Becoming financial aid experts with the power of SSS’s professional development and training.
It offers private education to over 750 students from Pre-K to grade 12. The school was founded in 1961, and 2021 marked Le Jardin Academy’s 60th anniversary. The school has rolling admissions all year round.
Le Jardin Academy is a globally-oriented school with a strong sense of community, Le Jardin Academy equips students to achieve individual excellence, develop sound character, and positively impact the world.
Le Jardin Academy provides financial aid to approximately 21% of its student base and 84% of all financial aid applicants with an average award in excess of $7,000. These awards generally range from 10% to 60% of total tuition expense and are offered from Grades K-12. Financial Aid awards are made on the basis of the availability of funds and are consistent with established guidelines.
During the 2021 school year, they have received 257 financial aid applications and have awarded over 100 so far. Typically, they award about 170 to 180 per year.
The school’s long-term goal is to reach every student/families who can’t necessarily afford an education at Le Jardin Academy. As Stacy Kilty, business and finance director, states, “One of our goals is to get to match and get to greater than 90% of need. We want to increase it every year and to work on our scholarship base and be able to increase endowments.”
Le Jardin Academy is competing for students with Honolulu schools more than the ones their island side.
To stay competitive Le Jardin Academy needed a quicker turnaround time for getting families their financial aid award decisions earlier.
By using data from the reports, the school found a path of growth in using FAA to increase timeliness in financial aid awarding and secure and enroll students more quickly.
The school also felt it would be valuable to use a third-party software in helping with the transparency of the financial aid process.
It offers schools careful review of financial aid applicants, enabling schools to be pro-active and strategic with budgets and grant awards to the families who most need help. The program also delivers fully audited student folders to ensure informed aid award decisions.
Le Jardin Academy did consider other alternatives to the FAA program, but quickly realized they would have to hire an additional staff person to learn a new system.
This timesaving also helps Le Jardin Academy secure families who may be looking at other schools. “Because of the SSS and FAA integration, we’re able to start onboarding families right away as soon as decision is awarded, “said Souza.
This mighty staff of three decision makers, now only need to meet once a week for an hour or less, and can process student applications as they come in. Their board also sees value in the transparency and greater trust of process because they are using a third-party software to gather all financial aid documents and process them.
With a long-term goal of providing financial aid awards for 90% of need, being able to quickly discern and determine the funds available and the student awards, leaves valuable time for fundraising and securing more grant funds to provide for the school and student body.