Manage Borrowing Guide
August 25, 2025
Navigating Yearly Transitions Guide
August 25, 2025Manage Borrowing Guide
August 25, 2025Navigating Yearly Transitions Guide
August 25, 2025Summary
Emergency aid programs are one of the most underutilized tools on many campuses. Despite donor and institutional funds being available, students in crisis often don’t access them in time. A $500 car repair, an unexpected medical bill, or food insecurity can become the reason a student stops out, costing the institution years of tuition revenue.
Arbol transforms emergency support into a coordinated, data-driven system that detects need early, streamlines validation, and connects students directly to scholarships, advancement resources, and campus services. Staff gain capacity to coach students back on track without adding headcount.
The Student Challenge
- Students face unplanned expenses like food, transportation, childcare, or medical bills that aren’t covered by aid.
- First generation and underserved students often lack a financial safety net at home.
- Without guidance, students may borrow too much, fall prey to predatory credit, or withdraw.
The Institutional Challenge
- Emergency and donor-funded aid programs are often underutilized due to lack of visibility and lengthy diligence processes.
- Staff discover crises too late or lack bandwidth to validate need quickly.
- Scholarships and advancement-backed funds exist but are not tied directly to persistence outcomes.
- Students who fall behind risk losing aid, accruing balances, and facing registration holds that disrupt their path to graduation.
Solution with Arbol
- Early Detection: Flags students showing financial distress signals before issues escalate.
- Faster Validation: Automated workflows streamline diligence and validate need without delays.
- Resource Connection: Matches students to emergency funds, donor scholarships, or campus supports.
- Student Coaching: Aid recipients receive personalized guidance to stabilize and stay on track.
- Scalable Support: Staff can manage higher volumes of need without adding headcount.
- Donor Transparency: Advancement can demonstrate to donors how their funds directly prevent stop outs.
How It Works
- Detection – Arbol identifies students at risk through financial data and behavior signals.
- Student Pathway – Students receive a clear plan with aid options and guidance.
- Resource Matching – Scholarships, emergency funds, and campus supports are routed appropriately.
- Staff Triage – Complex cases are surfaced to staff for outreach and coaching.
- Donor and Leadership Insight – Reporting demonstrates how funds preserve persistence and revenue.
Impact You Can Expect
- Increased utilization of emergency aid and donor scholarships.
- Higher persistence and retention among students facing crises.
- Protected tuition revenue that would otherwise be lost to stop outs.
- Stronger donor engagement with transparent reporting of student impact.
- Expanded staff capacity without adding headcount.
Case Study: Buffalo State University – Roar2Success
Buffalo State’s Grit Scholars program was designed to provide emergency aid to students in financial crisis. But funds often went underutilized because need wasn’t detected early, diligence processes slowed disbursement, and staff lacked bandwidth to provide follow-up coaching.
By embedding Arbol into the program
- Students with financial distress were identified earlier.
- Validation of need was streamlined, eliminating lengthy diligence.
- Students were connected to Grit Scholars funds and campus resources in one place.
- Coaching kept students on track beyond the immediate aid received.
- Staff supported more students without adding headcount.
Result: More students accessed aid, persistence improved, and Advancement leaders gained a stronger story of donor impact.
Jim Finnerty, VP of Institutional Advancement: "With Arbol, we can detect need earlier, deploy aid faster, and show our donors how their support directly keeps students enrolled. The Grit Scholars program is no longer reactive. It is a proactive driver of persistence at Buffalo State."