR SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY] Are there any changes you would recommend be made to the Financial Aid Toolkit website? Please be as specific as possible. Type “no” if you are completely satisfied with the current site. [OPEN-END]

• ___________________________________________________________________________________

9. Recommend_Revisit – Recommend and Revisit

Based on your perceptions of the Financial Aid Toolkit website, how likely are you to…?

	1 – Not at all likely (1)	2 – Not very likely (2)	3 - Unsure (3)	4 – Somewhat likely (4)	5 - Very likely (5)
Recommend the site to a colleague					
Return to the site					
Return to the site using a mobile device					

The last few questions are for classification purposes only.

10. InstOrgType – Institution/Organization Type

What type of school/institution/organization do you work or volunteer for?

• Junior High/Middle school (1)

• High school (2)

• State or public four year college or university (3)

• Private four year college or university (4)

• Community or junior college (5)

• Vocational, professional, or trade school (6)

• Library (7)

• College access organization (8)

• Community-based organization (9)

• Other (please specify): ____________ (97)

11. StudentsEnrolled_Inst - Student Enrollment - Institution

[ASK IF INSTORGTYPE 1-6] Approximately how many students do you serve through programs focused on counseling, mentoring or advice regarding higher education goals or financial aid?

• Less than 100 (1)

• 101 - 500 (2)

• 501 – 1,000 (3)

• 1,001 – 1,500 (4)

• 1,501 – 2,000 (5)

• 2,001 – 5,000 (6)

• 5,001 – 10,000 (7)

• 10,001 – 15,000 (8)

• 15,001 – 20,000 (9)

• More than 20,000 (10)

• Not sure (98)

12. StudentsServed_Org - Students Served - Organization

[ASK IF INSTORGTYPE 7-9] Approximately how many students does your organization serve?

• Less than 100 (1)

• 101 - 500 (2)

• 501 – 1,000 (3)

• 1,001 – 1,500 (4)

• 1,501 – 2,000 (5)

• 2,001 – 5,000 (6)

• 5,001 – 10,000 (7)

• 10,001 – 15,000 (8)

• 15,001 – 20,000 (9)

• More than 20,000 (10)

• Not sure (98)

13. AreaType – Area Type

What category best describes the area in which your school/institution/organization is located?

• Urban (3)

• Suburban (2)

• Rural (1)

14. StudentEthnicity – Student Ethnicity

How would you describe the overall ethnic makeup of the student populations you interact with?

• Less than 25% minority students (1)

• 25-50% minority students (2)

• 51-75% minority students (3)

• 76% or more minority students (4)

• Not sure (98)

15. HHIncome – Household Income

Which of the following categories best describes the average annual household income of the student populations with whom you interact?

• Less than $30,000 (1)

• $30,000 to $49,999 (2)

• $50,000 to $69,999 (3)

• $70,000 to $99,999 (4)

• $100,000 or more (5)

• Not sure (98)

16. Tenure – Tenure

How many years of experience do you have coordinating programs for, counseling or advising students on college preparation or financial aid? [DROP DOWN MENU]

• Less than 1 year (0)

• 1 year (1)

• 2 years (2)

• 3 years (3)

• 4 years (4)

• 5 years (5)

• 6 years (6)

• 7 years (7)

• 8 years (8)

• 9 years (9)

• 10 years (10)

• More than 10 years (11)

17. Title_Role – Title Role

What is your title/role in counseling, advising or mentoring students? ________________________ [OPEN-END]

18. Org - Organization

What is the name of your school/institution/organization? _______________________ [OPEN-END]

STOP

Complete – Thank you Thank you for your participation! FSA values your input. Please click the button below to submit your responses. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 6 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or email [email protected] and reference the OMB Control Number 1845-0045.

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