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Financial Aid & the FAFSA

One Stop Student Services

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Agenda

  • College costs
  • Financial Aid
  • Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

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It costs how much?!

  • Research college costs
    • College websites
    • Admissions office
    • Ask questions!
  • Cost of attendance
    • Representation of expected cost
    • Not what you actually pay
  • Net cost
    • Cost of attendance - financial aid = net cost
    • Best representation of college cost

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How do I pay for college?

  • Financial aid
  • Savings
  • Work
  • Family support

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What is financial aid?

Funds provided to students and families to help pay for postsecondary educational expenses

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Types of financial aid

  • Gift aid
    • Scholarships
    • Grants
  • Self-help aid
    • Loans
    • Work-study and student employment

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Sources of financial aid

  • Federal Government
    • Largest source
    • Apply each year through the FAFSA
  • States
    • Residency requirements
    • May use FAFSA and/or have additional applications
    • Deadlines vary
  • Colleges and Universities
    • Application requirements vary
    • Deadlines vary
  • Private Sources
    • Look early
    • Deadlines and applications vary
  • Employers
    • As an employee or a child of an employee

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FSA ID

  • Username & password
  • Electronic signature
  • Both students and parents can create
  • Only the owner should create
  • Can be used for different aspects of the financial aid process
  • Will be used in subsequent years
  • Don’t use potentially temporary email addresses (high school or employer-sponsored)
  • Apply at fsaid.ed.gov

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Free Application for Federal Student Aid

  • Emphasis on free!
  • Available in English & Spanish
  • Collects demographic & financial information
  • Information used to calculate Expected Family Contribution
  • Uses tax and income info from two years ago
  • Available October 1 each year
  • Most colleges & universities have filing deadlines

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Features of the FAFSA

  • Skip logic and answers to common questions
  • Allows you to save & return later
  • Option to use IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import tax info
  • Ability to check application status online

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Dependency status

  • Different from dependency for taxes
  • FAFSA asks dependency questions
    • If no to all, student is considered dependent
    • If yes to any, student is considered independent

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IRS Data Retrieval Tool

  • Imports tax info from IRS into FAFSA
  • Not required, but helpful
  • Info is encrypted and obscured “Transferred from IRS”
  • Not everyone will be eligible to use

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Common FAFSA errors

  • Social Security Numbers
  • Parent information
  • Parent income information
  • Untaxed income
  • Household size
  • Number in college
  • Real estate & investment net worth

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Now what?

  • Results sent to colleges
    • Typically takes two weeks
    • Schools may not act until student is admitted
    • Additional info may be requested
  • Student Aid Report (SAR) sent to student
    • To email if address provided
    • By mail otherwise

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Making corrections

  • Online
  • Through financial aid office

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Special circumstances

  • Circumstances that can’t be documented in the FAFSA
    • Unusual & uncovered medical/dental expenses
    • Death
    • Divorce
    • Loss of employment/income
  • Talk to the financial aid office
  • Expect paperwork
  • Decisions are on a school-by-school basis & are final

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Resources

  • onestop.morris.umn.edu
  • nasfaa.org
  • ohe.state.mn.us
  • studentaid.gov
  • fsaid.ed.gov

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Conclusion and Questions

ummonestop@morris.umn.edu

(320) 589-6046

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