First Year Experience & Orientation Guide
August 22, 2025
Financial Wellness & Peer Mentoring Guide
August 25, 2025First Year Experience & Orientation Guide
August 22, 2025Financial Wellness & Peer Mentoring Guide
August 25, 2025Summary
Unpaid student account balances are one of the leading causes of stop outs in higher education. For students, even modest balances can create insurmountable barriers to re-enrollment. For institutions, these balances translate to lost tuition revenue, strained staff resources, and declining retention.
Arbol provides a single platform where students can understand their obligations, receive step-by-step repayment guidance, and access institutional resources. Staff gain the tools to triage cases, prioritize complex situations, and create capacity without adding headcount. The result is more students back on track and stronger enrollment continuity.
The Student Challenge
- Student Accounts and Financial Aid staff spend countless hours delivering difficult news.
- Current processes rely on lists and manual outreach, creating delays and inefficiency.
- Staff can only offer payment plans, which rarely address the full scope of financial issues.
- The result: retention drops, revenue is lost, and staff experience immense operational strain.
The Institutional Challenge
- Students receive notices of past due balances but lack clear instructions on what to do next.
- Many do not realize that even small balances can trigger registration holds.
- Students without family financial support often see balances as impossible to resolve.
- Without guidance, they disengage, lose aid eligibility, or withdraw.
Solution with Arbol
- Personalized Repayment Pathways: Students see clear, step-by-step options to resolve balances.
- Early Detection: Risks are flagged before balances escalate into holds.
- Student Coaching: Students receive guidance not only to resolve balances but also to prevent recurrence.
- Student Confidence: Students understand their financial responsibilities from day one.
- Scalable Triage: Small balances are resolved through self-service, freeing staff to focus on complex cases.
How It Works
- Identification – Arbol flags students with outstanding balances and categorizes cases by severity.
- Student Pathway – Each student receives a personalized roadmap showing repayment options and resources.
- Resource Connection – Students are connected to scholarships, emergency funds, or payment assistance if eligible.
- Staff Triage – Simple cases are resolved quickly, while complex cases are escalated for personalized support.
- Prevention – Ongoing coaching and alerts help students avoid future balances.
Impact You Can Expect
- More students resolving balances and continuing their studies.
- Tuition revenue protected that would otherwise be lost.
- Reduced manual workload for Student Accounts and Financial Aid staff.
- A more equitable approach to supporting students with financial barriers.
Case Study: Canisius University – Financial Recovery Pathways
At Canisius, a growing number of students were struggling to pay their bills. Student Accounts, Financial Aid, and Student Services staff were working off static lists, delivering bad news, and offering limited options. Many students disengaged because they didn’t know how to move forward, leading to retention declines and operational strain.
With Arbol, Canisius:
- Gave students step-by-step repayment pathways to resolve balances.
- Students received guidance on budgeting refund checks and anticipating living costs.
- Freed staff to focus on larger, more complex cases requiring tailored solutions.
- Required all incoming students to create a financial plan during orientation to prevent balances in the future.
Result: More students resolved their balances, remained enrolled, and staff capacity improved significantly. Tuition revenue was preserved, and financial planning became embedded in the student journey.
Dr. Fields, VP for Student Success: "Arbol has become a critical part of how we support students facing financial barriers. It gives students a clear path to resolve account balances and stay enrolled, while allowing our staff to focus where they are needed most."