Financial Aid and Scholarships
FAFSA
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The FAFSA stands for Free Application for
Federal Student Aid. This application
should be filed by any student seeking aid
or scholarships.
Most colleges require students submit a
FAFSA although some schools also require
a CCS Profile and Institutional Forms
Check the College Application
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Read the application for the college you
are applying to determine which forms are
required.
File the FAFSA, CCS Profile, and any
unique forms required by the college you
are applying to.
Contact the financial aid office at the
college if you have questions.
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All colleges ask that you file the FAFSA
(Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
The FAFSA can be worked online, but not
filed before January 1.
It should be filed as soon as possible
thereafter.
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The FAFSA is for federal programs and
goes to a processing center in Kentucky.
At the center your family’s financial
situation is analyzed by computer, and you
will be sent a statement of your eligibility
for Federal grants and loans, such as Pell
Grants, Stafford Loans, Perkins Loans, and
the Federal Work-Study program.
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To fill it out, you and your parents need to have
collected all of the same information that you
will use to file your income tax forms—W-2 from
employers, bank statements of interest earned,
mortgage interest paid, etc. If an accountant
helps you with your taxes, he or she might also
help with the FAFSA.
The FAFSA is available online at
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm Be sure to
select the correct school year before filing out
the FAFSA.
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Here are the basic facts about financial aid.
 Most colleges have thousands of dollars earmarked to aid
families who need help paying for the tuition and other
expenses of that college.
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In addition, both the federal government and state
governments have funds available for that purpose.
Banks are willing to lend money for educational
expenses, and there are many organizations which
provide scholarship money to encourage people to attend
college.
In addition to the FAFSA, some colleges ask that you use
the CCS PROFILE. The CCS PROFILE is available in
early fall online at
https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/index.jsp
CCS Profile
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When you have settled on your list of colleges,
you then look at the CCS PROFILE website to
see which colleges require this form.
The cost of the CCS PROFILE is significant, so
it is important that you go through this process
correctly and give CSS an accurate list of
colleges.
Both the FAFSA and PROFILE will analyze your
family’s assets and calculate the size of your
Family Contribution to the cost of your first year
in college.
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The next part of the process happens in the financial aid
offices of the colleges which accept you for admission as
a student.
Each office will put together a financial aid package in
which they will do what they can to meet the need of
your family (which is the difference between the
college’s total expenses and your Family Contribution).
This package will probably consist partly of grant money,
given to you either by the college or federal or state
government, loan money from a wide array of loan
programs, and work-study money, which will come from
a job at the college, for which you will receive a wage
per hour of work.
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When you receive these various offers of financial aid, you will then
compare them, and they will become part of your final decision as to
which college you will attend.
There can be great variety in the different financial aid packages and
also in the abilities of the colleges to meet your total need.
If the college can only meet 75% of your need, they would then
expect you to find another source of the remaining 25% of your
need—such as a bank loan or a mortgage refinancing.
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It is acceptable to call the financial aid offices of colleges to discuss
their offers.
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If your first choice school is just beyond your reach, you might solicit
their help as to how to make it possible for you to attend that college.
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There is some flexibility in the process, but it requires tact and
honesty on your part in trying to work with the financial aid
personnel.
Remember, this is a four year process, and, if things don’t go well the
first year, that does not bode well for the next three.
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Parents should attend the Senior Parent
Financial Aid Night in January at Saint
Francis High School. Check the school
calendar for the date.
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There are many private sources of scholarship money to
which you may also apply. If you are going to pursue
these, there is a thorough handbook on financial aid
called PAYING LESS FOR COLLEGE, published by
Peterson’s, which you can buy in many paperback
bookstores.
Check the Financial Aid link on the Saint Francis
Guidance and Counseling website. Keep in mind that
most of the big scholarships require about as much work
to apply as any of your college applications. You will be
writing essays, getting recommendations, sending
transcripts, and so on.
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Check the Scholarship Notebook in the
Counseling Center for information on
scholarships.
Check it often as it is constantly updated.
There are small local scholarships as well,
through many of the organizations in our local
areas, such as churches, Rotary, Lions,
professional organizations, Boy Scouts.
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Even if you feel your family may not qualify for
financial aid, there are many scholarships
available.
At no other time has so much information been
available to you, so take advantage of your
resources.
The following scholarship searches are available
on the Internet:
www.fastweb.com
www.collegeboard.com
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Instructions on how to present special
circumstances in an application for
financial aid are available in the
Counseling Center.
As a general rule, contact the financial aid
office of each college you are applying to
discuss special circumstances.
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As you can see, getting sufficient financial aid to
help you attend college is quite possible, but the
process takes your active participation.
Our office can be a resource to help you, but
we cannot do it for you.
This part of college admission takes real effort
and communication between you and your
parents