financial aid resources for students presented by janet mclaughlin, university of pittsburgh wendy...
TRANSCRIPT
Financial Aid Resources for StudentsPresented by
Janet McLaughlin, University of Pittsburgh
Wendy Dunlap, PHEAA
Financial Aid Resources for Students
Where are your students going?
Who Are We Directing?
• Secondary students
• Post-secondary students
• Graduates/Borrowers
• Parents
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How Did I Get Here?
• Just because it’s on the web doesn’t make it real!
• Searching for items may be costly, take you to sites you aren’t looking for, or misdirect your search.
Internet Searches
• Searching for “FAFSA” – which one is correct?
• Search engine for “PLUS Loan - a big list of alt loans?
• “How to apply for Financial Aid?” I found some consultants, companies, etc.
• Why does this happen?
FAFSA
• www.fafsa.com
• www.fafsa.ed.gov
• www.fafsa.eduationconnections.com
• www.fafsaonline.com
• www.studentlaonnetwork.com
PLUS
• www.studentaid.ed.gov
• www.parentplus.com
• www.studentloannetwork.com
• www.studentfinancedomain.com
• www.student.loans.ed.gov
Stuff it, and Get First Place!
• Search engines earn their money through advertising, therefore companies that wish to advertise “stuff their jargon.”
• When you search a site, it picks up key words – be specific in your searches
Dirty Little Secrets…..
• How do the search engines work?
• Algorithms are built for placement of words, etc. in the search engines
• Advertising dollars drive the positioning
Dirty Little Secrets…..
• General rules of the algorithm
• Location, location, location!
• Frequency of key words
• Positioning of keywords
• Actual programming is a generally a well guarded trade secret
A Little Like Big-Brother
• Consider this, when on Facebook, if you click you “like” Skittles, now look at they types of ads you see on your page….do you now see a lot of candy ads? Coincidence??
• It’s not really spying, as it is driving advertising your way
• Some companies will “reverse engineer” or rewrite the webpage in hopes it will gain better placement in search engines
Rankings
• Look at big three – Google, Yahoo, MSN - different ways to rank sites
• Popularity contest
• Actual content
• Quality of information
• They also monitor sites to avoid spam
Be Specific in Your Search
• “Financial Aid Horror Stories”
• Consultant websites
• Blogs about certain schools
• Specific student experience
Common Scams
• Scholarships that cost – is it still free?• Scholarship prizes – some will ask for
personal identification• Listen to me pitch it – seminars that are
actually sales for other products• Application Fees• Everyone is eligible • Using your school logo…pretty tricky!
Sources of Information
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TwitterFBWeb SitesBlogsPinterest
Apps for your Smart Phone
Scholarship Explorer (Student Loan Finance Corporation)
College Bound (College Financial Aid Advisors)
• @mkant
• Follow Mark KantrowitzPublisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org
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Blogs – US News
The Choice
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• Even PHEAA is on FB
Scholarship Search Engines
www.fastweb.com
www.scholarships.com
www.collegeboard.com
www.collegeanswer.com
www.collegenet.com
www.careerinfonet.org/scholarshipsearch
www.scholarshipexperts.com
www.zinch.com
www.collegeprowler.com
College Prowler
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EducationPlanner.org
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Financial Literacy
• Youcandealwithit.com
• Mymoney.gov
• www.fdic.gov
• http://www.360financialliteracy.org/Life-Stages/College-Students
• www.jumpstart.org/
• www.moneysbestfriend.com
PA Dept of Banking
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Salary Calculators
• www.salary.com
• www.onetonline.org
• www.salaryexpert.com
Search for jobs in a location by salary range
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Should I go to Grad School
• http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/managing/college/gradschool.html?si=1
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Why Not Promote Your Own Site?
• Attach the sites you are comfortable promoting
• Warn families to use caution/ be a consumer
• Help your families to avoid identity theft
College/University Site
• Direct your students to your site for the specifics
• Build in links so that the student can have a one-stop shop opposed to stumbling upon less than desirable sites
College / University Resources
• Checklists for each type of student
• Target your audience – New– Continuing– Transfer– Graduate
College / University Resources
• Specific Deadlines
• Institutional Applications
• FAFSA/Profile
• Specific forms can be downloaded
• The concept may be the same but the process can differ from school to school
College / University Resources
• Orientations / Freshman days recorded for future viewing
• Keeping it updated can be tough for some schools
• If you have handouts at programs, post them
College / University Resources
• List the criteria / eligibility• List your tuition costs• Explain items students generally don’t
understand like– Verification– SAP– Over awards– Special Conditions – Summer financial aid
What Do You Want to Promote?
• How do you effectively promote the useful sites?
• Do you promote or include other offices that overlap with yours?
Billing, Registrar, Student Appeals?
• Is your site cohesive with other offices?
What Do you Specifically Target?
• Your specific site
• www.pin.ed.gov
• www.fafsa.ed.gov
• www.irs.gov
• www.studentloans.gov
• www.nslds.ed.gov
Account Access - PHEAA
• What can a student do with State Grant in Account Access?
• Update School • Update e-mail address• Complete a Summer State Grant Application• View award notifications• Fix an Incomplete record/State Grant Form
completion• View reject information
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NSLDS
• www.nslds.ed.gov
• Book mark it!
• Monitor it!
• Use it!
• Some schools are using this site as a default reduction tool
Consolidation
• Department of Education
• FinAid.org
• Internet searches will yield an array of companies who specialize in just consolidation
IRS
• IRS – Educational Tax Credits
• Tax Transcripts
• Return/Account
PHEAA Financial Aid Night
• pheaa.org• EducationPlanner.org• Youcandealwithit.com• Myfedloan.org• www.fafsa.gov• www.studentaid.gov – general financial aid info• www.studentloans.gov – information on federal
loans• www.americorps.gov