College Financial Planning Workshop III

Planning to Budget

Glow Foundation2010

Glow Online Curriculum Session 5

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What this Session will Cover

Student Aid Reports

FAFSA 4Caster

Financial Aid Award Letters

Financial Gaps

Excel Basics / Budgeting

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FAFSA

What’s a SAR?

Student Aid Report

Compare your SAR to the copy of your FAFSA

Gives you an estimate of your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and eligibility for federal aid

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What Happens After I Submit the FAFSA?

Student Aid Report (SAR)

Resubmit EFC

Financial Aid Award Letters!

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What Happens after I submit? Explained

What Happens After I Submit the FAFSA?Once all of your information has been received, the Department of Education calculates your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is the amount your family is expected to contribute to your college education. Your Financial Need for the purpose of financial aid is calculated as Cost of Attendance (COA) minus Expected Family Contribution (EFC) or Financial Need = COA – EFC.   Various financial aid offices will access the information you provided on your FAFSA and will assemble your “award package” based on your financial need from the pot of money we talked about earlier. The California Student Aid Commission will also receive the information to determine your eligibility for state financial aids (including Cal Grant) if you are applying to at least one California school. (If you are offered a Cal Grant award, you will also receive a California Aid Report, or CAR, with an estimate of your state financial aid awards.)  Remember, if you or your parents are filing taxes for this year, you need to go back and update your FAFSA information with your 2009 tax information.

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FAFSA4caster

What’s a FAFSA4caster?

►Gives you an estimate of your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and your eligibility for federal student aid

►The 4caster asks you questions similar to those asked on the FAFSA

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fafsa.ed.gov – find it here

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FAFSA4caster

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Filling Out a FAFSA4caster

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FAFSA 4caster Account Setup

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Student’s Demographic Info

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Student’s Dependency Status

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Student’s College Plans

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Submit FAFSA4caster

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Estimated Federal Student Aid Eligibility

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Financial Aid 101

Keep this in mind as you review your award offer!

Money you RECEIVE

(Free Money!)

Money you EARN

Money you BORROW

Grants and Scholarships

Work Study Program

Federal LoansState LoansPrivate Bank

Loans

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Financial Award Letters

When getting your award letter: Compare COA and Financial Awards

across your college options – they can vary significantly

How much money is free vs. borrowed?

You decide what aid to accept

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Interpreting your Award Letter

► When you receive your financial aid award letters from your schools,

they may include any combination of scholarships, loans, grants, or

work study.

► Don’t feel like you need to accept all of the aid that is being offered.

► Look over everything carefully and read the terms and conditions for

each type of aid.

► Note the value of the loans being offered in comparison to how much

“free money” you are receiving (scholarships, grants).

► Scholarships may require that a certain GPA be maintained –

understand the terms and conditions of all of your aid before your

accept it.

► Financial aid award letters can vary greatly from school to school and

can be a determining factor in your final choice of school.

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Interpreting your Award Letter – cost gaps

► When you are looking at the offer letter, consider the cost of the

college, how much you or your family are expected to pay (your EFC

value), and what makes up the total financial aid package.

► Even with a financial aid package, there may still be some unmet need

(a gap in funding that you need in order to meet the college’s cost of

attendance).

► If this is the case, you may have to consider taking out a personal

loan.

► You could also try contacting the school’s financial aid office or write

a letter of appeal, asking them to re-evaluate your award offer. In

some cases, the financial aid office may be able to offer you more aid.

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Financial Gaps

What is a Financial GAP?

How can it be closed / reduced?

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Creating a College Financial Budget

Expenses: Cost of Attendance Fixed Expenses

(E.g., tuition, rent, car payments, insurance)

Flexible Expenses (E.g., books & supplies, food, utilities/bills, transportation, personal care)

Discretionary Expenses(E.g., entertainment, going-out, gifts)

Income: Sources of Funding Parents or Savings / Investment Job / Work Study Grants (Pell Grants, ACG, Cal Grant etc.) Loans (Stafford, Perkins, Plus, Private) Others??

Funding Gap

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equalsequals

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Microsoft Excel 101

What is Microsoft Excel? Program that stores, sorts, and analyzes data. Excel allow you to make calculations, graphs,

and perform other data analysis

We will use Microsoft Excel to create our budgets – Excel will allow us to calculate these numbers quickly with the use of basic math formulas

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Microsoft Excel 101

Excel Basics: Review the Budget Directions – fins a good

template [Microsoft has one, or contact Glow] Review how to do simple tasks (“How To”) in

Excel Use “Shortcuts and Tips,” especially related to

basic math functions Review any other “Important Information”

related to the budget you will create

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Recap:

Student Aid Report

FAFSA4caster

Financial Aid Award Letters

Financial Gaps

Excel Basics / Budgeting

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Homework:

Finish your FAFSA4caster and Budget

Find more scholarships

And continue your planning and

success in college