Why student finance is hard to run today
1. Three offices see three parts of one student
Nobody sees the student who is about to stop out.
2. A small balance becomes a stop-out
The balance showed weeks before the hold, and nobody revisited the aid.
3. Manual queues peak when students need answers
Verification, appeals, and payment plans are worked one file at a time.
2 · The ontology we build
The student finance model
We bring your systems, outside data, and policies together, model the domain, and compute what it runs on.
A slice of the full model: the labeled objects are the ones this work runs on most.
Verification item
A document the aid office needs before it can finalize an award.
- document
- enum
- requested_on
- date
- received_on
- date
- is required forAid applicationone
Aid application
The student's aid application for one aid year, with the federal results.
- aid_year
- string
- student_aid_index
- money
- selected_to_verify
- boolean
- ƒmissing_documents
count(verification_items where received_on is empty)
- requiresVerification itemmany
- is filed byStudentone
Cost of attendance
The budget for a student's situation: tuition, housing, books, and living costs.
- housing
- enum
- residency
- enum
- total
- money
- budgetsStudentmany
Fund
A source of aid: federal, state, institutional, or donor funded, with its rules and budget.
- source
- enum
- budget
- money
- rules
- text
- ƒremaining
budget − sum(awards where offered)
- paysAwardmany
Award
Aid offered to one student for one term from one fund.
- amount
- money
- status
- enum
- term
- term
- retention_lift
- Change in the chance the student returns if this award grows by $1,000. From student, hold, and past persistence at each award level.
- drawn fromFundone
- is offered toStudentone
Student
A student who files for aid and is billed for each term.
- dependency
- enum
- enrollment_status
- enum
- class_level
- enum
- ƒunmet_need
cost_of_attendance.total − student_aid_index − sum(awards where accepted)- ƒnet_tuition
tuition charges − institutional awards
- filesAid applicationmany
- budgeted atCost of attendanceone
- is offeredAwardmany
- is billed throughAccountone
- carriesHoldmany
Account
The student's account with the bursar: charges, payments, and what is due.
- balance
- money
- due_on
- date
- payments_to_date
- money
- ƒbalance_due
sum(charges) − payments_to_date − student.awards.disbursed- hold_risk
- Chance this balance becomes a registration hold before the term. From charge, payment plan, and payment history.
- billsStudentone
- carriesChargemany
- is paid down byPayment planmany
- triggersHoldmany
Payment plan
An agreement to pay a balance in installments.
- installments
- integer
- start_on
- date
- status
- enum
- pays downAccountone
Hold
A block on registration or transcripts placed because of an unpaid balance.
- kind
- enum
- placed_on
- date
- blocks_registration
- boolean
- placed onStudentone
- triggered byAccountone
Charge
One line on the bill: tuition, a fee, housing, or a meal plan.
- kind
- enum
- amount
- money
- posted_on
- date
- billing_exception
- Flags charges that do not match registration, housing, or the rate table. From account.
- is posted toAccountone
What it enables
3 · What we deploy on top
Applications, agents, and workflows on the model
Each one reads the model and changes it only through governed actions.
Student Finance HQ
For aid and bursar teams: retention lift by award, balances likely to become holds, verification status, and billing exceptions.
Adjust award: Director above a set amount, logged as professional judgment
Financial operations agent
Offers standard payment plans before balances become holds, chases missing verification documents, and releases holds within policy.
Offer payment plan: Bursar for nonstandard terms; Release hold: Second approver over $500
Aid and billing
Works verification, appeals, and billing exceptions in one queue, with each case’s evidence attached.
Adjust award: Director above a set amount, logged as professional judgment
4 · Outcomes
What the student finance model lets you do
1. Adjust aid before each term
Grant changes are recommended with the evidence
Financial aid officeWhat the model sees
Who a marginal award would keep enrolled
2. Offer payment plans before balances block registration
An agent sets up plans within policy
Runs within policyWhat the model sees
Balances about to become holds
3. Close verification faster
Documents are requested, checked, and tracked to completion
Financial aid officeWhat the model sees
Missing and incomplete documents, student by student
4. Set packaging strategy on lifetime value
Next cycle’s awarding strategy is tested before it is set
Enrollment and financeWhat the model sees
Enrollment, retention, and net tuition, modeled together
5. Recover aid and fix billing exceptions
Awards are flagged and exceptions corrected
Aid office and bursarWhat the model sees
Students eligible for aid they never received, and billing errors
Projected value when a change goes live, and realized value against a holdout, a matched group, or the prior cycle, reported separately.
Lifetime net tuition per aid dollar
Grant changes checked against policy
Likelihood to re-enroll after an aid change
Start with Student Finance
We scope the first domain with your team and agree on the outcomes to measure.
