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Office of Counseling & Post-Secondary Success

Financial Aid for Juniors

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Today’s Agenda

What is Financial Aid?
Junior Year Timeline
Senior Year Timeline
Common Questions
Financial Aid Myths

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What is Financial Aid?

SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

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What is Financial Aid?

Money you apply for to help pay for college

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Types of Financial Aid

Grants & Scholarships

Free Money

Money that is yours to keep!

Loans

Borrowed Money

Money that has to be paid back

Work-Study

Earned Money

Money earned from working on/off campus

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Types of Financial Aid Applications

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D ream Act

CSS Profile*

CAL Grant A, B, C

Quick Financial Aid Tip Sheet

*CSS Profile is free if you qualify for an SAT fee waiver.

All other applications are free.

FAFSA

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FAFSA® Application | Federal Student Aid

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Types of Financial Aid Applications

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FAFSA

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For U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents
Must have SSN

For Undocumented Students, DACA Students, T or U Visa Holders, TPS Holders
Must complete 3 years in CA schools, and have a HS diploma or GED

CA Dream Act

Quick Financial Aid Tip Sheet

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Types of Financial Aid Applications

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CSS Profile*

Some colleges, mostly private colleges, use this application in addition to FAFSA

Quick Financial Aid Tip Sheet

*Click here to see information on qualifying for a CSS Profile fee waiver.

All other applications are free.

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Types of Financial Aid Applications

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Cal Grant A, B, C

State Grant GPA Threshold

A: 3.0 GPA min & Low and Middle Income

B: 2.0 GPA min & disadvantaged and Low Income

C: Vocational/Trade School

Quick Financial Aid Tip Sheet

You do not have to fill out out a separate application for Cal Grant. Your counselor/SFUSD will submit your GPA for you.. ☺︎

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Expected Family Contribution

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is an index number that colleges use to determine how much financial aid you can receive.

Your EFC is calculated by:

A formula established by law
Your FAFSA/CA Dream Act application info
Your family’s income, assets, benefits (like unemployment or Social Security)
Your family’s size
Number of family members who will attend college during that year

EFC is NOT the amount of money your family will have to pay for college.

EFC is NOT the amount of student aid you will receive.

What is EFC?

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Am I Eligible for Financial Aid?

For Example…

College Cost of Attendance $50,000

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - $14,500

Financial Need $35,500

Financial Need =

✨ Eligibility for Financial Aid ✨

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Junior Year Timeline

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SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

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Fall Semester

Identify Safety Schools

What would be cost-effective?
Geographic location?
Support Services?
Tuition?
Private vs. Public?

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Spring Semester

Find scholarships you may want to apply

Some deadlines are as early as summer between 11th and 12th grade
the sooner the better!

Find out what government financial aid you qualify for

Eligibility for Federal Student Aid Graphic

Optional: Take SAT or ACT

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Summer

Open conversation with adult(s) who will be the primary source of college funds
Create FSA ID or CA Dream Act PIN

Your own and your guardian’s

Narrow down college list

Make college visits
Go to college fairs
Request information
Speak with an admissions counselor

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FSA ID Help #	Dream Act PIN Help #
1-800-433-3243	1-888-224-7268

Virtually

In the Summer, start opening up a conversation with your adult(s) who will be the ones assisting you with funding college. If you are on your own to pay for college, you will still need to report their taxes on your financial aid application. Some conversation starters can include “Hi Parent. Part of college is figuring out how to pay for college. Do you file taxes? Do you have records of those taxes? I will need them to fill out forms for my college applications.”

You and one of your legal parents should create separate FSA IDs (if you are filling out the CA Dream Act, this is called a PIN). This will be yours and their electronic signature when submitting the FAFSA or CA Dream Act application. If you encounter any challenges while creating an FSA ID, call (1-800-433-3243). If you encounter any challenges with the Dream Act PIN, call (1-888-224-7268).

Also, finalize your college list. It should include schools that are reach schools (your dream colleges which may be tough to get in to), target schools (colleges that you are most likely to get in to) , and safety schools (colleges you know that you’re a shoe-in for). Attend virtual college fairs, visit websites, research their social media accounts, watch videos, and attend workshops.

Which adult is the primary source of college funding? Read more here.

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Senior Year Timeline

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SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

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Application Timeline

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October

October 1st

Financial Applications OPEN!

January

February

March

March 2nd

Financial Aid Applications DUE!

November

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Strive to complete and submit in November

December

The financial aid applications are available online starting October 1st. You should MOST DEFINITELY begin filling it out in October, to submit early. Remember to file for the correct school year which is the year you’ll be going to college. The official deadline is March 2nd but if you wait to submit then, there are ramifications that could complicate your college plans. There is a finite amount of government funding that supplies financial aid. The earlier you submit your financial aid application, the earlier the college can receive it, analyze it, and give you a financial aid package with how much it will cost for you to attend their college. In the Spring, you want to have all financial aid packages in front of you to compare and contrast; this will help you decide where to go to college.

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Senior Year At-A-Glance

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Review Student Aid Report (SAR)

Complete any requested verification forms

October - November

Submit FAFSA

FOR CORRECT YEAR

Earlier the better!

Can receive Financial Aid offers earlier

March - May

December - February

May 1st

Compare Financial Aid offers from colleges

Choose your college

Here is a timeline of your senior year. So again, when the FAFSA/Dream Act applications are available in October, start working on them and submit: the earlier the better. After you submit them, you will receive a Student Aid Report (aka SAR) that will give you the basic information that you inputted. If you see a mistake, you can follow the directions to edit. You can also use the SAR to add more schools to your list of colleges receiving your financial aid application. If there is any potential for you to apply to a community college, be sure to include the community college on your list as well. In March, you will start receiving your acceptances to colleges. If you’ve submitted your financial aid application early enough, you should also be receiving your financial aid packages from each college. Use these reports to compare how much it will cost you to attend each college that you got into. If your family experiences an unexpected financial hardship that was not reflected in your financial aid application, you can always consult with the financial aid office of a college to see if your package can be adjusted based on this new information. By May 1st, you will have to submit your deposit to register at the one college you choose.

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Financial Aid Information Worksheet

Purpose of worksheet

To help prepare students filling out financial aid applications
Worksheets provides questions on student & parent demographics, and tax information

Access the worksheet here

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Information to Know

Were you ever in foster care?
Were you ever homeless?
Who is financially responsible for you?
Any financial hardships?
Dependency status?
Household size?

Documents Needed

Federal tax information/tax returns (1040, 1040 schedules, W-2)
Checking & Savings amount
Investments (if applicable)

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Am I Independent or Dependent?

Reference: Dependency Status

Independent
Have a legal guardian	Are an emancipated minor	Since age 13, had no living parent, were in foster care, or were a ward of the court
Are homeless and not in physical custody of parent or guardian	Have children and provide more than half their support	Serve in the US Armed Forces

Dependent
You are Dependent if none of the orange boxes apply to you

Dependency status is important to figure out because if you are considered a dependent student, you will need to provide information about your legal parent/parents on the application. If you are an independent student, then you don’t need to provide info about them. To figure out if you are Independent, you must either have a legal guardian (determined by a court of law), or be an emancipated minor (also from a court of law), you’ve been in foster care since you turned 13, or you’re homeless and not living with a parent, or you have children that you support financially, or are on active duty with our military. If any of those descriptions in the orange boxes describe you, you are Independent. If not, then you are Dependent.

https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency

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Who is my “Parent”?

Your Legal Parent is your biological or adoptive parent.

Reference: Reporting Parent Information

So now that you have determined whether you are independent or dependent, if you are dependent, which parent’s info do you have to report? First of all, let’s define who your Legal Parent is. Your Legal Parent is your biological or adoptive parent or parents. There are many scenarios that determine who’s info you’ll have to report. I’ll go over some of them, but if I don’t describe your particular situation, please visit the resource page for more info. Ok, so if your parents are married, you report both. If they’re not married but live together, report both. If your Legal Parent was never married, or is widowed, you report only that parent. If they’re divorced or separated AND live apart, report who you live with most of the time. If you live with them equally, then report only the one who financially supports you the most. If your Legal Parent remarried, you must report your stepparent’s info.

https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info

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Don’t live with your legal parent?

You still need to report their info

Reference: Reporting Parent Information

The following people are not your parents, unless they have legally adopted you:	Widowed Stepparent Grandparents Foster Parents Legal Guardians Older Brothers or Sisters Aunts or Uncles

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Make Note:

If you have been in foster care since age 13 or have a legal guardian, you are considered Independent and don’t report the adult’s income.

Parents’ citizenship status does not affect eligibility for federal student aid

(FAFSA form doesn’t even ask about it)

Reference: Reporting Parent Information

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What is My Household Size?

Include	Do Not Include
Student and Parent(s)� Any child of the parent who is supported financially� Any adult of the parent who is supported financially	Foster children� Other people that the parent supports financially, but doesn’t live with them

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Financial Aid Myths

Reality:

Free City only covers tuition
It does not cover other expenses such as:

Course material fees
Health fee
Web registration fee
Student activities fee
Student representation fee

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“CCSF is free, so I don’t need to apply for financial aid”

Reference: Free City website

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Financial Aid Myths

Reality:

There is no income cut-off to qualify for federal student aid
Other factors, such as size of family and year in school, is considered on top of income

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“My parents make too much money, so I won’t qualify for aid.”

Reference: StudentAid.gov

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Resources

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Click or scan to get the myStudentAid app for both apple and android phones!

Available on

Oct 1st

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Resources

Access the Financial Aid Resource Page for helpful links including:

Video walkthroughs
Handouts
Contacts
etc.

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✱ BEST Resource: Speaking with a counselor at your school ✱