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Finding Money for College or Career School

Basics of Financial Aid and the FAFSA^® Process

Eric Nichols

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We will talk about:

Federal student aid
State student aid
Institutional aid
Scholarships from other sources

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We will answer:

What is financial aid?
Who can get it?
How much can I get?
How do I apply?
What happens next?
Where can I get more info?

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FAFSA Overview Video

https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/fafsa-overview.wmv

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What is financial aid?

Money to pay for college or career school

Grants
Work-study
Loans
Scholarships

Info about types of aid: StudentAid.gov/types

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Who can get federal student aid?

U.S. citizen/national or eligible noncitizen
High school diploma or equivalent
Eligible degree/certificate program in college/career school
Student has valid Social Security number
Males registered for Selective Service
Satisfactory academic progress in college/career school

Info about eligibility: StudentAid.gov/eligibility

**This is not a comprehensive list of eligibility criteria for federal student aid. For complete details, counselors may wish to visit ifap.ed.gov and go to the Student Eligibility chapter of the Federal Student Aid Handbook. (Students should visit StudentAid.gov/eligibility.)**

Basic eligibility criteria for federal student aid:

Demonstrate financial need (for most programs)
US citizen/national or eligible citizen such as a permanent resident (there are additional categories of eligible noncitizen; refer to Federal Student Aid Handbook for details)
High school diploma or the recognized equivalent (GED certificate, state certificate such as HiSET or California High School Exit Exam, or completion of at least a two-year program toward a bachelor’s degree, or the student must have academically excelled in high school); or homeschooler who has completed his/her home-school education as recognized by the state government; or enrolling in an eligible career pathway program and meeting one of the “ability-to-benefit” alternatives described at StudentAid.gov/eligibility/basic-criteria
Student enrolled as a regular student in a degree or certificate program that is eligible to be paid for by federal student aid funds; student also must be attending a college or career school that participates in the federal student aid programs
SSN: the exception here is students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau
Males (any person assigned the sex of male at birth) must register for Selective Service within 30 days of their 18^th birthday (within 30 days before or 30 days after, for a total window of 60 days).

If you are working with a male student who did not meet the 60-day timeframe, direct him to register immediately at www.sss.gov. Late registrations are accepted until the age of 26.
If you are working with a male student aged 26 or older who did not register, you should direct him to the financial aid office at the college he plans to attend. Before he can receive federal student aid, he will have to prove that he did not “knowingly and willfully” fail to register. The financial aid administrator will tell him what documentation he needs in order to do so.

In broad terms, a student making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) is moving toward receiving his or her degree or certificate at a pace that is acceptable to his or her school. Each school sets its own SAP policy.

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Who can get other kinds of financial aid?

States, colleges, and private scholarships have their own eligibility criteria.
Be sure you know what you need to do to qualify.

OSAC: https://oregonstudentaid.gov/default.aspx
HCSOS: https://www.hcsos.org/

Info about finding scholarships: �StudentAid.gov/scholarships

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How much federal student aid can I get?

In general, depends on your financial need.

Financial need determined by Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and cost of attendance (COA)
EFC comes from what you report on FAFSA^® form
COA includes tuition, fees, room and board, transportation, etc.

COA – EFC = financial need

EFC is determined by a formula that takes into account information such as the student’s and parents’ income and (often) their assets, how many people are in the family household, and how many of those people are in college. For a full explanation of the EFC formula, go to StudentAid.gov/resources#efc.�
Cost of attendance is determined by the school and may include:

Tuition and fees
Books, supplies, transportation, personal, miscellaneous
Room and board
Dependent care
Study-abroad expenses
Disability expenses
Employment expenses for co-op study
Loan fees

Counselor: For detailed information about cost of attendance, see the “Volume 3 - Calculating Awards and Packaging” section of the “Federal Student Aid Handbook” at ifap.ed.gov. (You’ll find the FSA Handbook in the “Publications” area of the site. As of early September 2017, when this presentation was factchecked, the most recent Volume 3 available was for the 2016-17 FSA Handbook at https://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/byAwardYear.jsp?type=fsahandbook&awardyear=2016-2017.)
Financial need is determined by subtracting the EFC from the COA. Because COA differs from school to school, a student’s financial need will also differ from school to school.

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How much federal student aid can I get?

Maximum amounts for the major programs for a dependent freshman in 2018-19:

Federal Pell Grant: TBD (2017-18 max: $5,920)
Federal Work-Study: depends on funds available at school
Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans: $5,500 total
Direct PLUS Loan (for parents): COA minus other aid received

Funds from other programs are available; see StudentAid.gov/glance for details.

This slide lists the most commonly known federal student aid programs. Information about the others is available at the URL shown on the slide.

The maximum awards listed on this slide are just that: maximum awards. There is no guarantee that any single student will receive the maximum award from any program.

Not all schools participate in all of these programs.
The student must have a significant level of financial need in order to receive maximum grant awards.
Students should be aware that Federal Work-Study funds may run out, so it is important to apply as early as possible.
(Note that the Direct PLUS Loan is also available to graduate and professional students, but this example is for an incoming freshman, so we’ve only mentioned that the parent can get a PLUS.)

You may wish to hand out the document “Federal Student Aid at a Glance” (available at the URL on the slide) to your attendees to provide them a high-level understanding of federal student aid.

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How much federal student aid can I get?

For early estimate, use FAFSA4caster:

Go to fafsa.gov and find link in “Thinking About College?” section (lower right of home page)
Enter some financial information
Get an estimate

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How much state, school, and private scholarship money can I get?

Depends on the program; do your research!

Our state aid: https://oregonstudentaid.gov/default.aspx

Ask college financial aid offices for info about aid available at their schools

Free scholarship search at StudentAid.gov/scholarships
www.cranehighschool.org

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How do I apply for aid?

Federal student aid: apply at fafsa.gov
State aid: https://oregonstudentaid.gov/default.aspx

School aid: contact financial aid offices at schools you are considering
Scholarships: visit scholarship website or call contact number for information

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How do I apply for federal student aid?

Create a username and password called the FSA ID.

Learn about the FSA ID and find the link to create one at StudentAid.gov/fsaid.
You and your parent must each create your own FSA ID; you can’t share one.
If you provide an email address when creating your FSA ID, it must be a unique email address (can’t provide same email address for more than one person’s FSA ID).
Don’t tell anyone your FSA ID!

Students and parents can create FSA IDs at any time. The student does not have to be ready to fill out a FAFSA form.
One benefit of creating an FSA ID is that you will be able to use it to sign the FAFSA form electronically, thus speeding up the process greatly.
Important to note here that student and parent need separate FSA IDs – one each. [Only one parent needs an FSA ID, even if both parents’ info will be provided on the FAFSA form.]
(To find out whether a parent’s information will be needed on the FAFSA form, a student can visit StudentAid.gov/dependency.)
It’s strongly encouraged that you provide an email address and mobile phone number when you create your FSA ID; this will help if you forget your username or password and need to reset it. It’s important to understand that your email address and phone number can be used for only one FSA ID. So for instance, if a parent and child share an email address, they’ll need to create a second one so that they’ll each have a unique email address to use when creating an FSA ID.
An FSA ID is a signature as well as providing access to private information. To protect themselves from identity theft and other types of fraud, students and parents should not tell anyone their FSA IDs.

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How do I apply for federal student aid?

Gather the documents you need to apply.

Find checklist of what’s needed on infographic called “The FAFSA Process” at StudentAid.gov/resources#fafsa-process-graphic
Optional: Preview some of the FAFSA questions on the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. (Get worksheet at StudentAid.gov/resources#worksheet)

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How do I apply for federal student aid?

Apply at fafsa.gov.

Apply on or after October 1 but as early as possible to meet all deadlines.

State deadlines are at fafsa.gov.
School deadlines are listed on schools’ websites.

Use your (student’s) FSA ID to start the application; saves time and confusion.
Need help? Use the help functions within the FAFSA form (including live chat) or call 1-800-4-FED-AID.
Don’t forget: watch for the confirmation page that says your FAFSA form has been submitted. THEN log out.

The FAFSA form is available online (in English or Spanish) October 1 of each year for the next school year. A high school student will (ideally) apply in October of his/her senior year, assuming he/she plans to go on to college in the fall following graduation.
Many state education agencies and schools also use information from the FAFSA form in order to determine eligibility for their programs. Their deadlines can be quite early, so the student should check the FAFSA site for the state deadline as well as finding out each school’s deadline.
It’s STRONGLY encouraged for a student to start the application at fafsa.gov with his or her FSA ID when give the option between entering the student’s FSA ID and entering the “student’s information” (meaning name, date of birth, etc). Using the FSA ID prefills some info in the form, automatically signs the form for the student, and avoids the problems caused if the student enters “student information” that’s different from what he or she has in his or her FSA ID account. ***This is a top FAFSA tip. A lot of people have problems because they enter different info in the FAFSA form vs their FSA ID account, and it’s easy to avoid this problem.***
fafsa.gov provides help screens and live chat with a customer service representative (during business hours). Additionally, the 1-800-4-FED-AID hotline can guide the student through the FAFSA form. Operators speak English and Spanish.
Students need to understand that they have not finished with the application until they have submitted it and have a confirmation page on the screen.
Printed-out FAFSA PDFs can take as much as 2.5 weeks longer to process than the online FAFSA form.

[Note to counselors: The IRS Data Retrieval Tool is returning with the 2018-19 FAFSA cycle. To address privacy and security concerns, the tax return information will be encrypted and hidden from the borrower's view on the IRS DRT web page, as well as on fafsa.gov and on the student’s Student Aid Report provided by the government after the student applies.]

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How do I apply for federal student aid?

Watch for response by email or by mail, confirming that your FAFSA form was processed.

Double-check that your info is correct by logging on at the FAFSA site and reviewing your data.
Correct any mistakes and submit the corrected info.
Don’t update info that was correct on the day you signed your FAFSA form.

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How do I apply for federal student aid?

Watch for emails or letters from the schools you are considering.

Give the schools any additional paperwork they ask for.
Meet all deadlines or you could miss out on aid!

Any schools that are listed on the student’s FAFSA form and that have accepted the student’s application for admission will contact the student to offer an aid “package” (a list of aid the student is eligible for at that school).
A school might ask for additional paperwork, either to verify FAFSA information or to submit an application for financial aid from the school’s funds.
If you fill out the FAFSA form in October, before applying for admission to a college, it might be a while before you hear back from the school with a financial aid offer. The school isn’t going to look at your FAFSA information until after you’ve applied to the school and they’re ready to accept you. But don’t wait to fill out the FAFSA form until after you’ve applied to schools—you’ll miss deadlines for certain types of financial aid. It is OKAY to submit the FAFSA form before you apply for admission.

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What happens next?

Evaluate schools’ aid offers.
Once you decide which school to attend, keep in touch with the financial aid office to find out when and how you will get your aid.

You might wish to point out to students that affordability is not the most important factor in choosing a school. Ideally, a student should find the school that will best suit his or her educational and training needs, as well as fitting his or her personality. If two or more schools are “tied,” then cost can be a determining factor.

We try to remind students that many relatively expensive schools have enough funds available to help out students with great financial need. Therefore, a school with a tuition of $30,000 might end up being more affordable (due to the amount of financial aid it provides the student) than a school of $12,000. In other words, students should go ahead and apply to any schools that they truly believe are a good match for them—then figure out the financial aspects later.

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Where can I get more info?

StudentAid.gov

Info about aid programs
Links to free scholarship and college searches

1-800-4-FED-AID or studentaid@ed.gov

Info about aid programs
Help with FAFSA form

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Questions?

[Note to counselors: You may wish to hand out the one-page fact sheet titled “Federal Student Aid: Find the Information You Need.” The fact sheet lists frequently-asked-about federal student aid topics and easy URLs to find the answers. If you want to have students download the fact sheet themselves, give them this URL: StudentAid.gov/resources#find-aid-info.]
[Note to counselors: Remember to check out FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov/resources to browse and download documents, videos, sample tweets, infographics, and more that you can use to raise students’ awareness and understanding of federal student aid. Please remember that the Financial Aid Toolkit is for you, the counselor; send your students to StudentAid.gov for information relevant to them, and to StudentAid.gov/resources to browse the handouts, videos, etc.]

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