Financial Aid 101

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Financial Aid 101

• SUNY Orange
• Financial Aid Office

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Agenda

• Financial Aid 101
• Where does financial aid come from?
• How do students and families apply for financial
  aid?
• How do I help families with special
  circumstances?
• How are financial aid awards determined

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Federal Aid Regulations

• The federal government establishes federal aid
  availability for each program on a fiscal basis.
• Eligibility for federal aid is determined by
  congressionally-mandated formulas and data base
  matches and by using data on the students
  federal application. (FAFSA)
• The federal government establishes the Pell Grant
  payment tables which determine individual Pell
  student awards.
• The same federal regulations apply to all schools.

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Types of Federal Aid

• Pell Grant
• Campus-Based Programs
• SEOG
• Federal Work Study
• Perkins Loans
• Direct Student Loans
• Subsidized based upon financial need 3.4
  interest rate
• Unsubsidized not based upon need 6.8 interest
  rate
• Parent Plus Loans 7.9 interest rate

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What is the FAFSA

• FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal
  Student Aid.
• The FAFSA is the form that the federal government
  uses to determine a students eligibility for
  federal aid, including grants, scholarships,
  work-study and loans.

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FAFSA

• The FAFSA becomes available January 1st of each
  year and students must apply annually.
• Families can
• Download or complete the FAFSA on the Web at
  www.fafsa.ed.gov.
• FAFSA on the Web has a link to the New York State
  TAP application.

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Federal Dependency Definitions

• You are independent in 2013/14 if you meet one of
  the following
• __You were born before January 1, 1990
• __You are married
• __You are a graduate student (enrolled in a
  masters or graduate certificate program)
  
• __You are currently serving on active duty
  in the U.S. Armed Forces
• __You are a veteran of the U.S. Armed
  Forces

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Federal Dependency DefinitionsContinued

• ___Both parents are deceased, you were adopted,
  you were in foster care, or a ward of the court,
  at anytime since you turned 13. Provide death
  certificates or court documentation of status.
• ___Have children who will receive more than half
  their support from you between July 1, 2013 and
  June 30, 2014. Provide 2012 tax transcripts
  and/or a letter explaining living arrangements,
  earnings and support information, and the name of
  person(s) claiming children if other than self.
• ___Are or were in legal guardianship as
  determined by a court. Provide court
  documentation.
• ___Have dependents (other than your children or
  spouse) that live with you and receive more than
  half of their support from you, now and through
  June 30, 2014. Provide 2012 tax transcripts, and
  a letter explaining living arrangements, earnings
  and support information
• ___Are or were an emancipated minor as determined
  by a court in your legal state of residence.
  Provide court documentation from your state of
  legal residence. Please note that New York State
  does not grant emancipation status to minors.
• ___Were determined to be an unaccompanied youth
  who was homeless by a director of an emergency
  shelter or transitional housing program funded by
  the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
  Development. Provide written, signed
  documentation from shelter or agency on
  organization letterhead.
• ___Were determined to be an unaccompanied youth
  who was homeless by your high school homeless
  liaison. Provide written, signed documentation
  from school liaison on district letterhead.
• ___Were determined to be an unaccompanied youth
  who was homeless or self-supporting and at risk
  of being homeless by a director of a runaway or
  homeless youth basic center or transitional
  living program. Provide written, signed
  documentation from agency on organization
  letterhead.

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Federal Dependency Definitions

• Overrides are made on a case-by-case basis.
• Overrides are made only when adequate
  documentation of extenuating circumstances is
  provided.
• Extenuating circumstances are generally defined
  by a students inability to have contact with
  his/her biological parents due to emotional,
  mental, or physical trauma delivered to the
  student by the parent.

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Federal Dependency Overrides

• The following situations do not qualify as
  sufficient to merit a change to independent
  status
• Parents refusal to contribute to a students
  education.
• Parents are unwilling to provide information for
  the application or verification.
• Parents do not claim the student as a dependent
  for income tax purposes.
• Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.
• Parents reside outside the U.S.
• Student does not live with parent.

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Who Counts as a Parent on the FAFSA?

• Adoptive parent biological parent
• For Separated / Divorced Biological Parents
• Determine the custodial Parent
• Who did the student live with most of the last 12
  months prior to the date of the FAFSA completion?
• If the student lived equally with each parent or
  lived with neither biological parent, then which
  parent supported the student more in the last 12
  months or in the recent calender year in which
  the student received some kind or parent
  support.
• Count Income of step-parent
• If step-parent is married to biological or
  adoptive parent, step-parent income must be
  included on the FAFSA.
• Foster parents, legal guardians, grandparents,
  and other relatives are never counted as parents
  on the FAFSA

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Undocumented Parents

• Reporting the FAFSA Social Security Numbers
• Use 000-00-0000 to prevent a reject code on the
  SSN match
• Do not use a Taxpayer ID Number(TIN) it will
  reject.
• Reporting the FAFSA income
• Report wages not on a tax return but seek advice
  about IRS requirements to file at certain earning
  levels

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Custody vs. Legal Guardianship

• Custody changes usually indicate the possibility
  of a Dependency Override
• Legal Guardianships leads to automatic
  Independence
• We ask for the court documents to determine
  custody actions vs. legal guardianships

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IRS Data Retrieval

• Available now on the 2012/2013 FAFSA on the Web
  and will continue in 2013/2014
• Both students and parents can link from the FAFSA
  to a completed IRS tax return
• Need federal PIN(s) to initiate retrieval
• Can use IRS data for initial application or
  corrections
• Advantages in using IRS data
• Accuracy
• Timeliness
• IRS-retrieved data does not need additional
  verification by obtaining an IRS Tax Transcript
• If you have not filed your Federal Income Tax
  return, you will need to wait 2 weeks before
  using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Students and
  parents can make corrections to their Student Aid
  Report (SAR) after that time period.

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Federal School Codes

• Applicants must enter the Federal School Code of
  the colleges that they wish to receive FAFSA
  results. Students may enter up to 10 colleges on
  the FAFSA on the Web.
• To locate a schools Federal School Code, contact
  the schools financial aid office, look for it on
  their web site, or search for it on
  www.fafsa.ed.gov
• Our school code is 002876

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Student Aid Report (SAR)

• After filing the FAFSA, the student receives a
  SAR.
• The SAR is the official record that the federal
  processor received the FAFSA
• At the same time the student receives the SAR,
  every school listed on the FAFSA will receive an
  electronic Institutional Student Aid Report, or
  ISIR.
• Students and families should review the SAR
  carefully and correct any errors.

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What is on the SAR

• All FAFSA data will be repeated.
• The Pell eligibility index called the Expected
  Family Contribution (EFC).
• Codes and text indicating if the FAFSA was
  selected for Verification or if the student must
  document additional information.

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What is Verification

• All students may be selected by the federal
  government for verification in the 2013-14 aid
  year.
• The process allows the Secretary of Education to
  include any item from the FAFSA for possible
  verification .
• Students will be targeted for a selection of
  items based upon each students characteristics.
• Requires verification processing of all
  non-dollar changes and corrections must be made
  to an applicants FAFSA information.
• Please submit all information on the FAFSA
  correctly in order to eliminate possibilities for
  auditing of your file.

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How the Federal Government Determines What
Families Can Pay

• The EFC is an index derived from a
  congressionally-mandated formula that indicates
  the amount of money a family is expected to
  contribute to college costs for the academic
  year.
• Financial Need is the difference between the Cost
  of Attendance (COA) at a college for the academic
  year and the students EFC.
• COA EFC Financial Need

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Cost of Attendance

• The COA varies depending on Dependent Student
  vs. Independent Student. However the components
  are the same
• Tuition and Fees
• Room and Board
• Transportation
• Books and Supplies
• Personal Expenses

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Meeting Financial Need

• Entitlement Aid
• Grants (gift assistance not paid
  back)
• Pell Grant
• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
• Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)
• SUNY Orange may then Offer
• Federal and Private Loans (must be repaid)
• Other forms of aid
• Direct Loans, subsidized and unsubsidized (must
  be repaid)
• Perkins loan (must be repaid)
• Parent loan (PLUS) (must be repaid)
• Private/Alternative loans (must be repaid)
• Jobs Federal Work Study
• Scholarships From the college or private sources.

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New York State Assistance

• The New York State Tuition Assistance Program
  (TAP) helps eligible New York residents pay
  tuition at approved schools in New York State and
  enrollment must be full time.
• APTS is a comparable NYS grant, but for part-time
  students who apply for it in the financial aid
  office.
• A link to the TAP application is found at the end
  of the FAFSA on the Web. You can also visit the
  NYS web site at http//www.hesc.ny.gov/content.nsf
  and complete an application if you forget to use
  the FAFSA link.
• Eligibility for TAP is based on NYS taxable
  income, not federal adjusted income, and the
  upper limit is 80,000 combined income for a
  dependent student and parents.

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Federal Student Loan Limits

• Federal Student Loan Limits
• Direct Unsubsidized and Subsidized Loans are
• 31,000 for Dependent undergraduate students
  excluding those whose parents are unable to
  borrow a PLUS Loan, but no more than 23,000 may
  be subsidized.
• 57,500 for Independent undergraduate students
  and Dependent undergraduates whose parents are
  unable to borrow a PLUS loan--but no more than
  23,000 may be subsidized
• The following table shows the maximum amount of
  money you may borrow each academic year in Direct
  Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans

Dependent student1 Independent student2
1st-year undergraduate 5,500 --but subsidized maximum 3,500 9,500--but subsidized maximum 3,500
2nd-year undergraduate 6,500--but subsidized maximum 4,500 10,500--but subsidized maximum 4,500
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Institutional Scholarships

• SUNY Orange begins the Institutional Scholarship
  process in January of each year.
• Please look up deadlines for New, Continuing, and
  Graduating scholarship deadlines at our web site
  http//www.sunyorange.edu/financialaid/scholarship
  s.shtml
• We offer a variety of scholarships based on
  interest, skills, and abilities
• Academic excellence
• Athletics
• Community Service
• Areas of study, such as Nursing, Business
  Administration, Science and Music.

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Learn the Process

• Tips for Student Success
• Contact the financial aid office for
  institutional requirements.
• Check your MYSUNY Orange web pages for
  outstanding requirements needed for verification.
• Meet all deadlines.
• Ask questions.
• Learn about Satisfactory Academic Progress.

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Helpful Web Resources

• FAFSA www.fafsa.ed.gov
• Federal Pin www.pin.ed.gov
• Federal Student Aid on the Web
  www.studentaid.ed.gov
• U.S. Department of Education www.ed.gov
• Direct Loans www.studentloans.gov
• Fast Web www.fastweb.com
• NYS HESC (for TAP) www.hesc.ny.gov

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Questions and Answers