Financial Aid: What You Need to Know

New York StateHigher Education Services

Corporation

What is Financial Aid?

Financial aid helps pay the cost of attending college.

Some financial aid is based on need.

Some financial aid is awarded based on other criteria, such as grades.

Sources of Financial Aid

Federal government New York State Colleges – Institutional

Aid Private sources

Types of Financial Aid

Scholarships – free money Grants – free money Work Study Loans

Explore FAFSA.GOV

Free Application for Federal Student Aid

FAFSA Evaluates a family’s ability to pay

for their educational costs Determines an Expected Family

Contribution (EFC) Allows family to receive Federal

Student Aid (FSA) programs

Expected Family Contribution

EFC Calculated based on Federal

Formula Amount the family can

reasonably be expected to contribute

Includes parents’ and student’s contributions combined

Stays the same regardless of the college selected

Sample EFC for Family #1

Family lives in New York Married Parents, Both Age 52 Household Size of 4 with 1 child

going to college 2012 Adjusted Gross Income =

$120,000 Assets = $20,000 Student Income/Assets = 0

EFC = $20,830

Sample EFC for Family #2 Family lives in New York Single Parent, Age 48 Household Size of 3 with 1 child

going to college 2012 Adjusted Gross Income =

$60,000 Assets = $2,000 Student Income/Assets = 0

EFC = $4,926

Sample EFC for Family #3 Family lives in New York Married Parents, Age 45 Household Size of 5 with 2 children

going to college 2012 Adjusted Gross Income =

$30,000 Assets = $500 Student Income/Assets = 0

EFC = $0

FAFSA4caster: FAFSA.gov

Determining Financial Need

Cost of Attendance (COA)– Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

= Financial Need

Cost of Attendance (COA) Study abroad

costs Dependent care

expenses Expenses related

to a disability

Tuition and fees Room and board Books and supplies Transportation Miscellaneous

personal expenses Loan fees

Sample COA ComparisonCollege Baruch

College (CUNY)*

BinghamtonUniversity(SUNY)+

New YorkUniversity(Private)°

Tuition/Fees $ 5,910 $ 7,613 $ 43,704

Room/Board $ 1,685(Commuter)

$ 12,336(On-Campus)

$ 16,133(On/Off-Campus)

Books $ 1,248 $1,000 $1,070

Transportation

$ 986 $250 n/a

Personal $ 2,885 $750 $1,000

Total $ 12,714 $ 21,949 $61,907Note: All figures based on 2012-13 academic year information*Source: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/financialaid/student_budgets.htm+Source: http://www2.binghamton.edu/financial-aid/pdf/educational-costs-ugrads.pdf°Source: http://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/financialAid/documents/tuitiongeneral.pdf

Financial Need for Family #1

College BaruchCollege (CUNY)

Binghamton

University(SUNY)

New YorkUniversit

y(Private)

COA $ 12,714 $ 21,949 $ 61,907

EFC $ 20,830 $ 20,830 $ 20,830

Financial Need $ 0 $ 1,119 $ 41,077

Financial Need for Family #2

College BaruchCollege (CUNY)

Binghamton

University(SUNY)

New YorkUniversit

y(Private)

COA $ 12,714 $ 21,949 $ 61,907

EFC $ 4,926 $ 4,926 $ 4,926

Financial Need $ 7,788 $ 17,023 $56,981

Financial Need for Family #3

College BaruchCollege (CUNY)

Binghamton

University(SUNY)

New YorkUniversit

y(Private)

COA $ 12,714 $ 21,949 $ 61,907

EFC $ 0 $ 0 $ 0

Financial Need $ 12,714 $ 21,949 $ 61,907

Net Price Calculators

Questions to Consider…

If we are a high-need family, will the college meet our full need?

Can our financial need affect a college admission decision?

What are the financial aid philosophies of our prospective colleges?

What if we have special circumstances?

Financial Aid Programs

Federal Student Aid Programs

Pell Grant Federal Supplemental Educational

Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Federal Work-Study Federal Loans

Federal Perkins Loan Federal Direct Stafford Loans Federal PLUS Loan

Studentaid.ed.gov

Federal Aid: Keep in mind…

Student must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen

Male students must register with the Selective Service System (sss.gov)

Must be within a certain EFC range to be considered for Pell Grant, FSEOG

Demonstrate need for other programs such as Work-study, Subsidized loans

NYS Financial Aid Programs Major Financial Aid Programs

Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Aid for Part-Time Study NYS Scholarships for Academic

Excellence NYS Math & Science Teaching

Incentive Program Veterans Tuition Award

HESC.ny.gov

NYS Aid: Keep in mind…

Student must meet citizenship, selective service requirements of FAFSA

Student and parents, if dependent, must be legal residents of New York State

Can only be awarded at eligible NYS higher education institutions

There are specific program requirements for the various NYS scholarships

Colleges: Institutional Aid

Depends on funding at each college College determines eligibility criteria

for need-based and non-need-based programs Academic, athletic, and other talent-

based scholarships and grants May require an additional application Keep track of deadlines!

Visit College Websites

Source: http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/finaid/

Explore the CSS Profile

http://profileonline.collegeboard.com

Private ScholarshipsBillions of dollars in private funds available

Charitable foundations, businesses, religious institutions, wealthy donors, and minority organizations

All have their own individual applications and requirements

Websites to Start Searching

Fastweb.com

Scholarship Myths

Searching and applying for scholarships is only the student’s responsibility. You have to have financial need to get a scholarship. Students have to have excellent grades, SAT/ACT scores to get a scholarship. Scholarship searching is done during senior year of high school. “It’s only $500, so why bother?”

CAUTION!

Avoid paying a fee to file the FAFSA or a scholarship application! Avoid financial aid “consultants” and

for-profit websites Submitting the FAFSA and NYS TAP

application is FREE FREE help is available if you need

assistance in completing the applications

Free FAFSA Help @ StartHereGetThere.org

Thank You!