NT4CM State Participation Options

Let's Work Together to Support Counselor Training

We have all heard (sometimes first-hand) that many students are intimidated by the process of finding money for college. Because a school counselor or other mentor is frequently the first person a student turns to for advice, it is crucial that counselors have the tools they need to help their students. Training can be an excellent way to share those tools and increase counselors' knowledge of the financial aid process.

If your state offers financial aid training to counselors and mentors, we would be happy to support your efforts, whether by linking to your training information on the Web, providing National Training for Counselors and Mentors (NT4CM) materials, or even hosting your online registration. Read on to explore your options.

Lender or Guaranty Agency Support

As we're sure you'll understand, the U.S. Department of Education must avoid the appearance that we are providing preferential treatment or advantages to certain lenders. We have developed alternative participation options to avoid this appearance. Please answer the questions below in order to determine which NT4CM participation options are available to your state. We've provided both a table and a flow chart, so that you can use whichever version is easier for you, depending on whether you're visually inclined or not.

Matrix to Determine NT4CM Participation Options

1. Do you have any lenders supporting your training?	YES - Go to question 2.
	NO - Go to question 3.
2. Can you continue to provide the training without their involvement or support?	YES - Go to question 3.
	NO - You may choose from Participation Option E or F.
3. Is your state's guaranty agency supporting the training?	YES - Go to question 4.
	NO - You may choose from any Participation Option.
4. Does your guaranty agency also serve as a lender in your state?	YES - Go to question 5.
	NO - You may choose from any Participation Option.
5. Does the guaranty agency have clear separation between lending and other functions (such as college access)?	YES - Go to question 6.
	NO - You may choose from Participation Option E or F.
6. Is the "non-lender" function supporting the training?	YES - You may choose from any Participation Option.
	NO - You may choose from Participation Option E or F.

Flow Chart to Determine Participation Options

Participation Options

See "Lender or Guaranty Agency Support" above to determine which participation options are available to you.

"Full" Participation:
1. You use all NT4CM training materials (both instructor manual and participant guide), and ED hosts your registration
2. You use all NT4CM training materials, and ED will link to your training information
"Curriculum" Participation:
3. You use some NT4CM training materials, and ED hosts your registration
4. You use some NT4CM training materials, and ED links to your training information
No Participation:
5. You conduct training independent of NT4CM
6. Your state plans to offer no training

Our Role and Your Role

If you choose to use some or all of the NT4CM materials, we will

• develop the materials, print hard copies, and ship them to you (for full participants—Options A and B above)
• make the materials available online for download if you choose to print them yourself (for curriculum participants—Options C and D above)
• conduct a "train-the-trainer" webinar in late summer to familiarize your trainers with the content and provide a forum for asking questions (for Options A-D above, or for anyone who wants to listen in)

Whichever participation option you choose, your state will be responsible for

• recruiting trainers
• choosing training dates
• finding and reserving training sites
• advertising your training
• encouraging trainees to complete evaluations
• reporting on the number of participants at each training site (Options A-D)

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