Financial Assistance Coaching & Tools for Success (FACTS)

As a part of UAlbany’s efforts to enhance financial support throughout your academic career, the University has received funding from the U.S. Department of Education to pilot a new program called Financial Assistance Coaching & Tools for Success (FACTS).  

The Principal Investigator for this study is Dr. JoAnne Malatesta, the Dean for Undergraduate Education and the Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Student Success.

The program includes connection with a financial coach for individual support sessions on critical milestones and finance-related paperwork, and small group sessions on financial literacy.  

Students may receive such services specifically during their first year with continued engagement as necessary in future semesters.  

UAlbany hopes that this program will improve student financial literacy and help students financially plan to remain enrolled at the University through their graduation.   

As part of this pilot, UAlbany has engaged the Center for Human Services Research (CHSR) to conduct an evaluation of the program to determine its impact and effectiveness.  

This research will include surveys of all participating students and focus groups with select groups of students to gather feedback on:

• Programming and assess financial stress and literacy
• Use of program administrative data (such as participation in program components)
• Use of institutional data (such as demographics, microgrant provisions, financial holds and registration records)
• Data collection from program administrators

The data collected for this study will be kept confidential. It will be stored on a password-protected server accessible only by the evaluation team.  

Any identifiable data will be identified at the end of the study. Data may be used for future studies without additional consent.  

No participants will be individually identified in any communication, reporting or publication. Information will be combined across study participants and reported in group form only.    

At this point, we are asking students who might be interested in participating in the program and its evaluation to consent to enrollment. Participants must be full-time first year students. Current financial concerns are not required for participation.

First-year students (freshmen) starting at UAlbany in Fall 2025 will be asked whether they consent to FACTS enrollment when they complete the Course Request Questionnaire, which is part of the Connection Day registration process. The FACTS team will be available during Connection Day.

About half of the interested students will be selected to receive the program. The other half will be invited to participate in the other available UAlbany financial services.

All consenting students will receive incentives for participation in annual surveys and any focus groups conducted. 

Participation in this program is voluntary. You may choose to indicate your interest in participation, and if selected, choose to participate in the provided program and evaluation activities.  

You may end your participation at any time. Ending your participation will not impact your class standing, grades, employment or any other aspect of your relationship with UAlbany.  

 To the best of our knowledge, participation in this study has no more risk of harm than you would experience in everyday life.  

If selected into the pilot group, you may benefit from the financial support provided.

If not selected into the pilot group, your participation will benefit others by helping us learn about program effectiveness and make decisions about future implementation.