Participating Membership

Become a Participating Member by completing our online form.



Participating Members may include:


  • Postsecondary schools
  • Elementary, middle and high schools*
  • Community organizations or groups*

This Membership Program provides access to the counseling and customer service that institutions have come to depend on from Mapping Your Future.

*Elementary, middle and high schools, and community organizations or groups will receive Membership at no cost based for 2012-2013 on review and approval by Mapping Your Future.

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A Participating Membership for schools includes:

  • 22 Online Counseling sessions
  • Printable exit counseling materials for counseling student in-person and for mailing to students
  • Storage of archived records
  • ExitExpress and SchoolExpress (automated retrieval)
  • Default prevention tools
    • Ability to enable website integration of counseling
    • Ability to enable website integration of calculators
    • Retrieval of updated student data (from counseling)
    • Ability to enable website integration of educational games
  • Customized counseling (adding some school-specific content, determine questions, regulatory required information)
  • Servicer Information Sheet
  • Verification worksheets
  • Access to member-only services for free or at a low-cost, such as MappingXpress, a document collection service.
  • Prompt customer service

Schools help their students and reap many benefits with Mapping Your Future’s Online Counseling

Mapping Your Future’s Online Counseling enables schools to enhance their default prevention plans and enhance financial aid processes by maintaining contact with students through enhanced counseling and data collection. Mapping Your Future's Online Counseling allows students to complete counseling anytime, anywhere – all from the convenience of a computer. Outreach with prospective and current students is increasingly important to make sure students receive the information they need to understand financial aid rights and responsibilities.

Meet regulatory requirements

Schools can meet federal loan counseling requirements and help borrowers understand education loan obligations with the convenience of Mapping Your Future's Online Counseling.

  • Direct Loan and Direct PLUS entrance counseling session options meet Direct Loan counseling regulations.
  • Direct Loan and Direct PLUS exit counseling session options meet regulations for both the Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan Programs.
  • Online Counseling sessions are updated as needed to meet all regulations, including the Higher Education Opportunities Act, even giving schools the ability to provide required school-specific information.
  • Direct Loan and Direct PLUS exit counseling sessions meet regulations for forwarding of exit records to appropriate guaranty agencies and the Direct Loan Program. ExitExpress enables guaranty agencies that sponsor Mapping Your Future to retrieve appropriate records of those students who have FFELP loans, meeting federal requirements for schools to forward those records to the guaranty agency within 60 days of students completing the counseling. In addition, ExitExpress allows schools to easily export Direct Loan and Direct PLUS exit records for Direct Loan borrowers in the NSLDS Exit Counseling Submittal Template. They can then upload the records to NSLDS. Then they can upload the records to NSLDS.

Straightforward setup and technology 

Financial aid professionals with various levels of technology experience find that the Online Counseling setup process is straightforward. By working with Mapping Your Future, schools also have the opportunity to include enhanced customization and technology features in the counseling process.

  • Streamlined technology with user-friendly interface which enables cross-browser capability.
  • Report options include a variety of printable and electronic counseling reports that are easy to access and may be uploaded to the schools’ financial aid management system (this may require some additional programming by the school’s technical staff).
  • The opportunity to customize the counseling to provide school-specific information and/or integrate the counseling into school-specific processes.
  • Compatible with a variety of platforms resulting in fewer questions and complaints to your office.
  • No PIN or login required by students to complete counseling.

Customization options available

Mapping Your Future offers a number of options enabling schools to customize the counseling to best fit the needs of their students and help students better understand their rights and responsibilities.

  • The customization options include customized pages, school-specific information, record formats, question selection, as well as other ways to enhance the session.
  • Schools participating in Mapping Your Future have a secure customized portal that allows them to receive news and information, update and manage their account and student records, and view up-to-date student loan data via the Meteor Network.
  • The debt/salary wizard and budget calculator help students understand the impact of borrowing and importance of managing their money.

Excellent customer service, and security is a high priority

  • Mapping Your Future's customer service staff provides prompt, personalized, and courteous service to schools and students.
  • Schools can be set up and using Mapping Your Future’s counseling – usually within the same day of the request.
  • Mapping Your Future also offers an online User's Guide for schools, providing step-by-step instructions for all of the features and services of Online Counseling.
  • Mapping Your Future protects Online Counseling data via a secure web server and the use of password protection. At the end of counseling sessions, students enter information on a secure form. Schools then retrieve information from a secure, password-protected site.

Wide variety of counseling sessions and other default prevention tools available

  • Mapping Your Future offers many counseling types, so schools don't have to use multiple counseling providers. Mapping Your Future even offers Direct Loan entrance and exit counseling in Spanish, making it easier for Spanish-speaking students to understand their rights and responsibilities. Currently, Mapping Your Future offers 22 sessions:
    • Direct Loan entrance
    • Direct Loan exit
    • Spanish Direct Loan entrance
    • Spanish Direct Loan exit
    • Perkins entrance
    • Perkins exit
    • Direct Loan and Perkins combined entrance
    • Direct Loan and Perkins combined exit
    • Nursing entrance
    • Nursing exit
    • Health Professions entrance
    • Health Professions exit
    • Direct PLUS entrance
    • Direct PLUS exit
    • Direct Loan and Direct PLUS combined entrance
    • Direct Loan and Direct PLUS combined exit
    • TEACH Grant exit
    • Financial Literacy
    • Grace Period and Repayment
    • Loan Management
    • Non-Traditional Student
    • Private Loan
  • Online Counseling can be used for, or in addition to, in-person counseling interviews. Financial aid professionals can provide verbal and/or audio information about student loan borrowing in a computer lab or classroom setting, and then walk students through the counseling session. Online Counseling also more easily enables schools to collect and retain required data from students.
  • Mapping Your Future offers a number of other services that schools and students will find beneficial including career planning, money management, default prevention, and other services.

Reputation as a reliable and credible source of counseling

Mapping Your Future is a public service nonprofit organization that has been providing this counseling service to schools, students, and families for more than 16 years.

Another feature available is Mapping Your Future’s Meteor Borrower Display, which allows student loan borrowers to view their loan data via the Meteor network, when completing Direct Loan exit counseling.

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Membership pricing

For schools in states with a guaranty agency or organization sponsoring Mapping Your Future on behalf of the schools, membership is free.

For 2013, schools in the following states with a sponsor will not pay a membership fee.

  • Florida - OSFA
  • Georgia - GSFC
  • Illinois - ISAC
  • Louisiana - LOSFA
  • Michigan - MGA
  • Missouri - MDHE
  • New Jersey - HESAA
  • North Carolina - NCSEAA
  • North Dakota - SLND
  • Oklahoma - OGSLP/OCAP
  • Rhode Island - RIHEAA
  • Texas - TG
  • Utah - UHEAA

Sponsors of Mapping Your Future

Thank you to the Sponsors of Mapping Your Future:

  • Florida Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA)
  • Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC)
  • Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC)
  • Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA)
  • Michigan Finance Authority – Michigan Guaranty Agency
  • Missouri Department of Higher Education/Missouri DHE Student Loan Program
  • New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA)
  • North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA)
  • Oklahoma College Assistance Program (OCAP)
  • Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority (RIHEAA)
  • Student Loans of North Dakota (SLND)
  • TG
  • Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority (UHEAA)

For schools in non-sponsored states, Mapping Your Future offers a low-cost membership for schools. During the 2012-13 academic year, the annual membership fee will be as follows:

  • $300 for schools with enrollment of up to 1,000
  • $600 for schools with enrollment of 1,001 to 5,000
  • $1,200 for schools with enrollment of 5,001 to 10,000
  • $1,800 for schools with a total enrollment of 10,001 to 25,000
  • Price to be determined for:
    • Schools with multiple campuses and/or enrollment above 25,000
    • Schools with multi-state systems or operations and/or enrollment above 25,000

Become a Participating Member by completing our online form.

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