Higher education is an investment and the team in the Office of Financial Aid at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) wants to make the College the best possible financial option for students.
As the Office’s director, Zach Reel, MS, FAAC®, oversees staff counselors and works closely with student accounts. He has spent much of the first few months of the year focused on getting financial aid packages ready for new and returning students, specifically distance learners. Another financial aid counselor has overseen on-campus and commuter students, while another counselor works primarily with graduate students.
“I don’t meet with students on a normal day-to-day basis, but I’m always willing to meet with them, especially during our registration events and during our Last Monday and First Monday,” he said. “On Last Monday, we make sure all student financial aid issues are wrapped up before they head home for the summer. Then, on First Monday, we meet with all students who have outstanding requirements from the financial aid office. It’s our office’s last required touchpoint with students to address any critical issues before the semester starts.”
The most common question his office receives: “How much is college going to cost me?”
“We have conversations about student loans, payment plans and scholarships, though we don’t currently offer a service to help students locate scholarships beyond the resources on our website,” Reel said.
The biggest changes he’s experienced so far in financial aid are updates to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The changes began in 2024-25 when the Department of Education implemented FAFSA simplification.
“There were a lot of challenges to overcome,” he said. “On the backside of things, for state organizations and institutions, it was not as simplified as everyone hoped it would be. It has gone through review processes and bug fixes since then, and the 2025-26 FAFSA, as part of simplification, seems to be doing pretty well.”
Reel’s No. 1 financial aid tip for SMWC students: Pay attention to your deadlines.
“For Indiana residents, the state deadline for the FAFSA is April 15,” Reel said. “Once they are admitted or deposited, my office’s primary pathway of communication is their student portal and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College email, so they should be checking those regularly.”
Students who receive their admissions letters are also encouraged to activate their portal.
“We’ll indicate any missing items or changes. Your financial aid award will be represented in their portal and will be the best sources of real-time information,” Reel said. “For the generation we’re working with, and the one we’re moving into, email is kind of an old-fashioned concept, but the best way for us to communicate data is through email, the portal and phone calls.”
Reel has worked in financial aid for almost 15 years, including three years in SMWC’s Office of Financial Aid where he has been director for almost two years. Before coming to SMWC, Reel started at Indiana State University as a telephone counselor for financial aid in 2011.
He eventually moved to Indianapolis to work as a full-time counselor for the former Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis. Reel returned to Terre Haute to take an admissions processing specialist position with ISU, where he helped make admissions decisions. He later became a financial aid counselor, then a client services coordinator.
As he pursued a master’s degree at Indiana State, Reel took a practicum as an academic advisor at SMWC before coming on board at the College in 2023. It was an unexpected career path after he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in print journalism.
“I thought I would be a writer for a newspaper or get into radio, TV and film, so I started out of college in broadcast journalism, but eventually I applied for a financial aid role and was offered the position,” he said.
There’s a saying in the field, Reel said, ‘If you stay for five years, you’re not getting out of financial aid.’
“It’s the students and their families who keep me coming back. Even though I don’t get the opportunity to meet with them as much as I used to, I’m still able to have those conversations and see the lights come on,” he said. “Part of my job and the job of my counseling staff is to help with the now and build life skills around money and financial planning. Having the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with families, hear their circumstances, and be able to potentially make SMWC, or education in general, more accessible to them, that’s what this career is all about.”
Office of Financial Aid
First Floor, Rooney Center
Phone: 812-535-5100
Email: financialaid@smwc.edu (not monitored 24/7)
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