The Clarity integration streamlines financial aid management by syncing student data and award decisions directly between Clarity and Finalsite Enrollment. This unified experience benefits both families and school staff by reducing manual work, improving visibility, and simplifying the application process.
What is Clarity?
Clarity is a financial aid platform designed to streamline the aid application process for both families and schools.
In this Article
Understanding the Integration
This integration allows Clarity and Finalsite Enrollment to sync student financial aid data automatically. Once financial aid is finalized in Clarity, it flows directly into Finalsite Enrollment, no manual entry required.
Why It Matters
- For families: The integration ensures their financial aid status and enrollment details are synced between Clarity and Finalsite Enrollment. Families can view the same up-to-date information from either platform, whether they're checking their Finalsite Enrollment checklist or logging into Clarity, giving them confidence and a consistent experience at every step.
- For staff: It’s an opportunity to streamline operations, improve accuracy, and dedicate your time to building relationships with families rather than chasing down data.
Individual Awards vs. Total Awards
The system is designed to show either the total award or individual awards on a contract to prevent duplicating the financial aid amount.
- Individual Awards: Schools can sync each award type from Clarity (e.g., Financial Aid, Merit Scholarship) into separate fields and line items in the Finalsite contract. Each field and contract fee automatically generated in Finalsite will match the award names set up in Clarity.
- Total Awards: The Clarity Awarded Amount field will pull the total award amount into a single field on the student record. If the school is not using individual award fields, this total will pull into the Finalsite contract.
How the Integration Works
In Finalsite Enrollment
On the Finalsite Enrollment Parent Portal, families will see a Clarity Financial Aid checklist item that will lead them to Clarity's website when they click Go to Clarity, where they can create an account and start an application.
Families can also choose to select the Financial Aid Not Needed button on the checklist item to bypass the application.
As families complete their Clarity Financial Aid application, admins will see the following:
- Status Updates: The financial aid status updates automatically in Finalsite Enrollment. Learn more about statuses in the article “Managing Clarity Award Data, Fields, & Statuses.”
- Dynamic Awards: Depending on your setup, either the total or individual award amounts will reduce the tuition due in the student’s contract.
- Automated Contract Fees: Individual awards in Clarity automatically generate corresponding contract fees in Finalsite, with names matching the award names in Clarity.
Behind the Scenes:
- Hourly Sync: Data from Clarity syncs with Finalsite Enrollment automatically every hour, with a manual sync option available through Clarity.
- Matching Logic: Student and family IDs from Finalsite Enrollment are stored in Clarity and used to match records. If IDs aren’t found, Clarity will match by name and date of birth, or create a new student record if needed.
- Read-Only Data: All Clarity award fields in Finalsite are read-only. Adjustments must be made in Clarity to maintain a single source of truth. Learn more about these fields in the article “Managing Clarity Award Data, Fields, & Statuses.”
In Clarity
- Student Data: Student data from Finalsite Enrollment is stored in Clarity under each student's record. To view these Finalsite-specific fields in the "Students" table, go to Settings for the Student table and enable them.
- Application Review: Schools will review financial aid applications and determine the awards granted to their families, which will populate automatically in Finalsite Enrollment.
Ready to Get Started?
Follow the steps in the article “Setting Up the Clarity Integration” to enable the Clarity Integration.
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