Transcript Slide 1

Georgia Student
Finance Commission
Cherokee High School
Thomas Meunier
K-12 Student and School
Representative
July 21, 2015
GAcollege411 Homepage
• Five tabs across top of
screen navigate website
• Create an account to
gain full access to site
• Select role at bottom of
screen to gain
applicable information
• “Shortcuts” on the right
side point you to the
right direction
• “What’s New” keeps
hot topics visible
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Create an Account
• Step One: select role
of the user
– Middle School
Student
– High School Student
– College Student
– Adult
– Parent
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Creating an Account (cont.)
• Next, enter date of
birth
• There must also be
an association with a
school
– This is done by
clicking the “Find”
button and selecting
the high school or
middle school from
the pop-up window,
which will appear
after clicking “Find”
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Career Planning
• Learn About Yourself
– Assessments to help
students with guidance
• Explore Careers
– Tools for students to
research possible
careers
• Get a Job
– Tools that can be used
in a job search
• Voices
– Blogs about career
planning from peers
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Learn About Yourself
• Assessments
– Six different
assessments to
obtain information for
decisions about
possible careers
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Career Assessment –
Interest Profiler
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Career Assessment –
Work Values Sorter
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Career List
• GAcollege411
Careers
– There are 1332
careers on
GAcollege411 that
users are able to
research
– Data available such
as Education Level,
Average Salary and
Employment Outlook
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Career Description
• What They Do
– Gives descriptions
about expectations of
different careers
• Skills You Need
– Skills needed to be
successful in the
career
• Money and Outlook
– Expected salary and
potential demand at
the state level and
the national level
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Get A Job
• Resume Builder
– Helps with formatting
resume
• Job Interview
Practice
– Sample questions
expected to face at
an interview
• Thank-You Letter
Builder
– The lost art of
sending a thank-you
letter after a job
interview
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High School Planning
• Your Plan of Study
– Have a graduation
plan based on
requirements
• Planning Timeline
– Stay on track for
graduation
• High School Test Prep
– Test Prep for required
tests
• Voices
– Ask questions about
high school
experiences
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Succeeding in High School
• How To…
– Tips on how to
conquer many of the
challenges students
face while trying to
succeed in high
school
• Homework Helpers
– Links and resourceful
web sites that can
help with a variety of
topics
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College Planning
• Prepare for College
– Learn requirements
of different types of
schools
• Test Prep
– Practice admissions
tests
• Explore
Postsecondary
Schools
– Research schools
from all across the
nation
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School Finder
• Characteristics
– Ability to use 38
characteristics to help
pick the best school
possibilities for them
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School Profile
• Georgia
– There are 95
postsecondary
schools on the
GAcollege411
website
• Nationwide
– There are 6342
postsecondary
schools on
GAcollege411 from
across the nation
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SAT Sample Question
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Financial Aid Planning
• Georgia’s HOPE
Program
– Keep up to date with
all of the HOPE
regulations
• Find Scholarships
– Apply for scholarships
• Financial Aid
Applications
– Find needed
applications to apply
for state and federal
financial aid
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Financial Aid 101
• Provides answers to
FAQ’s that will help
make the financial aid
process less
confusing
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Find Scholarships
• Search for
Scholarships
– A keyword search
from a national
databank of
scholarships
• Scholarship Finder
– Search for
scholarship based on
characteristics
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Scholarship Finder
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Financial Aid Applications
• GSFAPPS
– Online application for
state programs
• FAFSA Transfer
Module
– Directly link to Free
Application for
Federal Student Aid
• This is the
application that will
apply student for all
forms of federal aid
such as federal
loans and and pell
grants.
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How Much Does College Cost?
• Costs to Consider
– Tuition and mandatory fees
– Room and board
– Books and supplies
– Transportation
– Personal expenses (clothing, laundry, entertainment,
medicine and healthcare, cell phone)
What is Financial Aid?
• Sources of Financial Aid
– Federal government
– State government
– Colleges and universities
– Community groups (religious organizations, civic
organizations, corporations, professional
organizations, etc.)
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Types of Financial Aid
• Merit Based Scholarship
• Need Based Grant
• Student or Parent Loans
• Service Cancelable Loans for Critical Field Service
• Employment Opportunities, Work Study
• Military Aid and Grants
• Savings Plans
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Scholarships
• 4 Types of Scholarships & Examples:
– Academic ability – Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship
– Artistic ability – Music Scholarship
– Athletic ability – Athletic Scholarship
– Affiliation with Groups – Rotary Club Scholarship
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Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program
• Largest Non-Need Based Program in the Nation
• Students must meet:
– Academic Requirement of a 3.0 GPA in academic
core classes*
– Citizenship
– Residency
– Enroll in a HOPE eligible school in Georgia
*Note: For Seniors who are on Technical Diploma, the
GPA is a 3.2 for in academic core classes
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HOPE Scholarship Award Amounts
• At a Georgia public college, university or technical
college:
– Award will cover tuition, HOPE-approved mandatory fees,
and a book allowance
• At a Georgia private college: New award amount for
2010:
– Award will be $4,000 per academic year for full-time study
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Maintaining the HOPE Scholarship
• HOPE Eligibility Checkpoints
– At the end of every Spring Semester
– 30 Attempted Semester Hours
– 60 Attempted Semester Hours
– 90 Attempted Semester Hours
– Students have a maximum of 127 attempted
semester hours (190 quarter hours) to be awarded
HOPE Scholarship funds.
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HOPE Grant Program
• For students enrolling in
a certificate or a diploma
program
• Does not consider grade
point average
• Covers tuition, HOPE
approved mandatory
fees, and a book
allowance of up to $100
per quarter or $150 per
semester
• Covers up to 63 semester
hours or 95 quarter
hours
Need
New
Picture
View HOPE GPA on GAcollege411
• Select “Your HOPE
GPA” under
“Shortcuts”
• Log in to your
GAcollege411
Account
• Enter Last Name,
Date of Birth, and
Social Security
Number
• Finally, select high
school from list
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Financial Aid Based on Need
• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity
Grant (FSEOG)
• Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership
Grant (LEAP)
• Academic Competiveness Grant (ACG)
• National Science and Math Access to Retain
Talent (SMART) Grant
• Perkins Loan
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Other Scholarship & Grant Programs
Administered by GSFC
• Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant Program
• HERO Scholarship
• Accel Program
• Public Safety Memorial Grant
• North Georgia College ROTC Grant
• HOPE GED Voucher
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How Do I Apply?
• Apply electronically at:
– www.GAcollege411.org
– or www.fafsa.ed.gov
– Apply for your PIN online
at: pin.ed.gov
– Check with the college
Financial Aid Office for
other applications that
may need to be
completed
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What Does the FAFSA Require?
• To complete the FAFSA,
you will need:
– Completed Tax Returns
– Information on untaxed
income, such as child
support
– Household Information
• To Receive a Paper
FAFSA:
– Call 1-800-4-FED-AID
– Download the paper
application at
FederalStudentAid.ed.gov
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What Does the FAFSA Do?
• The FAFSA will determine
the Expected Family
Contribution (EFC).
• The EFC estimates the
family’s ability to
contribute toward
educational costs.
• The EFC formula includes
financial information
collected on the FAFSA,
family size and number of
dependents.
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What Does the FAFSA Do?
College Cost of Attendance (Determined by the School)
Minus the Expected Family Contribution
Equals the Amount of Need Based Aid Student may Qualify
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Contact Us
• Call GSFC at 1-800-505-4732
• www.GAcollege411.org
• Email: [email protected]
Thomas Meunier
Georgia Student Finance Commission
[email protected]
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Questions?
Thank you!
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