The Financial Aid Office Presents. Financing Education Beyond High School

The Financial Aid

Office

Presents…

Financing

Education Beyond High School

What You Need to Know

• General Eligibility Requirements

• Understanding EFC & COA

• Categories, types, and sources of financial

aid

• Free Application for Federal Student Aid

(FAFSA)

General Eligibility Requirements

• Must be enrolled and pursuing an eligible

degree or certificate at your college (check

with FA Advisor)

• Must be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen

• Must be registered with Selective Service

(if male and required to be)

• May not have a recent drug-related

conviction

General Eligibility Requirements, cont.

• Must have a valid Social Security Number*

• Must have a HS Diploma or GED

Once in school, continuing requirements:

• May not be in default on a federal student

loan or owe repayment of a federal grant

• Must be making satisfactory academic

progress as defined by the school

Dependent Student

• A student who is under 24 years of age

• Unmarried

• Not an orphan or ward of the state

• Has no legal dependent (s)

• Not a veteran of the U.S. Armed forces

• Is not working on a graduate degree

What is the Expected Family

Contribution? (EFC)

• Amount family can reasonably be expected

to contribute from their income & assets*

• Stays the same regardless of college

• Calculated using data from the (FAFSA)

and a federal formula

* A more accurate description of EFC = an “index” number that helps schools determine what types of aid the student is eligible for. Families do not actually pay this amount

EFC for Dependent Student

Parent contribution calculated from

income and assets

+ Student contribution calculated from

available income and assets

What is Cost of Attendance? (COA)

Often referred to as the “budget”. Is an estimate of the total expenses a student would incur for attending a particular

college

:

• Typically includes the following:

- Direct costs (such as tuition and fees), and

- Indirect costs (such as transportation, room and board, books and supplies, etc.)

• Standard COE includes costs for 9 months (Fall/Spring) • Your total financial aid package, including grants, loans

and outside scholarships cannot exceed your budget • Budgets vary widely from college to college

What is Financial Need?

Cost of Attendance (COA)

–

Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

=

Financial Need

Generally speaking, the higher the financial need, the more likely you’ll be eligible for grants.

Categories of Financial Aid

Need-based

aid

(student must demonstrate financial need in the formula COA – EFC = + number)

– Grants

– FWS (Federal Work Study)

– Subsidized loans

Non need-based

aid

(financial need not a

consideration. COA – EFC = 0 or negative number)

– Unsubsidized loans

– Most scholarships

Types of Financial Aid

• Grants

– Considered “gift” aid that does not need to be paid back (with a few exceptions)

• Student Loans

– DO need to be paid back

• Employment

(FWS) – Only paid for hours worked.

• Scholarships

– Private and Institutional. Some are “gift” aid; others require obligations be fulfilled in order to be eligible for the money (e.g. athletic scholarships).

Financial Aid: Grants

• Pell Grant (Federal aid)

– Need based

– Amount based on # of hours enrolled per fed chart – 600% lifetime limit (i.e. 6 years at full time)

•

Supplemental Grants

-

Need based

- Often tied to priority deadlines

- Amount based on # of hours enrolled. Schools determine FSEOG & TPEG award amounts

 FSEOG (Federal grant)

 TEOG (State grant)

Financial Aid: Loans

• Subsidized Stafford loans

( For 15/16 - 4.29%)

– Must demonstrate “financial need”

– Government pays interest while in school

– Beginning July 1, 2013, new students limited to 150% of program length

• Unsubsidized Stafford loans

(For 15/16 - 4.29%)

– Need is not a consideration

– Interest capitalizes and accrues while the student is in school

• Parent PLUS loan

(For 15/16 - 6.84%)

– For dependent student’s only

Employment: Federal Work Study

• Allows student to earn money to help pay

educational costs

– Need based

– Typically on-campus

– Currently $10.25/hr. (varies by school)

– Some schools may provide non-monetary

compensation, such as room and board

– Students limited to 20 hrs/week

Scholarships

• A scholarship is money given by individuals,

companies or organizations based either on

need, merit, or both.

• At Collin, scholarships are awarded through the

Foundation Office in Fall and Spring.

(see link below)

www.collin.edu/foundation

• Scholarships do not usually require you to fill out

the FAFSA

Sources of Financial Aid

• Federal government –

largest source of

need-based aid

• States –

varies from state to state

• Colleges & Universities –

primarily from private and corp. donations or generated from institutional revenue

• Private sources –

donors often set their own eligibility criteria & application procedures

How do I apply?

• Electronic FAFSA application on the web

- website is

www.fafsa.ed.gov

• Both student and one parent apply for FSA ID

- FSA ID used to “sign” the FAFSA

• Include (up to 10) school code(s)

(Collin=016792)

• Use IRS Data Retrieval Tool

• Submit

When can I fill out a FAFSA?

• May be filed at any time during an academic

year, but no earlier than the January 1st

prior to the academic year for which the

student requests aid

• For the 2015-16 academic year, the FAFSA

may be filed beginning January 1, 2015

• Colleges may (and usually do!) set FAFSA

filing deadlines. CHECK your college for

early and late deadlines!

FSA ID

• Web site: https://studentaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm • Sign FAFSA electronically

• Sign into certain Dept. of Ed websites • Can request FSA ID anytime

• For dependent students, both student and 1 parent must apply for (separate) FSA ID

• May be used by students and parents throughout aid process, including subsequent school years

• If you have a PIN, will be prompted to create an FSA ID the first time you log in. PIN no longer required.

FAFSA on the Web Worksheet

• Web site:

www.fafsa.ed.gov

- click on “Student Aid on the Web” on the top menu bar - click on “Tools and Resources” on left menu

- scroll down and click on “FAFSA on the Web Worksheet”

• FAFSA on the Web Worksheet:

- Used as “pre-application” worksheet

- Questions follow order of FAFSA on the Web.

- Can help reduce stress and confusion for first-timers

FAFSA4caster

• Provides you with an early estimate of your eligibility for federal student aid

• Gives you an experience similar to FAFSA on the Web • Allows you to transfer the data to FAFSA

• Increases your knowledge of the financial aid process and provides information about other sources of aid.

Another feature of FAFSA4caster is the "FAFSA4caster Tip". These tips appear throughout the site and provide you with

information that will help make preparing for college and the financial aid process easier.

Frequent FAFSA Errors

• Social Security Numbers

• Divorced/remarried parental information

• Income earned by parents/stepparents

*

• Untaxed income

• U.S. income taxes paid

*

• Household size

• Number of household members in college

CAUTION!!!

• Avoid being charged a fee to complete the

FAFSA!

– Completing and processing the FAFSA

application is

FREE. (FAFSA

means

Free Application for Federal Student

Aid)

– FAFSA is located at

www.fafsa.ed.gov

– Contact the financial aid office if you have

questions

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True….

• If you are considering hiring a scholarship

or financial aid consultant, do your research

first!

– The www.finaid.org website has

a lot

of

great information on scholarship scams and

questionable consultant tactics. Before you

hire anyone, go to:

Maximizing Your Aid Eligibility

• Finaid.org web site has an entire section on

maximizing your need-based financial aid

• The information is based on loopholes in the need

analysis methodology and are COMPLETELY LEGAL (at this time)

• This is often the information that consultants provide for a fee

• Many of these strategies are just good, sound financial planning

• Be very careful about following any unethical advice

Free Resources

• Nerdwallet.com

collegeboard.org

• Fastweb.com

college-scholarships.com

• Scholarships.com

collegetoolkit.com

• Wiredscholar.com

collegenet.com

• Scholarshipexperts.com

finaid.org

• Be cautious about entering scholarship contests

that require a fee.

* DON’T MISS DEADLINES!!

www.collin.edu/gettingstarted/financialaid/scholarships.html www.finaid.org/otheraid/

After the FAFSA: Follow up with School

• FAFSA information can take 7 to 14 days to

electronically arrive at the school.

• Each school may have their own in-house

paperwork you have to complete.

• Processing may take 4 to 6 weeks under normal

circumstances (longer during peak times).

• You do not have financial aid until you receive an

award letter from the school

and

accept it online.

CSS PROFILE

• The PROFILE is an online application that collects information used by certain colleges and scholarship programs to award institutional funds (NON-federal funds).

• For the 2015-2016 year, the PROFILE can be filed as early as October 1, 2014, but no later than 2 weeks

before the earliest priority deadline of the schools you’re applying to.

• Check your college’s/program’s information to determine if they require the PROFILE (can find a list on

CSS PROFILE cont.

• You can print the Pre-Application Worksheet and

Instructions to review with parents and fill out at home before applying online.

• The fee for the initial application and one college or program is $25. Additional reports are $16.

• Fee waivers* are granted automatically – based on the information entered on the PROFILE application – to students who are first-time college applicants and are

from families with low incomes and assets. (Int’l students are not eligible for fee waivers).