St' Francis High School Financial Aid Night

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St. Francis High School Financial Aid Night
Welcome Parents and Students
Welcome Parents and Seniors!
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Well talk about.

• What sources of financial aid are available
• How you apply
• How eligibility is determined
• Packaging aid
• Tips for completing the FAFSA

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Sources of Financial Aid

• Gift Aid
• Grants Scholarships

• Self Help
• Loans Work

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Whats Available?

• Grants
• Pell Grant
• Academic Competitiveness Grant
• SMART Grant
• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
• Cal Grant

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Cal Grants

• Student must meet
• All federal eligibility criteria
• Income asset limits
• GPA requirement
• Amount paid is determined by
• Grant program school segment
• Renewal is based on program participation

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Whats Available? Contd.

• Self Help
• Federal Work Study
• Federal Perkins Loans
• Federal Stafford Subsidized Unsubsidized Loans
• Direct Loans (are the same as Stafford)
• PLUS Loans

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Types of Applications

• FAFSA
• CSAC GPA Verification Form
• For Cal Grant
• From your High School
• Private and other applications
• Scholarships
• Institutional

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Financial Aid PROFILE

• Not used for awarding federal financial aid
• Not all schools require
• Online Registration only
• 5 registration
• 18 per school
• Paper Profile Registration Guide will continue to
  be available

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Expected Family Contribution

• Need Analysis is the formula used in determining
  a familys EFC
• EFC is the measure of a familys financial
  strength
• The Financial Aid Office uses the EFC to
  determine the students overall need for
  financial aid

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Calculating Eligibility

• Federal EFC will be same at all schools
• Federal financial aid eligibility varies based on
  institutions COA
• Some schools may use institutional methodology to
  award their own institutional funds

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Cost of Attendance

• Tuition and fees
• Room and board
• Books and supplies
• Transportation
• Miscellaneous personal expenses
• May cover cost of computers
• May also include other extraordinary expenses

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Basic Equation of Need

• Cost of Attendance (COA)
• Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
• Students Financial Need (eligibility)

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Eligibility Varies Based on Cost
Private 4-year COA 40,000 - EFC 5,000
Need 35,000
Public 4-year COA 16,000 - EFC 5,000
Need 11,000
Public 2-year COA 13,000 - EFC 5,000
Need 8,000
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Special Circumstances

• Adjustments may be made to information on a
  case-by-case basis
• Special circumstances include
• Dependency status
• Income and assets
• Child support
• Number in household or college
• Medical or dental expenses
• Private elementary/secondary tuition

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Special Circumstances (cont.)

• Presenting the case
• First, call each Financial Aid Office for
  guidance and required forms
• A detailed explanation may include
• Students name and SSN
• Give SPECIFIC financial details
• Time period involved
• Attach supporting documentation

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Special Circumstances (cont.)

• Follow up with Financial Aid Office (FAO)
• Each FAO makes their own decision, results may
  vary from school to school
• Once made, change may not necessarily affect
  students eligibility for certain types of aid

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Awarding Packaging

• Award letters may vary in composition
• Listing of awards and amounts
• COA, EFC, need and unmet need
• Period of enrollment covered
• Response may or may not be required

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Stafford Loan

• The school determines which program (Direct or
  FFEL) to participate in
• Annual and aggregate loan limits
• Freshman - 3500
• Sophomore - 4500
• Juniors/Seniors - 5500
• Aggregate - 23000
• Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized

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Cost of Borrowing - Stafford

• Interest rate
• Fixed at 6.8
• Fees
• Up to 3 origination fee paid to the U.S.
  Department of Education (ED)
• Up to 1 insurance premium paid to the guarantor

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PLUS Loan

• Parent borrows for dependent undergraduate
• Approval subject to credit check
• Loan limits
• Annual COA less other aid
• Aggregate none
• Interest rate is 8.5 fixed
• Repayment begins 60 days after final disbursement

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FAFSA

• First year . . . Dont wait for admission!!!
• Always apply
• Yearly process
• After January 1 prior to the fall term (ie.
  January 1, 2007 for fall 2007)
• Student needs a PIN
• Parent needs a PIN

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Tips for filing the FAFSA

• Free Application for Federal Student Aid

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Front Page

• Yellow Section Student
• Purple Section Parent
• Who to call for questions
• www.studentaid.ed.gov
• 1.800.4.FEDAID
• State scholarships
• Dates
• Forms

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FAQs

• 1-3 Name
• No nicknames
• Name must be listed as it appears on the Social
  Security card
• Will be matched with Social Security
  Administration (SSA)

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FAQs (cont.)

• 26 Interested in Loans or Work-Study?
• If unsure, answer yes then decline once aid is
  awarded
• A yes does not obligate student to either
  program, nor will it cause them to lose out on
  gift aid
• A no may restrict some of their options for
  certain limited loan and work-study funds

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FAQs (cont.)

• 48-51 Dependency Status
• 24 years of age or older
• Dependents other than a spouse for which a
  student provides 51 of the support
• Veteran of the armed forces
• Orphan or Ward of the Court (prior to turning 18)
• Working toward a graduate degree
• Married (as of the day they complete the FAFSA)

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Parent Information

• Who is a Parent?
• Biological parent(s)
• Adoptive parent(s)
• Stepparent
• Regardless of prenuptial agreements

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Parent Information (cont.)

• Who is not considered a parent for this section?
• Foster parent(s)
• The ward is automatically considered an
  independent student
• Legal guardian(s)
• Must attempt to get parental information
• FAO may use Professional Judgment to make student
  independent

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 56-57 Parents Marital Status
• As of date application is signed
• Custodial Parent
• Parent the student lived with
• most in last 12 months
• If unable to determine, who provided most of
  students support?

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 66 Number in Parents Household
• Include student and parents
• Parents other children
• If parents provide more than 1/2 support from
  July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, or
• Other children who are considered dependent for
  federal financial aid

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Parent Information (cont.)

• Other people if they now live with students
  parents and
• Parents currently provide more than 1/2 support,
  and
• Parents will continue to provide more than 1/2 of
  their support from July 1, 2007 through June 30,
  2008

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 67 Number in College
• Write in number of people from question 65 who
  will be college students between July 1, 2007 and
  June 30, 2008
• Always include student
• Do not include parents

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 79-83 Income Information
• Custodial parent filed with ex-spouse
• Consider only income of custodial parent (which
  includes any child or spousal support received)
• Custodial parent remarried
• Stepparent information must be included

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 84-86 Complete Worksheets A, B and C on page 8
• A and B are untaxed income items
• C is exclusions from taxed income
• Parents complete purple area
• Students complete yellow area

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 87-89 General Asset Information
  
• If net worth is one million or more, enter
  999,999
• If negative, enter 0
• Net worth means current
• value minus debt

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 87 Total of Cash, Savings and
• Checking Accounts
• Total as of the day the
• FAFSA is signed

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 88 Net Worth of Investments
• Do not include home you live in, prepaid tuition
  plans or value of life insurance, and retirement
  plans
• Include other real estate, Education IRAs, CDs,
  money market funds, mutual funds college
  savings plans
• Trust funds must be reported even if access is
  restricted

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Parent Information (cont.)

• 89 Net Worth of a Business or Farm
• Value means market value of land, buildings,
  machinery, equipment, inventory, etc.
• Debt means only debts for which business or
  investment farm was used as collateral
• Business with greater than 100 employees

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Parent Information (cont.)

• Good tax planning doesnt always mean good
  financial aid planning

Parents assets - 6 - 12 Students assets -
35 Grandparents assets - priceless
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Prioritizing College Choices

• List a CA school in one of the top three
• boxes for Cal Grant consideration
• List schools most likely to attend
• Ways to add schools
• Wait for Student Aid Report (SAR)
• Add schools by phone or on the Web
• 6 colleges at a time . . . Final Choice needs
• electronic info

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Step Seven

• 98-99 Date and Sign
• If filing electronically, dont forget PIN or
  signature page
• If filed by a dependent student, student and 1
  parent must sign
• If filed by an independent student, only student
  must sign

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Specialized Use Boxes

• Preparers Section
• If parent or student pays an individual to
  complete FAFSA, that person must complete this
  part
• School Use Only
• Financial Aid Administrator uses this box in rare
  case of a dependency override

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Paper FAFSA Filing Tips

• File Early
• Check completeness and accuracy
• Sign and date form
• Make a copy before mailing
• Mail in envelope provided
• Do not include any other forms
• Use regular mail
• Obtain a Certificate of Mailing

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Online Filing Tips

• Apply for PIN(s) NOW!
• Gather necessary documents ahead of time
• Complete a Pre-FAFSA Worksheet
• Check browser requirements
• Allow ample time to complete for on-time
  submission

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Student Aid Report (SAR)

• SAR will be yellow for 2007/2008
• Expect SAR after filing
• Up to 4 weeks for paper FAFSA
• 1 to 2 weeks for Online FAFSA
• Carefully review for any errors
• Contact school before submitting corrections

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What Happens Next? (cont.)

• Alerts on SAR to applicant and school
• To possible database match problems
• If application has been selected for verification
• To whether or not EFC has been calculated

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Outside Scholarships

• Apply (investigate) early
• Create a portfolio
• No time to be modest
• Personal statements
• youre only one person
• Letters of recommendation
• make sure they like you
• www.fastweb.com and www.fastaid.com

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Scholarship Scams

• Dont pay money to get money
• Guaranteed!
• Youve been selected!
• For a small fee!
• How to get help filling out the FAFSA and
  Scholarships Applications

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Taxpayer Relief Act

• HOPE Tax Credit
• Available for the first two years of education
  (max 1500 per student per year)

• Lifetime Learning
• Available for all students and all years of
  enrollment (max 2000 per year per student)

• Student Loan Interest Deduction
• Available for the first 60 months that interest
  is required (max 2500)

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Taxpayer Relief Act (cont.)

• For more information about regulations and income
  levels
• www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/HOPE/
• www.irs.gov

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Questions?

• Susan Pace
• Director of Student Financing
• Notre Dame de Namur University
• [phone]
• space_at_ndnu.edu