CEC Client Communication and Ethics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An enrollment counselor discovers that a prospective student provided inaccurate income information on their financial aid application. What is the counselor's ethical obligation?
- Ignore it to avoid losing the enrollment
- Advise the student to correct the information and report it per institutional policy (Correct answer)
- Quietly adjust the application themselves
- Wait to see if the financial aid office catches it
Correct answer: Advise the student to correct the information and report it per institutional policy
Enrollment counselors must encourage correction of inaccurate information and follow institutional reporting policies to maintain integrity.
Question 2: Which communication practice best demonstrates respect for a prospective student's autonomy during the enrollment process?
- Applying pressure tactics to meet enrollment deadlines
- Providing balanced information and allowing the student to make an informed decision (Correct answer)
- Emphasizing only the school's strengths without mentioning limitations
- Following up daily until the student commits
Correct answer: Providing balanced information and allowing the student to make an informed decision
Respecting autonomy means giving students complete, balanced information so they can make independent, informed enrollment decisions.
Question 3: A student asks an enrollment counselor about salary expectations after completing a program. What is the most ethical response?
- Quote the highest possible salary to encourage enrollment
- Share verified institutional graduate salary data with appropriate context and limitations (Correct answer)
- Decline to discuss salary information entirely
- Guarantee a minimum salary upon graduation
Correct answer: Share verified institutional graduate salary data with appropriate context and limitations
Counselors must share accurate, documented salary data rather than inflated figures, and clarify that individual outcomes may vary.
Question 4: Under FERPA, when may an enrollment counselor share a prospective student's application information with a third party without consent?
- Whenever it benefits the institution's recruitment goals
- When required by a lawful subpoena or court order (Correct answer)
- When requested by another institution
- When a parent asks for their adult child's records
Correct answer: When required by a lawful subpoena or court order
FERPA permits disclosure without consent only in specific circumstances, including responses to lawful subpoenas.
Question 5: An enrollment counselor is offered a gift by a high school guidance counselor in exchange for prioritizing that school's students. The ethical action is to:
- Accept the gift but not act on the arrangement
- Decline the gift and report the offer per institutional conflict-of-interest policy (Correct answer)
- Accept the gift as a professional courtesy
- Consult peers before deciding whether to accept
Correct answer: Decline the gift and report the offer per institutional conflict-of-interest policy
Accepting gifts tied to preferential treatment violates conflict-of-interest standards and must be declined and reported.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes the principle of 'informed consent' in enrollment counseling?
- Getting a student's signature on any institutional form
- Ensuring students understand the terms, costs, and obligations before committing to enrollment (Correct answer)
- Informing students about the enrollment deadline only
- Obtaining parental approval for adult students
Correct answer: Ensuring students understand the terms, costs, and obligations before committing to enrollment
Informed consent requires that students fully understand all relevant information—costs, terms, and obligations—before making enrollment decisions.
Question 7: A counselor notices that marketing materials contain misleading graduation rate statistics. The most ethical course of action is to:
- Continue using the materials since they were approved by management
- Flag the inaccuracy to supervisors and request a correction before further distribution (Correct answer)
- Remove the statistics from materials on their own initiative
- Only use the materials for students who are unlikely to verify the data
Correct answer: Flag the inaccuracy to supervisors and request a correction before further distribution
Counselors have an ethical duty to report misleading institutional materials through proper channels to prevent harm to prospective students.
CEC Client Communication and Ethics 2
An enrollment counselor discovers that a prospective student provided inaccurate income information on their financial aid application.
What is the counselor's ethical obligation?