Financing Your College Education

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Financing Your College Education

• Financial aid information for
• college-bound students and their families
• presented by
• Seattle University

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In A Nutshell

• Your Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA)
• LESS Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
• __________________________________________________
  __________________________________________________
  ________
• EQUALS Your Financial Need

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My Cost of Attendance? Whats that?

• Your Cost of Attendance (COA) includes actual or
  estimated amounts for the following
• Tuition and fees
• Room and board
• Books and supplies
• Transportation
• Miscellaneous personal expenses
• Other educational expenses with documentation
  (expenses related to a disability or the cost of
  purchasing a computer, for instance)

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And my Expected Family Contribution?

• Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is
  calculated
• From the following information
• Parent income and assets
• Student income and assets
• Age of the oldest parent
• Number of people in the household
• Number of people in the household in college
• Number of working parents
• Which tax form is filed

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Will my EFC be right?

• The FAFSA ensures that your familys ability to
  pay is evaluated in an equitable and consistent
  manner.
• AFTER you file the FAFSA, report special
  circumstances to your colleges financial aid
  office, like
• K-12 tuition
• Disability
• Medical/dental expenses
• Changes in income after filing your FAFSA or from
  the FAFSA base year (2007 on the 2008-09 FAFSA)
  to the next year

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Whose informationdo I enter on the FAFSA?

• ALL students must provide income and asset
  information about themselves.
• Dependent students must also provide their
  parents income and asset information.
• Independent students who are married must also
  provide their spouses income and asset
  information.

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Im independent. Arent I???

• To apply without parent information, you must be
  able to answer YES to at least ONE of the
  following eight questions
• Were you born before January 1, 1985?
• Will you be working a masters or doctorate
  degree?
• Are you married?
• Do you have dependents who receive more than ½
  support from you?

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Im independent. Arent I??? (Continued)

• Do you have dependent(s), other than a spouse,
  who live with you and receive more than ½ support
  from you?
• Are your parents deceased, or were you a ward of
  the court?
• 7. Are you currently serving on active duty in
  the U.S. Armed Forces, other than for training?
• 8. Are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces?

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Need (NOT EFC) Varies Based on Cost
X
1
Y
2
NEED
Z
3
COA
-

EFC
EFC
Cost of Attendance (COA) Expected Family
Contribution (EFC) Need




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So Now what?

• Your college, where you are admitted and have
  sent the FAFSA, will prepare and send you an
  award notice that come as close as possible to
  meeting your need using one or two types of
  aid
• GIFT FINANCIAL AID
• Grants
• Scholarships
• Merit, Leadership, Service, Talent
• SELF-HELP FINANCIAL AID
• Employment Opportunities
• Low-Interest, Student Loans

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Whos eligible to for assistance?

• NEARLY EVERYONE!!!
• You wont know unless you apply and its free!
• DONT exclude yourself, nearly EVERYONE is
  eligible for at least a low interest student loan
  if they complete a FAFSA.
• You can list up to 6 colleges to receive the
  results of your FAFSA. Keep your options open.

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How do I apply?

• Submit the Free Application for Federal Student
  Aid (FAFSA) AFTER January 1, 2008 but PRIOR to
  your schools deadline.
• To ensure maximum consideration for federal,
  state and institutional aid, check each school
  for
• Required application materials
• Application deadlines

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The FAFSAFree Application for Federal Student
Aid

• You can file your FAFSA one of two ways
• On the web
• Its strongly recommended that you file your
  FAFSA electronically. To do this, go to
  www.fafsa.ed.gov to complete your application.
• By mail
• If youre unable to access a computer to
  complete the FAFSA electronically, request a
  paper copy at 1-800-4FEDAID.

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The Paper FAFSA
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FAFSA on the Web Worksheet
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Avoid ERRORS!

• Errors made in completing the FAFSA and/or
  supplemental forms may delay application
  processing and result in the loss of financial
  aid funds.
• Be sure to complete all forms carefully!
• Dont leave anything blank unless specifically
  instructed to do so.
• If youre not sure ASK!!!

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Some Pointers on FAFSA on the WEB (FOTW)

• You may need to scroll down to get to the
  PREVIOUS or NEXT buttons on the screen.
• Questions are not in the same order as the paper
  FAFSA
• FOTW uses Skip Logic that will allow you to
  bypass some questions that may not apply.
• If unsure, go ahead and complete a screen data
  is not used by the processor if not needed.

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Speaking of Planningand Keeping Your Options
Open

• 2 new on-line tools from the Department of
  Education
• College Navigator Find colleges based on
  location, programs, tuition, distance learning,
  evening courses, and more. Save your favorites
  and compare up to four colleges.
• www.ed.gov
• Click on Students click on College
  Navigator
• FAFSA4Caster By using FAFSA4caster, you and
  your family will receive an early estimate of
  eligibility for federal student aid.
• www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov

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FAFSA on the Webs Homepage
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The First Page
21
Male or Female?
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The Dependency Questions
23
Entering Parent Data
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Needs Tested Federal Benefits
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Student Income Information
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Worksheets (Embedded)
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Searching for College Codes
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ACG Data
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ACG Data
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PIN Signature Page
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Wet Signature Process
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Printed Wet Signature Page
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Certification
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Submission Page
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Confirmation
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FAFSA Processing Results

• The Department of Educations Central Processing
  System (CPS) sends you a Student Aid Report (SAR)
  to notify you of your FAFSAs processing results
  
• E-mailing a notification with a direct link to
  your SAR on-line. (If you gave them your e-mail
  address on FAFSA.)
• If you have a PIN, you can view your SAR at
  www.fafsa.ed.gov by selecting View and Print
  your Student Aid Report.
• Mailing a paper Student Aid Report (SAR) or SAR
  Acknowledgement if you did not provide your
  e-mail address.

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Frequent FAFSA Errors

• Incorrect Social Security Number, Name and/or
  Date of Birth
• Reporting income taxes WITHHELD on W-2 form
  rather than income taxes PAID on 1040 form
• Failure to report untaxed income
• Incorrect number of people in the household
• Incorrect number of people in college

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Other Errors

• Providing information about the wrong parent or
  too many parents.
• Reporting primary home value, retirement funds,
  or small business as assets.
• Not completing the worksheets.
• Not reporting trust funds correctly.
• Reporting total federal taxes not federal income
  taxes.

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CAUTION!!!

• AVOID being charged a fee to file your FAFSA
• Having your FAFSA processed is FREE. Be careful
  if someones asking you to pay them to prepare
  your FAFSA, it could be a scam!
• If filing FAFSA on the Web, make sure you go
  directly to www.fafsa.ed.gov
• Contact 1-800-4FEDAID or a local financial aid
  office if you need help completing your FAFSA

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Avoid Being Scammed

• For information about financial aid scams, check
• The Department of Educations web site at
  www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/misused/sscams.h
  tml
• The Federal Trade Commissions web site at
  www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/publs/alerts/ouchart.htm
• To check the legitimacy of scholarship search
  organizations or individuals, check
• The Better Business Bureaus web site at
  http//search.bbb.org/search.html

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Other Sources of Assistance

• Your High School Counselor and/or Career Center
• Private Businesses
• Civic Organizations
• Your Parents Places of Employment
• Your Local Library

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Private Scholarship Search

• On the Internet
• The College Board Scholarship Search
• www.collegeboard.com/paying
• Petersons
• www.petersons.com
• FinAid!
• www.finaid.org
• Scholarship Resource Network Express
• www.srnexpress.com

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Seattle University Scholarships

• Academic Achievement
• Presidential
• Ignatian
• Trustees
• Campion
• Sullivan Leadership Award
• Music, Debate

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Seattle University2006-07 Undergraduate Resources

• Institutional 28,625,000
• Federal, State Private 40,475,000
• TOTAL 69,100,000
• FRESHMEN
• Total Aid 13,900,000
• Average Award 19,800
• Average Institutional Gift Aid 10,800
• with Institutional Aid 87

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You cant go wrong if you

• OPEN everything you receive from the college
  e-mail as well as snail mail ASAP.
• READ what you open ASAP.
• RESPOND ASAP to e-mails, mail or phone calls.
• If you dont understand whats being requested,
  ASK ASAP.
• If you still dont understand, ASK AGAIN ASAP.

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Questions?