Orientation Playbook

How to Launch Financial Success on Day One

orientation

Minutes to activate financial success in Orientation

Steps students take to leave with clear next action

Weeks to identify risk before holds and stop-out

Plan that creates repeatable outreach and accountability

Turn Orientation Into a Financial Readiness Checkpoint

Orientation is one of the only moments when you can reach the full incoming class at scale, before financial confusion turns into missed deadlines, billing issues, and preventable holds. This playbook shows how institutions embed a simple financial success checkpoint into Orientation so students leave with a clear plan, immediate next steps, and a pathway to support. The result is earlier visibility, more proactive outreach, and a repeatable approach to financial readiness that strengthens retention without adding staff burden.

A Simple, Repeatable Orientation Model

This approach fits into Orientation as a short, guided experience that helps students build a personal financial plan and complete a few high-impact next steps in real time. Students confirm their understanding of net cost and aid, identify common financial risks early, and leave with clear actions for the first semester. Staff gain a consistent framework for follow-up and a simple way to identify who may need support before billing deadlines.

In 30–45 minutes, students complete a guided financial plan and a few key next steps that reduce confusion and increase readiness. Student Success teams gain early visibility into risk and a repeatable follow-up structure that prevents avoidable holds and early stop-out.

Implementation Timeline

This approach is designed to fit into Orientation with minimal lift. Students complete a guided financial readiness experience during Orientation, then receive a short follow-up cadence through the first billing deadline. The timeline below outlines a simple implementation sequence that creates early visibility and proactive intervention without adding staff burden.

1. Pre-Orientation Invite
Invite students to start their plan before Orientation.
2. Complete plan in-session
Students complete key steps and leave with next actions
3. Follow up for completion
Nudge completion and flag students who stall early.
4. Intervene before holds
Target outreach before billing issues become holds.
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What Students Complete During Orientation

In a short, guided experience, students complete a few key steps that reduce confusion and increase readiness. Each step is designed to help students leave Orientation with clarity, not just information, and gives Student Success teams early visibility into who may need follow-up.

  • Confirm Net Cost Understanding
    Students validate what they owe and what’s covered.

  • Identify Financial Risk Areas
    Students flag gaps related to billing, housing, transportation, or basic needs.

  • Complete Immediate Next Steps
    Students choose 1–2 actions for the first semester

  • Connect to Support Pathways
    Students see where to go and how to ask for help early.

  • Establish a Term Readiness Plan
    Students leave with one plan they can revisit and complete.

Before Orientation, I was honestly confused about what I owed and what I needed to do next. This helped me understand my financial plan and gave me a clear checklist so I didn’t fall behind.

Jerome L.
First-Year Student

What Success Looks Like

This playbook creates a measurable financial readiness checkpoint early in the term. Success is reflected in student completion, follow-through on next steps, and earlier intervention before billing challenges become holds. These indicators give Student Success teams clear progress signals and outcomes they can report to campus partners and leadership.

  • 70% Plan completion rate during Orientation

  • 40% Action completion rate in Weeks 1–2

  • Reduction in early-term holds tied to missed payments or requirements

  • Staff time saved through prioritized outreach

Ready to get started?

Talk to an Arbol Expert

Want to see how this Orientation approach can fit into your student success strategy? An Arbol expert can share proven models and help you map an implementation plan that works with your current Orientation format.

Schedule a strategy call

Who This Is For

Best fit for teams that:

  • Support student persistence goals

  • Coordinate Orientation experiences

  • Reduce preventable barriers

  • Strengthen first-year readiness

  • Improve early intervention systems

Talk to an Arbol expert