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The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) is committed to empowering students at every stage of their academic journey through access and support. With a focus on student-centered solutions, UNL prioritizes financial aid access as a cornerstone of enrollment management. Central to this mission is ensuring students complete the FAFSA, a critical step in securing financial support and advancing their educational opportunities.

Despite a solid outreach process, UNL faced significant challenges. Husker Hub, the university’s one-stop financial and enrollment services center, was handling a high volume of in-person and virtual traffic. With the team short by four full-time staff members and a rise in minimum wage for student workers, creating budget constraints, the university struggled to maintain consistent, impactful outreach.

“We’re always committed to doing what’s best for our students,” shared Justin Chase Brown, Director of Scholarships & Financial Aid. “But with staff shortages and the increasing demands on our Husker Hub, we simply didn’t have the capacity to reach every student.”

UNL needed an efficient and effective, goal-driven solution to address these limitations without overburdening its resources.

To meet these challenges, UNL partnered with Inceptia to implement the FAFSA Completion Outreach Program. This partnership allowed UNL to focus its efforts on specific groups of students while alleviating the workload on internal staff.

Using a multi-touchpoint approach, Inceptia engaged students through personalized communication, answered their questions, and encouraged FAFSA completion within a concentrated time frame.

“We started small with a pilot group of returning Pell-eligible students who hadn’t filed their FAFSA nor enrolled,” explained Justin. “The team at Inceptia helped us stay focused and ensured we reached students who needed it the most.” For the FAFSA Completion Outreach Program, UNL prioritized all new incoming students who had not yet filed a FAFSA and all enrolled returning students who were Pell-eligible the previous year who had not yet filed a FAFSA. This campaign was timed to begin shortly after the last day to add/drop courses (UNL census date) to boost FAFSA completion for enrolled students.

This structured, data-driven approach provided UNL the capacity to connect with students who might have otherwise been overlooked, delivering measurable results to demonstrate the program’s impact.

In just two weeks, the program began to demonstrate its value. Inceptia successfully contacted 683 students by phone, achieving an impressive 51% contact rate and a remarkable 75% email open rate. Upon completion of the outreach for the campaign, 10% of the prioritized students had already filed their FAFSA within the campaign period, with additional submissions anticipated.

The smaller pilot group of 116 returning Pell-eligible students yielded even stronger outcomes, which was 46 enrollments, highlighting the power of personalized outreach in driving student action.

“This program gave us the capacity and focus we needed,” Justin said. “It’s not just about numbers–it’s about ensuring every student gets the opportunity to succeed.”

UNL’s successful partnership with Inceptia underscores the value of collaboration and outsourcing in higher education. By leveraging a service partnership with external expertise, UNL achieved measurable results without overburdening its budget or internal resources.

Brown encourages other institutions to explore similar strategies: “Don’t hesitate to use every tool at your disposal. Grants, partnerships, and outsourcing can make a world of difference in ensuring students get the support they need without overloading your team.”

Looking ahead, UNL plans to expand these efforts, demonstrating that targeted outreach programs not only support individual students but also drive institutional success.

To learn more about how Student Outreach Programs can engage your students and boost enrollment, contact your Business Development representative or visit inceptia.org.