For most big purchases in life, you secure your financing before you ever use the product. A car, a house, even a new phone usually requires a clear payment plan before you drive off the lot or walk out of the store.

College is one of the few exceptions. Students can move into their residence hall, attend orientation, and start classes long before they have a concrete plan for how they will pay for it. Surveys show that roughly 70 percent of college students feel stressed about their finances, and a majority worry specifically about paying for school and monthly expenses. Ohio State News

It should not surprise anyone that difficulty paying tuition and covering basic living expenses is a top reason students consider stopping out. In one national survey, 59 percent of students said they had considered dropping out due to financial stress. PR Newswire Many leave with all of the debt and none of the degree.

For VP Enrollment and Admissions leaders, that financial reality shows up directly in yield, summer melt, and first year retention. Research on summer melt finds that 10 to 40 percent of college intending students never actually enroll, and financial aid problems are a major driver of that loss. Harvard Graduate School of Education+1 When families are not confident they can pay the bill, enrollment decisions stall, melt increases, and students who were “sure bets” never arrive or do not return.

The Affordability Question Families Are Really Asking

Affordability is now one of the primary lenses students and families use when deciding where to enroll, whether the institution is a realistic choice at all, and whether college makes sense in the first place. In a 2025 survey of students, affordability ranked as the number one factor in college choice, ahead of outcomes, flexibility, and other considerations. Bestcolleges.com A separate survey of parents found that 95 percent considered cost an important or extremely important factor in choosing a college. Parents

This is especially complicated for colleges with a higher sticker price. On paper, a student may be admitted and awarded. In practice, the family receives a financial aid offer that still leaves a significant gap. The net price is often unclear, and the responsibility to fill that gap is pushed back onto the student and family.

From the institution’s perspective, the student looks committed. From the kitchen table’s perspective, the family is wondering, “Can we actually make this work without putting ourselves in a crisis?” More than half of adults who opted out of college or stopped out cite cost as the primary barrier. Investopedia+1 The result is a quiet but costly leak in the funnel. A student who appears as a “yes” in your dashboard can quickly become a “maybe” or a “no” when the real cost comes into focus.

Where the Current Process Breaks

Most institutions are trying to be transparent. The strongest award letters estimate total cost of attendance, include out of pocket expenses such as books and transportation, clearly list grants, scholarships, work study, and loans, and explain the difference between gift aid and borrowed money.

The challenge is that many offers across the sector still fall short. A Government Accountability Office review found that about 91 percent of colleges either underestimate or completely omit the net price in their aid offers, which leads families to face unexpected costs later. Investopedia Not surprisingly, one survey found that only about one in five students felt highly confident that they understood the details of their financial aid offer. PR Newswire

Even when all of the information is technically present, families are often left with a simple but heavy question:

“What do we actually do next to pay this bill and pay for life while in college?”

Here is what the typical journey looks like today:

1. The student receives an award letter and sees the remaining balance.

2. The family tries to piece together a plan using a mix of savings, outside scholarships, private loans, or “we will figure it out later.”

3. There is limited two way conversation with the institution until a key date, such as the bill due date, a registration hold, or a housing deadline.

4. In August, staff are flooded with last minute calls and walk ins, or the student quietly melts away and never arrives on campus.

At each step, the lack of clarity around “how to get to zero” becomes a dropout point in the enrollment funnel. From your seat, that shows up as volatility. From the family’s seat, it feels like risk they are carrying alone. Recent surveys show that more than 70 percent of students have experienced financial difficulty while enrolled, and nearly half say those difficulties interfere with their ability to succeed academically. Inside Higher Ed+1

What “Zero Balance By Day One” Really Means

When we talk about getting students to a zero balance by the start of the term, we are not saying college should be free for everyone. Zero balance is a goal state and a process.

A zero balance student:

• Has their semester bill fully covered by a known mix of grants, scholarships, loans, payment plans, and family contribution

• Has a realistic plan for living expenses such as books, food, and transportation

• Understands the monthly impact of that plan, both now in terms of cash flow and later in terms of loan repayment

• Has a clear summary, in writing, of how this semester is covered

For the institution, a zero balance student is not a financial mystery. They are a student with a documented, sustainable financial pathway that supports persistence. For you as VP Enrollment, that translates into greater confidence in your numbers, fewer surprises after census, and a tighter connection between financial health and your enrollment and retention goals.

A Simple Framework: The Zero Balance Planning Process

To get more students to that state, colleges need more than better letters. They need a structured service and process that walks families from award to action. One practical way to frame it is a four step Zero Balance Planning Process.

1. Diagnose the gap

First, bring all the numbers into one view:

• Total cost of attendance, including indirect costs

• Confirmed financial aid and scholarships

• A family contribution that is realistic, not aspirational

The difference between these numbers is the true gap. Many families do not know this number. Many institutions do not see it clearly at scale. Without it, everyone is guessing. Given that students are already cobbling together aid from an average of nearly three different sources to cover college costs, clarity about the remaining gap is essential. ncan.org

2. Match resources to gaps

Next, help the student explore a full menu of options to close that gap:

• Institutional grants or last dollar programs where appropriate

• State and federal aid the student has not yet accessed

• Outside scholarships and employer or community benefits

• Federal and, when appropriate, private loans

• Payment plans that smooth out cash flow

• Emergency funds for acute shortfalls

The goal is not to push any single product. The goal is to combine resources in a way that closes the gap with the least long term risk for the student and the least last minute chaos for your staff. This is particularly important for low income and first generation students, who are more likely to encounter financial hardship during college and less likely to have a financial safety net at home. Inside Higher Ed+1

3. Align with what the family can actually sustain

This is where a two way conversation matters. Families need help answering questions such as:

• “Can we really afford this monthly payment for four years?”

• “If we borrow this amount, what will repayment look like after graduation?”

• “What tradeoffs are we making in our household budget and are we comfortable with them?”

The plan has to work on paper and in real life. When families feel heard and supported in this step, they gain confidence not just in the numbers, but in your institution. Surveys of parents show that clear, proactive communication about affordability and net price is one of the most valued forms of outreach colleges can provide. Inside Higher Ed+1

4. Lock in the plan before day one

Finally, confirm and document the steps:

• Payment plan is set up and confirmed

• Required documents are completed and submitted

• Loans are accepted and originated where needed

• A clear written summary shows a net balance of zero for the term

When this process happens early, August becomes a month of confirmation rather than crisis management. Your staff spend more time welcoming students and less time trying to rescue enrollments at the last second. Institutions that adopt early, structured financial planning tend to see lower summer melt and more predictable enrollment, especially among low income and underrepresented students who are most vulnerable to financial disruptions. Harvard Graduate School of Education+1

The Role of Technology and Expert Counselors

Doing this work well for a handful of students is manageable. Doing it for hundreds or thousands is not possible with manual spreadsheets, inboxes, and sticky notes. This is where technology and expert counselors must work together.

Technology can:

• Pull data from financial aid, billing, and student information systems into one unified view of each student

• Automatically identify students who have a gap or who are at risk because of their profile or activity

• Guide students and families through a structured financial planning flow that leads them toward a zero balance

• Track where each student is in the journey, so leadership can see patterns, bottlenecks, and progress by cohort

Human experts are still essential. Financial aid professionals and student support staff:

• Make judgment calls about appeals and special circumstances

• Have sensitive conversations about what a family can realistically contribute without putting themselves at risk

• Help students weigh options that impact their long term financial wellness and persistence

The highest performing institutions combine both. Technology provides scale, consistency, and visibility. Counselors provide wisdom, nuance, and trust.

Arbol Clarity is designed for this exact model. It helps institutions give every admitted student a clear financial pathway to a zero balance, and gives staff the insight and tools to support many families at once instead of fighting fires one by one. For a VP Enrollment, that means a more predictable pipeline, fewer unpleasant surprises right before classes start, and a stronger connection between financial planning and your enrollment, retention, and net tuition revenue goals.

Common Questions From Enrollment Leaders

As we talk with enrollment leaders, a few questions come up again and again. Naming them openly is important, because they reflect real constraints.

“Will students actually use this?”
When financial planning is optional and passive, engagement is low. When it is built into required touchpoints such as orientation, advising, and hold resolution, students participate because the work is directly connected to their ability to register, move in, and stay enrolled. The key is to tie planning to the milestones students care about, not to treat it as one more optional “resource.”

“Do we have staff capacity for this?”
The goal is not to add more meetings or more manual work. The goal is to have technology do the heavy lifting so staff focus on high impact cases. Instead of spending time calculating balances, chasing missing documents, or answering the same basic questions in August, they can focus on coaching families through decisions that truly require a human touch. In practice, many teams find that a structured process supported by technology actually reduces the August crunch by addressing financial issues earlier.

“Is this just more financial literacy?”
No. This work is not about generic lessons on budgeting or abstract financial concepts. It is about a concrete plan for this semester’s bill and the student’s life while in college. Financial education becomes powerful when it is tied to an immediate problem the student is trying to solve. When a student is looking at a real bill, a real housing deposit, or a real decision about borrowing, the learning is both timely and actionable.

What You Can Do Next

If you want to move toward a zero balance model and protect yield at the same time, you do not have to overhaul everything at once. You can start with a few practical steps.

1. Audit your current process
   Review your award letters, follow up communications, and the support you offer between award and bill due date. Look for the moment where the responsibility quietly shifts back to the family to “figure it out.” That handoff is usually where melt and stop outs begin, especially for students who already face financial fragility. Inside Higher Ed+1

2. Set a clear, measurable goal
   For example, “Eighty percent of first year students will have a confirmed zero balance plan by August 1.” Treat this as a leading indicator for yield and retention. When you track it, you can manage it, and you can connect it to the broader reality that cost and lack of aid are now the biggest reported barriers to enrollment for many Americans. NASFAA+1

3. Pilot a structured planning process with one cohort
   Start with a group where the stakes are high and the impact will be visible. That could be Opportunity Program students, students with outstanding balances, or a subset of new admits from a key feeder high school or region. Document the impact on melt, registration holds, and staff workload. Use those results to make the case for scaling up.

If you want a partner in this work, we would be glad to share how institutions are using Arbol Clarity to guide families to a net balance of zero, reduce financial surprises, and align financial planning with your enrollment, retention, and net tuition revenue goals. The families you serve are already doing the math on whether they can make college work. When you give them a clear path, you are not only improving your numbers. You are helping more students arrive, stay, and graduate with a degree that matches the debt they carry.