As we continue to see developments in the coronavirus COVID-19 situation, we wanted to update you on our response. The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority along with continuing to provide industry-leading service to your students, borrowers and your school. We are mindful of the importance of continuing our service to students and schools during these unusual times.

We are following CDC guidance. Employees who can work from home are doing so reducing the number of people in the office and allowing us to provide greater distance between employees remaining to provide essential business activities.

We will continue to adjust these policies as needed, in order to respond to the developing situation. We have been working on systems to handle business remotely, if needed.

We want to assure you that during these uncertain times, you can count on Inceptia. We are doing all that we can to ensure our operations are not impacted.

Please contact the Client Support team or your business development consultant with any questions or concerns.

Lincoln, Neb. (March 17, 2020) – During this time of school closures, many K-12 students and families find themselves in an unprecedented situation of having to seek out online educational resources to fill the learning gap. We here at Inceptia understand this challenge and are proud to offer our free financial education courses to all K-12 students now through April 30.

Financial Avenue offers ten individual courses that cover everything from saving and budgeting, to planning for college and a career, to spending wisely and tackling debt.

"There really is something for everyone within Financial Avenue," says Carissa Uhlman, vice president of student success at Inceptia. "We designed the courses to speak specifically to teens without talking down to them, with a mixture of videos, activities, and quizzes to keep them engaged. For students who are getting ready to make major financial decisions in the very near future, the time to prepare is now. That’s what Financial Avenue is all about."

As part of its nonprofit philanthropic mission, Inceptia has always offered Financial Avenue free to K-12 educators and administrators. It is our firm belief that making it available to the public at this time provides a unique opportunity for all students to focus in-depth on a topic that will provide a solid foundation for future financial wellness.

To access the free courses, students may go to https://fa.financialavenue.org/sign-up/ and use Access Code "longspringbreak" to create a user account and get started. Additional information on the program is available with this guide and with our Student Experience video.

We are happy to answer any questions at talktous@inceptia.org. From the Inceptia family to yours, we hope for wellness for all, both physical and financial.

ABOUT INCEPTIA
Inceptia, a division of National Student Loan Program (NSLP), is a nonprofit organization committed to offering effective and uncomplicated solutions in verification, financial aid management, financial education, and repayment wellness. Our mission is to support schools as they launch brilliant futures for students, armed with the knowledge to become financially responsible citizens. Since 1986, we have helped more than two million students at 5,500 schools reach their higher education dreams. Each year we help nearly 340,000 students learn how to pay for college, navigate financial aid, borrow wisely, and resolve their student loan repayment challenges. Our solutions are designed to support student success by helping financial aid administrators maximize resources, so they can spend more time focusing on students.

Lincoln, Neb. (November 11, 2019) – Inceptia, a leader in uncomplicating financial aid for students and schools, today announced Financial Aid Services (FSA), an Atlanta-based management consulting firm that helps colleges and universities optimize their financial aid and student business operations, will utilize Inceptia’s Verification Gateway platform to provide verification services to its clients.

“Integrity, experience and technical knowhow are top priorities as we look for partners to help us support our clients. Inceptia brings all of them, along with an unyielding commitment to helping schools and students succeed. We look forward to a great partnership!” said David Gray, FAS President.

Effective immediately, for the 2020/2021 academic year, FAS will transfer its verification processing to the Verification Gateway platform. The transition will provide FAS school clients a fully automated, seamless process with the flexibility to add personal interaction, if needed, guiding students and parents through verification via a highly secure, mobile-friendly web portal.

Randy Heesacker, president and CEO, NSLP, said, “With over 25 years serving higher education, FAS is a highly respected company with whom many schools entrust their vital financial aid operations. We are extremely pleased that FAS has selected Inceptia’s Verification Gateway platform as the FAS verification solution and look forward to working together.”

ABOUT INCEPTIA
Inceptia, a division of National Student Loan Program (NSLP), is a nonprofit organization committed to offering effective and uncomplicated solutions in verification, financial aid management, financial education, and repayment wellness. Our mission is to support schools as they launch brilliant futures for students, armed with the knowledge to become financially responsible citizens. Since 1986, we have helped more than two million students at 5,500 schools reach their higher education dreams. Each year we help nearly 340,000 students learn how to pay for college, navigate financial aid, borrow wisely, and resolve their student loan repayment challenges. Our solutions are designed to support student success by helping financial aid administrators maximize resources, so they can spend more time focusing on students. Learn more at Inceptia.org.

ABOUT FINANCIAL AID SERVICES
FAS, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, has provided consulting, staffing, assessments, and processing services to assist colleges in improving operational efficiency, student satisfaction and regulatory compliance in the area of financial aid for nearly 29 years. The staff of over 60 employees and associates average 26 years of experience in financial aid administration.

Lincoln, Neb. (September 17, 2019) – Inceptia, a leader in uncomplicating financial aid for students and schools, shares their FAFSA Toolkit to help schools create urgency around FAFSA completion and reduce stress for students and schools by providing useful tools.

With the opening of the 2020-21 FAFSA just two weeks away, Inceptia is pleased to release the FAFSA Toolkit, an online resource center to help schools promote FAFSA completion.

“When it comes to nudging students to complete the FAFSA, you can never have enough tools to spread the message” says Carissa Uhlman, vice president of student success. “We know it takes time and resources to create a comprehensive FAFSA communication plan and we want to ease that burden for schools. The toolkit provides a one-stop source to help schools promote the FAFSA and offer tools to help students understand the importance of early completion, the process, and answer questions."

Early FAFSA completion allows more time to find and resolve any issues that may keep a student from receiving the aid they need to start or stay in school. Since schools have their own deadlines in addition to the federal deadline, completing the FAFSA early reduces the last-minute stress on all fronts.

The toolkit is free to all schools and includes an on-demand webinar with tips on effective communication strategies to motivate students. Postcards, emails, posters, deadline reminders, Q&A, and common mistakes information are a sampling of the assets available in the toolkit to help schools conduct their own FAFSA campaign.

Browse the Inceptia FAFSA Toolkit to put your FAFSA communication plan together today.

ABOUT INCEPTIA
Inceptia, a division of National Student Loan Program (NSLP), is a nonprofit organization committed to offering effective and uncomplicated solutions in financial aid management, repayment wellness, and financial education. Our mission is to support schools as they launch brilliant futures for students, armed with the knowledge to become financially responsible citizens. Since 1986, we have helped more than two million students at 5,500 schools reach their higher education dreams. Each year, we help nearly 280,000 students learn how to pay for college, borrow wisely, resolve their delinquency issues, and repay their student loan obligations. Our solutions are designed to support student success by helping financial aid administrators maximize resources, so they can spend more time focusing on students.

Lincoln, Neb. (September 4, 2019) – The fourth annual Great Advice for Parents is now available. This free e-guide is published through the partnership of Inceptia, a nonprofit serving educational institutions, EducationQuest Foundation, and personal finance site NerdWallet. The collection of articles and tips from finance experts is intended to provide parents and students with valuable information regarding college planning and finances.

This year’s guide focuses on FAFSA and financial aid, and tips on things you’ll want to consider over the next few months, like choosing a major or how to handle finances in college. “These final years of high school go so fast, it can be easy to lose track of what you and your student should know when it comes to college finances,” says Carissa Uhlman, vice president of student success at Inceptia. “If we can help students and families focus on crucial decisions and conversations, they can make better-informed choices regarding college-fit and student debt.”

The 2019 edition of Great Advice for Parents provides timely information regarding:

• Financial Aid and the FAFSA
• Considering College Expenses
• Navigating College Admissions and Majors

“Great Advice for Parents” is also meant to be a useful resource for high school educators, counselors, coaches, and mentors, as well as other nonprofit organizations that assist students and families in preparing for college. It is available for free download or may be shared with students and families with our downloadable Great Advice for Parents flyer.

ABOUT INCEPTIA
Inceptia, a division of National Student Loan Program (NSLP), is a nonprofit organization committed to offering effective and uncomplicated solutions in financial aid management, repayment wellness, and financial education. Our mission is to support schools as they launch brilliant futures for students, armed with the knowledge to become financially responsible citizens. Since 1986, we have helped more than two million students at 5,500 schools reach their higher education dreams. Each year, we help nearly 280,000 students learn how to pay for college, borrow wisely, resolve their delinquency issues, and repay their student loan obligations. Our solutions are designed to support student success by helping financial aid administrators maximize resources, so they can spend more time focusing on students.

ABOUT NERDWALLET
NerdWallet is on a mission to provide clarity for all of life’s financial decisions. As a personal finance website and app, NerdWallet provides consumers with personalized, unbiased advice so they can make smart money moves. From finding the best credit card to buying a house to investing their next dollar, and more, NerdWallet is there to help consumers make financial decisions with confidence. Consumers have free access to our expert content, tools and tailored advice that help them stay on top of their finances, and save them time and money, giving them the freedom to do more. For more information, visit NerdWallet.com.

ABOUT EDUCATIONQUEST FOUNDATION
EducationQuest Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a mission to improve access to higher education in Nebraska. Headquartered in Lincoln, EducationQuest provides free college planning services, need-based scholarship programs, college access grants for high schools, college access resources for middle schools, and outreach services for community agencies. For more information, visit EducationQuest.org or call 800.303.3745.

This year will be my first time attending the Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit, and I'm really excited to be take part in a conference dedicated to such a unique topic. I am confident that this will be a great opportunity to expand my knowledge of how other institutions approach financial literacy, and a chance to bring back some valuable ideas for new campus literacy initiatives.

But first, a little bit about what I do.

Much of my time as a Financial Aid Counselor at the University of Rochester has been dedicated to working with students who are economically disadvantaged and have been selected for the New York State Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program.

Many students are first generation and I enjoy providing resources to help them understand their financial aid options and gain a foundation for navigating their personal finances. A helpful tool has been Inceptia's Financial Avenue program. It has been such a rewarding experience to see students grow in confidence using this platform. One of my students, Dennis, is a reminder to me of why I do what I do. He recently reflected upon his experience:

• "As a high school senior preparing for a tough financial transition into college, I had the fear of being financially ignorant after learning about my admission to the University of Rochester. However, a previous moment of financial ignorance turned into financial literacy after the introduction of Financial Avenue. The courses not only taught me about the ability to save money for college, but to regard it as an investment. Thanks to Financial Avenue, I was able to save enough money for emergency use until the end of the semester."

Another way Inceptia has positively impacted the University of Rochester is through our campus food pantry, which just launched in 2019. I have been a stakeholder in the planning of the food pantry, whose purpose is to serve the immediate needs of hungry students who stay on campus over the summer and are without a meal plan.

In preparation for the launch, I attended various Inceptia webinars highlighting the issue of systemic food insecurity across college campuses. It has been eye-opening to see the data supporting the need for this campus resource. I will be looking for ways to invite this student population to use Inceptia's Financial Avenue resources to help them with day-to-day budgeting and money management skills.

I believe the upcoming Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit will provide a fruitful experience by enhancing my work in financial aid. There are a number of breakout sessions being offered that will address the challenges of the populations of students with whom our Financial Aid Office interacts.

Of particular interest to me is the "Full Minds, Empty Stomachs: Food Insecurity on Campus" session, presented by Inceptia's very own Carissa Uhlman! Other session topics I'm excited about include developing peer programs, promoting responsible loan borrowing, and ways to assess and evaluate program success.

I am eager to share ideas about financial literacy programming implementation with representatives from other institutions. The pre-conference session, "Where Do I Go Next? Moving beyond Getting Your Program off the Ground" will be a great place to share our successes and best practices with one another. I, for one, know that I could use some fresh ideas on how to build partnerships across campus as a means of gaining new Financial Avenue participants!

Not only am I looking to bring back new concepts to implement on campus, but I'm also looking for opportunities for personal enrichment, as well. Joshua Becker is one of four keynote speakers who will be at the summit. He recently posted an article on his website titled, "Our Money is Only as Valuable as What We Choose to Spend It On." He promotes a minimalistic lifestyle, and boy does that sound liberating! I look forward to his insights and hope to bring a more mindful approach to spending money in my own life.

I've been following the summit's Twitter account (@the_hefwa) for the last month. If you don't follow them already, it's a great way to get a preview of what's to come and keep abreast of the summit happenings in real time. I will be tweeting as well, so follow me @ChrisFSchmidt or, better yet, come find me at the summit!

About the author:

Christina Schmidt, M.Div. - Christina has worked in higher education for seven years in a combination of admissions and financial aid. In her current position as an Assistant Director for Financial Aid at the University of Rochester, she implements financial literacy programming using Inceptia, a division of National Student Loan Program. She coordinates financial aid outreach efforts across campus and in the local community.She was selected to be the Inceptia Ambassador at the 2019 Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit. Follow her on Twitter @ChrisFSchmidt.

Lincoln, Neb. (October 25, 2018) – Inceptia, a leader in uncomplicating financial aid for students and schools, shares their first multiyear research project regarding insight into students’ financial behaviors.

Inceptia is pleased to release The State of Student Finances 2018: Results from a Multiyear Assessment. Presenting results gathered from 20 months of data, this research brief provides insight from over 60,000 students concerning their everyday financial habits and capabilities.

The Financial Behavioral Assessment touches on five key areas: budgeting and spending, financial planning and protection, credit, banking, and student loans. Each of these areas present findings that can be a springboard for financial discussions.

"Gauging student knowledge tells you what they’ve learned; evaluating and assessing student behaviors reveals what they retained and applied," says Carissa Uhlman, Vice President of Student Success. "We had several findings in our survey that came as quite a surprise and were able to identify some key behaviors by hearing directly from students."

The findings challenge current perceptions on how students really budget, their knowledge of a healthy financial future, credit usage, and even how they bank. What we found is a disconnect between student self-ratings of financial knowledge, and how financial choices are made. Not only does this assessment provide insight into this juxtaposition, but it also offers valuable suggestions for using the results to better inform and shape financial education efforts.

Request your download of The State of Student Finances 2018: Results from a Multiyear Assessment research brief from Inceptia now.

ABOUT INCEPTIA
Inceptia, a division of National Student Loan Program (NSLP), is a nonprofit organization committed to offering effective and uncomplicated solutions in financial aid management, default prevention, and financial education. Our mission is to support schools as they launch brilliant futures for students, armed with the knowledge to become financially responsible citizens. Since 1986, we have helped more than two million students at 5,500 schools reach their higher education dreams. Each year, we help more than 278,000 students learn how to pay for college, borrow wisely, resolve their delinquency issues, and repay their student loan obligations. Our solutions are designed to support student success by helping financial aid administrators maximize resources, so they can spend more time focusing on students.

Lincoln, Neb. (August 29, 2018) – For the third consecutive year, Nebraska nonprofit Inceptia and personal finance company NerdWallet have partnered to create a free e-guide, "Great Advice for Parents." The guide, which features a collection of articles from NerdWallet’s experts, is intended to provide parents and students with valuable information regarding college planning and finances.

"It’s never too early to sit down with your high school-aged child and make money a common, healthy topic of conversation, rather than something to be avoided," says Brianna McGurran, student loans expert with NerdWallet. "They will soon be making major life and financial decisions that will shape their future. We want them to be as prepared as possible when they step into the real world."

This year’s guide focuses on connecting college choice with college cost, and how to borrow wisely. "Students leaving college are telling us they wish they had made better choices, or that they don’t remember student loan entrance counseling" says Carissa Uhlman, vice president of student success at Inceptia. "If we can help students and families have these conversations now, they can make better-informed decisions regarding college-fit and student debt."

The 2018 edition of Great Advice for Parents contains articles that focus on three distinct areas:

• Choosing the right school
• Having "the money talk"
• Student loan lowdown

“Great Advice for Parents” is also meant to be a useful resource for high school educators, counselors, coaches, and mentors, as well as other nonprofit organizations that assist students and families in preparing for college. It is available for free download or may be shared with students and families through our downloadable Great Advice for Parents flyer.

ABOUT INCEPTIA
Inceptia, a division of National Student Loan Program (NSLP), is a nonprofit organization committed to offering effective and uncomplicated solutions in financial aid management, default prevention, and financial education. Our mission is to support schools as they launch brilliant futures for students, armed with the knowledge to become financially responsible citizens. Since 1986, we have helped more than two million students at 5,500 schools reach their higher education dreams. Each year, we help more than 278,000 students learn how to pay for college, borrow wisely, resolve their delinquency issues, and repay their student loan obligations. Our solutions are designed to support student success by helping financial aid administrators maximize resources, so they can spend more time focusing on students.

ABOUT NERDWALLET
NerdWallet is on a mission to provide clarity for all of life’s financial decisions. As a personal finance website and app, NerdWallet provides consumers with personalized, unbiased advice so they can make smart money moves. From finding the best credit card to buying a house to investing their next dollar, and more, NerdWallet is there to help consumers make financial decisions with confidence. Consumers have free access to our expert content, tools and tailored advice that help them stay on top of their finances, and save them time and money, giving them the freedom to do more. For more information, visit nerdwallet.com.