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Financial Aid �High School Presentation��U.S Department of education’s�Finding Money for College�

Presented By:

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

Basics of Financial Aid and the FAFSA

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Timelines are now aligned - Application & Financial Aid

October:

Begin college search & application. Begin FAFSA and CSS Profile

December:

Early acceptance letters. Begin Regular applications

February :

Confirmation of college application receipts of processing.

Student Aid Report and regular acceptance letters

May:

Decision time. May 1^st decision deadline

Seniors- Applications Timeline

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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What we’ll talk about:

Federal student aid
State student aid
Student aid from colleges
Scholarships from other sources

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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What we’ll 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?

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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What is financial aid?

Money to pay for college or career school

Grants
Work-study
Loans
Scholarships

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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Applying for federal student aid

Review Checklist -

“The FAFSA Process”

StudentAid.gov/resources#fafsa-process-graphic

Preview FAFSA questions:

FAFSA on the Web Worksheet StudentAid.gov/resources#worksheet

Gather the documents needed

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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FAFSA ��Free Application for Federal Student Aid�

FAFSA on the Web at: www.fafsa.ed.gov
FSA ID & Password - Student & Parent must create a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) at: www.fsaid.ed.gov
The Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) will populate the FAFSA’s income & tax information fields using “prior prior” year’s tax information (2015)

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FAFSA.ED.GOV

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Expected Family Contribution EFC

Product of the Needs Analysis formula
Based on Income & Savings / Investments
What you’re expected to pay for 1 year

You must file FAFSA

Free Application for Federal Student Aid

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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2016 Tax Return

John & Suzie Q.

New Jersey Residents
2 Kids / one in College
Ages: 50 years old
AGI: $75,162 .00
Savings:$50,000.00

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2016 Tax Return

John & Suzie Q.

New Jersey Residents
2 Kids / one in College
Ages: 50 years old
AGI: $75,162 .00
Savings:$50,000.00

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2016 Tax Return

John & Suzie Q.

New Jersey Residents
2 Kids / one in College
Ages: 50 years old
AGI: $75,162 .00
Savings:$50,000.00

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Cost of Attendance�

- Total Cots - ALL IN!

Tuition and fees
Room and board
Books and supplies, transportation, �personal expenses
Fees
ETC.

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Example of an EFC of $25,000

Custodial Household

Family of 4, and 1 attending college
Custodial parents are married
Both are age 50
Adjusted Gross Income, AGI = $100,000.
Savings and Investments = $50,000.
Student’s income $3,000
Student’s Savings = -0-

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Determining federal aid

It is based on Financial Need.

Need determined by subtracting EFC from COA
EFC – from income and savings as reported on FAFSA^®(Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
COA = tuition, fees, room & board, transportation, etc.

COA – EFC = financial need

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Need when EFC = $25,000

Comm. College	State College	Private College	Elite College
$5,000	$26,000	$50,000	$60,000
$25,000	$25,000	$25,000	$25,000
- 0 -	$1,000	$25,000	$35,000

COA

-EFC

Need

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Who is eligible?

U.S. citizen or permanent resident
High school graduate/GED holder
Eligible degree/certificate program
Valid Social Security number
Males registered for Selective Service
Satisfactory academic progress in college/career school

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What is Financial aid?

Federal
State
College
private scholarships

and private scholarships

each has its own eligibility criteria.

Know what you need to do to qualify.

Free Money, Loans, & Employment

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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Federal Financial Aid

Dependent freshman for 2017-18:

Federal Pell Grant: $5,920
SEOG $4,000 max
TEACH $3,728 max
Federal Work-Study: school budgeted
Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan $3,500
Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan $2,000

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Self Help to cover the Gap

HELOC – Home Equity borrowing
PLUS Loan (Parent) –origination fee of 4.72%

10 - 25 Years Fixed or Graduated - 6.31%

Monthly Payment Plans – offered through the colleges

NJCLASS Loan Program - 3% origination fee

10 Year Fixed Rate - 4.48% / 5.52% APR
15 Year Fixed Rate - 5.19% / 6.10% APR

Interest only payments available for 15 year option while in school

20 Year Fixed Rate – 7.15% / 8.23% APR

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FSA ID & Password�Your electronic signature�

FSA IDs & Passwords have replaced PIN Numbers

They are more secure

IDs & PWs are needed for both student and parent
Creating IDs & PWs is easy www.fsaid.ed.gov

Click on - Create An FSA ID
verified email address required
Receive Secure Code via email

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The CSS Profile Form�Institutional fin. aid form

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CSS Profile

Required by about 10% of colleges & universities

Available through Collegeboard.org

Custodial Profile

www.student.collegeboard.org/profile

Non-custodial Profile

www.ncprofile.collegeboard.org

CSS Profile Customer Service

305-829-9793 - help@cssprofile.org

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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New Jersey State Aid

File the FAFSA by State deadline - June 1st
On confirmation page, select: “Start your state application – Click here” link to the HESAA to be considered for TAG, NJ STARS, NJ STARS II and other state programs.

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State of New Jersey

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Tuition Aid Grant - TAG

State of New Jersey

TAG (Tuition Aid Grant)

Demonstrate Financial Need
Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
NJ Resident & attend a NJ Institution
Full time in an approved degree program

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TAG awards

• County Colleges $2,680

• State Colleges $7,096

• Independent Colleges $12,438

• Rowan $8,080 –

• Rutgers $9,468 -

• NJIT $10,986

Approximate maximum full-time :

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NJ STARS - NJ STARS II��State Scholarships�t

NJ STARS

Rank - top 15% end of junior or senior year
Take at least 12 college credits
Attain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher

NJ STARS II

Family income of less than $250,000
Associates & graduate with a 3.25 GPA

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529 College Savings Plans

Contribution limits range from $200K to $400K
Account owner - Parent or Grandparent
Beneficiary (can change) - is the Student
Grows tax deferred
CAN be federally tax free,

when used for qualified postsecondary expenses.

tuition, fees, books, as well as room and board

Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education

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The financial aid office.

Compare schools & financial aid packages
Accept the school that meets your needs

Communicate with the financial aid office.
Communicate with the financial aid office.
Communicate with the financial aid office.

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Scholarship Private & Institutional

Institution/college web sites
Local library resources
Local businesses, civic organizations
www.hesaa.org
www.fastweb.com
www.collegeboard.org
www.mappingyourfuture.org

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Applying for federal student aid

www.fsaid.ed.govwww.fsaid.ed.gov or www.studentAid.gov/fsaid
Student & parent must each create own FSA ID.
Provide an email address your FSA ID is unique to each email
Don’t tell anyone your FSA ID!

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

FSA ID Create username & password

**This is not a comprehensive list of eligibility criteria for federal student aid. For complete details, 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/permanent resident (there are some additional categories of eligible noncitizen, but they’re relatively rare)

High school graduate; GED (or other state certificate) holder; 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 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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Applying for federal student aid

Fill out your FAFSA at fafsa.gov.

Apply on or after October 1
State deadlines are at fafsa.gov.
School deadlines are listed on schools’ websites.
Help: FAFSA live chat or call 1-800-4-FED-AID.
DTR automatically import tax info from the IRS into your FAFSA: StudentAid.gov/irsdrt.

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Applying for federal student aid

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

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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

For more information about cost of attendance, see the “Calculating Awards and Packaging” volume of the “Federal Student Aid Handbook” at ifap.ed.gov.

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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Applying 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!

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

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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Where can I get more info?

StudentAid.gov

Info about aid programs
Links to free scholarship and college searches

1-800-4-FED-AID

Info about aid programs
Help with FAFSA

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Questions

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Thanks for coming

2017/18 Financial Aid �High School Presentation��U.S Department of education’s�Finding Money for College�

Contact information:

Robert D. Traitz CFP®

Phone: 201-881-7980 or 201-566-3013

Robert.Traitz@Stifel.com