Financial Aid InformationApplying for Financial Aid

Presented by: Upward Bound

Presented to: Seniors and Parents

2

Financial Aid Information- Workshop Goals

• Give an overview of Financial Aid • Provide assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal

Student Aid (FAFSA).• Answer questions about financial aid.

3

What exactly is financial aid?

Financial Aid is monetary assistance to help pay for college. It can come from the government, a college or university, or a private source.•Financial Aid comes in many forms:

• Grants (free money, doesn’t have to be paid back).• Scholarships (can be merit or need based, doesn’t have to

be paid back, conditions apply for renewal. This money can be received directly from the college or if applied for by the student (outside scholarships).

• Loans (money that has to be paid back, most common loans are Federal Stafford Loans, PLUS loans, and private loans.)

• Work Study (money paid to the student weekly or bi-weekly in exchange for hours worked in a job on or off campus. This money is not taken off of your bill. It must be earned.)

4

How much financial aid can I get?

It depends on your financial need.•Financial need is determined by Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and cost of attendance (COA). •EFC comes from what you report on FAFSA•COA is tuition, fees, room and board, transportation, etc.•COA – EFC = financial need

• $40,000 (cost of attendance) - $15,000 (estimated financial contribution) = $25,000 in financial need.

5

When To Apply

•Apply for financial aid no earlier than the senior year in high school.•The FAFSA filing period begins January 1, 2013. Some schools have priority filing deadlines as early as February 1(check with the colleges where you are applying for admission). •Students can still complete the FAFSA past the priority filing date, but may miss out on major aid programs. (MA priority date: 5/1/13) •You do not have to be admitted to a college first to apply for financial aid. So apply as soon as you know the colleges your child is interested in applying to.

6

To be eligible for federal student aid, you must...•Be a United States citizen with a valid Social Security number or an eligible non-citizen with a social security number and alien registration number.•Have a high school diploma or General Education Development (GED).•Enroll as a regular student in an eligible degree or certificate program approved by the U.S. Dept. of Education.•Register (or have registered) for Selective Service (applies to males between the ages of 18 to 25).

Eligibility

7

For a student to be considered independent and provide no parental information he or she must be able to answer yes to at least one of the following:

• Since the age of 13, both parents were deceased, the student was in foster care, or the student was a dependent or ward of the court.

• Student is 24 years of age or older. • Student is married.• Student has child he or she provides more than 50% of financial support. • Student has other dependents he or she lives with and provides more than

50% of support. • Student is veteran or currently on active duty.• Student is working on Master’s degree.• Student is an emancipated minor as determined by a court.• Student is under legal guardianship as determined by a court.• Student was homeless (any time after July 1, 2010 as determined by an

official source).• Student has special circumstances that has kept the student from any

parental contact (and thus any parent financial support) and can be supported by three official sources. [i.e. guidance counselor, counselor, clergy, social worker, etc.]. This determination is left to each individual college.

Student Dependency Status

8

Documents/Information Needed To File for a FASFA

• Social Security numbers for the student and parent(s). • Date of Birth for student and parents.• Date parent(s) were married, divorced, separated, or widowed.• Alien Registration Number for student (if applicable)• W-2 forms and other records of money earned. (student and

parents)• Federal income tax returns for parent and student for 2012 [IRS

Form 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, foreign tax return]. You may use 2011 tax information to receive an estimated financial aid information until you complete your 2012 taxes. If you use 2011 information you will have to update it after you file for your 2012 taxes

• Untaxed income records - Social Security, Temporary Assistance to needy families, welfare/veterans’ benefit records.

See handout- Acceptable Forms Of Income Documentation for a complete list of all information and documents you may need.

9

FAFSA Tips

The following sections are best practices when filling out your financial aid application. These tips will help reduce your chances of having your FAFSA rejected for errors and will help you understand some unclear questions better.

10

Student Info Tips

• Your name must be written exactly as it appears on your Social Security card. (This includes spaces, hyphens, and multiple names)

• Do not use any nicknames.• Social Security Number will be matched with Social

Security Administration (SSA)• Contact the SSA to obtain your SSN or update info.1-

800-772-1213 or www.ssa.gov• Enter your permanent mailing address.

11

Student Info Tips (Continued)

• Male students between the ages of 18-25 can automatically register for Selective Service by filling in the “Yes” oval at the designated question.

• Male students must register with the selective service to receive federal student aid.

• You can choose NO on the FAFSA to this question but you will not be awarded any financial aid until documentation of your Selective Service Registration is received.

12

Student Info Tips (Continued)

Other Types of Student Financial Aid Question:• It is best to select both Loans and Work Study. • You can decline any loans when aid is awarded.• By leaving some boxes unchecked, you may limit your financial aid options.• Work-Study may give you the opportunity to get an on- or off-campus job at your school, if eligible.

13

Student Info Tips (Continued)

• Question: Have you ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs while receiving financial aid?

• You must answer this questions. Financial aid will not be awarded if question is left blank.

• The question ONLY applies if the applicant was convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs while receiving Federal Aid. So the answer regardless of prior circumstances is NO for students who have never attended college before (incoming Freshman). However, once a student has attended college and received financial aid he or she can have financial aid taken away if he or she is convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs from that point forward.

14

Parents Info Tips

• Your name must be written exactly as it appears on your Social Security card.

• The financial information must be for the parent(s) who are completing the FAFSA form. This includes a step-parent.

• Enter SSN as “000-00-00” if parent lives in a different country or does not have a SSN.

• If parents are divorced or separated:• Provide information of the parent the student lived with

most over the last 12 months.• Provide information of the parent that provided most of

the student’s support.

15

Parents Info Tips (cont.)

• Number of People Living in Household• Include the student, parent(s), and brothers/sisters living

in the same home.• Include other children outside of the home if your parents

will provide more than half their financial support between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. • Example: Include a child from a previous relationship

if the parent is providing more than half of the financial support for that child, even though he or she does not live in the household.

• Include other people only if they live with your parents and your parents will provide more than half their financial support between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.• Example: Include a grandmother if she lives with your

family and your parents are financially supporting her.

16

Parents Info (cont.)

• Number in College• Write down the number of people in the household who

will be college students.• Include the student applicant.• Do not include parent(s) if currently in or will be in

college.• If a person in your household can be counted as an

independent student do not include in number in college. (If this student could answer yes to any of the dependency questions he or she would not count as a dependant for the parent financially.)

17

Things To Do

• File the FAFSA electronically at:• www.fafsa.ed.gov

• Processed more quickly than the paper version (2wks).

• Use the FAFSA on the Web Worksheet to prepare for on-line processing.

• Make a copy of the completed FAFSA & supporting documents.

• Obtain a Certificate of Mailing form from the Post Office if you choose to do a paper FAFSA.

• Sign and date the form.• Check for completeness.• Do not write comments on the form.• Meet all priority filing deadlines. 1. Check with the

school regarding their priority deadlines first. 2. The state of Massachusetts has a priority deadline of May 1, 2013 for consideration for state grants and other forms of aid.

6

18

What happens NEXT?

• The federal FAFSA processor sends a Student Aid Report (SAR) to the student. This will be sent to the student’s email address if one was provided. Otherwise, it will be mailed to the address on file. (Go to the post office and file a change of address form if you move after completing the FAFSA. That way you will receive redirected mail.)

• The federal processor sends a SAR to the colleges and universities you specified.

• Colleges use the information from the SAR to award financial aid in the form of grants, loans, scholarships, or work-study.

• Colleges send students estimated or official financial aid offer letters. (Note if you use 2011 tax information this information will be estimated until you use 2012 information.)

19

Additional Resources

Websites• U.S. Department of Education:• www.studentaid.ed.gov• The College Board:

www.collegeboard.com• Electronic FAFSA:

www.fafsa.ed.gov• FinAid: The SmartStudent

Guide to Financial Aid: www.finaid.org

• PROFILE: https://profileonline.collegeboard.com

• Scholarships for undocumented students: www.maldef.org

• Collegiate Athletics: www.ncaa.org

Phone Numbers•U.S. Dept. of Education 800-433-3243

•FAFSA Processor 1-800-433-3243

•Free Publications 800-394-7084

20

Financial Aid Appointments

Please call us to set up an appointment to complete the FAFSA.•Phone# (508) 894-4398 Upward Bound Office Brockton High School- Yellow Guidance•Email: lsligh@asa.org, jkarner@asa.org Lecia Sligh or Jessie Karner;