FABO NEWS
DECEMBER 2015
FABO NEWS
December
2015
UPCOMING EVENTS
Spring is Scholarship Applying Time
In the Financial Aid Office, we get a lot of
questions about when to apply for scholarships and where to look for scholarships.
Spring semester is the best time to apply for
scholarships as it is when most organizations
offer applications for the upcoming academic
year.
At Alverno, we post any scholarships we hear
about on www.alverno.edu/scholarship. We
update the “Scholarship List” link that is the
bottom of this website at least monthly. This
is the best source for scholarships as we check
all the scholarships on this spreadsheet before posting them. Some of these scholarships
listed are national scholarships. Others are
only open to Alverno students.
Here are some of our favorite SALT scholarship articles:
1. Four Ways to Spot a Bad Scholarship
2. How to write a Winning Scholarship Essay
3. How to use a Scholarship Search Engine
In light of this popular Scholarship Applying
season, here are a few myths we often hear
about scholarships:
Myth #1: Only low-income families get help
paying for college.
JAN
16-17 FAFSA IS AVAILABLE
01
The 16-17 FAFSA can be completed
starting 1/1/16 at www.fafsa.gov.
2016
Remember, even if you do not have
your 2015 taxes completed, you can still complete the FAFSA using estimates. The priority
deadline for the 16-17 FAFSA is 3/1/16.
Regardless of how much money you and your
family have, you can still win scholarships.
JAN
STAFF RETURN TO CAMPUS
Myth #2: Once you have graduated from high
school it’s too late.
04
2016
Alverno College is closed from
12/23/15-1/3/16. Administrative
staff will be back on campus on
Also, if a local scholarship comes up and is
available to the majority of students, it will
appear on Campus News Net. Therefore,
make it a point to read this email each week.
Even if you missed out in high school, you still
have plenty of time; most scholarship programs for college students don’t specify age
requirements.
Another scholarship resource that students
often overlook is SALT. As you know, SALT is a
great resource for students on financial literacy related topics. It also offers its own national scholarship search engine. Plus, there is
a wide range of articles about scholarships on
SALT.
Myth #3: It is best to focus on a few awards
to maximize your odds of winning.
Applying for scholarships is a numbers game.
Applying for a large number of scholarships
can maximize your odds of winning.
If you have any questions regarding scholarships, please visit the Financial Aid Office.
3400 South 43rd Street
414-382-6262
Founders Hall 134
financial.aid@alverno.edu
1/4/16.
JAN
ELA IS DUE
22
Watch for your Account statement
2016 billing and submit your Educational
Loan Agreement by 1/22, at the
latest. The ELA is available in IOL.
FEB
10
SPRING SEMESTER CENSUS
DATE
At this point, if you drop or add
classes, your financial aid will not be
adjusted. It is always best to speak with a
Financial Aid Counselor before adding or
dropping any courses.
2016
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53234-3922
business.office@alverno.edu
alverno.edu
1
FABO NEWS
SCHOLARSHIP SPOTLIGHT
POLANKI (The Polish Women’s Cultural Club
of Milwaukee) College Achievement
Awards
$750-$2,000
Applications are due on January 18, 2016 .
Criteria:

Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or legal
permanent resident.

Applicant must be Junior, senior or
graduate status during the 2015-16
academic year in an accredited degree
program.

Applicant must be a Wisconsin resident
OR attending a Wisconsin college or
university.

Applicant must be of Polish ancestry
OR have studied Polish language, history, society, or culture OR significantly
engaged in Polish culture.

Applicant must have a minimum 3.0
GPA on a four-point scale.
Application can be picked up in the Alverno
College Financial Aid Office (FO 134). Please
see Natalie Jaskie in the Financial Aid Office
with any questions.
DECEMBER 2015
Protect Yourself from the Latest Debt
Relief Scam
Debt relief scams not only target students, but
anyone who has ever had a federal loan. The
latest scam, from an automated call system,
says that your loans have been flagged and
may qualify for a debt relief program. The
automated caller then asks you to press 1 to
speak with a live representative, or 2 to decline the offer. What would you do?
First, it’s important to ask yourself some questions. Is it a legitimate company? Try to find
some information about it on the internet.
This latest scam doesn’t mention a company
name, so that should be a red flag. Do you
even have loans? Our financial aid counselor
who got this call had no loans that could be
“flagged”. Is it a scam? Sometimes, just typing
the phone number into an internet search will
give an indication of whether this is a scam or
not.
er, students must meet a number of very specific conditions to qualify for such programs.
You can find general information about these
programs at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/
repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation. Your
lender is the only person who can help you
with these options, so you should always work
directly with your lender if you are concerned
about your loan payments.
Finally, use these following strategies to protect yourself from scams. The easiest thing to,
of course, is to not answer a call from a number you don’t recognize. In addition, consider
registering your phone number on both the
National Do Not Call Registry and the Do Not
Call Registry for your state. Doing both significantly reduces the number of unwanted spam
and telemarketing calls you get.
Second, be aware that there are legitimate
ways to get “relief” from your student loan
debt through forgiveness or discharge. Howev-
FINANCIAL AID IN THE NEWS
You may have heard something in the news
about the FAFSA being available earlier. This
change will not go into effect until the 17-18
FAFSA. The 17-18 FAFSA will be available
October 1, 2016 instead of January 1, 2017.
This FAFSA will also ask for your 2015 tax
information once again.
Another change to Financial Aid is the Federal Perkins Loan program has been discontinued. Students who received the Perkins loan
before the 15-16 academic year, are eligible
to continue to receive the loan (if eligible)
through their graduation date, as long as
they stay in the same program at the same
college as when the Perkins loan was previously disbursed. We encourage you to contact your legislator about the importance of
this loan program (https://www.usa.gov/
elected-officials) in hopes that the Perkins
loan program will be permanently reinstated.
Loan Forgiveness Is All About Where
You Work-Not What You Do
Article from saltmoney.org
To qualify, your loans must come from
the Direct Loan program, and you must make
According to the Consumer Finance Protection
all 120 payments on or after October 1, 2007
Bureau (CFPB), approximately one-quarter of
(as well as under specific repayment prothose working in the United States may be eligigrams: standard repayment, income-based
ble for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)—
repayment, Pay As You Earn, or incomeand most don’t even realize it. How could that
contingent repayment). Because of this, no one
be true? You'd think someone who did public
will be eligible for forgiveness until October of
service work would know it, right?
2017.
A Brief Look At PSLF
PSLF has other eligibility requirements. HowevPSLF eliminates ("forgives") the federal student er, the one that trips most people up (especially
loans of employees who work full time at public that one-quarter) is the type of work that
or nonprofit institutions while making 120 eligi- makes you eligible.
ble student loan payments.
(continued on next page)
3400 South 43rd Street
414-382-6262
Founders Hall 134
financial.aid@alverno.edu
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53234-3922
business.office@alverno.edu
alverno.edu
2
FABO NEWS
DECEMBER 2015
Loan Forgiveness ...continued from page 2
Job Vs. Employer
Most people associate PSLF with well-known
public service jobs, like teaching, social work,
or nursing. But, your job doesn't determine
whether you qualify—your employer does.
That makes a big difference.
So, you may be eligible for forgiveness if you
meet all the other criteria and work full time
for an eligible employer. And that's the same
for everyone at that employer—from the CEO
to the maintenance staff.
What Is An Eligible Employer?
Good question! You need to work for one of
the following:

A government organization, which includes federal, state, local, tribal organization or college/university, or public
child or family services agency

AmeriCorps

Peace Corps

A tax-exempt nonprofit under 501(c)(3)
of the IRS tax code (check with your employer)

A nonprofit organization that provides
one of following public services:

Emergency management

Military service

Public safety

Law enforcement

Public interest law services

Early childhood education

Public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly

Public health

Public education

Public library services

School library or other school based services
That long list means there are a lot of potentially eligible employers out there. You may
even be working for one right now.
What's even better is that your payments
don't have to be consecutive. You can bounce
in and out of the public or nonprofit workforce
without penalty (other than taking longer to
get your loans forgiven). Just remember that
only eligible payments made during eligible
employment count.
An Exception To Every Rule
Unfortunately, labor unions and partisan political organizations are not eligible—even if they
are nonprofits.
Also ineligible: religious organizations engaged
in religious activities that are related to religious instruction, worship services, or any
form of proselytizing. But, religious organization employees would be eligible as long as
the previous statement doesn't describe what
you are employed to do. For instance, professors at a Catholic or Baptist college would be
eligible.
Contact your student loan servicer if you have
questions, and make sure to download the
PSLF Employment Certification to track your
eligible employment and payments. If you
don't submit that certificate once a year, it will
be up to you to prove you worked at an eligible employer come forgiveness time.
If you still aren't eligible for PSLF, check out
SALT’s eBook 60+ Ways To Get Rid Of Your
Student Loans Without Paying Them to see if
you may be eligible for any other forgiveness
programs.
3400 South 43rd Street
414-382-6262
Founders Hall 134
financial.aid@alverno.edu
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53234-3922
business.office@alverno.edu
alverno.edu
3
From your Business Office and Financial Aid staff...
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