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On-Demand Webinar
Ben Montecillo, Executive Director of Financial Aid at the University of Houston, on what a six-figure legacy contract actually bought, why he let it expire, and what changed after the switch. In conversation with AwardSpring President Kevin Martin and VP of Sales Brandon Weisenberger. Recorded August 20, 2026.
Ben Montecillo
Executive Director of Financial Aid, University of Houston
Kevin Martin
President, AwardSpring
Brandon Weisenberger
VP of Sales, AwardSpring
From the conversation
What changed, in Ben’s numbers
The University of Houston’s own figures for its program, as Ben describes them on the recording.
What you’ll hear
Six things Ben walks through
In the order they come up on the recording, from the renewal decision to what he wants the program to look like in 2027.
The ROI math that ended the renewal: a six-figure contract covering about 20% of scholarships while the rest ran manually, including 500 applications read in a week for a single $1,000 award.
How Ben made the case internally: the three numbers he recommends pulling (total annual system cost, scholarships awarded and students reached, and time from submission to funds hitting a student's account).
Why he started with a smaller AwardSpring contract to speed procurement, skipped the RFP cycle, and scaled up as adoption grew.
What the transition actually looked like: a phased, college-by-college rollout, and a build-out measured in weeks.
His advice for evaluating any vendor: ask how fast they push updates and what the roadmap looks like, ask what happens when something breaks, and talk to advancement, treasury, and enrollment management before you decide.
The 2027 vision: every award finalized before spring semester ends, students planning their summers with their funding known, and advancement conversations powered by data.
“A mass award that would have taken two weeks took one hour.”
Ben Montecillo, Executive Director of Financial Aid, University of Houston
Speakers
Executive Director of Financial Aid · University of Houston
Ben leads the scholarship function at the University of Houston, one of the largest public universities in Texas, where he let a fifteen-year-old contract expire and moved the program onto a modern awarding platform.
President · AwardSpring
Kevin hosts these conversations with the institutions doing the awarding, and spends his time on what actually changes when a program moves off the old way.
VP of Sales · AwardSpring
Brandon has sat in on hundreds of these evaluations and knows which questions separate a platform that fits from one that just demos well.
Bring your three numbers: what your system costs, how many scholarships it actually touches, and how long awarding takes end to end. We'll show you the same view with your own funds.
