Presented By: Erica Shafer Associate Director of Financial Aid · • Student must work at...
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Presented By: Erica Shafer Associate Director of Financial Aid Colorado College
Transcript of Presented By: Erica Shafer Associate Director of Financial Aid · • Student must work at...
Presented By:Erica Shafer
Associate Director of Financial Aid Colorado College
• What Is Financial Aid?
• The Financial Aid Equation
– Cost of Attendance & EFC
• Applying for Financial Aid
• Types of Financial Aid
• Useful Online Tools
• Little Known Money Savers
• Q&A
Lesser Known Financial Aid Facts
Financial aid is funding used to cover costs associated with earning a college degree.
The primary responsibility for paying for college falls to the family and student with
financial aid helping fill the gap.
Merit-based aid is awarded by the
Admissions Office and is based on a student’s
admission application materials including
GPA and test score information.
Need-based aid is awarded by the Financial Aid Office
and is based on a family’s EFC calculations and the
school’s cost of attendance. Funding sources include
the federal government, state government, and the
college itself.
Schools emphasize merit vs. need-based aid differently in their
financial aid philosophies. For example, schools with lower
admission rates (highly selective) may focus on funding need-
based institutional awards instead of merit awards.
Cost of Attendance (COA)
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
- (Minus)
Financial “Need”
A student’s total financial aid cannot exceed their school’s COA
and the total of their need-based aid cannot exceed the value of
their financial need.
A school’s COA serves multiple purposes. It represents both the
expenses a student will incur by attending a college or university
AND a student’s budget for all financial aid.
• Tuition
• Fees
• Room
• Board
• Loan Fees
• Books & Supplies
• Personal Expenses
• Transportation Costs
Direct Costs + Indirect Costs = COA
Most components of a school’s COA is regulated by the federal
government. Certain component values may be set by state
government.
COA has a tendency to increase each year – But some
schools may lock in their tuition & fee prices for four years.
• FAFSA = Free Application for Federal Financial Aid
• Proprietor – Federal Government
• www.FAFSA.ed.gov
• Fill out using federal income tax information
• Can be completed manually or IRS tax information can be directly
imported into the application using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool
• FAFSA EFC is generally used in the Financial Aid Equation to award
federal and state financial aid based on a student’s need level. Some
schools may use it to award need-based institutional financial aid as well.
• Must reapply for federal financial aid every year using the FAFSA
• For dependent students, both student and a parent must digitally sign
the FAFSA using username you create.
• One student per FAFSA
• Prior Prior Year • Approved PPY legislation allows a family applying for financial aid to use
tax forms filed two years before their student starts college.
• For Example - for the 1920 school year families can use their 2017 tax
information (instead of 2018) to be awarded Federal Financial Aid.
• Eases rush of having to complete prior year taxes (2018 for example)
before March for Financial Aid application
• Allows FAFSA to be made available earlier for students applying as
early decision/early action applicants.
• FAFSA is available October 1st for each new school year
• If PPY information is not reflective of family’s reality on the day they fill
out the FAFSA (income, marital status, etc.), contact school
Never miss a deadline! Funds are always as available, so if you don’t turn
in needed paperwork, you may miss out.
• EFC calculated based off of:
• AGI
• Taxes Paid
• Number in Household
• Number in College
• Untaxed Income (tax deferred pensions, etc.)
• Investments (Do not include the family home)
• If student’s parents are divorced, only custodial parent’s
financial information is relevant to the application.
A student’s tax dependency status does not determine their
dependency status for financial aid.
Dependent Student’s Parents’
Household Comprised Of:
Data from 1 or 2 Parents Collected?
Single legal parent 1 Parent
Two legal parents who are married 2 Parents
Legal parent and step parent 2 Parents
Two legal parents who are unmarried
(regardless of gender), or who are of the
same sex and are married, as recognized
by a State or foreign country.
2 Parents
Data Collection Breakdown
Be as accurate as possible with your application answers. You may be
selected for an audit process called verification and required to
submit supporting documentation for your answers.
• Those
individuals or
families that
filed amended
2017 tax returns
or filed a foreign
tax return in
2017 cannot use
Data Retrieval
• Individuals
whose marriage
status changed
since filing their
2017 tax return
cannot use DRT.
• Need parent’s
FSA ID info to
preform DRT
• Wrong “year’s version”
• Wrong Social Security Numbers or Driver License number
• Incorrect marital status
• Not reporting untaxed income
• Withholding vs. U.S. income taxes paid
• Incorrect number in household and dependent students in college
• Including small business value (<100 employees)
• Forgetting to list the college
• Forgetting to electronically “sign” and submit FAFSA
• CSS Profile = College Scholarship Service Profile
• Proprietor – College Board
• Not free for all applicants. Based on student’s need, can ask for a fee
waiver from school’s financial aid office
• https://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile
• Currently available October 1st of each year
• Profile EFC is generally used in the Financial Aid Equation by private
universities (and a few public) to award institutional financial aid based
on a student’s need level.
• May have to reapply for institutional aid every year using the CSS
Profile
• One student per Profile
Certain schools only require a family to fill out the Profile once
and then guarantee to award their student financial aid based on
that one EFC calculation all four years.
• Components of EFC Calculation are customizable for schools
• EFC calculation often based off of:
• AGI
• Taxes Paid
• Number in Household
• Number in College
• Untaxed Income (tax deferred pensions, etc.)
• Investment Information (non-retirement investment holdings)
• Business Income & Deductions
• Supplementary Investment information (home equity, other real estate holdings,
business value, family cars, etc)
• If student’s parents are divorced, non-custodial parent]s information may be
required for EFC calculation.
• Because school’s can customize not only the components that make up a family’s
institutional EFC but also how they account for them in the calculation,
a family’s institutional EFC can vary from school to school
Garbage In Garbage Out
Also on FAFSA
GrantsScholarships
Work-Study
Student & Parent Education Loans
Grants
Award Amount (1819)
Criteria Guaranteed Application
Pell Grant $100 - $6095 EFC < $5486 Yes FAFSA
SEOG Grant $100 - $4,000 Financial Need No FAFSA
Federal
State
Award Amount (1819) Criteria Guaranteed Application
CSG $500 - $5000Financial Need & CO Resident
No FAFSA
COF$75 per Credit
Hour
CO Resident*No* FAFSA
Institutional
Award Amount Criteria Guaranteed Application
Inst. Grant Varies Financial Need No FAFSA or CSS Profile
Scholarships
Award Amount Criteria Guaranteed Application
AdmissionScholarship
VariesGPA, Test Scores,
Application Essays
NoAdmission Application
Departmental Scholarship
Varies
Major, Scholastic Record, and/or
NeedNo
AdmissionApplication or Additional App
Private
Award Amount Criteria Guaranteed Application
PrivateScholarship
Varies Varies No Varies
Institutional
FastWeb.com Scholarships.com Gocollege.com App: Scholly
Student & Parent Education Loans
Award Amount CriteriaInterest
Rate (1718)Guaranteed Application
Direct Sub
$3500 – Freshmen
$4500 – Sophomore
$5500 – Junior &
Senior
Financial Need
5.05%(Fixed)
No FAFSA
Direct Unsub $2000
None 5.05%(Fixed) Yes FAFSA
Direct Parent Plus
COA – Other Aid = amount
Approved Credit
7.6%(Fixed)
NoFAFSA & Credit
App at studentloans.gov
Private
Award Amount Criteria Interest Rate Guaranteed Application
Private LoanCOA – Other Aid
= amountApproved
CreditVaries
(Variable)No Varies
Federal
Work-Study
Award Amount Criteria Guaranteed Application
Federal WS Varies Financial Need No FAFSA
State WS VariesFinancial Need
No FAFSA
Federal & State
• Student must work at on-campus job or approved off-campus job to earn money• Wages paid directly to student, not to their bill• 1-40 hrs. a week• Flexible• Can be a very competitive award to receive• Best spent on paying for indirect costs instead of covering direct costs
Grants Scholarships
Work-Study
Subsidized Student Loans
Family’s Expected Contribution
(calculated by FAFSA & Profile)
Private Students Loans
Fed Unsub Students Loans
Parent Plus Loan
College COA
Need-based aid
Cost of Attendance (COA)
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
- (Minus)
Financial “Need”
A student’s total financial aid cannot exceed their school’s COA
and the total of their need-based aid cannot exceed the value of
their financial need.
Cost of Attendance [$40,000]
Expected Family Contribution [$10,000]
- (Minus)
Financial “Need” [$30,000]
A student’s total financial aid cannot exceed their school’s COA
and the total of their need-based aid cannot exceed the value of
their financial need.
Grants Scholarships
Work-Study
Subsidized Student Loans
Family’s Expected Contribution
(calculated by FAFSA & Profile)
Private Students Loans
Fed Unsub Students Loans
Parent Plus Loan
College COA =
$40,000
Need-based aid eligibility
cap = $30,000
= $10,000
*Private Scholarships*
• Financial need may affect your admission into certain colleges (Need Blind vs.
Need Aware)
• The policy for packaging students with institutional aid and some
federal/state aid is completely up to each university
• Do not be afraid of a school’s sticker price.
• Use Net Price Calculators!
• Don’t use your retirement to pay for your child’s college
• Do let schools know about any special family financial circumstances
• Do apply for outside scholarships but find out how school will apply them
to student’s account/financial aid package
• Do let schools know if you plan to utilize VA educational benefits
• Do plan for four years of attendance instead of just one
• Do research application requirements and deadlines
• Do submit forms by deadlines
• Financial aid offer is generally sent with the offer of admission
• Do review the offer and ask questions if needed (award letters will not look the same)
• Do accept or decline offer by deadline
• Gap Year
• Transferring from Community College
• One Year Masters Programs
• Earning a Degree Abroad
• Researching Schools that Meet Full Need
– https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search
• Thinking About ROI
– Should not borrow more than your first year salary
out of college
• EFC Estimators
– https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator
• Financial Aid Awareness Calculators
– https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/financialAwarenessCounseling.action?execution=e1s1
• College Planners
– https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/?affilliateId=cbhomeexp&bannerId=bf
• Financial Aid Award Comparison Tool
– https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/financial-aid-awards/compare-aid-calculator
• Major ROI Research
– http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/paths-to-professions-ROI.html
– http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-sort.html
• Grad School ROI
– http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/09/30/is-grad-school-worth-it-7-steps-to-calculating-the-roi/
• Business Mindset Resource
– http://www.wsj.com/public/page/rankings-career-college-majors.html
