Is it normal for FA departments to not give out names, emails, or contact numbers? I have been in contact with a school that doesn’t offer any of that information. If I call and have a discussion with someone, it makes no sense to have to call back and explain it all over again. Just wondering if they are all like this? Or if some are more welcoming than others?
You should be able to get the first name only of the person with whom you speak.
The colleges keep a record (at least ours did) of calls that were made, and the reason. We never had to explain the whole thing more than once. But if that had been needed, we would have done so.
Clearly, you had a contact number because you called them. There is also likely a “contact us” on the financial aid section of the website that had an email option.
Were you expecting these folks who answer the phone to give you their first and last names? And their personal emails? And their personal phone numbers? Don’t expect that at all.
And as an FYI…this is standard for much of customer service across industries. When you contact health insurance companies, for example, the first thing they say is “this is Joe, how can I help you”. And that’s it for names.
You need to keep track of the dates you called and what the reason was.
Really, doing questions in writing is better…that way you have a written record of your end as well as the response.
Use the “contact us” email address on the college websites.
@thumper1 thanks for your insight. The only number given on the website is the main university number, but there is a general FA email so maybe I will try it again.
I sat one-on-one with a FA rep, so I did expect her email or direct extension when she asked me to follow up on a situation;)
And I understand about calling a customer service dept, but I would compare FA to the ‘sales manager’ at a car dealership. You are paying a lot of money for their product, and so they sit down with you to explain the finances and always provide a business card!
Every school handles this differently, depending on their own office’s needs. If they won’t give out the information because their policy does not allow it, you could ask that the person with whom you spoke contact you - they may be able to convey your message (your file should include a note from the person you spoke with, so they should know who that was). If that is still against their policy, and if you have a specific question that needs to be answered & you are not getting the answer you need from the people you are speaking with, then ask for a manager.
However, if you are contacting that person because you feel more comfortable talking to them rather than someone else, please understand that this is exactly why they are not giving out the person’s info. They have organized their workflow in such a way that they expect that anyone in the office should be able to respond to questions.
Not at all like experience we had at son’s school. Everyone in FA department we contacted by phone volunteered name and direct contact information (email and extension).
I have always worked at schools where you could contact the person directly, but every school is different.
For one of my kids, the different FA officers were assigned by region or by last name (I can’t remember). However, my daughter had a different one because she had athletic aid so there are special rules and that school found it easier to have one person handling all the athletes.
Where they screwed up was that person left so I kept sending emails but received no response.
Did you get that person’s name? If so, you can usually use the school’s online directory to find out their email address.
@mom2collegekids I asked her to write it down for me. She did. I put it in my bag. Later on, once we were long gone, I took it out and looked at it. It was the main number to the university! LOL