Garrett Curtis, Staff Photographer

In January 2024, the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid implemented a new financial aid counseling model to address overwhelming complaints about long wait times and unresponsiveness.

The new system pairs each student with a personal counselor based on their last name, with international and Eli Whitney students assigned separately. The model replaces the previous method of sorting through general service inquiries from all students on financial aid. 

“It’s just generally a better model than it was before, and I personally have benefited from it in terms of getting my questions answered in a more timely manner,” said Melangelo Pride ’26, a first-generation, low-income, or FGLI, student ambassador.

Pride remembers struggling to get refunded for certain financial requests and not being informed about deadlines and forms. 

This year, Pride has met with her personal financial aid counselor multiple times. Counselors assist with a variety of financial questions, not only student financial aid packages. In meetings, Pride received answers to her questions about Yale’s summer sessions and various study abroad programs.

According to administrators, the new personal financial aid counseling model has been very successful.

“Applicants and current students appreciate the increased responsiveness and personal connections we’ve achieved through the new model,” Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, wrote to the News.

Kari DiFonzo, director of undergraduate aid, shared that wait times have decreased and responsiveness has improved, which she credited to increased appointment availability under the new system. 

According to DiFonzo, in January 2024, Undergraduate Financial Aid offered 155 appointments to prospective and current students and families. In January 2025, the number of available appointments increased to 250.

Additionally, now that families can schedule appointments directly with their counselor, the main office has experienced fewer calls, from 814 in January 2024 to 485 in January 2025.

Despite the increase in appointments under the new counseling model, counselors have not been overwhelmed by the number of students in their caseload, according to DiFonzo.

As an FGLI ambassador, Pride hopes to hear more feedback about the model from other students and plans to send out a feedback form in an upcoming newsletter.

According to Quinlan, although the implementation of the new system has been fluid, the office is working to refine it further.

The Undergraduate Financial Aid office plans to evaluate the model after this academic year and make enhancements as needed.

The Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid is located at 246 Church St.