How it works
Learning Objectives
Today we will learn
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Definition of packaging
Funds we typically package
Estimated Financial Assistance & its affect
Steps to package awards
Packaging categories & sequence
Packaging models
Overawards
Hands-on example
Notifying students of their awards
So what IS packaging?
Per the FSA Handbook
• Packaging is the process of awarding aid without
exceeding the student’s financial need
• More simply: it’s how you decide what students
are awarded (in what combination)
Funds we typically package
Federal programs
• Pell, SEOG, Perkins, Federal Workstudy, Direct
Loans, PLUS Loans, Graduate PLUS Loans, TEACH,
Iraqi & Afghanistan Service Grant
State programs
• TPEG, TEXAS Grant, TEG, BOT, CAL, Texas
Workstudy, Set-Aside Funds
Institutional programs
Estimated Financial Assistance
Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA) is taken
into consideration when packaging
Examples include (but not limited to)
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Pell (first source of aid)
Other federal, state, institutional grants
Subsidized & Perkins loans
Work study
Unsubsidized loans*
* Indicates funds that can replace
all or part of the EFC as long as
PLUS loans*
the COA is not exceeded.
Private loans*
Other Examples of EFA
ROTC living allowances
Scholarships (including athletic & ROTC)
Employer reimbursement of tuition & fees
Tuition and fee waivers
Fellowships and assistantships
Americorps funds
Exceptions to EFA:
– Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grant
– Prepaid tuition plan
– Federal veteran benefits
STEPS TO PACKAGING
Steps to Packaging
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
Packaging Steps: STEP 1
• Determine the COA & EFC
A typical COA consists of* 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
Packaging Steps: STEP 2
Award PELL Grant
Pell Grant awarded based on EFC
• Pro-rated based on enrollment status and
EFC range
Packaging Steps: STEP 3
Calculating Student’s Remaining Need
Cost of Attendance
- Expected Family Contribution
_____________________________
= Initial Need
- PELL award (if any)
- Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA)
__________________________________
Remaining Need to package other funds
Packaging Steps: STEP 3
• Calculating students’ non-need eligibility
Cost of Attendance
- PELL
- EFA
- Need-based aid awarded
________________________________
Room for non-need based aid
Packaging Steps: STEP 4
Package Campus-based, Federal, State,
Institutional
• Package other aid programs listed above
according to your school’s packaging
philosophy/policy
• Keep in mind that each school is different!
PACKAGING CATEGORIES &
SEQUENCE
Goals of an Administrator
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!
Packaging Guidelines
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
Packaging Categories
Schools can organize their packaging categories
based
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Enrollment status
Classification
Academic program or major field of study
Application date
Need Based vs. Non-Need Based
Residency Criteria
Packaging philosophy must be detailed in the
school’s policy and procedures
Packaging Sequence
What gets awarded 1st? 2nd?
Schools designate the order in which it
awards funds from various programs
Again, this can vary from school to school
It can depend on the categories designated
This should be noted in the policy and procedure
manual for your institution
PACKAGING MODELS
Six Basic Packaging Models
First-Come, First-Served
Gift Aid First
Self-Help Concept
Special Targeted Groups
Equity Concept
• Absolute Dollar Equity
• Fixed Percentage Equity
Individualized Packaging
First Come, First Served
Financial aid awards based on the order in
which completed applications are received
by the aid office until funds are exhausted
Benefits:
• Rewards students who get their stuff done early
Drawbacks:
• May not have funds available for students that
need it most
Gift Aid
Gift aid is awarded first and self help aid is
awarded to meet any remaining need
Benefits:
• Decreases likelihood of loan debt
Drawbacks:
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Limited gift aid funding
Self Help
Self-help assistance is awarded after the
family contribution and before any
consideration for gift aid
Benefits:
• Places same burden on all students
• Allows gift aid to those who do not have same
access to self-help
Drawbacks:
• Increases likelihood of higher loan debt
Targeted Groups
Separate packaging criteria for specific
groups of students in addition to specific
criteria required by law or regulation
Benefits:
• Easier to tie packaging philosophy to institutional
goals
Drawbacks:
• Tougher to defend – watch the “bait and switch”
Equity Concept
Absolute Equity
• All students are funded up to an institutional maximum fixed
dollar amount with gift aid before their remaining need is met
with self-help.
Fixed Percentage Equity
• An institutional maximum percentage level of NEED or COST for
all gift aid is used rather than a fixed dollar amount.
Benefits:
• Provides for an equitable distribution
Drawbacks:
• Difficulty in managing overawards and maintaining that
equitable distribution
Individualized
Packaging based on the FAA’s evaluation of
a student’s individual costs, resources and
needs
Benefits:
• Each financial aid packaged is customized
• Personal touch with each student
Drawback:
• Time consuming
• High subjectivity
Which Should You Use
This depends on your institution
Most institutions do not use one specific
model…
• A variation of one or more of these models is used
by institutions to fit in with that school’s
objectives
OVERAWARDS & PACKAGING
Overawards
Overawards occur when:
• Aid exceeds a student’s need or COA
How does this happen?
• EFC changes (due to verification or updates)
• COA changes (possibly due to enrollment)
• 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
HANDS-ON EXAMPLE
Packaging Example: Self Help
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
$20,280
EFC
$500
Scholarship
$2,500
Pell Grant
$5,280
AWARD MAXIMUMS
Perkins
$1,500
Work Study
$3,000
Institutional Grant $3,000
Direct Loan
$5,500
Packaging Example: Self Help
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Cost of Attendance
EFC
Need
Pell
Scholarship (EFA)
Remaining Need
Work study
Perkins
Stafford Loan
Remaining need before grants
Institutional Grant
Unmet Need
Anything Else????
20,280
(500)
19,780
(5,280)
(2,500)
12,000
(3,000)
(1,500)
(5,500)
2,000
(2,000)
0
Remaining unsub eligibility?
Packaging Example: Self Help
What if you are informed that the student is
receiving another $500 scholarship after
you have packaged?
• Does this fit in the COA as is?
• Does it fit within the need?
• If not what would you reduce?
NOTIFYING STUDENTS OF AWARDS
Notifying Students of Awards
Institutions are required to inform students:
• Amount of award(s)
• Terms and conditions of award
• Manner and timing of payments
Institutions have the option of confirmation or
notification
• Confirmation – Student formally accepts awards
• Notification – Student not required to accept award,
but must notify school if they do not want aid
Notifying Students of Awards
What if there aren’t enough funds?
• 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
Wrapping Up
Today we learned
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Definition of packaging
Funds we typically package
Estimated Financial Assistance & its affect
Steps to package awards
Packaging categories and sequence
Packaging models
Overawards
Hands-on example
Notifying students of their awards
QUESTIONS?