College Goal Kentucky 2015
Financing a College Education
The College Goal Sunday program was created by the Indiana Student Financial Aid
Association with funding from Lilly Endowment, Inc., and with supplemental support from
the Lumina Foundation for Education.
What is Financial Aid?
• Scholarships
• Grants
• Loans
• Employment
Opportunities
Sources of Financial Aid
• Private
• Institutional
• State
• Federal
Types of Financial Aid
• Merit-Based
• Need-Based
Merit-Based Financial Aid
Private Scholarships
• Free Scholarship Searches
• High School Counselors
• Student and Parent Employers
• Organizations to which you or
your family members belong
• Paying for help?
Beware!
Institutional Aid
• Apply for admission to the college of your
choice
• Ask for scholarship applications from the
admissions office
• Ask if a separate financial aid application is
required
• Ask for scholarship information from
departments specific to your major
• Consider R.O.T.C.
Additional Requirements for Some Schools:
CSS/Financial Aid Profile
•
Many colleges (mostly private out of
state) and scholarship organizations
use the data on CSS/Financial Aid
Profile to assist in awarding
nonfederal aid.
•
Visit profileonline.collegeboard.com
to find out if your school or
scholarship of interest requires this
form.
•
Students are charged $25 for initial
application and one college or
program report; additional reports
are $16.
Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship
(KEES)
•
After high school graduation, KEES becomes available for
use at a Kentucky college or university
•
Students pursuing a degree in a program of study not
offered in Kentucky may be able to use their KEES outof-state through the Academic Common Market
– Does not apply to colleges in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois
•
Award renewable for up to 8 semesters within 5 years of
high school graduation
•
Administered by Kentucky Higher Education Assistance
Authority (KHEAA)
– www.kheaa.com
Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship
(KEES)
•
Merit scholarship funded by net KY lottery
proceeds
•
KY high school students earn KEES awards for
each yearly GPA of 2.5 or better
•
•
Cumulative GPA maximum is $2,000
Students with at least one GPA award can earn
bonus awards:
•
•
•
ACT scores of 15 or better earn up to $500
SAT scores of 710 or better earn up to $500
Free/reduced lunch students earn $200-$300 for each
qualifying AP and/or IB exam score
Need-Based Financial Aid
Definition of Need
Cost of Attendance (COA)
- Expected Family
Contribution (EFC)
______________________
= Financial Need
Cost of Attendance
Always includes:
• Tuition, Room and Board
• Books and supplies, transportation, and
miscellaneous personal expenses
• Loan fees
May include:
• Study abroad costs
• Dependent or elder care expenses
• Expenses associated with a disability
• Expenses for cooperative education program
Need Varies Based on Cost
1
X
2
Y
3
Cost of
Attendance
(Variable)
Z
EFC
EFC
Expected Family
Contribution
Need
(Constant)
(Variable)
State Programs
• College Access Program Grant (CAP)
•
•
Available to students at public and private
colleges in Kentucky
Award amount currently $1,900 per year
• KY Tuition Grant (KTG)
•
•
Available to students at Kentucky’s private
colleges.
Award amount currently $2,930 per year
Federal Aid Programs
• Federal Pell Grant
• TEACH Grant
• Campus-Based Programs
–Federal Perkins Loan
–Federal Work-Study (FWS)
–Federal Supplemental Educational
Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
Federal Loan Programs
William D. Ford Direct Loan Program
– Federal Stafford Loan
• Subsidized (need-based): interest does not accrue while
student is in school, current fixed interest rate of 4.66%
• Unsubsidized (non need-based): interest accrues while
student is in school at current fixed rate of 4.66% (Grad
Unsub 6.21%)
– Federal PLUS Loan – 7.21%
• Parent can borrow up to Cost of Attendance – All
Financial Aid
• If denied, student can receive up to $4,000 more per
year in Stafford unsubsidized loan funds
– Rates are based on loans disbursed between 7/1/14 and June 6/30/15.
New rates will be announced by July 1, 2015.
Priority Application Deadline
• As soon as possible on or
after January 1, 2014
– Receipt date for completed Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in Kentucky
• To ensure maximum consideration for Kentucky
state aid programs
• Schools may have unique priority deadlines for
institutional funds
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
– Family’s personal and financial information
required to perform need analysis is collected on
the FAFSA.
– Can use estimated 2014 income and tax
information, if necessary
– Filing options
• Electronically through FAFSA on the Web: www.fafsa.gov
• Sophisticated on-line edits and skip logic so that errors are less
likely to be made
• On-line help is available for each question
• Paper version may be requested if online submission is not
an option (not recommended)
Getting Ready
•
Before starting the FAFSA, gather:
– Student driver’s license
– Student Alien Registration Card
– Student and Parent
Social Security cards
2014 W-2 Forms and other records of
money earned*
2014 federal income tax return*
Records of untaxed income
Current bank statements
Business, farm, and other real estate records
Records of stocks, bonds, and other investments
* Can estimate this information if not available at time of initial FASFA
submission.
Federal PIN www.pin.ed.gov
• PIN (Personal Identification Number)
serves as the electronic signature on
ED documents
• Both student and at least one
custodial parent need PIN to sign the
FAFSA electronically
• May be used to:
– Check on FAFSA status
– Verify and correct FAFSA data
– Add additional schools to receive
FAFSA data
– Change home and e-mail addresses
Apply for student and
parent PINs at
www.pin.ed.gov
www.FAFSA.gov
 Do NOT go to a “.org”
or “.com” website
 Start A New FAFSA
for
 Initial FAFSA Entry
 Login for
 Renewal Application




Entry
FAFSA Corrections
Providing Signatures
Continuing a Saved
FAFSA
Viewing Transaction
History
Basic Student Information
Name, Social
Security and
Date of Birth
Notice “Help
and Hints”
follows along
every page
to help
ensure
accuracy.
“Get Started” page –
 As an
entering
freshman for
Fall 2015 be
sure you are
filing the
2015-2016
FAFSA
 PIN Status
Introduction Page
Student Demographic Information
 Opportunity to
check Name,
DOB, SS#
 Address, Phone
#, Email Address
 Marital Status –
As Of Today
 Driver’s License
Information
 Notice the “Save”
Option
Student Demographic Information
Citizenship
Selective Service
Degree Status - Most
High School Seniors
will answer:
 High School Diploma
 Never attended
college / 1st yr.
 1st Bachelors Degree
 Bachelors degree
not earned by July 1,
2014
Work Study
Highest Grade
completed by parents
The Foster Care Question
Congress has asked
FAFSA to help identify
students who have been
in foster care
Help and Hints will
offer guidance in
answering this question
Answer will not impact
eligibility for federal or
state aid
Student answering
“yes” will be provided
with information about
additional benefits they
may qualify for
High School Question
 Student enters
the name, city
and state of
the high school
they attended
 Student selects
Confirm to
retrieve the
results
Error Icon Identifies Errors
An error icon
will appear with
a pop-up box
indicating the
nature of the
error.
 A RED X will
also display to
the left of the
field where the
information
needs to be
corrected.
School Selection Step
Student may enter
up to 10 colleges by
entering Federal
School Code or
Searching on State,
City or School
Name
School Selection Summary
 Student will
select the
housing plan for
each school listed
 Student may
choose to change
the positioning of
any school on the
list (will display
only if the
student selects
more than one
school)
Dependency Determination
 13 questions
determine a
student’s
dependency
status
Dependency Results
Most High School
students will have to
provide parental
information based on the
way they answer the
Dependency questions.
If the student moves
forward without
providing the parental
information they will
most likely have to
provide some additional
documentation of
circumstance to the
college or university.
Parent Demographic Information
 Notice the slight
change in the color of
the web layout
 Dark Blue refers to
the student
 Light Purple refers
to the parent
 Similar Demographic
Questions will be asked
Name, Social Security
and Date of Birth
 Parents will also be
asked about their
Household Size and the
Number of individuals
going to college
Parent Financial Information
 Remember you are
answering questions
about the previous
year’s tax information
 If you have not
completed your 2014
taxes you are allowed
to use your best
estimates. Additional
instruction is provided if
you are estimating
income.
Parent Financial Information
 Type of tax return
 AGI and work
income
 What is a dislocated
worker?
37
Parent Financial Information
 Taxes Paid
 Number of
exemptions
 “Help and Hints”
can be a useful tool
to answer:
 Additional
Financial
Information
 Untaxed Income
38
Parent Financial Information Cont.
Some parents of
dependent students will
be presented with asset
questions
“Help and Hints” can be a
useful tool in answering
these questions
39
Student Financial Information
 Notice the slight change in
the color goes back to dark
blue to indicate you are
now answering questions
about the student
 Student financial questions
will be nearly identical to
those of the parent
 Students may also estimate
income and tax information
for 2014 if taxes haven’t
been filed yet
If the parent or student 2014 tax return has
already been completed
 The IRS Data Retrieval is
scheduled to be
available on February 1,
2015.
 Electronically filed tax
return information will
be available from the IRS
in 2 weeks, data from
paper tax returns will be
available in 8 weeks.
 Also available in
Corrections
IRS Data Retrieval
Once the applicant
has successfully
authenticated, tax
data will be
presented and the
applicant will have
the option to
“Transfer” the tax
information to the
FAFSA
Sign & Submit
 The best way to
sign the FAFSA is
by using your
PIN
 Both student and
parent need to
provide a PIN for
electronic
signature
 Note: Submitting
the FAFSA
without
signatures will
cause a delay
Confirmation Page
Includes –
Confirmation Number
Data Release Number
(DRN)
EFC estimate
Pell Grant and Direct Loan
estimates
Option for parents to
transfer info to an
application for a sibling
Statistics for each college
on the FAFSA
Verification
• Application
selected by federal
government or by
school
• Confirms accuracy
of information
reported on FAFSA
If selected, what will you need?
Common documents
requested are:
• Verification
Worksheet (will be
provided to you)
• IRS Data Retrieval
• 2014 U.S. income
Tax Transcript
• Follow the
directions provided
by the school you
plan to attend
Role of the Financial Aid Office
• Determines
eligibility for
financial aid
• Packages aid
• Sends award
notification
Special Circumstances
Contact the Financial Aid Office if there
are circumstances which affect a family’s
ability to pay for college such as:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Loss or reduction in parent or student income or assets
Death or serious illness
Natural disasters affecting parent income or assets
Unusual medical or dental expenses not covered by
insurance
Reduction in child support or other untaxed benefits
Financial responsibility for elderly grandparents
Tuition expenses at elementary or secondary schools
Unusually high child care costs
Or any other unusual circumstances that affect a family’s
ability to contribute to higher education
Evaluating Aid Packages
• Biggest is not always best; unmet need
must be considered
• Are cost estimates realistic? Direct vs.
Indirect
• Grant/Loan balance
• What are the terms and conditions of
aid offered?
• Type of aid offered in view of student’s
career objectives and work
expectations
Summary of the Financial Aid Process
•
•
•
•
•
•
Submit all required forms, including the
FAFSA, by each college’s published
deadlines
Keep a copy of all forms submitted
Review the electronic Student Aid Report
(SAR) Acknowledgement or the paper SAR
sent to the student
Watch for financial aid award notifications
from colleges to which the student has
been admitted
Be sure to apply for financial aid this year
and every year as soon as possible after
January 1 to receive the best financial aid
award possible
ASK QUESTIONS!
Questions and Answers
Good luck with your
educational goals!