Transcript Slide 1

WELCOME
Financial Aid Night
January 24, 2013
Brenda Thomas
Financial Services Specialist
Office of Financial Aid
Western Michigan University
Tonight’s Agenda
• What is Financial aid?
• What types of aid are available?
• What makes me eligible?
• The FAFSA application process!
• What should I expect after I file for aid?
• Who do I call with questions or changes?
What is Financial Aid?
• Scholarships:
Money that does not have to be paid back.
Awarded on the basis of merit, skill, or unique
characteristic
• Grants:
Money that does not have to be paid back
Usually awarded on the basis of financial need
• Loans:
Money students and parents borrow to help pay
college expenses. Look at as an investment
Repayment usually begins after education is finished
Only borrow what is really needed
• Employment opportunities:
Allows student to earn money to help pay educational
costs in the form of a paycheck or non-monetary
compensation, such as room and board
PIN Web Site
• PIN serves as electronic
signature on ED
documents, including
electronic promissory
notes.
• PIN is used to gain access
to ED systems, including:
Corrections on the Web
NSLDS
Direct Loan Origination
Direct Loan Servicing
Loan Consolidation
Sign FAFSA electronically
Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA)
• Initial step in the application process
• Core document to apply for financial aid
• Used to calculate an [EFC]
Expected Family Contribution
• Confirms certain eligibility requirements
• Cannot submit earlier than 1/1/2013
• Access to FAFSA4caster
CAUTION!
• Avoid being charged a fee to file the FAFSA
Completion and processing of the FAFSA are FREE
• To complete and file the FAFSA on the Web go to
www.fafsa.gov
• Contact the financial aid office if you need help in
completing the FAFSA
Completing FAFSA on the Web
 www.fafsa.gov
 Access to FAFSA4caster
 Parents with more than 1 college student can transfer
data from original application to others
IRS Data Retrieval Match
Will be available
Mid February 2013
NOTE: after the IRS Data Retrieval Match is available…
Recently filed, data may not be available to transfer –tax information
electronically filed (within the last 2 weeks) or submitted by mail
(within the last 8 weeks) may not be available.
There is a “View option to link to the IRS” link where you can check to
see if tax information from the IRS is available.
IRS Data Retrieval Tool
• Allows you to securely transfer your tax
information directly to the FAFSA
• You must complete and submit your 2012 federal
income tax return to use this tool
• If you submit the FAFSA before your taxes are filed
or you use estimated data, you WILL need to go
back and update the FAFSA after taxes are filed
[If you do not use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you
will need to supply a tax transcript from the IRS]
IRS Data Retrieval Match
 The student and parents, when applicable, are required to respond
to the following filtering question.
Check all that apply or check None of the Above.
 My tax filing status is Married Filing Separately
 My tax filing status is Head of Household
 I filed an amended tax return
 I filed a Puerto Rican or foreign tax return
 I recently filed my taxes
 None of the above
IRS Data Retrieval Match
If response is anything but “None of the Above”
An applicant will receive the message,
“Based on your response, you are not eligible to transfer
your information from the IRS into this FAFSA.”
Those who select “None of the Above”, would be
encouraged to use the tool.
Message: “Based on your response, we recommend that
you transfer your information from the IRS into this FAFSA.
You Can Not Use the IRS Data
Retrieval Tool if your tax filing
status is:
• Married – filing separately
• Head of Household
• Residents of U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, Guam etc.
• You amend your 1040 [1040X]
• Recently filed your 2012 Taxes
• If you have an outstanding balance due to the Federal
Government
How The Data Are Used?
• In a statutory formula called
the Federal Methodology
• Looks at income, assets, and
size of family to determine
family’s “ability to pay” for
education
• Result is called the [EFC]
Expected Family Contribution
…One Log-In for all Applicants
Frequent FAFSA Errors
• Social Security Numbers
• Divorced/remarried parental information
• Income earned by parents/stepparents
• Untaxed income
• U.S. income taxes paid
• Household size
• Number of household members in college
• Real estate and investment net worth
Am I Dependent or
Independent?
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Born before January 1, 1990
Enrolled in a graduate program
Married
Veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces or currently serving on Active duty in the
US Armed Forces for purposes other than training
Has child(ren)/dependents for whom he/she provides more than half
support
Both parents are deceased
Is/was an orphan, ward of the court or in foster care at any time since
student turned age 13
Is/was an emancipated minor as determined by a court in state of legal
residence
Is/was under legal guardianship until age18, as determined by a court in
state of legal residence
Is/was an unaccompanied youth who was homeless or at risk of being
homeless
Most high school students will not be independent but, in extraordinary circumstances, the
college aid administrator can override dependency.
Contact the college aid office for help.
Dependent Students…
Which parent files?
• If the parents are both living and married to each other, answer
the questions about both of them.
• If the parent is widowed or single, answer the questions about
that parent only.
• If the parents have divorced or separated:
Where does the student live the most?
If exactly equal time, who provides most support?
NOT: * who claims student on taxes
* who will result in highest eligibility
• If this parent has remarried as of today, answer the questions
about both that parent and the person to whom the parent is married
(ie... Step parent)
Who is NOT the Parent
When completing the FAFSA
• Grandparents
• Legal Guardians
• Foster Parents
• Aunts/Uncles
• Older Siblings
–Unless the student was legally adopted
prior to age 13
FAFSA Homeless Youth
Questions 55-57
A student is eligible for homeless youth status if
he/she meets the homeless definition and was
determined to be homeless by his/her high
school or school district homeless liaison, the
director of a runaway or homeless youth center,
or HUD.
A student is also eligible for homeless youth
status if he/she meets the homeless definition,
but was determined to be homeless by the
financial aid office.
FAFSA Household Question 72
Siblings of dependent student are included in the
parents’ household if
Parent will provide more than 50% of support for
sibling during award year
OR
Sibling would be dependent if filed FAFSA
Foster children are not in the household and
foster payments are not income
TIDBITS
In-kind support is not untaxed income on FAFSA
Examples – support other than money
• Food
• Clothing
• Living rent-free
Federal law defines marriage as legal union of man
and woman
Same-sex couples cannot be married on the FAFSA
What’s Next???
• Student Aid Report
• Making corrections
• Completing the file
• Determining need
• Award Letters
FAFSA Results Notification
• If paper FAFSA was filed and student did not provide
an e-mail address a Paper Student Aid Report (SAR)
will be mailed to the student.
•If FAFSA filed on line and student did not provide an email address student will receive a SAR
acknowledgement
•If paper FAFSA or FAFSA filed on line and student
provided an e-mail address, student will receive an
email notification containing a direct link to the
student’s SAR on line.
Student Aid Report (SAR)
• The SAR summarizes the data provided on the
FAFSA as well as the federal calculations.
• Indicates how much Federal Pell Grant they maybe
able to receive
• Displays the official EFC [expected family contribution]
• Only last 4 digits of parent’s SSN will display on
paper and electronic SARs.
• Submit to college only if requested.
Making Corrections on the Web
• Available regardless if original application was paper or
electronic.
• Student’s PIN required to access.
• Parents must have PIN to correct parent information.
• Pop-up message will appear when student tries to
correct transaction already corrected by a school.
Completing the file
• Financial Aid Office may request
Verification worksheets with documentation
Tax transcript from the
Other……….
Determining Need:
Your
School’s
estimated
Your School’s estimated
Cost
of Attendance
Cost of Attendance
• Tuition and fees
• Tuition and fees
• Room and board
• Room and board
• Books, personal and travel expenses
• Books, personal and travel expenses
- Expected Family Contribution
- Expected Family Contribution
= Financial Need
= Financial Need
Calculating Financial Need
[Example based on 2012-13 figures]
Cost of Attendance
WMU(Fall & Spring)
Tuition and fees
Room and Board
Books and supplies, Personal,
Travel
Estimated Financial
Contribution (subtract)
Total Financial Need
FA Award with $0 EFC
FA Award with $3600 EFC
FA Award with $7000 EFC
$10,038
$7,849
$10,038
$7,849
$10,038
$7,849
$4,383
$4,383
$4,383
$0
$22,270
($3,600)
$18,670
($7,000)
$15,270
$5,500
$4,000
$2,000
$1,200
$3,500
$2,000
$18,200
$2,000
$200
$2,000
$0
$3,500
$2,000
$9,700
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$5,500
$5,500
$22,270
$18,670
$15,270
$18,200
$4,070
$9,700
$8,970
$5,500
$9,770
Potential Awards
Pell
SEOG
WS
Perkins
Subsidized Loan
Unsubsidized Loan
Total Estimated Award
Remaining Unmet
Need
Toal Financial Need
Total Estimated Award
(subtract)
Remaining Unmet Need
Award Letters
• Colleges will mail/email an Award Letter to the
student, stating offered financial aid
• Please read important information enclosed with
Award Letter
Instructions for accepting awards
How awards will be disbursed
Special Circumstances
• Change in employment status
• Medical expenses not covered by insurance
• Change in parent marital status
• Unusual dependent care expenses
Michigan Financial Aid Programs
• Deadline is March 1, 2013
• Michigan Competitive Scholarship
• Michigan Tuition Grant (private schools only)
• Tuition Incentive Program (TIP)
www.Michigan.gov/osg
[email protected]
1-888-4-GRANTS (888-447-2687)
Additional Financial Aid
• College Scholarships
Freshman Scholarships
Department Scholarships
• Private donors
Parents’ employers
Community organizations
www.fastweb.com
Don’t Get Hooked by Misleading
Scholarship Offers
• College aid offers are
everywhere
Internet
Mail
Newspapers
Magazines
Telephone
Warning Signs of Scam
• High application fees
• Guaranteed winnings
• Everybody is eligible
• Masquerading as federal agency
• Claims of government approval
• Time pressure
• Unusual requests for personal information
• Visit: http://www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams
Net Price Calculator
• All schools are required to have a “Net Price Calculator”
on their web sites as of October 29, 2011
• The Net Price Calculator allows students to calculate how
much they will pay (approximately) at the school
• School supplies info on cost and general gift aid for
students in the family’s income range
• Cost minus gift aid equals “Net Price”
• The family can then compare net price for the school(s)
they are considering
College Goal Sunday
www.micollegegoal.org
STUDENTS!
Additional Resources:
www.studentaid.gov/fafsa/filling-out
www.studentaid.gov/fafsa/next-steps
www.finaid.org
www.ed.gov
www.facebook.com/federalstudentaid
Questions?
Contact your Financial Aid Office