VIAS Swedish Institute Case Study

Swedish Institute Case Study:

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Swedish Institute Utilizes VIAS to Reduce Past-Due Payments by $3 Million

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The Institution

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A pillar of the NYC education foundation for over 100 years, Swedish Institute is a Manhattan-based College of Health Sciences. Swedish Institute offers certificate and degree-granting programs in allied health, nursing, and massage therapy.

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The Problem

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Swedish Institute faced three main challenges before implementing VIAS:

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$3 Million in Outstanding Payments: The institute struggled with managing outstanding payments, leading to a significant financial burden.
No Estimated Award Letters: The previous system did not offer estimated award letters, making it difficult for students to plan their finances and causing frustration.
Lack of Visibility: The institute lacked visibility into the status of applications and awards, leading to delays and confusion for staff and students.

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The Solution

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Swedish Institute worked with VIAS to implement estimated financial aid award letters. The accounting reporting capabilities allowed the Swedish Institute team to identify exact dollar amounts and term/mod date on which they were due. This made for easy reference to Department of Education information and any 3rd party disbursement integration. In addition, VIAS provided in-depth training on the estimated award letter process allowing Swedish to identify all funds (past, current, or future).

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The Result:

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Once the Swedish Institute accounting and financial aid teams were trained and able to make award letters for all students, Swedish Institute was then able to identify all unpaid funding and the date on which they were due, resulting in the following:

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Successfully resolved increased delinquent student collection amounts in less than ten months.
Cost savings/money resolved: Swedish Institute reduced their delinquent Title IV collections from around 3 million to 50k. Staying steady in the 50-100k for a school that brings in over 4 million each 10-15 weeks. This is a huge win for consistent and predictable cash flow.
Indirect cost savings (jobs eliminated, tech consolidation, additional impacts): Allows for more consistent budget forecasting and, therefore, can create opportunities for expansion and growth.
Streamlined processes, increased bandwidth, etc: Allows for a streamlined process for the student from start to finish. Accounting, Admissions, and Financial Aid are on the same page from the minute they walk into the door until they graduate and beyond.

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Overall, the implementation of VIAS allowed Swedish Institute to overcome its financial challenges and streamline its processes, resulting in significant cost savings and increased efficiency.