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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FINANCIAL AID 2015-2016 WHAT IS FINANCIAL AID? Financial aid is money provided to students and families to help pay for educational expenses. TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID? Grants- do not need to be repaid, based on financial need Loans- money that must be repaid, parents/students can qualify Work-study- employment on campus to off-set the cost of college Some Scholarships- do not need to be repaid, awarded on merit, and some on financial need THE PATH TO FINANCIAL AID Apply for a PIN number Fill out Free Application to Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Expected Family Contribution is determined (EFC) Information only sent to those colleges the student selected College’s Financial Aid determines financial need College notifies student of Financial Aid Award Package Bring copies of Award Letters/Offers to the High School Counselor Accept or Deny the offers with the College HOW TO QUALIFY FOR FINANCIAL AID? fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid send to the colleges student applied to meet the deadlines (first come first serve) display financial need WHAT IS FINANCIAL NEED? Cost of Attendance – Expected Family Contribution = Financial Need WHAT IS COST OF ATTENDANCE (COA)? Tuition & Fees Room & Board Books, supplies, transportation, and misc. personal expenses Varies widely from college to college WHAT IS THE EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION (EFC)? Amount family is expected to contribute Calculated using data from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) must complete FAFSA to qualify for Financial Aid fill out electronically/paper English or Spanish it is free beginning January 1, 2016 colleges have their own FAFSA deadlines FAFSA form collects demographic & financial information federal government calculates the Expected Family Contribution or EFC colleges use the EFC to determine aid eligibility and award financial aid FEDERAL STUDENT AID PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (FSA PIN) Website: www.pin.ed.gov sign FAFSA electronically speeds processing FAFSA ON THE WEB Website: www.fafsa.ed.gov Benefits: use Internal Revenue Service data retrieval timely submission detailed instructions and “help” check application status on-line WWW.FAFSA.ED.GOV Click Here > STUDENT PORTION STUDENT Demographic Information STUDENT PORTION Heard this before? “I am not sure which college!” List up to 10! PARENT PORTION Did Parents File Taxes? PARENT PORTION Link to IRS • quick, easy • reduces documents requested by financial aid office • no need to order TAX TRANSCRIPT • avoid delays FAFSA PROCESSING RESULTS student notified of FAFSA processing results on-line or email review Student Aid Report (SAR) data for accuracy update tax information- can now link to IRS meet all deadlines follow up with financial aid office at colleges turn in any other documents requested by college wait for Award Letters bring copy of all Award Letters to Counselor’s accept or decline Award offers WHAT TO DO NOW… Student takes SAT or ACT (send scores directly to college) Check College Application Deadlines Complete College Applications (send scores, transcript, essays, etc.) Work on Scholarships Attend College Forums, Scholarship meetings, Apply for PIN numbers for FAFSA (parents and students) Plan on doing taxes early in order to use IRS Link on FAFSA FAFSA opens January 1st Attend FAFSA nights QUESTIONS?