

How it works
 Today
we will learn
o Definition of packaging
o Funds we typically package
o Estimated Financial Assistance & its affect
o Steps to package awards
o Packaging categories & sequence
o Packaging models
o Overawards
o Hands-on example
o Notifying students of their awards
 Per
the FSA Handbook*
o Packaging is the process of awarding aid without
exceeding the student’s financial need
o More simply: it’s how you decide what students
are awarded (in what combination)
 Federal
programs
o Pell, SEOG, Perkins, Federal Workstudy, Direct
Loans, PLUS Loans, Graduate PLUS Loans,
TEACH, Iraqi & Afghanistan Service Grant
 State
programs
o TPEG, TEXAS Grant, TEG, BOT, CAL, Texas
Workstudy, Set-Aside Funds
 Institutional
programs
 Estimated
Financial Assistance (EFA) is taken
into consideration when packaging
 Examples include (but not limited to)
o Pell (first source of aid)
o Other federal, state, institutional grants
o Subsidized & Perkins loans
o Work study
o Unsubsidized loans*
o PLUS loans*
o Private loans*
* Indicates funds that can
replace all or part of the EFC as
long as the COA is not exceeded.
 ROTC
living allowances
 Scholarships (including athletic & ROTC)
 Employer reimbursement of tuition & fees
 Tuition and fee waivers
 Fellowships and assistantships
 Americorps Funds
 Exceptions to EFA:
o Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grant
o Prepaid tuition plan
o Federal veteran benefits
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
Determine the student’s Cost of Attendance (COA) budget &
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
Award Federal Pell Grant
Calculate the student’s financial need
Package campus-based, state, federal, and institutional
funds
Package or refer students to other supplemental sources of
assistance
 Determine
A typical COA consists of*
the COA & EFC
EFC comes from…?
o Tuition & Fees
o Books & Supplies
o Room & Board
o Transportation
o Personal Expenses
* COA amounts are determined by the institution & could include PJ adjustments

Award PELL Grant
 Pell
Grant awarded based on EFC
o Pro-rated based on enrollment status and EFC
range

Calculating Student’s Remaining Need
Cost of Attendance
-Expected Family Contribution
-EFA
_____________________________
Initial Need
-PELL award (if any)
__________________________________
Remaining Need to package other funds

Calculating students’ non-need eligibility
Cost of Attendance
-PELL
-EFA
-Need-based aid awarded
________________________________
Room for non-need based aid

Package Campus-based, Federal, State, Institutional
o Package other aid programs listed above
according to your school’s packaging
philosophy/policy
o Keep in mind that each school is different!
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




Responsibility for paying for college rests with the student
and their family
Federal Pell Grant is the foundation of undergraduate
student aid packages
Families can borrow from some aid programs to replace all
or a portion of their EFC
Scholarships cannot be substituted for the EFC
Must take expected financial assistance (EFA) into account






Provide as many students as possible with resources to
meet their financial need
Distribute aid in an equitable manner
Provide assistance that will be the most beneficial to the
student
Manage financial aid funds
Recruit and retain students
Meet areas of national need
Sometimes these are competing goals!
 Schools
can organize their packaging
categories based
o Enrollment status
o Classification
o Academic program or major field of study
o Application date
o Need Based vs. Non-Need Based
o Residency Criteria
 Packaging
philosophy must be detailed in the
school’s policy and procedures

What gets awarded 1st? 2nd?
 Schools
designate the order in which it
awards funds from various programs
o Again, this can vary from school to school
o It can depend on the categories designated
o This should be noted in the policy and procedure
manual for your institution
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 First-Come,
First-Served
 Gift Aid First
 Self-Help Concept
 Special Targeted Groups
 Equity Concept
o Absolute Dollar Equity
o Fixed Percentage Equity
 Individualized
Packaging
 Financial
aid awards based on the order
in which completed applications are
received by the aid office until funds are
exhausted
 Benefits:
o Rewards students who get their stuff done early
 Drawbacks:
o May not have funds available for students that
need it most


Gift aid is awarded first and self help aid is awarded to meet
any remaining need
Benefits:
o Decreases likelihood of loan debt

Drawbacks:
o Limited gift aid funding
 Self-help
assistance is awarded after the
family contribution and before any
consideration for gift aid
 Benefits:
o Places same burden on all students
o Allows gift aid to those who do not have same
access to self-help
 Drawbacks:
o Increases likelihood of higher loan debt
 Separate
packaging criteria for specific
groups of students in addition to specific
criteria required by law or regulation
 Benefits:
o Easier to tie packaging philosophy to
institutional goals
 Drawbacks:
o Tougher to defend – watch the “bait and switch”

Absolute Equity
o All students are funded up to an institutional maximum fixed dollar
amount with gift aid before their remaining need is met with selfhelp.

Fixed Percentage Equity
o An institutional maximum percentage level of NEED or COST for all
gift aid is used rather than a fixed dollar amount.

Benefits:
o Provides for an equitable distribution

Drawbacks:
o Difficulty in managing overawards and maintaining that equitable
distribution
 Packaging
based on the FAA’s evaluation
of a student’s individual costs, resources
and needs
 Benefits:
o Each financial aid packaged is customized
o Personal touch with each student
 Drawback:
o Time consuming
o High subjectivity
 This
depends on your institution
 Most institutions do not use one specific
model…
o A variation of one or more of these models is
used by institutions to fit in with that school’s
objectives
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 Overawards
occur when:
o Aid exceeds a student’s need or COA
 How
does this happen?
o EFC changes (due to verification or updates)
o COA changes (possibly due to enrollment)
o Additional financial assistance comes in (late
scholarship, exemption payment)
• This is the student’s responsibility to report to us
 When
overawards happen, we make
adjustments
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

Sally is attending Cowboy College (CC). She is a dependent
senior. CC employs a self-help packaging model and awards
work study prior to loans.
COWBOY COLLEGE
COA
$20,000
EFC
$500
Scholarship
$2,500
Pell Grant
$4,800
AWARD MAXIMUMS
Perkins
$1,500
Work Study
$3,000
Institutional Grant $3,000
Direct Loan
$5,500
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cost of Attendance
EFC
Need
Scholarship (EFA)
Pell
Remaining Need
Work study
Perkins
Stafford Loan
Remaining need before grants
Institutional Grant
Unmet Need
Anything Else????
20,000
(500)
19,500
(2,500)
(4,800)
12,200
(3,000)
(1,500)
(5,500)
2,200
(2,200)
0
Remaining unsub eligibility?
 What
if after you have packaged, you are
informed that the student is receiving
another $500 scholarship?
o Does this fit in the COA as is?
o Does it fit within the need?
• If not what would you reduce?
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
 Institutions
are required to inform students:
o Amount of award(s)
o Terms and conditions of award
o Manner and timing of payments
 Institutions
have the option of confirmation or
notification
o Confirmation – Student formally accepts awards
o Notification – Student not required to accept award,
but must notify school if they do not want aid
 What
if there aren’t enough funds?
o Caveat may be included on award notification
stating that the award is subject to the
availability of funds and may be revised if funds
not available or eligibility changes
 Today
we learned
o Definition of packaging
o Funds we typically package
o Estimated Financial Assistance & its affect
o Steps to package awards
o Packaging categories and sequence
o Packaging models
o Overawards
o Hands-on example
o Notifying students of their awards
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