The front door
A bilingual information line on its own number. It answers from your published policy and current federal guidance, and anything about a student's own record goes to a person.
What starts it
About 1,200 calls a day in August. About 400 get answered. The lever is not more answering. It is fewer reasons to call.
What Eli does
The line answers financial aid questions in English or Spanish, at any hour, from your published policy and current federal guidance. It never looks up a student, and never asks for a Social Security number, a login, or a tax document.
What a person decides
Anything account-specific goes to a person: a transfer to your office during staffed hours, and after hours the office hours, the email address, and a callback if the student wants one. Your office approves the opening wording before the number is listed anywhere.
Every demo runs on synthetic data. No real student, IRS, or FAFSA records.