Case Study | Content Development

College Board’s BigFuture was launched in 2012 to provide high school students with resources and tools to help them determine the best next step after graduation. Today, the free online planning website engages 15 million users annually who are exploring careers, planning for college, and paying for college. After nearly a decade, College Board is delivering a better planning experience for students, one that is anchored in the information students most need and is personalized and actionable for the many unique students they engage.

Anchored in 100 years of expertise from the College Board, BigFuture links arms with trusted organizations to ensure students have access to quality, timely guidance. And at a time when those who are eligible for financial aid are least likely to know about it, according to a report from The Institute for College Access and Success, strengthening the content offered on the Pay for College pillar emerged as a top priority.

With more than two dozen financial aid articles and dozens of events, over six million visitors annually engage with BigFuture Pay for College content. Despite the strong reach, BigFuture is committed not only to engaging students, but to driving action that can make an impact on students’ journeys after high school. With a focus on providing authentic, trusted content, BigFuture wanted to confirm that the information being delivered reflected the needs and priorities of students today. Given uAspire’s direct communication with thousands of students and their support communities nationwide who are embarking on this process, the two organizations came together to assess the Pay for College guidance and develop recommendations that would streamline material and help students better navigate the content.

"We selected uAspire because they are experts who have a great reputation in the financial aid community for their training and work with students,” says Kathleen Weiss, director of BigFuture Partnership Development at College Board. “Lots of organizations know about financial aid, but if they don’t work with students, they don’t know what students need to know and how to best deliver that information.”

The BigFuture website provides information on scholarships, financial aid, and loans. To help students better connect with the guidance, uAspire was engaged to help: 

• Break down the financial aid process into key moments
• Simplify and convey information in a manner that students can understand
• Clarify the difference between direct and indirect costs
• Explain sticker price versus net price and how net price is calculated
• Provide guidance on how to interpret financial aid offers from different schools

BigFuture knows that discovery without action has its limitations in supporting students in their college and career planning. “Making the content actionable was probably uAspire’s greatest contribution to the project,” says Kathleen. uAspire elevated action-oriented guidance across articles and key topics in the Pay for College section that reflected the challenges they have heard directly from students. “For example, by suggesting that we insert language like ‘now that you have this information, here is what to do next’ or ‘here are the materials you should have on hand when filling out FAFSA,’ uAspire helped us lay out a clearer roadmap for students.”

Given misconceptions about college affordability, Kathleen feels it is extremely important to present students with the facts and simplified steps for attaining aid. “Many students don’t fill out the FAFSA because they think FAFSA doesn’t matter, and there are a lot of players in the space that don’t have students’ best interest in mind. It is so important to provide accurate, unbiased information and guide students on their journey.”

“uAspire is fantastic to work with,” says Kathleen. “Because they are thought leaders, they know all of the content, but they don’t come in and act like they know your organization.” Instead, says Kathleen, uAspire’s staff is flexible and evolves with your organization. “They don’t get stuck in a ‘this is the way it has to get done’ mentality, and instead work with you to adapt their knowledge to your vision.”

Financial concerns impact millions of high school students and families. And with a 20 percent increase in organic traffic to BigFuture this year, the revised Pay for College content was one influential driver toward that.

“We are increasingly in a world where counselor capacity is a barrier to students understanding the college application process, which exacerbates the gap in information access between higher- and lower-income communities. With the counselor shortage, students and counselors need resources. BigFuture and the work that uAspire is doing are really important if we want to make sure all students have the opportunity to consider college.”

Together, uAspire and BigFuture are helping more students connect to the postsecondary opportunities they seek.