Financing Your Post High School Education - CUSD LYTLE

8/7/2019 Financing Your Post High School Education - CUSD LYTLE

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Chandler Unified School DistrictPresents..


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Where does it begin?Completing the application process!

University

Community College

Vocational Trade School


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What is Financial Aid?

Aid can come from many resources:

y Scholarships

y Grants

y Federal Work Study

y

Student Loansy Parent Loans

y Veterans Educational Benefits


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Scholarships Where do I look?

y Career Center Websites

y University, Community College and Vocational TradeSchool Financial Aid websites. Many scholarshipopportunities are for Senior High School Studentsonly!

y Pay close attention to deadlines!y Parents employment

y Community


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Grants

The criteria is predominately financial need-based

Types

y Pell (Max Pell Grant $5,550/year for 2011)

y Institutional and Other Federal Grants

(Grants are gifts they do not have to be repaid)

How are need-based Grants Awarded?

By completing the FAFSA!


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What is the FAFS

A?Free Application for Federal Student Aid

y Required application for Federal Student Aid andmany Scholarships.

y Get PIN at www.pin.ed.gov

y Online application at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

y

You should apply, even if you think you may notqualify.


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Loans

y Money students and parents borrow to help pay

college expenses

y Repayment usually begins 6 months after educationis finished

y Federal Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and PLUS

y Perkins and Private


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Loans

y Only Borrow what is really needed (half of the

amount that you request will be given eachsemester)

y Look at loans as an investment in your future

y Keep in mind there are aggregate limits


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FAFSA continued

What Goes On The FAFSA?

y Student and parents 2010 FederalIncome Tax information for 2011-2012

award yearyear

yy University, Community College andUniversity, Community College andVocational Trade school codeVocational Trade school code

yy Social Security Number (This is why itSocial Security Number (This is why itis so important students include socialis so important students include social

security number on their admissionssecurity number on their admissionsapplication. The numbersapplication. The numbers mustmust matchmatchup!)up!)

yy Household informationHousehold information


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FAFSA Application Processy Student and parent enter income and household information

y An EFC(Expected Family Contribution) is generated to determine how muchthe financial aid you qualify for based on the following factors:

1. Cost of living per state

2. How many people in the household3. How many are in college4. How much you paid in taxes5. How much income was earned

y The US Department of Education sends a SAR (Student Aid Report) to youvia email and electronically sends information to you in 1-3 days

y The school (s) you applied to will also receive your SAR report within 7 10business days. This report show you yourEFC.

y School sends Financial Aid award notification to you

y The student responds to school requests (not to the Federal Government)


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How is Financial Aid determined?

(COA) Cost of Attendance - EFC= Need

COA includes:Tuition/FeesRoom/BoardBooks

PersonalTransportation

Example:

COA $20,000

- EFC $6,000

Need $14,000

Most schools will try to meet yourNeed with a combination ofscholarship, grants, loans and work study.


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Common FAFSA Mistakes

y Leaving blank fieldsenter a '0' or 'not applicable' instead of leaving a blank. Toomany blanks may cause miscalculations and an application rejection.

y Using commas or decimal points in numeric fieldsalways round to the nearesty dollar (example 34000 and not 34,000)

y Listing incorrect Social Security Number or Driver's license numbercheck theseentries and have someone else check them too. Triple check to be sure.

y Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amountobtain your federal incometax paid amount from your income tax return forms. If you or your parents have notfiled your income tax for the 2010 year you can estimate based on your 2010 W-2.

y Listing Adjusted Gross Income as equal to total incomethese are not the samefigure. In most cases, the AGI is different than the total income. This mistake isparticularly common.

y Listing marital status incorrectlyonly write yes if you're currently married. Theywant to know what you're marital status is on the day you sign the FAFSA.

y Selecting the correct Aid Year make sure you select the school year you will beginyour post high school education (not the current school year).


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Common FAFSA Mistakes Continued

y Leaving the question about drug-related offenses blankIf you're unsure aboutsomething, find out before you submit your FAFSA instead of leaving it blank. Aconviction doesn't necessarily disqualify you from getting aid.

y Forgetting to list the collegeobtain the Federal School Code for the college youplan on attending and list italong with any other schools to which you've applied.

y Forgetting to sign and dateif you're filling out the paper FAFSA, be sure to sign it. Ifyou're filing electronically, be sure to obtain your PIN from www.pin.gov Your PIN is

your electronic signature and will always be assigned to you only.

y http:// www.fasfa.com/wrong website (a fee will be charged for utilizing their form)

y correct website. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ is free!

y Forgetting to include your parents signature When signing electronically - many

students forget to have their parents sign electronically too.

y Forgetting to check your on line student college account to see if additionalinformation is required from you and or your parents.

y Forgetting to check the box that you will be living on campus.


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Common FAFSA Mistakes Continued

y Forgetting to check that youwould like to be considered for certain grants and orwork study.

y Sending in a copy of your income tax returnsyou will be contacted by yourcollege(s) if your information needs verification; you don't need to send a copy of yourtax returns in with your application.

y Listing parent marital status incorrectlythe custodial parent's marital status isneeded; if they've remarried, you'll need to include the stepparent's (financial)information too.

y Custodial Parent is the parent you reside with. If parents are divorced or have filedfor legal separation and you reside equally with both parents, you need only report

one income.

y Correcting your FAFSA follow-up with the institutions (colleges) to make sure theyreceived your updated information.


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Need help completing the FAFSA?Do not pay someone to complete your FAFSA when you can have it donefor free!

y College Goal Sundayy

February 12th 2pm-4pmy February 13th 2pm 4pmy Over 30 locations statewide to choose fromy One-on-one help with financial aid

professionalsy www.collegegoalsunday.com


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Want a head start?Complete the FAFSA4caster

y Allows students and parents to get an early start on the financial aid process

by providing an estimate of their eligibility for federal student aid

y See the Features FAFSA4caster Tips that appear on their web reference

y FAFSA4caster will transfer all students and parents data to the FAFSA onthe web application

y Visit at: http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov

y Find out your Financial Need early


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What actions are needed once students

have been awarded their financial aid?

y Only the Federal Pell Grant will be accepted for the student by the

y college. Typically, all other grants and scholarships will need to be

y accepted by the student. In most cases, this acceptance will takeplace online. Check your schools student portal website frequently.

y Students will have to accept the dollar amount of loans they wish to

y receive online.

y

y To finalize loans, a Master Promissory Note and loan counselingmust be completed. Again, this is typically also done on line.


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What else do I need to know?

y You must reapply every year for financial aid.

y Make number of corrections minimal!y Start as early as January 1st.

y Check out this web site for the questions asked onthe FAFSA:

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/map.htm

Documents

Financing Your Post High School Education - CUSD LYTLE