Financial Aid Night

January 14, 2014

2 Major Categories of Aid

Merit Based Aid Need Based Aid

Scholarships

Grants

Used by colleges to attract students who may have academic talent, athletic talent, music, theater, art, etc.

45% of all institutional aid is distributed based on merit or other criteria

Scholarships

Grants

Work Study

Loans

1. Subsidized

2. Unsubsidized

• Scholarships are only for A students

• I should go to the school that gives me the most

money

• Financial Aid is only offered at some schools

• Only apply to the least expensive schools

• I won’t qualify because my neighbor didn’t

• We make too much and won’t qualify

• Millions of outside scholarships are available

Myths About Financial Aid

Of the total amount of

financial aid available for

college, approx. 3% is

made up by private

scholarships. You may

not want to spend 97% of

your time chasing down

3% of the potential $$$.

Look on Naviance for websites

and lists of scholarships. We

have a soft copy of Paying for

College available on TKA

website or we can email it to

you upon request.

Basic Premise of Need Based Aid

Students and parents are the primary source of funds for post-secondary education and are expected to contribute to the extent they are able.

Financial Aid measures family ability, not willingness, to pay for higher education.

NEED BASED AID

Factors Considered

Income of custodial parent(s) and student

Assets of custodial parents and student

Number of family members

Number of dependent children in college

Age of older parent

Home and retirement assets are protected

in the federal analysis but may be

factored into institutional analysis.

Watch for $cams

Don’t pay to have someone fill out a FAFSA. It’s free.

It is extremely rare for a legitimate organization to

charge a processing fee for a scholarship.

Cost of Attendance (COA) Includes

Tuition & Fees

Personal Expenses

Room & Board

Books & Supplies

Transportation

Who is Considered a Parent?

If THE STUDENT'S parents are both living and married to

each other, then answer the question about both of them.

If THE STUDENT'S parent is widowed, single, or never

married, answer the question only about that parent.

If THE STUDENT'S parents have divorced or separated,

answer the question only about the parent with whom THE

STUDENT lived with the most during the past 12 months.

If THE STUDENT'S parents are widowed, single, or divorced,

and have remarried, include information about THE

STUDENT'S parent and the person (step-parent) they have

re-married.

Who is in the Household?

The Household Includes:

Student applicant - even if not living with parent(s) whose information is included on this form

Other dependent children if THE STUDENT'S parent(s) will provide more than one-half their support from 7/1/12~ 6/30/13

Other dependent children who could and will continue to be in the home

Other people if they now live with the student’s

parent(s) and receive more than one-half of their support from the student’s parent(s) and will continue to receive more than one-half of their support from 7/1/13~6/30/14

Required Documents

CSS Profile (some private

colleges)

Tax Forms (all colleges)

FAFSA (all)

Cal Grant California Student

Aid Commission (public or private

CA colleges)

CSS Profile Find the CSS Application Program on the

College Board website: www.collegeboard.com

Check with each college you are applying to

and see if they require the Profile.

You may file as early as October (as advised

this fall at Senior College Night) but no later

than two weeks before the earliest priority

filing specified by each college.

What is the FAFSA?

Free Application for Federal

Student Aid

Application for federal, state,

institutional aid

Can impact other aid as well

Our advice: If you have a student

applying to college, FILE IT.

To Submit the FAFSA

Student will need a PIN (Personal ID #)

Only ONE parent also needs a PIN

www.pin.ed.gov

Save the PIN in a location you both will

remember and keep private

How to Apply for FAFSA

FAFSA on the Web at www.fafsa.gov

Paper FAFSA-not recommended, but you

may download it in PDF at www.fafsa.gov

FAFSA on the web Worksheet available on

website

FAFSA Questions

What does the FAFSA ask about?

General Student Info

Student Income and Tax info

Student Dependency Status

Parent Information (Income and Assets)

List the colleges who will need to receive info

Advice: List in order of preference

IRS Data Retrieval

IF you have filed taxes, FAFSA on the web can link to your

tax information.

If you are married and filing separately, do not use the data

retrieval option

You can file the FAFSA earlier (using estimated info), come

back to FAFSA and retrieve your tax data from IRS

Allow one week if taxes are e-filed, six weeks if taxes are

done on paper

Sign and Submit the FAFSA

Both the student and one parent need a PIN

(personal identification number)

The PIN is your electronic signature

Read for accuracy of data

IMPORTANT: Save the confirmation page

Add federalstudentaidfafsa@cpsemail.edu.gov to

your safe list on your email server

FAFSA Flow Chart

FAFSA

California Student Aid

Commission

CSAC releases info to your California

colleges and universities

All Private Colleges &

Universities

Public Colleges and Universities

Deadlines & Tips File as early as January 2,2014

File no later than March 2, 2014 for colleges in California.

Deadline dates dictated by the state the college is located in

so WATCH carefully.

Work Study question is IMPORTANT; better to say yes.

Divorced? Include custodial parent information only

Remarried? Include step-parents information

You must complete the FAFSA every year your student is in college

Missing Deadlines

Students lose out on financial aid

because they do not meet

deadlines.

Even if you have to estimate

information, make sure you meet

the deadline.

Check the college websites!

What to Expect After Applying

You will receive from the Department of Education:

Student Aid Report (SAR) notice within 3 days of filing

SAR gives you the Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

You may still make corrections to FAFSA

Important: This is ONLY an estimate

SLIDE 24

Cost of Attendance $34,600

Family Contribution -$18,000

Student’s need $16,600

Determining Eligibility for Need-

based Financial Aid

Need = Eligibility for Financial Aid

Comparison of Cost

A Cost of Attendance

B= Family Contribution

C= Outside Aid D= Need

College X College Y College Z

A $40,000 A $25,000 A $12,000

B $10,000 B $10,000 B $10,000

C $2,000

C $2,000

C $2,000

D $28,000 D $13,000 D $0

Hearing from the School:

The Award Letter

Official offer of aid (from federal and

college)

Let the college know about private

scholarships and other outside aid

Respond to the college in a timely manner

You may select line by line from the

loans, grants and scholarships awarded

1. A statement of expense budget

2. Your EFC (expected family

contribution)

3. Amount of your need

4. A description of how all or part of

that need is to be met

5. Date by when you must return the

letter (often online)

6. Information on “appealing” any

information in the Award Letter

THE AWARD LETTER

SLIDE 29

Federal Information

General information:

(800) 433-3243 TOLL FREE or

(319) 337-5665

www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov

FAFSA on the Web and Federal School Codes

www.fafsa.ed.gov

Pin information and Registration

www.pin.ed.gov

Scholarship Search web site

www.studentaid.ed.gov/scholarships

Common Errors

Divorced/remarried parent info reported

incorrectly

Income earned by parents/step-parents

Incorrect amount of income tax paid

Household size

Number in postsecondary education

Real estate and investment net worth

Making Corrections

If a correction to applicant data is needed,

correction may be made:

Using Corrections on the Web using the student’s or

parent’s PIN for access

SAR Acknowledgement cannot

be used to make corrections

Cal Grant A 3.0 GPA or higher and financial need

Cal Grant B 2.0 – 2.9 GPA and financial need

Cal Grant Verification Form

is filed by TKA registrar

AUTOMATICALLY

FAFSA4caster Results Page

Student: school’s cost of attendance

4caster: Pell, loan, work-study estimates

Student: other scholarships, savings

4caster: summary of COA – resources =

remaining amount student will have to come

up with for that school

Timeline Overview

December: Begin filling out the CSS Profile

January : Complete the FAFSA

April: Provisional Financial Aid Offer Award

May : Aid Award Becomes Official

June: Complete Loan Promissory Notes

July: 1st Tuition Bill Sent

Some Colleges Have Different Deadlines

Where to Get Help and Info

Help with the FAFSA:

www.fafsa.gov has help text and live chat

www.studentaid.ed.gov EXCELLENT WEBSITE

Call 1-800-4-FED-AID

SLIDE 37